The Six Parts Seven is an American

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

band formerly based in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The band was founded in 1995 by brothers Allen and Jay Karpinski (playing guitar and drums, respectively), who had earlier played with Old Hearts Club, a band of similar style including vocals. In 1998, Tim Gerak was added to the core member line-up, playing guitar and also credited with additional engineering on the band's later recordings. Most of the group's music is

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

, featuring multiple "clean" ( undistorted)

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

s, with

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, as well as electric lap steel guitar,

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

, and occasionally piano,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

, or

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

. Rather than relying primarily on strummed chords, songs are generally built by combining single-note melodic lines. The band has been through a plethora of line-up changes, and minor positions in the band have proved to be a revolving chair, while retaining the core force of the Karpinski brothers and Tim Gerak. Former vibraphonist Eric Koltnow left the band after the release of ''Everywhere and Right Here'', as well as former lap steel player Ben Vaughan after the birth of his first child. Minor positions, such as the newly-added trumpet, have been filled by members of other bands from the

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

area. The Six Parts Seven's name is based on a quote from

Virginia Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

William Berkeley in 1676, "How miserable that man is that governs a people where six parts of seven at least are poor, indebted, discontented and armed." A recent interview with another band member claims the name derives from a childhood game between brothers Jay and Allen. Although its name is similar, The Six Parts Seven should not be confused with the British band

Six by Seven Six by Seven (also written as SIX.BY SEVEN or six.by seven or six.byseven) are an English indie rock band, formed in 1992 in Nottingham. The classic lineup of the band featured singer/guitarist Chris Olley, guitarist Sam Hempton, drummer Chri ...

. The group has toured the United States several times and performed in March 2006 at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

festival in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Since the early 21st century its music has been used frequently by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'' news program as transition music. Group leader Allen Karpinski was interviewed about the group's music on the same program in September 2004.

Members

Current

*Allen Karpinski - guitar, electric bass, keyboards *Jay Karpinski - drums *Tim Gerak - guitar, banjo, lap steel, samples *Mike Tolan - electric bass guitar, guitar, organ, banjo *Steve Clements - grand piano, keyboards *Jake Trombetta - electric lap steel guitar, guitar, piano *Jennifer Court - clarinet

Former

*Brad Visker - electric bass *Ben Vaughan - electric lap steel guitar *Eric Koltnow - vibraphone *Matt Haas - electric lap steel guitar *Mary Mazzer - electric lap steel guitar *Heather Wiker - viola

Discography

Studio albums

*1998 - ''In Lines and Patterns...'' CD (Donut Friends) *2000 - ''

Silence Magnifies Sound ''Silence Magnifies Sound'' is a studio album by the Ohio post-rock band the Six Parts Seven. It was released in 2000 on Troubleman Unlimited. It includes the songs "Spaces Between Days (Parts 1 & 2)", with parts 3 and 4 on the following album, ' ...

'' CD (

Troubleman Unlimited Troubleman Unlimited Records was a record label specializing in indie rock and similar genres. Founded in 1993, the label was based in Bayonne, New Jersey and owned by Mike Simonetti. History The label started as an offshoot of a fanzine called ...

) *2002 - ''

Things Shaped in Passing ''Things Shaped in Passing'' is the third studio album from Ohio post-rock band The Six Parts Seven. It was released August 31, 2004 and is their first release on their label, Suicide Squeeze. It includes the songs 'Spaces Between Days (Parts 3 ...

'' CD & 2xLP (

Suicide Squeeze Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has also released comedy and performance a ...

) *2004 - ''

Everywhere, and Right Here ''Everywhere, and Right Here'' is the fourth studio album (not including a remix album, ''Lost Notes from Forgotten Songs'') from Ohio post-rock band The Six Parts Seven The Six Parts Seven is an American post-rock band formerly based in Kent ...

'' CD & LP (

) *2007 - ''

Casually Smashed to Pieces ''Casually Smashed to Pieces'' is the fifth studio album (not including their remix album) from post-rock band The Six Parts Seven. It was released January 23, 2007. The last song, "Everything Wrong is Right Again", is a reference to the song "Ev ...

'' CD & LP (

)

EPs

*2003 - ''

The Six Parts Seven/The Black Keys EP ''The Six Parts Seven/The Black Keys'' is a split- EP by Ohio bands The Six Parts Seven and The Black Keys. Released in 2003, it featured "A Blueprint Of Something Never Finished" by The Six Parts Seven and three live tracks from The Black Keys. ...

'' CD-EP (

) *2003 - ''Attitudes of Collapse'' One-Sided LP (

Burnt Toast Vinyl Burnt Toast Vinyl is an independent record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Burnt Toast Vinyl was founded by Scott Hatch, a Drexel University student who had initially been involved with concert promotion at the school. The la ...

)

Remix albums

*2003 - ''Lost Notes from Forgotten Songs'' CD (Suicide Squeeze)

Unofficial releases

*1995 - ''The Six Parts Seven'' Cassette *2001 - ''Untitled EP (Solo Singles Series)'' CD (

)

Compilations

*2000 - ''Slightest Indication of Change'' CD & LP (Slowdance Records), SLOW-007 *2001 - ''Troubleman Mix-Tape'' 2xCD (

, 2001, TMU-050) *2002 - ''Devil In the Woods 52'' 7" vinyl (

Devil in the Woods records A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of th ...

), DIW-52

References

External links

BettaWreckonize interview

Reviews

Review of ''Silence Magnifies Sound''
by John Dark,

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

Short story review of ''Casually Smashed To Pieces''
he Wheel's Still In Spinbr>Review of ''Casually Smashed to Pieces''
by Thomas Lloyd
The Silent Ballet

Listening

"Six Parts Seven's Harmonic Rock" from NPR ''All Things Considered'' program, 16 September 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Six Parts Seven Suicide Squeeze Records artists American post-rock groups Indie rock musical groups from Ohio Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Musical groups from Kent, Ohio