Eyelid Up is a band that has slowly emerged into the Portland underground music scene. Their sound is melodic and powerful, and they each have a presence that blends together to create a synergy in the group. This is one of those bands that is only going to continue to get better.
I showed up at Vocalist Billy Marlowe’s house one sunny afternoon during the bands practice so we could have a chance to talk. Every single band member was sporting a new tattoo of the Eyelid Up logo, compliments of notorious Rob from “What Lies Within the Skin” who is also an unofficial member of the band, having been with them from the start. I have to say this is probably the funniest experience I have ever had talking with a local band as the second I turn the microphone on Billy grabs it and begins whispering into it in a scary voice “This is White noise, This is a test for White noise, Get out of my house”. We finally got down to business and started the actual interview, although these guys are anything but serious, it was something close to a riot.
Crave: Tell me about the KUFO Rock em Sock em boxing match you were involved in. How did that all happen?
Eyelid Up: Adam, Jackass. I actually thought they were gonna put me in some kind of goofy body suit or they were actually going to have rock em sock em toys or something. I really didn’t know it was going to be a real boxing match. When I found out I was like Oh shit, what did I get our poor singer into? I don’t think any of us knew what was actually gonna happen, we didn’t think they would actually do it because boxing would be quite a liability for radio. The night of the fight Billy called me and said get down here, wait till you see what’s going on. I walked in and it was like a legitimate boxing match, ring and all.
Crave: So you didn’t know until you got there?
Eyelid Up: I kind of knew, the day before when they called me and said I would have to sign a disclaimer in case of injury. At the end of it, Cort and Boomer told me “It was fun watching you get your ass kicked”.
Crave: Billy what was going through your head that night? I was standing in your corner, and it was hotter then hell in there, and your eyes were like a deer in a headlight. I felt bad for you, you looked scared.
Eyelid Up: I was scared. Any fight I have ever been has been out of rage and anger, and this was something totally foreign to me. I was biting my nails, calling Adam, I was listening to everybody’s advice.
Crave: You might not have won, but it was one of the best matches of the night. You fought your heart out and everyone was screaming for you. You were fighting Jeremy from West of Nowhere right, and you guys are friends. That must have been hard.
Eyelid Up: We emailed each other afterwards, we were both hurtin. After the match he had a concussion he had to go to the hospital. I was outside holding his hand before he went. They were giving him oxygen. I don’t think it was worth it.
Crave: If you had to do it again would you say no?
Eyelid Up: Definitely. All we have is this music scene, and stuff like this doesn’t keep it together. We all have to support each other, not fight each other.
Crave: So tell me a little about how Eyelid Up got together?
Eyelid Up: I met Adam Halloween of 1997 through his wife who I went to college with, and from there I met Cameron who was Adam’s cousin and we played in various bands the three of us and in July of 2001 Cameron and I, after trying different kind of music decided to form Eyelid Up. We had a bass player we went to high school with and he was pretty good and we worked on a few songs and began a solid foundation and we put an ad on the internet looking for a singer. We saw an ad on their that said “A perfect Circle” and we were looking for someone that had that Maynard feel, so we called him the perfect circle guy, and Billy he came out to rehearsal and he didn’t sing or anything, he just sat and watched, we ran through one song, “Altered” and after we ended the song Billy says “Where in the hell did you guys come from!” He had been in other bands too that didn’t work out so we gave him the tape. It was love at first beer! He came back to the next rehearsal and got some vocals down, we already knew he could sing we had heard his demo from his last band and he came in and right off the bat, we knew this was the guy. Our bass player that we had at the time, we didn’t really want to let him go but other life, like his family life, he got married and bought a house and it was really hard on the band because he would take forever to write his parts. We had known Joe, I have, almost my whole life. Everyone knew joe was the shit, I have always wanted to play in a band with him, so he was an easy choice. Its cool because we are still friends with everyone who used to be in our band, they come out to our shows and at least appears not to hate us. Then adam magically appeared through a womb, he just fell into place being Cameron’s cousin, it was just natural that he be part of the band. He was the metal head, we made him cut his hair. We are all melody whores, and he brought that sense of heaviness into the band. We find that when we disagree or argue about something, that is when our best shit comes out.
Crave: How did you get the name Eyelid Up?
Eyelid Up: Playboy Magazine! I was looking through Playboy magazine and I came across an article about women getting their eyebrows tattooed on their face, and the phrase Eyelid Up was on there, so we put that phrase in a hat with all these other band names and we chose them out of the hat, and then we voted on them, and eight people voted and Eyelid Up got the most votes. After the fact it made sense, it was kind of like, Eyelid Up, keep your eyes open for this band, the music we write is also very cerebral, thought provoking. So it worked out.
Crave: What would you say your signature sound is, if you had to describe your music what would it be?
Eyelid Up: I would just say that its Melodic hard rock. That’s what I would call it.
Crave: Who would you say are your major influences as a group?
Eyelid Up: Everyone is a big fan of Mudvayne. My background is like Metallica, Faith No More, Depeche Mode, Pantera, Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Crave: Anything strange you think people should know about you?
Eyelid Up: (Chris) ummm probably that 60% of these band members have tasted my piss. (hysterical laughter ensues) A couple of us like to smoke pot, well we had to pass a drug test, so we would get Chris piss, put it in a condom then take it in their to put it in the test cup. Well he bit it, and ended up getting piss in his mouth. Then a couple months later I tried the same thing, I didn’t get it in my mouth but after I poured it out, I had to stick it in my pocket and his pee like rolled down my leg, the lady is doing the test right there and I’m trying to hide the wet spot on my leg from her. So we call us the Billy piss club. People actually try to buy Billy’s piss now, so we are gonna whore him out. That’s the story of the BPC
Crave: So you are recording your whole new album with Chris Finster at Geomana Studios in Portland?
Eyelid Up: Yep. He’s recording the whole thing. Then Ben and Jasyn from Syx are supposed to be stepping in to help produce. At least they said they were interested in being involved in it. We’re not exactly how much. We’re excited about it. A year ago no one would talk to us, and now it has been so much better to get involved in the scene and get to know all the other bands. It’s been a long process. We just show our face, and go to all the shows.
Crave: Okay you each have to answer this individually, so say your names first or I will get it all mixed up.
Eyelid Up: (Chris) Kiss – Destroyer, (Billy) Men At Work – Business as Usual I actually went and bought it, (Joe) Motley Crue – Shout at the Devil! (Cameron) My first actual CD was Phil Collins greatest hits, but my first album was probably the Beatles because my mom would give me Beatles albums. (Adam) The first album I ever owned on vinyl was probably Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic.
Crave: When you are getting ready for a show do you have any certain ritual?
Eyelid Up: Yeah we do, band huddle. Billy drinks Throat tea and warms up.
Crave: What is the writing process like for the band?
Eyelid Up: The music come first, then the lyrics and vocals come ummm…whenever I think of them. I have to listen to them for a little bit, then we will have to drop it because I didn’t come up with anything, then it will come back around and become a song, something will finally fit for it.
Crave: This is a question that all of you have agree on. If you could make up your own festival show, you guys and three other bands, past or present, dead or alive, together or not, who would it be?
Eyelid Up: Tool. I think we can all agree on that, old Incubus maybe. Mudvayne, Tool, Incubus, and Eyelid Up. That’s hard to pick though.
Crave: So lets talk about your goals. If a label called you right now and said, I have a deal for you, with your families, jobs, whatever going on, can you afford to walk away from your current life to go travel across the country in a van?
Eyelid Up: It would all depend. We would be able to go but I would have to consider the support of my family. As a band we just want to make music and be happy. We don’t care about being rich and famous necessarily. We just want to make a living doing what we love. If my job today was to write a song, how cool is that? Or just to travel and play shows. I think our short term goal now is to get our CD finished and get it out there. Go as far as we can.
Crave: What’s your favorite venue to play?
Eyelid Up: Probably Ash Street because Heather and everyone there takes such good care of us. We really love Rock and Roll Pizza too, even though it is hot like crazy in there.
Crave: They fixed it, its so much better now. They installed exhaust fans into the cooling system.
Eyelid Up: Right on, because we really love to play there, the stage and sound there is insane, and it has that all ages area but still has a bar.
Crave: What’s been the best show you ever played?
Eyelid Up: 36 Crazyfists! And SYX At Sabala’s. It was amazing too play with those two bands.
Crave: So is there anything coming up in the future for you guys?
Eyelid Up: Cd Release party with Playne Jane at Hawthorne Theater, and we’re trying to get SYX on it to. And we want you to get an eyelid up tattoo, that’s what we want. Join us!
Crave: I'll think about it. I promise. Is there anything you want people to know about the band, or anybody you want to give props too in closing?
Eyelid Up: We want to thank our friends in all the bands we play with. There are so many people that got us to the point where we are right now. Inflikt, Shifft, Falling Closer, Plane Jayne, they are all amazing. Oh yeah, and Rob, our tattoo guy, he is the shit.
