by Joe Fielder
Big Black's Steve Albini wrote something in the liner notes for Songs About Fucking about how only the wrong bands seem to break up and sure it's not completely true, but hell if it doesn't feel that way sometimes.
LA's Automatic Drawing were what we like to call "indie pop charmers," the sort of immediately-likeable music that you want to hear more of and expect big things from. (Our friends at Classical Geek Theatre marked them as one of the top five local acts to watch out for last December.) Sadly, the members of the group went their separate ways earlier this year.
We checked in with the group to find out what happened and what they're all doing now -- and they gave us six songs to offer up to download. Some of them rare or unreleased, all free.
How long was the group together?
June 2007 - January 2009, with a couple lineup changes in between. The
final incarnation with Rachel on vocals lasted for about 6 months.
Why the split?
Drew Kirkpatrick, our singer/guitarist, got a great job as an engineer
up in Seattle after finishing grad school. He moved away at the end of
January, and the rest of us tried to keep it together, tried out a lot
of guys but never found a suitable replacement and it just kind of
fizzled out.
What are you guys all doing now?
Rachel Koukal (vocals/keys):
Right now I'm working with Letting Up Despite Great Faults. We just
laid down some vocals for the new self-titled album, which is getting
mastered next week -- there's a sneak peek of the album on
www.lettingup.com. Once that's finished we'll start playing some shows
around town. I'll be on guitar and vocals more, which I'm pretty
excited about. I've also been working on a folky/electronic side
project with my boyfriend - the working title is Clusterfolk. He plays
banjo and I play my 8-string uke and Omnichord. Diana might play some
guitar on it too. It's been sort of a low-key thing we're doing in our
spare time, but I'd love to see it culminate into something.
Drew Kirkpatrick (vocals/guitar):
I moved up to Seattle for a structural design job. I'm living in the
Ballard area, just north of downtown, which has a lot of great little
clubs and a thriving music scene. I'm really starting to love the
Northwest, but I miss writing music with Automatic Drawing. I've
started writing new material and practicing with a
multi-instrumentalist friend and a drummer, the project is called City
States and we hope to be playing some small shows in the Seattle area
starting this fall.
Sarah Hithe (bass):
i've been working on learning to play the drums and writing material
for a post-hardcore influenced solo project. I want to try to record an
EP within the next year...mainly just for fun. Other than that, I've
been spending a lot of time studying for various grad level entrance
exams.
Diana Salier (guitar):
I'm playing guitar in a pretty new 5-piece indie/rock band called The
Ross Sea Party -- found them on Craigslist as Automatic Drawing was
starting to die down, and I've been with them since January. Since the
summer started we've been playing shows pretty frequently, trying to
get the word out and maybe write/record some more songs soon.
Definitely still miss Drew and the good old days though!
DOWNLOAD:
- The Captain & The Sea MP3
- We're Not From This Town MP3
- The War MP3
- Appalachia MP3
- If You Leave MP3
- Sea Urchin MP3
Photo by Classical Geek Theatre
Sad news. Never got to see them.
Posted by: Josh | August 06, 2009 at 04:54 PM