The Eskimos
The Eskimos are:
- Paul Walker Keyboards
- Dave Weiglein Guitar
- Andy Pope Bass
- Drew Sinclair Vocals, guitar
- Jason Eshelman Drums
Toronto, Canada native Drew Sinclair and Atlanta-born guitarist David Weiglein first met in 1991, but their actual musical partnership began four years later when the friends attended the University of Georgia. “Like a lot of people, I came to Athens supposedly to go to school, but actually to play music, ” remembers Sinclair. “It wasn’t long till we had a ton of 4-track tapes filled with songs.” “It was just us, some guitars and a four track, ” continues Weiglein. “We were basically just doing it for fun - that’s never wavered - but we still took a lot of pride in the quality of what we were doing. ” “We’ve always thought the whole point of being in a band is to make the music that you want to make,” says Sinclair. “We don’t care about being indie or rootsy, punk or whatever. I think the reason a lot of good bands don’t become great bands is that they do what they feel they are supposed to do as opposed to what they’re not supposed to do. We just want, in the end, to have a body of work that we can look back on and be proud of.”
With bassist Mark Lawrence and drummer Jason Eshelman on board by ‘98, Sinclair and Weiglein’s vision and rough demos began to mature with the help of constant touring. “We learned a lot, by continuing to write and record and then trying it out live, ” says Weiglein. “Nothing compares to an immediate reaction to songs.” Regional shows across the Southeast helped the Eskimos decide which songs to continue playing. “I think we sort of ‘grew up’ on stages around Athens,” says Sinclair. “Like every band, we’ve had a lot of good shows and some bad shows as well, but we’ve managed to learn something from each step. “In the summer of ‘99, we figured it was time to record a single in a real studio. So we demoed a song with Andy LeMaster (Bright Eyes, Now It’s Overhead) at Chase Park Transduction, in Athens, ” explains Weiglein. “But we were used to doing it all ourselves, experimenting with different sounds, rerecording, throwing stuff out, and basically tweaking everything over and over until we were satisfied.” By the spring of last year the Eskimos had acquired enough recording equipment to produce their debut album themselves. “Let It Come Down” was released in May of 2001 and garnered high praise throughout the Southeast as an album by a band “on a plateau all their own (Flagpole Magazine, June 2001.)”�
Discography
The Eskimos Something Must Be Transmitted Somehow
(BRIL003 - CD - LP) Allegro Music $8.79
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