Five of the Eyes

Five of the Eyes is a progressive rock band from Portland, Maine. The term “progressive rock” is used with reluctance in their case, though, as most of their music seems to defy genre. Imagine that the love child of Jeff Buckley, The Mars Volta and Incubus started making music. Then, somewhere along the way, it had an affair with Queens of the Stone Age. The offspring of that relationship then started making its own music, and it was under the name Five of the Eyes.

Five of the Eyes first formed in early 2013 when Tim Meehan (guitar) moved to Portland and was looking to start a project with his brother, Thomas Meehan (bass). Friends Peter Griffith (drums) and Ned Rich (guitar) were quickly brought into the fold as they had been playing with Thomas for many years in a group called Chaos Sauce. Sessions with the quartet began immediately and it was obvious to everyone that something unique and truly exciting was happening. After a few months, songs were beginning to take shape, but one piece seemed to be missing…a vocalist. Thomas had someone in mind who might be the perfect fit, and sent over an early instrumental demo of the song “Isabella” to local Portland musician Darrell Foster. Darrell had performed with John Popper and collaborated with Thomas Waterhouse (Last Chance to Reason) and Mike Lessard (The Contortionist). His previous bands, Nira May, Mother Leopard, Foster & Ulitz, and Paper Tails, had opened for renowned acts such as Lake Street Dive and London Souls. Within hours of receiving “Isabella”, Darrell responded with a single vocal take. Once the band heard it, it was obvious: Darrell was in. Rehearsals began immediately and creative output quickly blossomed.

In the next couple of years, the band wrote, recorded, performed continuously, and released two EPs, FOTE and Hierophantasm, both of which were completely self-recorded and produced. In the summer of 2015, they embarked on a tour of the Eastern US and had the pleasure of opening for such acts as Rival Sons, Chon, The Contortionist, Auras, Intronaut, Moon Tooth, Rustic Overtones, Paranoid Social Club, and Entheos.

In 2016, the group began writing songs for their first full-length album. They spent the winter of ’16 and ’17 rehearsing and refining the new material, which was the result of four years of a relentless pursuit of progression both as a songwriting and performing unit. Finally, in May of ’17, Five of the Eyes went to the best studio in Maine, The Halo. Together with producer Jonathon Wyman, they recorded and mixed The Venus Transit in twelve days. Wyman pushed the band to experiment sonically, to be decisive creatively, and to perform at a high level. The result exceeded the band’s expectations, and they were thrilled. The record was mastered by Adam Ayan of Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine, and a release date was set for September 2017. The Venus Transit sees the band finding their sound and pulling no punches along the way. It definitively establishes Five of the Eyes as a force to be reckoned with; both live and in the studio.