In January, we were set to feature local band The Science Ofon Studio Live. But as we know, Omicron hit and we had to postpone. Now we’re finally ready to have them on the show after rescheduling.
For a recap: we learned that The Science Of formed during the pandemic with Jon Dillinger on bass, Lucas O’Dougherty on drums, Robert Combs on guitar, and Ashlee Henady on vocals.
Dillinger and O’Dougherty came to the KSMU studios for a chat about what they’ve been up to so far this year.
BALISLE: Alright. So, the last time we talked was in January. What have you guys been doing since then?
DILLINGER: You know, in a way, it’s almost like it’s the exact same thing because, I don’t know, events of this last year have humbled us greatly. And I don’t know if we’ve necessarily put a pause on things, but like, we just decided to kind of like slow down and we took our time on developing ideas and recording.
O’DOUGHERTY: We were sidelined by a few shows, too, when we started to realize we had to pick between rehearsal and shows or completing new stuff.
BALISLE: Do you think that this year was slower than like 2020 and 2021 when you guys were first getting started?
O’DOUGHERTY: Yeah, I think so. I think that we definitely kind of pumped the brakes a little bit.
DILLINGER: ‘Cause we were Covid recording and got everything ready and we were like, “YEAH! And the pandemic’s going away and we’re going to hit the road running!”
O’DOUGHERTY: But the resurgence in January, you know, why we rescheduled in the first place, it was just like, “Ok, it’s getting bad again. We’re just going to slow down a little bit.” And then it started going away again and we got asked to do a couple shows. And finally, we had kind of a group powwow and it was kind of like, “We need to focus on getting our EP done, and videos, and all the promotional materials. And then we can kind of shift gears into booking shows again and writing new material.”
In these last eight months, The Science Of has been working on a new EP, which will be available on CD Friday for Studio Live Social Hour at Tie & Timber. It’s called Moments and is a departure from their freshman release, called Everything, last year.
BALISLE: Tell me how it went recording this, from your album Everything. Because Everything was recorded basically by you guys doing the music and then Ashlee coming in at the end of it and doing all the vocals and lyrics, right?
O’DOUGHERTY: Yes. The music was already done and she had quite the task for the first album.
BALISLE: So, tell me how that was different for you guys doing a more collaborative project all together.
DILLINGER: It was a lot more organic. Robert writes a lot of the riffs and he kind of has a basic structure and then we kind of hash it out in practice. Some songs were just like magic and just happened like within a day.
O’DOUGHERTY: Super fast. I think “Fools” on the new EP was one that just came together super fast.
DILLINGER: “Threads” did, too.
O’DOUGHERTY: “Threads” as well, yeah. I mean, every song on it, I love, like, equally. So, those ones just feel like a really good group of songs. They sound like they belong together. But yeah, most of the time I’ll hear a riff that Robert writes and I’ll be like, “eh.” And then it’s when it starts coming together. Jon adds his bass line, I kind of get the drums figured out and then Ashlee will come in with vocals and lyrics and all of a sudden it just hits me in the emotions that I don’t expect. I’m like, “We have a song. This is a great song.”
We have a new one that’s not on anything that’s coming out yet, but hopefully will be a single down the road very soon, that is very good.
DILLINGER: And it’s even a little bit, the EP has kind of got a very tight style and theme to it.
O’DOUGHERTY: It feels like it’s matured and is the direction that we should be going.
Be sure to tune into Studio Live on Friday, September 9, 2022 at noon for The Science Of.
