The first time I lucked into seeing and hearing tHr3 (pronounced three, they had an aversion to spelling it normal as they themselves admittedly are not) was at a battle of the bands I got to help judge. Midway through the night, they were scheduled to play a showcase set. And I admit I was thinking to myself, "Oh, great, the guys putting on this shindig are gonna throw their label's prodigies at us. Wonder why they didn't bother to get 'em in th battle."
Twenty-some odd stunning minutes later, I knew why.
I walked outside and saw April, one of the singers, slumped against the wall of the club, alone.
"April, you guys were great."
She looked up wide-eyed. "Really? I don't know, I didn't think it went that well."
"You gotta be kidding, right? That was an off night? If you guys were in the battle, I'd honestly have to give you 10's across the board (originality, stage presence, musicianship). You won this thing."
"Really?! Oh, thank you!" she said with relief and exuberance.
I walked away thinking how it could be possible to be that good and not know it. tHr3, made up by adding up April Thomas on vocals, Joshua Free on electric-acoustic guitar, vocals and creative forces, Mike Long on another elictrical-acoustic guitar, Shane Karns on bass and Steven Thomas on drums, hit the stage with a dichotomy making it hard to describe where to look. There was Josh and Mike trading riffs straight from the hook hall of fame and Steve looking for the world like he had a grudge against his kit and had forgotten any lessons he took. None taken actually. He got his first set just recently, and taught himself after slapping around a box from Crate & Barrel-and idea Josh swiped from a Ciolent Femmes video. The box, in its heavily taped condition, still sits in his room.
Shane firmly anchors the percussion that seems to dare everyone else to keep up, and finally April. It's gotta be said: Janis Joplin. Yep, the 60's sprite is alive and well. Not in the vocals, in the presence. In a band that is confident in their ability to listen and not rip off, but enhance all things melodic and upbeat that the 90's has to offer, there's this chick in ripped-up denim, flowing shirts, even more flowing hair and bare feet contorting, prowling the stage. She's suggesting you join her in her world, offering stark contrast to josh's vocals and the rather natty appearance of the rest of the band. Well, OK, by comparison, but you know, it's a band thing and I wanted to use the word "natty," all right?
Anyhow, I convinced 'em to meet me over coffee. Said Josh, "April, Shane and I have been together since June, 1996 in another band. We practiced seven months, never had a gig and kicked out or drummer around Christmas two weeks before our first gig. At that first show, we passed out bongos to the audience." That's as opposed to having a drummer of their own, although their future drummer was with the band in the capacity of roadie. April's brother, he of the box.
The band remembers, laughing, "Man, he tore that box up!"
Eventually, as Steven recalls, "I got a djembe and, like, a hi-hat, I just played with that for the whole summer, then I added bongos. Two months ago I got a drum set. And no one's ever showed me how to play." Which is a good thing based on what can happen with a feeling. The band was coming together.
Josh continued, "We had this one lady looking for us and she saw a flyer for this entertainment group that offered a major studio interview and we were like, yeah! We met them and signed a three month contract (200 clams from the band) and got nothing but one gig. At a hip-hop club with a sushi bar on salsa night."
As if that didn't bode ill enough, with the exception of Josh, the rest of the band was too young to get into the club. Josh plus nothing doesn't quite equal tHr3.
"Finally," said Josh, "they let us set up as long as we agreed to get out soon as we were done. We played for 600 people, there were Mexican ladies on boxes, go-go dancing. They loved us. After that, it sucked and we broke our contract."
See? Band life ain't all that great.
But tHr3 held steady. They had met, sorta forgot, lost the number of and bumped into on the street, Anthony Montanino, who eventually signed them to his label, A.D. Records. They brushed shoulders with a boss whose fiancee produces movie soundtracks and he dug what he heard but allowed that something was missing. April started dating Mike. Mike can play anything he hears and was at all of tHr3's shows, a closet member as it were. Josh felt ripped off having only two arms, knowing he could hear things he couldn't possibly play. See what's coming?
Yeah, Mike started playing with them a bit.
By and by, Shane brought up the fact that it felt like the band, also, was dating Mike. It was time to bring him in or let him go. To their immense profit, they asked him to set up from the fringe and round them out. He said yes and the difference between one acoustic guitar and two is just the missing element.
tHr3, beyond being severely talented, are also deeply religious, and that comes out in everything they say. It's not an overt thing, they won't sing the Ten Commandments or suggest passing the hat at their shows. As with the first time I met April and the subsequent meetings with the rest of the band, an innocence and hope pervades them. And this goes back to the "chance" mentioned earlier.
Joshua stated, "If we had one thing to say, lots of bands are in it for the money or the fame. We all really wanted to push through that. What we sing about is love, hope and security. We want that delivered on a mass scale. Lots of contemporaries are singing and saying negative things that are detrimental to the human spirit, that the light at the end of the tunnel is. We'd like to say to them, the light's still on: your hands are over your eyes."
Taken from Pasadena Weekly. January 30-February 3, 1998.
