In the Spring of 2007, while attending the Atlanta Institute of Music, Jake Merritt and Blue Phillips were paired up to perform “Take Five” in jazz performance class. Impressed by each other’s abilities on guitar, the two quickly became friends and began jamming on a regular basis. Joined by Daniel Burch on drums, the trio soon realized this was no ordinary group of musicians. The chemistry between the three sparked an influx of songwriting and a vision for something greater than the sum of it’s parts. This sound was Wake Of The Titan. Eager to get this out to the masses, they ventured into the studio in the Summer of 2007 and began recording.
After a short break, the highly anticipated EP, entitled “Goodnight, Cold Earth”, was released in April of ’08. Described as “…intense, thrilling…hauntingly beautiful, but captivating as well”, the six song EP defied modern rock standards. Goodnight, Cold Earth (title track) breaks the six minute barrier, but is well-received as being “…graceful in its transitions and poetic in its lyrics.”
Deeper cuts like If We’re Quiet dive into the realm of the cinematic, which one review quoted as being, “…a song of first subdued and then frenzied anguish, this would be a great song to put on the soundtrack of a psychological thriller...”
“We don’t try to be different. We’re just being ourselves”, said Daniel Burch, talking about the recording of the record and the band’s sound. “The songs more or less wrote themselves. When you’re in a group of people who love music as much as you do, it just comes out naturally. It’s a great feeling. It also helps to have someone like Jake who can sing and write good songs (Laughs)!”
Following the release, Wake Of The Titan went on to perform a number of shows around the Southeast over the remaining part of 2008. One of the year’s highlights included taking 3rd place at the Seventh Annual Sweetwater Showdown. This was a huge surprise for the band, considering it was against 30 other bands and it was only their second show together. They were able to round out the year with a showcase at the Atlantis Music Conference and numerous reviews from a wide variety of music publications.
After countless auditions for bass players came up empty-handed, the band decided to stick with the original formula that had worked so well from the beginning. Wake Of The Titan reformed the three-piece, with Blue stepping in to fill the bass duties. “We work so well together, so there’s no need in throwing an unknown variable into the mix,” said Blue in regards to the transition. “There’s no gray area; it’s all black and white. You can’t ask for a better situation.”
Wake Of The Titan has continued to push forward, writing new material and preparing for the new record. “It’s a little bit different writing as a three-piece. The sound is evolving, but that’s to be expected. There’s much more negative space to work with, so you have to find that balance of when to play and when not to play. People tend to forget how important rests are in music. It takes you out of your comfort zone, but you tend to listen more. I think people will latch onto that when they hear the new material,” explains Jake.
The new record will be a concept, focusing on the nature of mankind. While still in it’s infancy, the album looks to once again show the true mettle of this band.
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The Humboldt Trio has been a band since early 2008 with two founding members, jerad and clayton. After a few lineup changes with the bass, they found Michael towards the end of that year. The band has a free demo and are working on a full length to be independently released some time in 2010. Jerad and clayton have been in bands together for a few years now. Shoot the messenger, moving to canada, and panda attack are some of the bands they've been involved in. these projects were mostly grind and hardcore.
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