west like tommy

The collection of ideas that would become West Like Tommy started to take shape in the fall of 2000. After the break-up of their punk outfit, Malignant Youth, life moved on and apart long-time friends Brian Faulkenberry and Lucas Hollar…Lucas to Spain, and Brian throughout the Southeast United states.During this time, many people passed through their lives. Some were more important than others, and a certain few left their marks. The only common thread running through all of them was that circumstances always change. People move on, and life is never static. Simultaneously, Brian and Lucas were trying to sort through it all. Their writings eventually evolved into songs; then, their collaboration took on a new life. During the summer of 2003, they decided the time had come to commit their work to tape.To round out the line-up, they tapped a long-time friend, Andy Freeman, to play bass. In the ‘90’s, Lucas played with Andy in Gullah… a staple of the Charleston, SC punk scene. Andy played in Malignant Youth, when Malignant Youth toured the Pacific Northwest. Andy would be the perfect fit for the new project. The final addition to West Like Tommy came in the form of Adrien Roy. After unsuccessfully trying to work with a couple of drummers, Andy recommended Adrien. Adrien hailed from Oklahoma, and he was playing with the band Glass Joe. There was an instant connection with Adrien, and the final line-up came together for the first time at three in the morning, the day they started recording their demo in Hollywood, Florida’s Sunflower Recording studios.The years of separation from the music of Malignant Youth allowed Brian and Lucas to grow as writers. This showed in a vast difference of sound. Gone was the bare-bones punk, and in its place was a more subtle, nuanced, though equally energetic, sound. Lyrically, introspective narratives replaced brash, rough-hewn punk verse. With influences ranging from the sounds of Karate, Jawbreaker and Knapsack to the writings of Kerouac, Joyce and Camus, the boys did not outgrow their punk roots; they let them grow deeper into something altogether new.