Spring Break
Making music on the Other Side of Clearview
Kelly Bleck
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: Verve
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But for five local talents, the name came as easy as discussing a move across the street to the "other side of Clearview."
Other Side of Clearview is a band of characters: the father figure, the eccentric dancer, the artistic heart-throb, the happy slappin' bassist and the guy who takes stuff too far.
Matt Luizza, Corey Smith, Matt Simms and Evan Shelton live in the Fort Collins area, while Manuel Pacheco usually makes the trip up from Greeley.
But distance can't keep the up-and-coming local band apart, as they try to keep music the main focus in their lives.
Now stamping through the music scene in both Fort Collins and Denver, the band proudly claimed Scene Magazine's Battle of the Bands title in 2007 and second place in Herman's Best New Band in Denver in 2008.
The band will release their debut album, "Sweet Release," at their album release party May 15 at Hodi's Half Note with special guests Vices I Admire, Improv and members of 20XIII.
The formation of a band
Each of the five band members grew up in Colorado Springs. Their connections can be traced back to high school and middle school, and two met as early as kindergarten. But some didn't meet until college.
Luizza and Simms connected first in Edwards Hall their freshman year at CSU, meeting through a mutual friend. The two immediately began gracing the stairwells with acoustic tunes throughout the night.
"The RA would come shuffling out in her slippers and say, 'Guys, you're good, but please stop,'" Luizza said. "There were really good acoustics in the stairway, but apparently it went through the entire dorm."
Realizing their compatibility, the two generated a commercial jingle.
"I think it was for an investment company?" Luizza said with uncertainty. "But that made us realize we needed to do a band again."
And so the two began creating music for approximately six years before the creation of Other Side, which flourished with the recruitment of mutual friends in 2007.
"We were picky about who we brought in," Luizza said. "We don't want this to be a hobby band. We want to take this as far as we can."Simms brought in bassist Shelton, followed by keyboardist Smith and later, after replacing another drummer, Pacheco.
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