Two and half years ago, Chris Colthart stepped off his plane
into the silver sparkle of Hollywood sunshine. With no job, no car
and a freshly left-behind band, the 28-year-old guitarist of
indie-rock band The Faraway Places had little more than any average
newcomer to the land of milk and honey’s biggest
dream-propagating city.
What he did have was The Faraway Places’ first record,
“Unfocus On It,” finished just the night before, and
Colthart was determined to find his music a home. The move paid
off, as a reunited and reformed Faraway Places will celebrate the
album’s U.S. release at Spaceland on Tuesday.
Of course, Los Angeles didn’t hold Colthart’s hand
along the way. It took time to find willing musicians and places to
play.
“Outside your nest of friends that believe in you,
you’re like, “˜Wow I have to convince other people to
play my music and believe in this thing that I believe in, but
still have doubts in,'” Colthart said.
The Faraway Places initially formed in Boston with Colthart on
guitar and vocals and Donna Coppola, described by Colthart as
“a victim of childhood piano lessons,” on keyboard.
Since its inception, a wealth of musicians have rotated in and out
of the band’s cast, contributing to its pop-rock sound, but
now, Scott Barber is the official bass player.
In Boston, Colthart was involved in the music/art scene and
served as a roadie for his childhood friend Keith Gendel’s
indie-pop band Papas Fritas. But as Colthart got older, even his
artsy friends were looking for Internet jobs and were more
concerned with job security than creativity.
When Colthart accompanied Papas Fritas to a show in Athens, Ga.,
where “nobody had a job, and everybody was in a band,”
he realized there were places in this country where it was OK to
devote oneself entirely to art.
“In the course of touring, I realized how I had these
Boston blinders on,” Colthart said. “I just had sunk so
deeply into the groove of Boston that I forgot that there were
other ways of living.”
So Colthart left the East Coast to go “somewhere warmer
and cheaper with more rockers.” But as any local knows, Los
Angeles isn’t just sunshine and walks down the glamorous
boulevard. Talent doesn’t insure recognition, and in the
entertainment-industry machine, it’s easy to get chewed up
and spit out. Leave it to Colthart to be optimistic.
“All the (Los Angeles) clichés hold true,”
Colthart said. “People are a little more competitive here.
But I think it also means a lot of the shows are better here,
because people are trying harder to put on a good show.”
“Unfocus On It” parallels Colthart’s easygoing
and positive attitude, and even though it was mostly recorded in a
cabin in New Hampshire, it’s been described as reminiscent of
late ’60s California pop.
But in a city whose nightclubs often celebrate regurgitated
electro-rehash with flocks of scenesters thinking the definition of
rock ‘n’ roll is nihilistic bleatings, Colthart, at
times, has felt a little out of place.
“We are a positive band in a real way, and I almost feel
like I’m totally out of fashion, because all the bands are
trying to sound like Gang of Four,” Colthart said.
Although the album has been praised as bubble-gum pop, Colthart
has resisted that direction for a dance-y, and perhaps more
L.A.-friendly sound.
Fortunately, The Faraway Places isn’t trying to be
anything its not, and in the process, has accidentally stumbled
into an original sound that tastes like an ice-cold Orangina in the
middle of the vast L.A. desert of hollow bar rock. From the lyrics
to the music, to Colthart’s gentle mannerisms, there’s
an honesty that begs to be paid attention to, and refreshingly,
comes without the usual self-seriousness.
“Maybe if we were a little more badass, I’d have
more friends,” Colthart joked.
The Faraway Places celebrate its CD-release party at
Spaceland on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Go to http://www.clubspaceland.com
for more information.