Hillside 9 prepares for album release
Hillside 9, a band comprised mainly of Utah State University students and graduates, is gearing up for more concerts and an album release in January.
The band is comprised of five members: Jon Palmer, guitar and lead vocals; Brad Terry, lead guitar; Aaron Ashton, electric and acoustic violin and mandolin; Nate Mann, bass guitar; and Keith Sorensen, drums and percussion.
“About a year ago, a friend of mine, Jamie Prince and I talked about getting a band together that was creative, fresh and different,” Sorensen said. “We were finally able to perform at Mardi Gras on March 3.”
“[The band] is named after an apartment here in Logan,” Palmer said. “Through the people who lived there, we were all brought together. Originally, it was a joke but the name just stuck.”
“It’s always been a dream of mine to sing in a band, so here I am,” Palmer said.
When Prince went on a mission, the band added Ashton.
“Aaron always has creative things to do,” Sorensen said. “[When Aaron joined,] we played many of the same tunes and they seem like new ones now because of what he adds.”
Ashton said, “I joined this band because it’s so good. I heard them play and I was blown away. When … I was asked to be in the band I said, ‘heck yeah.'”
Ashton said he grew up playing classical violin but now he works in recording studios in Salt Lake City.
“We all write [our songs] together,” Sorensen said. “We all tweak it, change it and add little things.”
Sorensen said, “When I was little, my brother played the guitar and his bands would always practice at my house. I used to always watch the drummer and try to figure out how he made the sounds and what drums did what. I have always listened to the radio and tried to figure the percussion part out.
“I played through middle school and high school and college. I’ve just always loved it,” he said.
“And now we have played all over the place at places like Spring Luau, Spring Formal, … recently at Davis High School for a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society and we won the ‘Most Talented’ award … at the Star Search,” Sorensen said.
Palmer said, “We’re just really moving along.”
Sorensen said, “Our first experience on a big stage was when we opened for Colors at the Eccles Theater. With a small gig, it’s almost like a house party. There are a lot of friends saying ‘Oh that’s neat.’ It’s almost like playing for your mom. With a big gig, you feel like people are actually listening to your music.”
Sorensen said, “We want our music to hit home in people’s hearts, not just go through their ears.”
Ashton said, “[The band] has tons of energy. The music just has guts … The music has a lot of complexity – lots of stop times, syncopation and coordinated solos which isn’t very common. We are more than a garage band. We have a lot of variety.”
Sorensen said, “People who have listened to us have described our music as a cross between Dave Matthew’s band and U2. With everyone’s different backgrounds coming together, I think it’s our own brand of pop rock with a lot of spice.
“With the understanding that I am a music major, this band is where I can give my whole soul to the music with no one grading me or listening for the technical aspect of the music … It’s a place with a lot of freedom to me,” he said.
“We’re still really young and we haven’t played everywhere in the valley but we have been very lucky. We have had some good gigs and college students are a fun crowd. I know that some bands have trouble with audiences but we haven’t,” Sorensen said.
Palmer said, “We want to take [Hillside 9] as far as we can. We want to have fun and ride it as long as it will last.”
Hillside 9 will be opening the Eclipse show on Nov. 13 in the Kent Concert Hall.
“For us, it’s a good thing because we can take four or five tunes and rock the house,” Sorensen said. “It’s good because it will give us a chance to be heard and it’s good for [Eclipse] because it gets the crowd excited.”