Do people think of Seattle or Austin, Texas, as a hometown for a
successful rock band? How about Alpine? It may not be at the top of
most people's list, but one band, Highbench, is proving to fans
that great music can originate in Utah.
Band members David Western (lead vocals), his younger brother
Andrew Western (bass), Shane Fillmore (drums), and Christian Muir
(lead guitar) grew up together on High Bench Road. The boys found
common ground in music as a creative outlet and in snowboarding
Utah's beautiful mountains. David, Shane and Christian all
graduated from American Fork High School, with Andrew following
later from the newly built Lone Peak High School.
"We all met and started playing in different bands together
throughout high school. We all seemed to gravitate towards playing
music early on as kids growing up in Alpine and throughout school,"
said one member of Highbench in an email interview.
Eventually, the bandmates pooled their talent and decided to
honor their common roots calling themselves High Bench, which
gradually morphed into the one-word moniker they answer to
today.
"Back when we started our band, online social networking, let
alone online anything, was still in its infancy and had not taken
hold yet. We took the old-school route, jumped in a small pickup
truck, and decided to drive to New York City. The idea was it would
open up different doors for us and give us more opportunities to
share our music and hopefully make a career out of it."
Highbench has a haunting, melodic, emotional sound with dark
harmonies and lyrics that typify the human experience.
"Our music style has obviously morphed, changed, and matured
over the years so describing our sound to others is always a pretty
tough task, but we'd like to think Stadium Rock!" a member
joked.
Since signing a publishing deal with Primary Wave Music
Publishing in early 2005, Highbench has been featured on television
and in soundtracks, commercials, and video games.
The band has permanently settled into the New York music scene,
performing more than 200 concerts there, and thoroughly enjoying
the "energy, art and culture, diversity, opportunities, and endless
music clubs," the metropolis has to offer, but their roots remain
in Utah.
"We are always coming back and forth home to Alpine, then back
out to New York City," David Western said. "As for permanently
moving back, buying a home and living in Alpine, well, I think any
of us would love to eventually be able to do that. Alpine is truly
a beautiful one of a kind place."
As for what comes next, the band has been touring and will
shortly begin recording their next full-length album.
"We are beginning work on a new music video, as well as
preparing to release live footage we've been collecting and have
shot recently. We should have that up and available on our web page
and various social sites before the end of the year."
More information about Highbench and their music is available on
their website,
highbenchmusic.com. They can also be found on
Facebook, YouTube, My Space, iTunes, and Twitter.
