Lovedrug

Lovedrug is: Michael Shepard (vocals,piano,guitar), David Thomas Owen IV (guitar,vocals), Korey Christopher Jones (bass), and James Childress (drums). They hail from Ohio, near Hartville and North Canton. Melding purist indie rock ethic with the immense sounds of stadium-prog, Lovedrug refuse to recognize a dichotomy between art and mass appeal. While the euro-bent of their debut LP Pretend You're Alive frequently evoked Muse and pre-electronic Radiohead comparisons, Lovedrug embrace broader musical peers. Defining their own unique space between indie pillars (Modest Mouse, Sunny Day Real Estate) and super-size rock (Soundgarden, Nirvana), chief protagonist Michael Shepard's otherworldly vocals set intriguing tales against a massive sonic backdrop.

Now Lovedrug return to expand their beautiful and cinematic vision with Everything Starts Where It Ends, Shepard's concept rendering of "the guiles that befall one on a journey through the mazes of life, death and love." The journey motif is reflected most immediately in the life of the artists themselves. Passing on major label offers in search of creative control, Lovedrug became The Militia Group's fastest selling release, charting at #4 and #43 on Billboard's Internet and Independent charts respectively in late-2004.

Enthused by the brilliant start, Columbia Records upstreamed the band with plans for a re-release in '05, before widely publicized instability and a revolving door of key figures at the label took its toll. Deftly slipping through the clutches of the corporate blue meanies, Lovedrug were granted release from Columbia, taking with them new recordings begun with Pretend producer Tim Patalan in between tours in late '05 and '06.

The resulting Everything Starts Where It Ends is a masterful collection of music and contiguous stories. Avoiding the pretentious befoulments that so often ensnare a "concept record", Everything Starts is a beautiful sojourn of introspection, cast in a cinematic structure that perfectly marries lyrical content and instrumentation. Couched in poetic language sprawling, archetypal, fairy-tale laced narratives open in different ways to every listener, hitting the nerve of universal connection.

"The sense of rapport inside the song structures is as fundamental as the name Lovedrug," notes guitarist David Owen, a reference not to 'drug-fueled ecstasy' but rather the distinct connection between emotion and motion. The band name challenges quite simply: "Where is love dragging you?" For Lovedrug, that motivation comes from a fidelity to their music and fans. "Our self-defined purpose,' agrees Shepard, 'is to create music that strives to evoke a feeling in the listener while, at the same time, evoking that same feeling in the band. That is where the real beauty lies. We strive to reach that plain. Always. And we won't stop... so here comes another record."