The Letterpress was a rock band from Mesa, Arizona, most widely known for its lack of guitars, as the band originally only consisted of two basses and a drum set.

The Letterpress
Background information
OriginMesa, Arizona, United States
GenresMath rock, indie rock, emo
LabelsSunset Alliance
Past membersJeremy Drysdale - Bass, Vocals
Rajiv Patel - Lead Bass
Dustin Carson - Drums
Braden McCall (short stint) - Guitar

History

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The Letterpress was formed with the idea of doing something different, taking then-current Before Braille guitarist Rajiv Patel and placing a bass in his hands, placing him with a former member of Before Braille, Dustin Carson, on drums, and then finishing up the trio was Jeremy Drysdale, of Noah Blake, who would sing and also play bass.[1] The product of this composition would lead to, what one critic called, "rhythmically beautiful melodies . . . that really can't be compared directly to another band."[2] Notwithstanding that critics view of the band's original sound, the Letterpress would draw comparisons to Pinback during most of its activity.[3]

When Rajiv Patel left the band in 2004 to serve a mission in Peru for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), he was replaced by another former member of Before Braille, Braden McCall,[4] and demoed one song with McCall titled Physical Map, which was released on the band's MySpace page.[5] This, however, was a departure from what originally made the band novel, since McCall played the guitar. Nevertheless, it appears that McCall's activity with the band was short-lived, as he later left the Letterpress to focus his efforts on his other band, Alcohol(iday).[4]

Although Rajiv Patel had expressed his desire to return the Letterpress following his mission to record more material,[4] it seems that the original iteration would reunite only once more to perform with Before Braille, Fivespeed, The Player Piano, and Novi Split during Sunset Alliance's ten-year anniversary show in January 2010.[6]

Discography

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Solo albums

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Release date Title Label Notes
2004 Input/Output Sunset Alliance

Compilations

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Various former releases

References

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  1. ^ Christopherson, Jesse. Stinkweeds.com Review of Input/Output retrieved 03-15-12
  2. ^ Impactpress.com Review of Input/Output retrieved 03-15-12
  3. ^ See, e.g., Shimmer, Matt. Indieville.com Review of Input/Output retrieved 03-15-12
  4. ^ a b c The Letterpress Official MySpace Blog, May 30, 2006 retrieved 03-15-12
  5. ^ The Letterpress Official Myspace Page retrieved 03-15-12
  6. ^ Before Braille Official MySpace Blog, Dec.14, 2009 retrieved 02-20-12
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