Lift to Experience is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band from Denton,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, that formed in 1996 with vocalist and guitarist Josh T. Pearson, drummer Andy "The Boy" Young and bassist Josh "The Bear" Browning. The band has thus far released only one studio album, '' The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads'' (2001), which has earned critical acclaim and a cult following.

Background

When the band performed at the South by Southwest festival in 2000, they impressed

Simon Raymonde Simon Philip Raymonde (born Simon Philip Pomerance; 3 April 1962, in London) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player ...

and

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has performed ...

so much that the duo decided to sign the band to their record label,

Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twin ...

, that same day. The band's characteristic sound comes from a solo guitar with heavy use of

effects pedal An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ele ...

s and a modified Leslie speaker. The band's major work, the double-disc concept album '' The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads'', was released in 2001. The album's lyrics are replete with Biblical Christian imagery relating to the Second Coming of Christ and a professed love of Texas and the United States. The music features a multilayered

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session ...

and feedback-driven aesthetic. The band performed three times on the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show. The band was not active as such for long. Pearson has pursued a solo career, while Young formed a project, Western Arms, with

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

frontman Guy Garvey. Young now has a band, The Flowers of God, which released a four-song EP in September 2010. As of late 2011, Browning plays bass in Fort Worth, Texas-based shoegaze-styled band Year of the Bear. In June 2016, Lift to Experience performed a reunion show at London's Royal Festival Hall as part of the Guy Garvey-curated Meltdown Festival. It was preceded by three warm-up gigs in Texas. Following the release of Josh T. Pearson's ''Last Of The Country Gentlemen'', the band released a brand-new edition of ''The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads'' through Mute Records. Released in February 2017, the original straight-to-tape recordings were remixed by the band and

Matt Pence Matthew Louis Pence (born April 13, 1972) is an American recording engineer, producer, and drummer. He owns and manages The Echo Lab studio in Denton, Texas. Early life and education Pence is from St. Louis, Missouri. In 1990, Pence moved to Den ...

at the original studio where they had been made 15 years previously—"remixing the album the way it should have been mixed originally. As God intended". A 2017 show took place at the Green Man Festival, Wales, in August 2017.

Discography

* ''Lift To Experience'' (1997) EP * ''Callin' Out to Jesus in the Middle of the Night (2000) split 7-inch with The Autumns ("White Nights") * '' The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads'' (2001) double album * "These Are the Days" (2001) CD single * The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads 15th Anniversary Edition (2017) - double album / CD

References

External links

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. {{Authority control 1996 establishments in Texas 21st-century disestablishments in the United States Culture of Denton, Texas Musical groups disestablished in the 21st century Musical groups established in 1996 Rock music groups from Texas Musical groups from Denton, Texas Bella Union artists Mute Records artists

Background

Discography

See also

References

External links