Native Construct: Indefinite Hiatus

I really liked their debut album from 2015, Quiet World. But this does not exactly come as a shock given the slowness of their 2nd album.



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Hey folks,

It's finally time for us to give a definitive update on the status of Native Construct. *tl;dr at the end*

First, I want to acknowledge how long it's taken us to do this. Our intention was to make sure everything was 100% certain and worked out behind the scenes before making any official statements, and the timeline on that got way out of hand. You were all left hanging and wondering and speculating for far too long, and I honestly feel awful about that. Maybe we should have been more open about what was going on with us in real time. It's still hard to know what the optimal approach would have been, but this has definitely been a learning experience.

Anyway, I'm telling you today that the rumors are true: Native Construct is on an indefinite hiatus.

I know this isn't the news many of you wanted to hear, and I know this may be surprising considering all the teasing we had been doing for the second album. For whomever may be interested, I'll try to explain as clearly as possible how we arrived here.

We made the first Native Construct album while we were in college, when life was much simpler. Since then, we graduated and entered the real world. We started the second album during a time of great uncertainty in all our lives. We originally intended to dedicate most of our time and energy to NC #2, but it turns out that was pretty naive. To put it lightly, Native Construct was never a cash-cow for us. As recent college graduates, we were facing the realities of needing to pay the bills, start developing reliable careers, build savings, etc. As Native Construct got pushed lower and lower on the list of priorities, we gradually came to the realization that dedicating our lives to this band was a bad move, nor was it what we wanted.

We changed a lot as people and as musicians during these transitional years, and to be honest, most of us became less interested in metal music. The material we were working on for the second album is completely different from Quiet World. It sounds like a different band. So, another factor in the decision to put NC to bed was the realization that we were trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by pulling such a dramatic left turn with the musical direction of this project.

The good news is that we've all found other things to focus on for the time being, and are doing well! In case anyone's interested, I'll give a brief description of what all the band members are up to:

-Poh Hock is teaching guitar, and has a killer solo album coming out TOMORROW (March 8 ). You can also hear more of his shredz with a band called Replacire.
-Max is working in the game industry as a sound designer.
-Rob is also pursuing a career in sound design, along with private vocal instruction. You can keep up with him on his (WIP) website here: rwedens.wixsite.com/website
-Jake was drumming all over the world on a cruise ship, and just recently moved to LA to continue his career as a drummer, playing with various artists. @jakedickdrums on Instagram if you wanna keep up with him.
-I, Myles, am focusing on teaching music theory/composition in private lessons and as a YouTuber: MusicWithMyles.com. I'll be putting out original music in the future, too (some of this unreleased NC #2 stuff may even see the light of day in some form).

Anywhoosles...I just want to talk for a sec about how wild of a ride this has been for us. It would have been completely crazy for anyone to expect the amount of love we were to receive after putting out one little album recorded in my bedroom. The whole Native Construct phenomenon has been just astonishing. Truly. We've gotten to meet and work with some awesome people, tour with some of our favorite bands, and see tons of cities across North America. And most importantly, we've gotten to hear from countless strangers who have found some genuine joy in our music. It's an incredible thing. We'll never forget all the love you nerds have given us. To anyone who has ever listened to one of our tunes, worked with us, or supported us in any way: we love you, and we thank you.

ttfn
-NC

tl;dr: the band's dead, everything is fine, thx 4 the memories <3 span="">

That Drummer Guy: Native Construct Interview at PPUSA

Good interview from That Drummer Guy at ProgPowerUSA. It sounds like they really impressed a lot of people there last weekend. Probably as much as a reason I want to see their show with Between the Buried and Me at The Skyway Theatre on the Monday before Thanksgiving, November 23rd.

Native Construct - Quiet World (2014-2015)

I'm unclear how good this album is/will be as it's not released yet anyway, dropping next Tuesday April 21st I noticed.

But the video below with "Mute" definitely holds some optimism. Props to a friend of mine  named Jason on Facebook and Mike Portnoy's forum for recommending this song/band to me.

This is a 3-piece band as the info below shows, comprised of musicians who met at Berklee College of Music. Style-wise, it is progressive metal, that I suppose isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, but I do like the textures and symphonic elements. This doesn't sound like progressive metal trying to be Dream Theater really, but more just highly influenced by Between the Buried and Me and perhaps Mr.Bungle and some others (both are mentioned in the comments and some other places online).

I guess I hear this track "Mute" as sounding rather refined and the use of strings working quite well. In just checking out the 1 track on their Bandcamp Page from 2012 (embedded at the bottom), they clearly have an interest in using textures and strings? (even if they are just programmed). That along with composition could allow my feelings about this band stand out among so many "prog metal" bands who may be heavily influenced by BTBAM (or Dream Theater I suppose).

I guess if there's a band who I am most reminded of in that using that influence and doing cool thins with it, it'd probably be Painted in Exile, who, after that great EP in the late 2000's, have been rather quiet (1 new track recently), so perhaps Native Construct will bring that kind of thing in more quantity (at least they are signed to Metal Blade).

PiE and I suppose I am reminded a little of that newest The Contortionist album/style.

Perhaps Native Construct could do a tour with either Painted in Exile or more likely, The Contortionist?

I guess we'll see, but this album should be something cool to look forward to next week, post-Record Store Day even.

Purchase Link



1. Mute
2. The Spark of the Archon
3. Passage
4. Your Familiar Face
5. Come Hell or High Water
6. Chromatic Lights
7. Chromatic Aberration



https://www.facebook.com/NativeConstruct?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/NConstructBand

http://www.metalblade.com/nativeconstruct/



Robert Edens: Vocals
Myles Yang: Guitar
Max Harchik: Bass

Native Construct is the product of collaboration between several students that began in 2011 at the storied Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Fueled by a desire to breathe new life into the modern metal genre, Native Construct artfully blends a wide spectrum of compositional influences, ranging from classical all the way to prog metal and musical theatre. The result is a wonderfully unique sonic texture, made up of extended-range guitars, theatrical vocals, and a full complement of symphonic instrumentation. Guitarist and composer Myles Yang's passion for innovation, coupled with his extensive academic study of arranging and compositional techniques, makes Native Construct a truly distinctive up-and-coming metal act.

In 2014, the band's music caught the ear of Brian Slagel at Metal Blade Records, and led to a recording contract and a worldwide release of the band's debut album, Quiet World. The album promises to be a rich, vibrant, and aurally engaging musical experience. While following a musically programmatic approach to its storytelling, the album demonstrates a fascinating unification of numerous musical styles and provides an emotional journey through the vast and imaginative world Native Construct have envisioned.

Quiet World was largely self-produced and written between 2011 and 2013 in between the individual band members' studies at the Berklee College of Music. What began as jam sessions simply for fun eventually turned into a full-fledged musical endeavor. All tracking and programming was done at the band's home studios in Boston, MA, with the exception of vocals, which were recorded with Jamie King at The Basement Studios in Winston-Salem, NC. The album was mixed by Rich Mouser at The Mouse House Studio in Los Angeles, CA, and mastered by Jamie King.

A brief listen to Quiet World is enough to make it apparent that there is a concept, here. Though it's best to let the band explain the album in their own words: "Quiet World is about a guy who loves a girl. The guy is a bit of an odd and eccentric person - an outcast. He's also a mute, and a little unstable, as it turns out. The girl doesn't return his feelings, but he can't bring himself to let go. As his unrequited passion for her devolves into obsession and eventual resentment, his mind begins to slip further and further away. He convinces himself that he can't be loved because of his condition and abnormalities. So he decides to create for himself a new, fantastic world of which he has complete control - a world where there are no oddballs or outcasts. A world where everyone is surrounded by people who are just like themselves: a much quieter world.

"It's at this point that the first track of the album, "Mute," begins. And it turns out that many of the subjects of his new world are not as content living this way as he is. In the second track we see a new character, the Archon, rise up and unite his people in the clouds with the once distant people in the sea. He leads an opposition to "Sinister Silence," as the people come to call him. The rest of the album unfolds with events within the "Quiet World" and manifestations of the enduring struggle between the Archon and Sinister Silence. The lone exception is track number four, "Your Familiar Face," which steps out of this world for a moment to give a closer look at the events prior to the first track and the tragedy of Sinister Silence."

What is impressive about Native Construct is not necessarily an involved concept on a debut record, it's that they wrote, produced, and recorded the album while balancing school work and on a college student budget. It's the epitome of "self produced." And what Native Construct wants fans to know is that "the composition process for this album was intensely meticulous from top to bottom. Each note, each lyric, each twist and each turn were arrived at with the utmost care. As such, we were able to weave rich, often subtle layers of meaning into the music and text. We're very excited for you all to experience the result of our efforts!"