#thirdvision

Shout out to indie rock band Third Vision for repping LiNK by wearing our 5-panel on tour this month. 

Music can easily evoke past moments, memories, and feelings. Third Vision has found a way to awaken and capture all of those feelings involved in their debut EP Focus. Upon hearing about these guys I watched THIS  video to get a feel of what they were about. Here Valley Taylor (vocals) says, in regards to their music, that "when people listen to it their just going to be like yeah I can really identify with what this song is telling me. I can identify with this loss. I can identify with this heartbreak. I can identify with moving on, letting go and really just...general life, the daily struggle we go through every day." You can immediately see the truth to these words throughout the entire 6-track EP. 

This past weekend, we had the chance to get together with the guys from the band and talk about basically everything. I want to briefly go over everything they have out now and devote the rest of this to where Third Vision is going.

In just this past week alone, they have: 

released their debut EP Focus

shot a music video

conducted interviews

played shows throughout California

and of course they've been in the studio working on new music (something with a breakdown maybe?)

Let's start from the beginning, the birth of the band: Almost every member was in a band that was "going no where."  Outspoken drummer and "brains of the band" Colton Flurry said "all of us have come together in the most ridiculous of ways, but we're here now and its all been beyond us." Vocalist Valley Taylor and him met earlier this year but quickly became friends, and constructed a strategic plan to create a band with a common vision. Initially they came together from hard times and emotionally they were from the same dark place. Colton had recently lost his father and Valley was going through a divorce but they were able to fuse their energy to create this entity. As time presented itself they then added their friends and talented musicians to finally create Third Vision.

How the name for Focus and Third Vision came about:  It all started one day on the internet...They were working on this teaser video, and they were trying to come up with a name for the video itself that would be interesting and capture peoples attention. Skyler says, "we came up with the name [Focus], posted it as the video, liked it so much that it became the name of our album and legitimately like the motto of the band." Colton continues, "it all plays off each other. The people that are apart of this, they're apart of our vision, they're visionaries. Like the first record is titled focus like everything we do, i think will probably follow suit in one way or another." With the name Kyle elaborates, "we all have this spiritual stint ya know, the third eye and everything, and the idea that we're all interconnected and we all attract what we think about to ourselves. We're all thinking about the same thing, trying to go for it. That's what the name means and that's how we came up with the name for the EP. It all ties in together." 

How they all work together:  Skyler, the "bassist extraordinaire" says they have an interesting dynamic since they all compose their own pieces. Leben, the more cool and reserved guitarist, clearly expressed that "you could some it up that Valley creates the song and arranges it. Colton's the finesse with a lot of the structuring, and then we just sort of fit in as other puzzle pieces. It works really well for that dynamic because a lot gets done. You don't necessarily need to have all of us deciding on each part and moving forward, we can have this collective body." Kyle who is lead rhythm on guitar continues saying, "that's how a bands supposed to work, one person really writes the song and then the rest kind of put their own voice to it." 

Valley goes on to say, "I'm just here to write my music and my songs and make sure other people get to hear them because its my story." While talking to Valley about where he gets inspiration, he said he gets most of it while traveling. From the time he was 17 until he got married, he had traveled all over the U.S. never staying in a town for longer than a month. Then he had to settle down for three year and he felt as if he had died. Valley describes the time now as "a second chance at life. I get to be me again and be alive." He went on to describe how music was always a part of his life and that he had always been writing. When talking about his writing when he was younger, he described it as "prophetic" in a way that a lot of the pieces he wrote before have been able to apply to his life now. 

Continuing with how they're able to work so well together since the members are spread throughout California: Colton adds that, "there's no sort of ego trip about it. I think a big part of being a successful band is understanding that each person in the band has their own individual thing that they can bring to the table and we all recognize that in each other. [We] respect each other enough to be like, oh ok Valley is an absolutely gifted song writer, so we take what he has and brings to the table and appreciate it. Skyler's one of the most incredible performers I've ever seen in my entire life and brings that to the table. Leben is one of the most genuine people that I've ever seen, I mean like a genuine person, and brings so much because of how he can think. He has an incredible mind. Kyle's one of my best friends in the whole world. He adds so much charisma to the band. We all respect each other enough to know what we can bring to the table and I think that's what keeps us thriving as a band. Understanding that each of us really do bring something. There's no ego trip" They all have an energy of their own that comes together and meshes so effortlessly as one. A group made of a bond of brothers with a love of music. 

What the future holds:  They all chimed in when asking where they see themselves and made sure to add, with all due respect to Chris Martin, they're "taking Coldplay's spot and are going to the top." Kyle goes on to say how they we have a lot of direction as a band. We are very focused. We want to be at the top of the whole music industry. I mean we have the biggest possible goal you can have as a band. We're humble, but we want to be the best in the world. We want to be the best at what we do, because why do it if you don't want to be the best?" Throughout the entire day I couldn't help but think to myself about how passionate and dedicate they are. This is their vision and this is their time. This is just the beginning, but they persistently move ahead day after day at an admirable rate. "Every second of everyday, it's always on our mind. Like all the time, what can we do to push this forward," say Colton. He continues that since they've been honing their craft for so long, "we are in a position that we're making the right kind of music that applies to a general demographic. Everybody can listen to it and we portray ourselves in a way that people can connect to. People can relate to, they like us, we're likable people. We have something that the consumer market wants right now."