echelon

Create Your Own!
The Beginning
As Ethan Wood, Josh Wood and David Burleson watched their former band Lifestream fall apart, the two brothers and their DJ friend set out to form a new group in January of 2004. From Jan. 04 to May 04, the band tried out various different lineups and recorded a demo, "nothing stands between". Once the band completed the demo, the three former Lifestream members recruited two of David's friends from his band, Rendevous, Danny Gutierrez and Chance James. In June of 2004, the lineup was completed and the band recorded their first full length album, "Fallen Angel" and prepared to hit the stage.
Backgrounds

Ethan and Josh were former members of local bands 9 miles to nowhere and Lifestream. Ethan was the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of 9m2n and the lead vocalist of Lifestream. Josh was the bass player for 9m2n and later became the guitarist of Lifestream. The two brothers had been writing and playing together since middle school and eventually became the wall of guitars for echelon.
David Burleson was a friend of Ethan's friend and was introduced to the Wood brothers as they sought a DJ to compliment the incubus-like tones of Lifestream. David brought a background of techo and trip-hop to many of the songs on the first two recordings. David also produced several DJ albums under the name Oximoron, and brought some of these skills into echelon.
Chance James was the next member recruited as Ethan, Josh, and David struggled to find a bass player after trying out several others. David and Chance had played together in one of David's previous groups, Rendevouz, and Chance brought his guitar expertise into the group as the bass player.
Danny Gutierrez was the final pice of the puzzle added in June of 2004. He was the drummer of Rendevouz and would have been the drummer of echelon sooner had there not been some miscommunication (basically, Ethan and Danny both thought the other hated them). After this was settled, Danny auditioned and blew everyone away with his professionalism. The lineup was set.
Fallen Angel
From June 2004 to August 2004, the band recorded a full-length album called Fallen Angel. The band re-recorded several songs from 'nothing stands between' and some new ones. The album had a massive incubus influence and was eventually distributed for free at echelon's first show. In this time period, the band wrote and recorded future favorites "Fallen Angel", "Escape Velocity" and "WTF?" with some lesser-known songs like "Break" and "Frayed". Several songs from FA would eventually find their way to echelon's last and most professional recording, "Beyond the Red Room".
The First Show, and the Last Show for David
In August of 2004, the band performed for the first time at the big concert in the Kilgore City Park opening for lager acts such as Tisdale, Hello Samuel, Stowaway, and Civilian Outbreak. This concert would also be the last time David would play with the band. David had fallen in love with a woman from the UK and left the band to marry her in the months to come. It was a hard day for the band, but in the end it was decided to go on without him.
The First Lap
In the Fall of 2004, echelon made a few laps around local shows. The band performed a few 5th quarters, played another concert at the park and performed an acoustic set at Southern Methodist University. In this incarnation, the band primarily had Josh on guitar and Ethan as a solo vocalist unless his guitar was needed for songs. The band still had an incubus sound even without their DJ, and the band struggled to find their niche. In November, the band decided to chill a bit and talked of writing new material.
In December of 2004, the band entered the studio to write some new songs, but ultimately, Ethan decided to spend more time working on the Stowaway project, Telescope, instead of trying to write a new echelon record. In early 2005, Ethan and Josh decided that trying to keep echelon going while both were in school would be impossible and both wanted to start fresh in Dallas. Echelon broke up (for the first time) with a whimper sometime that spring.
End Transmission
After several months of trying to get something going in Dallas, Ethan and Josh longed for the days of echelon and proposed getting back together. The brothers had been working on new material that went far away from the incubus sound and more towards an Alternative, Space Rock sound. Ethan's Hum influence renewed his songwriting passion and the band got together in November of 2005 to start working on new material.
The band spent December of 2005 and January of 2006 in the studio working on a follow up to Fallen Angel, tenatively called "End Transmission". The recording process was plagued with disaster. As the band was working on finishing the writing process, Chance was in a car accident that kept him from coming in and giving input on the new songs. In the middle of recording, Josh's right hand was hit with an axe and he was unable to finish his guitar parts on 2 songs. Chance and Danny were not happy with several of the new songs and the band went back and forth on remixing them over the next few months.
As the band came close to finishing "End Transmission", a fight erupted between Ethan and Danny one night that lead to Ethan quitting the band "for good". Some of the songs from "End Transmission" would see the light of day again: "Siren", "Persephone", and "The Underwater World"; and others would not: "Sway", "Stand-by", "Catch-22" (although "Catch-22" and "Sway" were later combined into "Call to Arms"). The band had scheduled one date in late May and after several months, the members got back together to honor their commitment.
One Last Shot
After their first show in a year and a half, the guys decided to try one more time. The band adopted a new approach to the business of the band so that everyone would carry their fair share of the load, and it was decided that the band would combine the best songs from "End Transmission" with those from "Fallen Angel" to complete their definitive album. In the summer of 2006 the band played some memorable shows at the Side Pocket in Kilgore that launched them into the local scene.
Beyond the Red Room
The recording of the new album began in June and ended in August and went much more smoothly than the previous recording. The band chose their best work and created the true echelon sound that had been absent until then. The band became a 4-piece Alternative Rock outfit with some Hum and incubus influence, but with plenty of Tool and others as well. Danny came up with the title for the album and it summed up the band's desire to leave their practice room and studio to get out into the real world.
And get out beyond the red room they did. In the Fall of 2006 the band played shows often all over East Texas and Dallas. The band played the Side Pocket, The Across the Street Bar, Click's Billiards, and the Door in a frantic schedule for a band split by 120 miles. The band's popularity grew and grew and the band decided to take a break in November to cool off from the constant playing. However, the break would end up to be a permanent one.
The End of Echelon
Every member of echelon has a different story as to how and why the band broke up, and in the interest of objectivity, I'm not going to go into great detail here. The main catalyst was a physical fight between Ethan and Chance, and that created a large rift between Chance and the rest of the group. The band played their last show at the Side Pocket on November 4th, 2006 as a three-piece. There were talks of trying to reconcile with Chance. There were talks of replacing him. There were talks of going on as a three piece, but, like the line in "Call to Arms"--"what's a soldier to do when his heart's not in it anymore?"
Ethan and Josh decided to call it quits for the last time sometime in November. The band had a good run in 2006 and it just seemed like everyone wanted to go a different direction. Ethan siezed an opportunity to join up with the new group, Red Sky Pilot. Josh decided to focus on school and spending time with his friends instead of gigging every weekend. Danny wanted to keep the band going, but he could not convince the Wood brothers that echelon was worth saving. The third time that echelon broke up was with a bang, then a whimper, and now, nothing.
Future Plans?
The band has no intention of getting back together as of now, but sometimes it feels like echelon just won't die. The band was like a bad relationship. We always fought, we always kept breaking up and getting back together, but in the end, we all loved each other very much. We loved the fans most of all. We're happy that you all enjoyed our music for the brief time we were a blip on anybody's radar screen.
However, if you are still an echelon fan, you still need to get a copy of "Beyond the Red Room". We have about 30 of them left in a box. They're free if we can meet up with you and give one to you. Thank you for reading this long biography of a band that no longer exists. San Dimas High School Football Rules!