This week’s Band Spotlight features Pelican, a Chicago band that can be described as ambient, uplifting, sad, heavy, and mellow all at once. Read on to learn more about them, in their own words—in this case, the words of Laurent Lebec, guitarist.

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Band name:
Pelican

Band members:
Laurent Lebec, Larry Herweg, Bryan Herweg, Trevor de Brauw

Websites:
pelicansong.com
http://www.myspace.com/pelican

Formed in:
2001

Location:
Chicago

Genre/sound:
everything — metal, post-hardcore, ambient, etc. generally loud instrumental music.

For fans of:
Earth, Mogwai, Hum, Bolt Thrower, and a lot of other things. I’m always surprised by what people who like us are into.

Best description you’ve heard of your music:
“pelican is f***ing driving music. ‘cept i almost crashed today. but i was on the phone.”

Describe your best (or worst!) live performance:
best ever would be our last Seattle show, I think. So damn fun. Always rad in Seattle. Worst ever would be our first time in Dallas on the summer 2005 tour. Trevor broke a string and had none on stage so he had to go to the van to get a new set.

Releases:
The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw: — this is our recent full length. It was a time when we wanted to write really organic compositions that evolved at a pace that felt appropriate. We explored textures and sounds we’d never tried before, and the mood is more exploratory and somber.

Australasia: This is our first full length and it’s transitional. There’s some really slow crushing stuff and already the beginning of our next phase, which saw us taking on major chords and bigger movements.

March Into the Sea EP: This was the transition from Australasia to FIOT. We started to pick up the temp a bit, and just wanted to add more energy to the evolution of the songs.

Untitled EP: Our demo. The beginning — lots of influences, but mostly it’s slow and lumbering and pretty heavy. Melody is in glimpses rather than at the forefront.

How did the band form/meet?
We’re all best friends. We’ve all matured musically together and it’s the best experience ever, to grow with your buds.

What bands have you been in previously?
Nothing worth mentioning here.

Describe your songwriting process:
Riffs, riffs, riffs and then a cutting board and a little glue … we write a lot of parts and just work them into basic structures, and then we see how the song evolves over time. It takes on a life of its own and the creases get ironed out, and the transitions start to flow.

What’s your local music scene like? Is it an influence on you?
Of course, Chicago is a varied and open city with a vibrant music community. It’s accepted us readily, and I hope we give something back. Props to Russian Circles and Sweet Cobra.

Upcoming show dates:
http://www.myspace.com/pelican

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So there you have it! Check out Pelican’s “Aurora Borealis” and “Sirius” (both from their most recent release, The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw) in the radio.blog.

If you’d would like to recommend a band to be spotlighted, or if you’re in a band that would like to be spotlighted, drop me an email at susan@kulturblog.com.

Click here to view previous Band Spotlights.