Drift Lifted

Rock and roll is not dead. Perhaps, it is not fully alive either. Perhaps, rock and roll is exactly where it was always meant to be - in the dark, haunting middle - a purgatory of eerily enticing sounds and electric riffs. A place where your eardrums aren’t trapped, but they never want to leave. The gritty, beer-caked bars. The graffiti’d bathrooms. The backstage rooms, dimly lit by the one or two remaining light bulbs surrounding the mirrors where megastars once put on their makeup. Where musicians sit on tattered, mismatched couches playing random chords amongst the smoke clouds and small talk. Though rock may come alive on the stage, it is in these grungy hallways and back rooms where it breeds, fermenting that distinct sound that a true rock and roll lover can feel in their chest more so than hear with their ears. Michigan up-and-comers Drift Lifted bring a psychedelic blues back to rock that has rarely been heard outside of such hallways in the past 40 years. Theirs is a raw, untamed rock music that pulls you in - mind, body and soul. Rock and roll has always served as a sanctuary for the outcasts and sinners - those that choose to march against the grain of the upright society, filled with its moral corruptions. The tri-city based boys of Drift Lifted are right there marching, instruments in hand - their weapons of the “upcoming musical revolution.” Raw emotion pulsates through their songs forming a rhythmic heartbeat in their chaotic melodies. The music bounces and swells - breathing - laying the foundation for their electro-psychedelic guitar riffs, jazz-inspired blues bass and impure vocals of lead singer, Austin Woods. For the guys - Woods, vocals; Dave Garno, bass guitar; Joe Beni, guitar; Spencer Koppi, guitar and Cody Waterman, drums - their music is their release. It is what is left when they strip away everything that is fake and corruptible - their bare bones on display for their fans to connect with. In fact, says Woods, most of the songs on their upcoming debut album, due out August 2015, focus on corruption of some sort. “Blind Pig” is the album’s straight-up, down to the core blues song. A classic “bar fly” song, it describes worn out people in a worn out bar who are searching for hope. “Blind Pig” plays with levels throughout, getting quiet at times and chaotic at others. As blues-y as the lyrical concept, is Woods’ gruff voice over Garno’s hard-hitting riffs, forming a stable backbone for the song. “You Just Want” is a compilation of all the members’ styles. Heavy bass lines, groove guitar and steady drum beats keep the rhythm, while Koppi’s guitar riffs go from psychedelic to southern blues. Woods’ lyrics focus on frustration. The message- being sick and tired of bullshit. “Music is a way for me to express my true thoughts,” Woods said. “When I write down lyrics I mend them in such a way that everyone can build there own ideas about what the song is about. That's what art is, being able to take away your own thoughts from someone else's creation.” It is difficult to picture such a keen sense of music and life coming from such young musicians - all under age 27. Yet, it simply shows how entrenched their lives are in the music of yesteryear - some of their biggest inspirations being MC5, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors. Drift Lifted has toured through much of Michigan and Ohio in their Dodge van, lovingly dubbed Roy Vogular, complete with an old couch and traveling basketball hoop. Life on the road can be interesting to say the least. As Garno describes it, “Pee bottles, sleep and cigarettes.” On their road adventures, the boys think about what’s in store for their future. They hope to spark their own musical revolution, getting the fans back into the essence of the music and away from their phone screens. “I hate how much people rely on technology,” Koppi said. “Nothing can ever be left in the moment. People have to take pics or videos instead of truly focusing. Everything has to be quick, simple, easy to grasp. No thinking involved.” Drift Lifted also hopes to keep the music right where it was always meant to be - with the rock-hungry fans, happily caught in that forever quest for the next great song. Go check out http://www.driftlifted.com