Land Of Pines

Land of Pines recorded the material for its first three EPs in a yurt while working at a summer camp in the San Juans, using a car battery to power the recording equipment. If you listen closely you can hear a bird or two in the background on some of the tracks.

"We're just kids in school trying to make it work," said Kessiah Gordon, co-founder and one of two lead singers in the band.

At a benefit show in Seattle a few weeks ago, crammed into a living room corner, surrounded by a bunch of college kids, this quirky new group showed they know how to play an electrically charged show. It looks like the city is starting to take notice. The band opens for Brit singer Anna Calvi Wednesday at the Crocodile and is also playing this summer's Capitol Hill Block Party.

Land of Pines plays youthful, dancey indie rock, bringing intoxicating, high-octane energy to live performances, with a quirky, unpretentious feel. It's as if your funny best friends were on stage having a blast with you. Some of the songs, such as "It's Not Your Fault," are playful and catchy; others, such as "Heart Love Still," are slower and thoughtful. But get ready for a workout; dancing is very nearly mandatory at their shows.

The group's original duo, Gordon and singer-guitarist Evan Easthope, have known each other since they were both a year old, growing up on Capitol Hill. You can sense that camaraderie on stage, as Gordon and Easthope joke about each other.

They played in a short-lived band together when they were at the Bush School before parting ways to head for college, Kessiah to New York University, Evan to the University of Washington.

"We've basically had the best friend journey in a nutshell," Gordon said.

After freshman year, in 2009, missing music and their best-friend bond, the two decided to use the summer to record a few songs they had written — and Land of Pines was born as a guy-girl duo in the San Juans. The next year, they added drummer Kyle Holland, bassist Spencer Miller and keyboardist Alex Miller.

Since September, the group has made it to the semifinals of the EMP Soundoff! competition and won a regional slot in the national College Battle of the Bands.

Gordon and Easthope head back to school in the fall, but Land of Pines won't dissolve. The band's made enough money for Gordon to fly back to Seattle from New York to play a few shows throughout the year.

"We'll play less, but the band will still be intact," Gordon said. "We spent the first two years missing each other, and it went by quickly. The last two years of school should be fine." - The Seattle Times

Land Of Pines is a local indie pop duo that has recently not only won a College Battle of the Bands, but also has released their second EP, so cleverly titled II. Lead singer Evan Easthope has a slight accent that makes you swear he’s part Scottish, although Land Of Pines hail from the Emerald City and Kessiah Gordon’s voice really grabs you by the ears and makes you take notice. - Seattle Show Gal

Land of Pines has the kind of idiosyncratic back story that makes music critics salivate. The local band is the project of childhood friends Evan Easthope and Kessiah Gordon, with Gordon taking a year off from NYU to play in the band, and their latest EP, 1, was recorded Bon Iver-style in a yurt in the San Juans. The music is cathartic, catchy indie rock (a la The Lonely Forest) mixed with Easthope and Gordon’s boy-girl vocal harmonies—and lately, it’s been paying dividends: the band played the EMP’s Sound Off! Competition in February and recently opened for the likes of The Rural Alberta Advantage and Starfucker. In a live setting, Land of Pines plays with energy and confidence that belies their relative youth, leaving the critics drooling for entirely different reasons and proving that good music always beats a good story. With Cataldo, Kaylee Cole, The Glass Notes. - Seattle Weekly

Opening things up were Seattle’s own Land of Pines. What at first sounded like simple punky indie rock soon turned into something else entirely. They played their songs with a sense of menace, and most of them threatened to descend into chaos by the end. Don’t be mistaken, though. Land of Pines play songs with very definite, complex pop structures. If you needed a label to slap on the band you could call them “Rilo Kiley with razorblades,” but that doesn’t even come close. Land of Pines could very well be Seattle’s next breakout hit. They have two shows scheduled before the end of the month, see them if you can. - KEXP

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Sound Off! underage battle of the bands at the Experience Music Project. The event has helped launch myriad careers in the past decade, with notable participants such as The Globes (who performed as “For Years Blue”), The Lonely Forest, SOL, Schoolyard Heroes, and Dyme Def. Each year the event seems to get a little bigger and more diverse, but for some reason this year seems especially varied and full of local talent.

Considering the long line of talent associated with Sound Off, it’s no wonder that the competition has become increasingly competitive, and this year the lineup includes such exceptional acts as Land of Pines, Kids & Animals, Ambulance and Kung Foo Grip.

Kids & Animals have already felt a small taste of local popularity, self releasing a well-received record this past year, with the single “Dirty City” featured as Song of the Day on KEXP last January. After a months-long hiatus, the band appears poised to make a valiant and undoubtedly fun-filled effort at the competition, and will surely see their star rise in its aftermath.

Fortune seems to especially favor local bassist Spencer Miller. His two current projects, post-punk outfit Ambulance and indie-popsters Land of Pines, were accepted into the competition this year. If that wasn’t enough to boost his ego, both bands have charted this past week on KEXP’s variety list. Land of Pines came in at #68 with their current debut EP, 1, receiving numerous requests, and Ambulance hit #57, a smashing accomplishment for a band whose members are still in high school and are probably dealing with preparation for their High School Proficiency Exams at the moment.

The first night of competition takes place on February 12th, and features Ambulance against some immensely talented young bands. The semi-finals continue each Saturday through the 26th, and the final round will be on Saturday March 5th. If you love being on top of the next best thing in local music, make an effort to go out and support these bands. You will be deeply satisfied. - Seattle Show Gal

Maybe you’ve been living under a rock during your time in Seattle, but I still have a hard time believing you are reading this right now and have never heard of Sound Off!, the all ages battle of the bands at EMP|SFM, currently in progress. Saturday, February 26th, round three will be taking place, featuring the ever talented likes of Land of Pines, Kids & Animals, The Oh Wells, and Micah B.

This show has birthed stars over the years, at least in the Northwest realm, and talented acts, such as Seattle’s beloved Lonely Forest and The Globes, continue to tour and record fantastic music in all their glory. This particular round of the competition features some exceptionally well seasoned young acts, with the startlingly catchy Micah B. being a noteworthy fish out of water. It will definitely be a tough night for him going up against such a group of infectious pop acts, but this doesn’t diminish the fact that this young guy has a knack for hip-hop rife with bouncy beats and techno-melodies straight out of the night club.

The Oh Wells make some solid, sparkly pop tunes that recall, at times, The Cranberries, Miley Cyrus and Kimya Dawson. It’s a weird mix of artists to compare, but it really isn’t if you go in and take a look at their music.

The real competition that night seems to be taking place between Kids & Animals and Land of Pines. It would be hard to award one band of being “better” than the other, especially since there is so much to like about both groups, and they are quite different in how they employ their brands of edgy, indie-pop.

This competition will certainly be worth the cheap cover and screaming accolades of young fans. Forgot about going anywhere else; head straight to EMP. - Seattle Show Gal

This past Friday, February 18, I caught a show at The Vera Project in Seattle, an all ages venue in Seattle Center. It was definitely an experience. When we were looking for venues, it didn’t occur to us that “all-ages” also meant no bar and a crowd of almost all early college and high schoolers with parents in the back waiting for the concert to be over so they could pick up their kids.

Despite the new venue experience, we were pleasantly surprised by the whole night. The venue was picked purely on Myspace samples of Us On Roofs and Land Of Pines, leaving us with the thought of, “yeah, we could spend an evening listening to that”. Both are underage bands with ties to the Experience Music Project Sound Off! battle of the bands. The whole night was a refreshing confirmation that young bands are not to be ignored.

Land Of Pines was started by Evan Easthope and Kessiah Gordon with demos emailed to each other from their cross-country colleges. The demos turned into an ongoing EP series. Their show had all the jittery energy expected of friends playing for friends, complete with double drums. Unfortunately the more energetic dance songs which they performed are not available on their EP, but “Grow” and “Heart Grow Still” are not to be missed.

Us On Roofs is a more melodic rock band consisting of Brian Fisher, Mikey Farrow, and Nicholas Blodgett. Their sound relied more on structured and edited guitar melodies and they were reminiscent of Young The Giant with their earnest vocals. Check out their songs “English Pocket Mirror” and “In The Glow”.

Despite the inital shock of the venue, I am definitely glad I went. It’s great that Seattle has a venue such as The Vera Project for all-ages to experience and explore not just music, but also art and the behind-the-scenes production of concerts. It’s purpose is to encourage and empower young people to create community ties and social change. It’s a venue that Boston is lacking, and if had existed in Boston, would’ve been frequented often by myself and many others during high school and college years. - Review Artists

Local quintet Land of Pines is making the Evergreen State proud these days, playing a plethora of local shows and grabbing a lot of ears in the process. Sound on the Sound raves about the group calling them “the best new young local band in years.” Check out their live performance of “Virgin Birth” at Hope Lodge in the video cube down yonder. You can catch the band live in living color Saturday, February 26 at EMP’s Sound Off! semi-finals. Good luck to Land of Pines and all the other youth bands playing in the Sound Off! battle of the bands. - Seattle Film + Music Blog

Evan Easthope of the indie rock outfit Land of Pines has been listening to a lot of rap. Not hip-hop: rap.

And with reason. A little rap has helped him get into a competitive mindset upon setting foot on stage, a mindset that didn’t hurt as his band prepared for Sound Off!

“[Rap has a] very competitive nature to it — there’s a violence to it,” he said. “It’s quest for being the alpha- dog, dominant one. I understand that competitive nature, and it’s weird how that plays into being on stage. But, being on stage is scary and you’re very vulnerable. You’re competing for the attention of the audience.”

When in his “zone,” Easthope is conscious of all his actions, making sure his pitch is on point and that he isn’t messing up guitar lines.

“At the same time, I don’t care. I make weird faces and move my microphone to and fro in a sloppy fashion,” he said.

Unfortunately, Land of Pines came up short and didn’t advance to the Sound Off! finals. But in retrospect, Easthope says the band did everything right. His only regret is that his set didn’t have enough range in sound.

“We’re starting to think we should have included a softer ballad in there because I think it would have put us on the same playing field as our competitor,” he said.

But set lists weren’t selected blindly. Easthope explained that, with any rehearsal, there is much thought given to each and every decision made on behalf of the band.

“Meticulous” is the word Easthope used to describe the band’s nature.

“We’ll sit down as a band and write out a set list and debate the merits of the set list as we need to. And the set list should have some sort of contour or landscape to it,” he said. “Whether that’s one key flowing into another key really nicely, a fast tempo to balance out a slow tempo — a large heavy dynamic against a really quiet one.”

Surrounded by manically screaming and jumping fans who want nothing more than to touch lead singer Kessiah Gordon’s bangs, it’s easy to think that the band has “made it” — with or without the title of Sound Off! champion.

“We’ve had a considerable amount of momentum that’s propelled us into Seattle. There’s some people who have been just so supportive of us,” Easthope said. “We’ve made an effort to personally be involved with anyone who will loyally see our band. Those are the people we really care about — the people who care about us enough to come see us more than once.”

Easthope said that “making it” to him is putting out a record that people can respond to and anticipate, to be sought after for high-profile shows. And for now, they haven’t quite “made it” yet.

“Winning Sound Off! is something to put on your resume — the real prize of Sound Off! is the light people see you in because you’re the Sound Off! winner,” he said.

At the very least, Land of Pines has a uniqueness to celebrate.

“Not to state the obvious, but we’re unique because we have a girl in a heavy rock band singing lead vocals and playing lead guitar. And she’s good too,” Easthope said of Kessiah Gordon, his bandmate and co-songwriter. “She totally eclipses what I like to call Meg White-isms. The thought was that no other girl could have possibly played lead drums in The White Stripes. But she was an awful drummer. She made it okay for girls to be like ‘Okay, I don’t have to be that good at drums, I’m a girl. I can pull this aesthetic off.’”

With Gordon, it’s another story.

“Kessiah plays with the culturally constructed posture of a dude. And that’s intimidating. She breaks down a lot of boundaries.”

Winner or not, Land of Pines has made valuable connections with the community — and ultimately with each other.

“The more connected we feel with each other, the more we understand where we are in the music,” Easthope said. “I think as an experience, it’s one of the most valuable, and fun-fulfilling things.” - The UW Daily

We’d loved Land of Pines debut EP and even told you about it here on Sound on the Sound, but hadn’t seen the band live before the Best of the New and all there really is to say is WOW. Testing just how loud the sound system at Columbia City Theater could go, Land of Pines delivered a blistering set of hard driving, emotive indie rock with a deft professionalism that belies their young age. Its been years since we were so utterly blown away by a young local rock band–the last two that come to mind having impressed me half as much are The Globes and The Lonely Forest–two local bands I think we can agree are doing pretty well for themselves. You can see Land of Pines next as contestants in SoundOff! EMP’s annual competition for the best young local bands later this February and we certainly don’t envy any of the bands competing against them. - Sound On The Sound

Seattle duo Land Of Pines create intelligent, catchy, and big-sounding pop songs that will make your ears radiate. The angelic voice of Evan Easthope and the loud, clean banging instrumentation bring to mind Mew or even Saves The Day, In Reverie era. If you don’t believe me, scroll on down and take a listen to the upbeat song “Not Your Fault” with its pretty driving chorus. Land Of Pines’ debut EP, simply titled 1, is the first of a four part series of EP’s to be released by the duo, who have supporting musicians come in for live shows. Land Of Pines play their songs with a veteran’s delivery, and sound completely comfortable and confident in their music. If you enjoy The Lonely Forest, you’ll love this band. To whomever wins these tickets, let me say I am truly jealous, this is one of those shows where every band performing is awesome and I have no doubt you’ll list this as one of the best shows you’ve been to, and you got to see it for free. Supporting Land Of Pines will be The Mission Orange and Cumulus. - Seattle Show Gal

Last Wednesday night, Canada gave us the pleasure of sending us one of their finer musical exports. I must say that I was quite astonished to find out that Wintersleep was coming to the Tractor. Usually bands from the East Coast (especially the East Coast of Canada) hardly ever venture this far west, but Seattle got lucky. Seattle’s own Land of Pines opened with an astonishing passion and talent that’s rare to find these days. - Back Beat Seattle

God damnit Seattle, we are so spoiled. It seems like there’s a promising new band around every corner, not to mention the most solid stable of long time players of any city in the country. I’ve long said I would never trade Seattle’s local music scene with anywhere in the country. Not New York. Not Austin. And plenty of people have thought it was hyperbole, but I mean it whole heartedly. You’ve got the best and the brightest in your midst Seattle and its a blessedly fertile time for local music. So count your blessings and add a new up-and-coming favorite to the list: Land of Pines.

If you like The Lonely Forest (and based on their streak of a year of sold out Seattle shows, you do) or Eric Elbogen’s Say Hi, you are going to love Land of Pines. The band is all chugging hooks, soaringly catchy songs, a playful guy/girl vocal dynamic and it is all delivered with the earnestness only afforded to the young and talented. And these UW students most certainly are. Their debut EP, making its debut right here on Sound on the Sound, is 15 minutes of incredibly promising local pop that flits between rock and folk casually and with confidence. Give “Grow” a chance to well, grow, and you’ll be rewarded with goosebumps.

I’ve heard from trusted (and notoriously difficult to impress) sources that the band brings it live and they’ve been playing all over Seattle recently - the past month has included dates at the Vera Project, Sunset and Tractor. The band is playing The Can Can this Thursday (November 18th) and will be at the High Dive on December 8th and we can’t wait to check them out. We suggest you do too, because we think Land of Pines is going to be a band you’ll be hearing lots more of and about in the coming months. - Sound On The Sound

Opening for Wintersleep were local group Land of Pines, who achieved a similar sonic efficiency, getting at least five people’s worth of sound out of its quintet of members. Over their big rock backgrounds lie catchy pop vocals and, quirkily, subtly tropical guitar licks. They manage to sound not quite like anything else without hitting you over the head with a “HEY! WE’RE DIFFERENT!” stick, and clearly people are taking notice: the Tractor held a respectable weeknight crowd for their set, many of whom had unfortunately disappeared by the time Wintersleep took the stage. - Sound On The Sound

By Andrew Gospe
November 12th, 2010

It takes a lot to start a band — time, energy, ambition, flexibility and, hopefully, talent.

But sometimes, it takes even more to keep a band together.

Case in point: Kessiah Gordon and UW junior Evan Easthope, both 21, the principle songwriters and lifelong friends behind Seattle indie-rock quintet Land of Pines.

The pair played music together throughout middle school and high school in Seattle. The duo’s first EP, released in 2008, was their culminating project as high school seniors.

Now, they’re putting college on hold to pursue their dream of playing music, releasing their first EP as full band Land of Pines later this month and embarking on a national tour early next year.

“If you spend four years in college, you can’t necessarily jump right back in [to playing music], Easthope said. “If we waited four years …”

Gordon finished for him: “We might not ever get a chance.”

Upon meeting Gordon and Easthope at their Wallingford practice space, the bond they share is evident. During the interview, they completed each other’s thoughts. While practicing, they discuss instrumentation, and Gordon chides Easthope about the color of his sweater.

Their friendship manifests itself in the music as well. Consisting mostly of straightforward indie rock and pop songs, Gordon and Easthope harmonize frequently and trade off lead vocals democratically.

“We finished our other band in high school, but we knew to some degree that we’d like to play music together after college,” Easthope said.

After graduation, Easthope enrolled at the UW, but Gordon didn’t stay so close to home, crossing the country to participate in The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at NYU, a prestigious program for future music-industry entrepreneurs.

At first, the transition didn’t feel quite right.

“We both started our freshman year of college and it was rough on both of us,” Easthope said. “I think it’s just a hard time for people in general. Kessiah and I were talking to each other on the phone once, and it was a lot of ‘I miss you, man,’ and ‘I want to play music again.’ Kessiah was also writing all of these great songs.”

Gordon and Easthope sent sketches of songs back and forth during the 2008-09 school year, and during the summer of 2009, they began to record some of their material while working as music directors at Camp Nor’wester, a summer camp in the San Juan Islands.

“It was a really makeshift project,” Gordon said of the recording process, which involved using a car battery to provide electricity. “We went there with all of our equipment — a snare, a tom, some cymbals, our one guitar. We were in a yurt.”

Four of these recordings, which Gordon began to mix during her sophomore year at NYU, will be released later this month on “I,” their first EP.

“Because I engineered the songs and because I produced them and recorded them myself, I have this attachment to them,” Gordon said. “To be able to remove myself from the mixing process is really hard.”

It was the strength of these songs and her desire to play music with Easthope that prompted Gordon to make a tough decision — taking a year off from NYU to fully pursue the project.

“I was on the fence the entire time,” she said of her choice. “I was really scared about taking a year off, because I’m in a four-year program. All of the decisions I’ve made for this band were kind of leaps of faith.”

Now that they’ve decided to pursue their dream, Easthope and Gordon hope to take Land of Pines to the next level. They’ve fleshed out their band with keyboardist Alex Miller, bassist Spencer Miller and drummer Kyle Holland, and they plan on releasing a string of four EPs before going on tour.

Just like everything else about the band’s formation, planning a tour hasn’t come easily. The band plans to leave before winter-quarter finals, meaning that Easthope will have to plan ahead. There’s also the matter of booking shows, which Gordon characterized as the “toughest thing” about the project so far.

But even if Land of Pines doesn’t pan out, Gordon knows that her and Easthope’s bond will endure.

“At this point, I feel like Evan and I are always going to be musically connected,” she said. “I don’t see it ever ending.” - The Daily [of the University of Washington]