We just heard HyeTension won’t be playing the National, instead they’ll be at Home Team Grill Friday night instead.
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With a sound reminiscent of The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, HyeTension, a mash up of NOVA and RVA performers, is set to blow minds at the National come Friday, November 21.
We just heard HyeTension won’t be playing the National, instead they’ll be at Home Team Grill Friday night instead.
——–
With a sound reminiscent of The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, HyeTension, a mash up of NOVA and RVA performers, is set to blow minds at the National come Friday, November 21.
Playing with bands of varied genres which should appeal to any music lover, HyeTension will end the night with their eclectic new take on smooth-toned indie/garage rock.
Although HyeTension is relatively new to the Richmond scene, its founding members have been playing together since grade school.
It was 2006, and Carter Auch, the lead guitarist, and Chris Kasbarian, lead vocalist, had been playing together and searching for members who could help to create the perfect sound.
“Members came and went; no one ever really took the band as seriously as [Chris and I] did,” said Auch. “There was no doubt that we would always pursue our music together.”
Eventually the two found just what they were looking for. Auch says they knew “right off the bat that [they] had found [their] four-person group” after playing with the band’s drummer, Sam Khalaji and bassist Ryan Sheehan.
“When I moved to Richmond in 2012 I met Sam through the [VCU] dorms,” Auch explained. “Chris roped Ryan in through Facebook […] from up in NoVA where we’re originally from.” The players clicked and took off from this point on.
Over the years HyeTension has evolved into who it is today through the employment of music theory techniques, and the members’ vast interest in different styles of music.
This includes artists such as The Beatles. As Auch puts it: “[They] approach any experience like a sponge, absorbing all the knowledge and skills that they can in every situation and then recycling it into something new and refreshing, to keep their listener interested.”
He remembers, “Early on it was fun to rock out to some ‘80’s hair metal, but the turning point was when we all started to get into alternative rock… Bands like the Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Grizzly Bear, Kings of Leon, The Strokes… something felt right about playing that kind of smooth-toned, riffy guitar music.”
The band’s individual tastes and experiences also play a part in their sounds today. “I have a deep love of house and techno music,” says Auch. “Sam brought a little reggae groove into the mix.”
Family was also a huge inspiration for Kasbarian and Auch. “I come from a very musically-inclined background on my mother’s side, and Chris’ dad and cousin are and were very respectable and successful Armenian singers,” Auch said. “So growing up we could hear him from the other room shredding on the keys or guitar while we practiced.”
Kasbarian’s Armenian background is also part of the reason for the band’s name. “Hye” means Armenian in the Armenian language.
HyeTension won’t be the only band that will bring a crowd to The National this Friday. “We’re really happy to be playing with not only awesome local talent, but also [musicians] that we are very much into, and would follow even if we weren’t playing the show with them,” Auch says.
“The thing I like the most [about the Richmond music scene] is that I haven’t heard two artists that have even sounded remotely similar… and I’m really excited because I feel like the lineup that we have opening up for us accurately represents how the city’s scene is.”
The lineup includes rapper Dank D, who frequents places around the city like Emilio’s when doing a show; Moonrise Funk, who just played at Monument City Coffee and Records with HyeTension; and a band who HyeTension met at a house show and who “blew them away”, Thai Sun.
HyeTenison plans to release a 5-song EP within the next year through Red Eye Distribution Label. Fifty percent of the proceeds from their National show will be going to the James River Association and Richmond Wildlife Center; the band will also be playing a show in support of these causes at The Camel in the near future. As Auch aptly states: “Come out and see us at The National for 10 dollars and your money will be going towards a good cause.”
If you’re a follower of the local Richmond music scene, be sure you don’t miss this show.
