Transmission Fields DNA is made up of Lee Neitzel (lead vocals; guitar), Jason Weiss (bass guitar), Jason Perkins (drums), & Neil Hunter (guitar; vocals). In Dec ’06 Lee was pursuing his Solo career and had hired three musicians to back him up. This worked so well that they formed a band “Lee Knights & The Black Sea” and continued performing Neitzel songs in the Charlotte area. After a show in Wilmington in the spring of ‘07, they made a change and took on a new identity. They came out as Transmission Fields and went to work on their first album titled “Words, Numbers and Phonetic Sounds”. It was during this recording they first worked with Lee’s friend Joe Kuhlmann. The CD was released in Nov ’07, and met with relative success giving them a sound they could market as they booked gigs going forward.
A year later they began to ponder the notion of producing another CD that would be reflective of the bands cohesiveness and the internal collaboration that has had them evolving and improving since their initial album release a year earlier. In Nov ’08 the guys auditioned a young kid for a guitar/vocal role they felt the band needed. A couple of weeks before that they had given this young guitarist their CD so he could learn the songs. Neil Hunter became the bands lead guitarist on the spot as he walked in and nailed all the guitar parts of all their songs and even demonstrated fluidity within the songs as Lee would change from chord to chord and Neil would follow. They knew they had the right guy to head back into the studio. Transmission Fields, Part II.
This creation would be much different than their prior work. In the first CD the two Jason’s went into the studio and laid tracks for drums and bass then the others would come in and record their tracks, etc... The goal going into this project would be a sound reflective of the collaborative diversity of the members in the band. They brought a clue as to what a song might be to the studio, but each song would grow from this seedling and morph as it matured and the band chiseled and then fine tuned the resulting song. There was no canned approach in play here!
In discussing why the band chose to go back to 34th & Hudson and work again with Joe Kuhlmann the entire band pitched in with accolades of what it is like to work with Joe. With the relationship they have, Joe becomes part of the creative team that works together for an entire year. Joe comprehends what it is like to create and not just come to the studio to lay down the final product. It is an iterative process of recording, listening, editing or rejecting, re-recording, and on and on until the song completes its journey through the creative cycle. The band also respects Joe and accepts his criticism as well as praise as an outside, but emotionally invested, third party. This partnership is evident on this album!
The CD Artwork & Design are the brainchild of Lee Neitzel with significant creative input from the band. As mentioned, the songs on this album are original and a result of band collaboration, each having its own seed for inspiration. The bands objective for this CD was to produce an integrated and collaborative work of, by, and for the band. Over an 11 month period the guys spent hours together in the studio. A lot of time was spent staying loose by cracking jokes and enjoying each other’s comedic wit. Of course they counted on Joe to keep them focused!
The guys are feeling pretty positive about the release. They have pushed out their songs to several internet media facilities, including their own website so people can listen to the CD and decide what the music means to them. The feedback the guys have been getting is pretty positive. Neil has found that his friends who might “prefer a harder rock” are actually giving him some great positive feedback about the CD – “they’re diggin’ it!” Activity on the website has increased significantly in terms of bandwidth used as well as unique page-hits; both good signs people are going to the site and listening to the music! They’re looking forward to a great CD release party! The Evening Muse - Nov 28th at 10:30PM.
As we discussed what the guys would like to see people take away from this album they paused and then shared; “to personally connect with the songs”, “take away a positive vibe from the music”, but most exciting to the band will be when people “sing along with the songs!”
Their plans over the coming months include playing a couple of times a month in the immediate area followed by a “big summer” increasing their regional presence within a 2 hour driving radius of Charlotte. They want to use the new product this spring to assist in summer bookings in the region. Their goal for 2010 is to build their fan base in this region to a point of getting more than 100 people at each show. This new release may very well do that for them.
Air/Lungs
State of Disrepair - traditional TF pop-rock song - energy throughout the song
Did it Wrong - traditional Transmission Fields, takes you on a journey. Very catchy tune...
The Ballad of Meaningless Words - great song. An Anti-War song in the spirit of ’69 hidden in a song about relationships and failure.
OTSBH - evasively avoiding the obvious question the guys went on about it not having a meaning relative to the actual song – a working reference to an untitled piece of work.
Pills - loved the tune... up & down like a roller coaster, or the peaks and valleys of a mountain range.
Waking Up
Memory - A space aged stroll through the stars with a melodious ballad. I like this song! Nice ending too! This is an old Lee Neitzel song. The band worked it and arrived at a masterful end.
Love the harmonies on this album... Smooth ballads as well as neat pop-rock backgrounds and w/ unique rock genre beats on most tunes. Well rounded and true to Transmission Fields musical traditions.
Looking forward to the show