The Look Away
Tangled Webs
Words: James Ferreira
Photos: Michael Spadoni

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with good old love songs. A lot of amazing songs are about girls and that will probably never change.  I write about it, everyone writes about it.  BUT, I try and take more of a storytelling approach with my lyrics,” Sean Smith the enigmatic front man for The Look Away explains to me as I prod about his band’s approach to a flawed pop-punk scene where every song has to deal with adolescent love matters.  “I like to paint a picture.  I think a lot of these bands are writing what they think people want to hear, and sometimes they aren’t as personal as they should be.  I’m always let down when I read interviews with bands who say their music or lyrics aren’t about anything in particular.  Pop music and love songs probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Unfortunately some bands who are ‘punk’ these days are far from the punk lifestyle“.

The Look Away hasn’t even been together for an entire year, yet they have generated a solid fan base locally, and continue to grow with each passing show.  I happened to catch their first show back at the beginning of the summer and was immediately impressed.  For a first show, they displayed a great presence on stage and tight sound.  It became clear that their talents had to have been honed by other band experiences.  I knew first hand what to expect from their drummer Matt Bennett, who is as gifted with the sticks as anyone I’ve ever seen play, but the rest of the cast remained a mystery.  “Well, I played drums in a band called Lanemeyer based out of New Jersey.  We toured all the time and gained some decent underground success.  Around 2001 Lanemeyer broke up and I moved down to Florida for a change a pace.  At that time I was pretty burnt out on music just from touring and the general shape of the industry at the time.  After a long break from playing, I started to get the itch again.  But, since I was now living in apartments, I had to start playing guitar.  I began writing horrible songs that eventually turned into good ones.  Finally, after about 2 years of procrastinating, I met Drew (Dominguez), who plays guitar.  We found Matt through an old friend I played in Lanemeyer with, Casey Morgan, who used to live in the area.  Matt played in a band called The Shrinky Dinks way back in the day that we all knew.  We grabbed our bass player Chris from a Bradenton band called The Incoming Tide that had just broken up.  Basically, the band was in my head for about 2 years before I found members,” Sean informs me.

With a vision of the direction they wish to take their band and the sound they hope to create, The Look Away plans to keep things simple.  When I asked Sean about whether or not he had a sense of clarity into that particular path he said, “Well I did. I love pop music. Whatever genre you want to call us, we are pop. Catchy hooks.  Simplicity is bliss.  Besides, I can’t scream and most screamo bands give me a headache.  I just didn’t want it to sound like every other band out there either.  I don’t think anyone else in Tampa is playing the style of music we are.  I guess if it was 1998, maybe then I could say we sounded like everyone else.”

With a sound that harkens back to a mid to late 90’s punk sound, I inquire as to whether or not that’s all part of the plan as well.  “Now when you say 90's, for me I think of the late 90's and Get Up Kids or Knapsack.  That’s the stuff I love the most.  When the Get Up Kids came out with 4 Minute Mile, it changed my life.  So yeah, I think that’s exactly what I wanted. The bands of that era from when I first started touring were amazing,” he explains. 

Gameworks in Ybor City has been sponsoring a college night with live, local music.  The Look Away has taken advantage of this and become somewhat of staple, while making quite a name for themselves in the process.  I asked Sean about what these nights have meant to the band and he said, “The Gameworks night is amazing.  It’s always a good time.  We definitely played to some people that might normally not come out to shows.  The Tampa scene needs a steady place to have shows.  We can’t thank REAX enough for having us there.”

That’s really what this is all about, a great new local band, playing great music and having a ton of fun in the process.  I implore you to check out The Look Away, especially if you are a fan of punk music; it’s nice to see local bands doing it justice.  They’ve got the experience, they’ve got the talent, and I assure you they have the energy needed to pull it off.  They are putting together a demo right now, and whenever they release anything it will definitely be worth picking up.

Check out www.myspace.com/thelookaway to see their upcoming shows and learn more about The Look Away.