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Written by Alex Steininger of In Music We Trust---Gifford Pinchot is fronted by husband and wife songwriters Jesse and Stephanie King, Jesse on vocals/guitar and Stephanie on vocals/bass, and rounded out by drummer Brian Netherton.Stephanie and Jesse, who have been active in the Portland music scene since the early 1990s, have come together to create a dynamic, abstract sound that pulls equally from guitar-rock, pop, space-rock, and even hard rock, to create a truly indie sound unlike any other. Furthermore, the boy/girl vocals give the songs an added edge, making them highly visceral, as well as memorable.But, how did they get their name?"We spend so much time in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest that we decided to name the band after it," says Stephanie King. "The name stems from what we experience when we are either playing music or spending time in nature, which are two of our favorite things to do."Following the demise of Nicotine, a local guitar-rock band fronted by Jesse King, and managed by Stephanie, the husband and wife team moved from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington, where they acquired acres of land and could live in more rural setting.It was there they began writing together for the first time.The duo began to realize they had something they wanted to share, so they soon developed the bug to play out, and began seeking a drummer to do so.After a few misfires on the drummer front, they found Josh Tuttle. With Tuttle on board, the band began booking live shows and honing their songs on the stage.With the songs down, they entered Klickitat Band Camp, a studio in Portland, Oregon, and the recording sessions for their debut full-length, "1910", soon came into full swing.Preferring analog to digital, the band recorded on 2" tape with engineer and co-producer Shay Scott.
Originally only planning to record seven songs and release an EP, the band later decided it would be fun to record an experimental 30-minute reel, where everything was done on the fly, spontaneity the driving force behind the songs."Hey, Jack!", "Spacious", "Impediment", and "Scary Lawyer Letter" were all a result of this experiment.Near the album's completion, the band faced a few setbacks, namely the drummer.Coming to the mutual decision to part ways with Tuttle, Jesse and Stephanie forged ahead without him, entering the studio one more time to lay down two more songs, "Forever and a Day" and "Figure It Out", both songs Jesse drummed on.With the record now complete, the band sought drummers.Playing "1910", the title they settled on for their debut full-length for a few friends, Josh Arnold soon mentioned to them that he was looking for a new project. Without hesitation, Jesse and Stephanie knew they had found their drummer. However, in June of 2007, Josh accepted a two year contract teaching in China and was replaced by drummer Brian Netherton.Songs on "1910" range from no concept, just-for-fun numbers like "Impediment", "Spacious", "Scary Lawyer Letter", and "Hey, Jack!", to "Believe", a song about people who lie a lot and losing trust in them upon this realization, and "Still Ours", a song about someone you've surrounded yourself with who suppresses your creativity.Other songs, including the heart-stopping "Denial" deals with compromising yourself for status and the struggle to develop that higher social status, before realizing, in the end, that you lost yourself to the lie. Deeper into debt, deeper into deception, the road you thought would lead you to happiness spells out misery and depression. The band even has an anti-Bush, anti-war song in "Figure It Out".One of the album's highlights, "Pig Iron", discusses work and how consuming and controlling it can become. After working so many hours doing brutal work, your body is left worn and tired, leaving little energy to do what really matters… playing music.This song and its content is exactly what the three members of Gifford Pinchot are trying to avoid. The band came together because of their love of music, and their need to have a release, a way to have fun and relax after a hard day's work. And it shows in "1910".
