Classical pianos and blistering guitars meld together to create an insatiably full sound...familiar, and yet so inventively different that it has the insane ability to convert a new listener upon first listen.
Butterfly Assassins (Brian Trahan, Bryan Kveton, Danny Yadron, Dylan Fischer) have been molding their unique sound since early 2002, the summer before they embarked on one of their biggest accomplishments to date...HIGH SCHOOL. These boyhood friends honed their skills in the jazz band room and in the orchestra pit, however they first developed their sound and chemistry while playing...in the sandbox.
Friends practically since birth, they learned so much more than how to play instruments, they learned how to play them together. When playing along to sheet music became too mundane they took to the basement to use their learned talents to create a sound that rivals the grandeur of Arcade Fire and the theatrical intensity of Muse.
However, the band has taken a secret pride in looking for influences outside of popular music. Brian has taken classical piano lessons since age 8, and is currently perusing both classical and jazz piano at U of M. Somewhere between Beethoven and Thelonius, he has become the slightly pretentious music nerd behind the Assassins’ outrageous descending sequences lifted from Chopin and intense classical resolves borrowed from Stravinsky.
Relying just as heavily on instrumentals as lyrics, Butterfly Assassins are a true “musical" band. "Prelude No 1 in D Minor" starts off like an angst ridden concerto and widens to encompass a spectrum of emotions.
Says the band of their upcoming album "There’s a concept, a feel, a style, and a strange fascination with a Russian woman named Sylvia. It has an amount of artistic ambition that we’re dying to get on tape. The sound is definitely much more complex and more intense, leaving room to expand." Sylvia, the latest creation from Brian’s psyche, has become a muse of sorts for the band. She’s a quiet, attractive character, who spends 13 years staring across an old wooden table at an old man. After an unexpected turn of events, she finds herself lost and aimless in the bustling world of 19th century Russia, causing trouble, but eventually living happily ever after. That is, until she is called upon again for more creative stimulation…
The band has spent the past two years relentlessly working the Chicago club circuit, breaking into clubs like Metro, The House of Blues, Subterranean, and Double Door before all members were legal adults. Before receiving their high school diplomas, Assassins already won the 2004 Illinois State Teen Battle of Bands, 2006 Battle of the Bands at Chicago club Mickey Finn’s and had the opportunity to open for Hanson at the Chicago House of Blues when they beat out thousands of hopefuls through an online contest. Currently freshman in college in the Chicago area, Assassins are slated to head out on a nationwide tour the summer of 2007.
Butterfly Assassins self released an EP in 2006 and have just signed a deal with New York indie label Old Flame Records. Assassins are currently in the studio (when they aren't in class) working on their Old Flame Records debut, which is scheduled to be released the summer of 2007.
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