Thoreau
Words: Justine Griffin
Photo: Sam Forrestt

Welcome to New Port Richey, Florida. Population 16,675. More than half of this population is old enough to collect Medicare and senior discounts at the local theater. But in the midst of this senior community, there brews a small local music scene, led by a band that is truly New Port Richey’s best kept secret. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Thoreau, one of the most confident and impressive local post-hardcore acts in the Tampa area.

Since coming together as Thoreau in 2005, the band debuted their first full-length album on Pandora Records in 2006. More recently, Thoreau, which is made up of Shawn Nichols on drums, Richard Relack on bass, Daniel Miller on guitar, and Sean McPhee’s vocals, have added a second guitarist Ricky Carlton in December 2006.

 “We actually had our eye on Ricky for a while,” said McPhee. “So we really lucked out when his band kind of fell apart.”  Carlton came to Thoreau after his prior band, He Bled First, parted ways. He played his first show in Thoreau’s hometown of New Port Richey in early December, and was amazing at their hometown fan base.
   
“It was a perfect show to introduce Ricky,” said McPhee, “He really was able to get a feel of our hometown crowd.”  Since Carlton has joined the act, Thoreau has really boosted their sound, adding more full instrumentals with two guitars, and even backup vocals.  But before Carlton, Thoreau was already pushing to get out of their hometown. The band signed with Pandora Records, a small indie label based out of Orlando, in 2006. They then released their first full-length album, Oneiro, (Which is Greek for “dream,”) in July 2007.

“I think the album is pretty solid musically,” said McPhee. “But we always think we can do better. That’s just the curse of being a musician, though.”  Since the release of the album, Thoreau has also filmed their first music video of their single “Capillary,” with director Jon Bowen.

 “We write what we want to hear,” says Miller. “We’re passionate about what we write, and we want our fans to hear what we have to say.”  But their success didn’t stop there. Pandora Records funded Thoreau’s first out of state tour during the summer of 2007.

“We pretty much were out on the road to promote the new album,” said McPhee. “And we got some pretty positive receptions.”  As for the future, Thoreau plans on playing as many shows now as a complete band as possible. They have also been busy writing new material. 

“Just wait until you hear the new stuff,” says an excited McPhee.

So be sure to check out this explosive young band as they leave their small town of New Port Richey behind for something much bigger.

myspace.com/thoreau