IRREGULAR BEATS
•ITO• - SHOW US THE WAY by Janene Otten
•ITO• is four men with a message of love. Through the band’s music, they carry us all together on a journey of spiritual evolution. •ITO• taps into a power that is ancient in its origins. Music is an ancient artform. Although researchers cannot prove the exact time of the origins of the actual creation of music, there is proof that Homo heidelbergensis, likely our last common ancestor with Neanderthals, had vocal physiology very similar to modern humans. So, it is possible that music existed at least 500,000 years ago around the time when H. heidelbergensis evolved. Pondering the earliest existence of such an artform begs at questions such as Why was music created? Did music drive evolution or was it an accessory to other forms of expression, most notably language? There are key elements of the language of music; tone, pitch, resonance, volume, tempo, rhythm, melody, chords, harmony and vibrato. •ITO• is fully conscious of these elements and with them has expressed life’s yearning to balance “experiences, struggle, success, tragedy and bliss”. The result is songs charged with uplifting motifs and unique transitions. Brothers Galen and Simon Deery and drummer Michael Lear began as a three piece. Lear has known them since their birth. Their bond is a familial one. He remembers holding Simon as a baby the day he was
brought home from the hospital and all these years later, they, as Lear puts it, have “landed on the same musical page”. They recently added a “savvy” guitarist, Will Coccia. Will met the brothers while all were students at Easton’s School of Rock. Will explores several styles of guitar including jazz, finger style and hard rock. The ease of his technical prowess and his sense of melody elevates the exuberance present in the band’s existing sound. Galen Deery leads the band on vocals and plays ukulele. He called their music “psychedelic spirit jam: A self-named music genre,” and was drawn to the ukulele when his father (artist Paul Deery) showed him a video from TED Talks. He remembers, “There was this Japanese man. His name is Jake [Shimabukuro] and he played Bohemian Rhapsody on the ukulele. And before he did that he was speaking about the instrument and how it is the instrument of peace. You can’t listen to the ukulele and not feel good. And I was like, yes sir!” Galen’s lyric writing is important to the band’s message. Lear glows, “Galen’s a poet when it comes to writing the song’s lyrics; a real channel of a sincere and much needed message.” Galen affirms he is “a vessel for the universe”. He has a supportive, nurturing family and the music would “not be possible” without his
photo by Hannah Souders
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the Easton Heritage Edition
Summer 2019
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