Chave - by Blake Martin [February 2003]

The rain comes down softly and makes the street flow, as the streetlights shine through the mist.  It's 4 in the morning.  I want to pull over and throw myself in some bushes and fall asleep.  This night has been one I will never forget.  Not only did I see an Ethan Durelle show, but I had spent the better half of the day with the band.

The men known as Ethan Durelle are each peculiar in their own way.  There's Chris Mann (guitarist, back vocals), whose constant smirk keeps one under the impression that he's got more than a couple tricks up his sleeve.  Theo McLemore (bass player, backing vocals), comes off as being charming and sincere. Onstage, his eyes remain closed most of the set, and his playing only adds to the sheer strength of the bands sound.  Evan Lecker (lead vocals, guitars), is by far the talker of the band.  With a fine knowledge of obscure bands, and a voice that completely shatters your imagination with its volume, he is a good person to know.  Finally, there is Jeff Weathers, whose soft blue eyes and gangly features give me the impression that he would never raise his voice to much more than a whisper; that is, until you put him behind a drumset.  While behind his kit, he is little more than a blur of arms flying at cymbals and veins bulging from singing along with the songs.  I had the pleasure of spending time before the show with Jeff, as we talked about music, the direction it is heading, and where Ethan Durelle fits into the picture.

Blake: So where do you see Christian music standing right now?

Jeff:  I think it’s a critical time, kind of a scary time, for Christian bands cause they’re all kind of transcending into the secular deal, which is cool, cause that puts Christianity out there in the secular world.  But at the same time it tests a lot of people’s integrity.  A lot of bands have stayed in churchs and have “preached to the choir” for years now.  They’ve kind of found an easy market that they can be comfortable in.  I think that base is pretty well covered, and I’m excited to see bands getting out beyond that.

B: What about bands who are spreading the Word of Christ at shows?  Where do you see them in this?

J:  I’m immensely pleased that music got to be such a big avenue for that, but I’m looking forward to see how bands move on from the cliché “preaching from the stage” type of thing.  I don’t like bands preaching to the point where they make the one kid there that isn’t a Christian feel like an idiot because he’s not clapping along with what the guy is saying.  I think we need to start being more open-minded.  We need to be more sensitive to the lost, and live with integrity on and off the stage.  The reason we play music and combine it with ministry is so that we can be more accessible to everyone.

We got on the road about 40 minutes later than planned.  But according to Evan, "we were making better time than usual".  The trip up the interstate was mostly Evan telling jokes, Jeff sitting in the back trying to figure out Cornerstone (the band has been asked to play there this year), and Theo sitting next to him talking on his cell phone.  I felt strange for a moment at first.  I mean, here I was sitting in a car with 3/4 of Ethan Durelle, a band I'd been a huge fan of before this time, driving to one of their shows.  It was interesting.  We got to the venue and the evening began.  Club 412 was smaller than I thought it would be.  There were a lot of rooms for sitting, or whatever you wanted I guess.  The members stretched out through the place, talking to old friends and watching some of the bands.  When their time came, they hit the stage and completely ripped.  To put it simply, they were INCREDIBLE. Watching their live show is such an experience anyone would appreciate. At one point in a song, all 4 band members had their eyes closed and were moving all over the place.  They remain in harmony with each other, while so much sound is coming from each of them. 
 
It was loud.  It was complex.  It was so good.

Blake: So tell me about Esotype Records.

Jeff:  Esotype was started by Jeff Price and Jason Jordan as a way to put their music out while in a band called April Sound.  Now they’re in Miracle vs. Man, and they’re producing our record.  They have been friends of ours for a while.  This is really kind of Esotype’s first year in that we plan on releasing seven records, the first being the Ethan record.  We would love for [Esotype Records] to take off in the next couple of years.  We feel like God has called us to it.  It’s been really amazing how God has kind of let a lot of things fall into our lap.  He’s really brought us through a lot of struggles with this first record, and He’s constantly reminded us of patience.  The label has grown within itself over the past couple of months through the hard times.  We’re almost at the end of this first record, and we foresee a lot of doors opening this year.  It’s going to be a very cool year with a lot more happening like Cornerstone and the first summer of real touring.  It’s really a humbling experience to feel like God is using and pushing us into something so serious that we enjoy so much.  Esotype really want to be what I’ve been talking about by being people of integrity that go out and gain the secular world’s respect where we can let our real lives speak our faith in a gentle and loving way.

B: and Esotype is what you'll be releasing "White Knuckles on Turned Wheels" on?

J:  Yes.  It’s being mixed right now, and it should be out in March.

B: What will touring be like?

 

J:  Touring is going to be sparing this first round, because we’re all so busy with school, still.  We’ll be going out with a lot of help from other bands, hopefully.  It’s a long term goal to start taking out other young Christian bands as well as secular bands.  I get real excited about touring with secular bands especially, because, like I said, they get to see your real life.  Instead of preaching something to somebody that isn’t ready to hear it, you get to spend a lot of time with those bands and just hang out.  I like the idea of fighting the cliché Christian pop-culture and showing non-Christians that we don’t just live by rules and regulations and that we’re just as weak and scared as them sometimes and that things aren’t always as cheery as the pastors wife may make it out to seem.  But then maybe what they’ll see is that the only difference between them and us is that we have a hope in something that is real.

 
After the Moss Eisley left the stage, the club quietly dwindled to just a dozen or so people standing around talking.  We were driven out by the owners to stand outside and finish conversations.  Many interesting people in Ft. Worth, I must say.  I met a girl named Lydia, and I think by far, she was the most interesting to talk to that night.  Simply because she was the nicest, and it was sincere... at least I hope it was.  IHOP followed after we left the club, and I destroyed the all you can eat pancake platter.  Others watched in amazement.... but not really.  The guys were all smiles the rest of the night after the show, and for good reason.  They had just played an excellent set, gotten good response from the crowd, and their record is almost finished; Who wouldn't be happy?  We arrived back to Waco late, and I said goodbye and headed home.  Nothing but positive thoughts about the night were in my mind.  It was a lot of fun.  This was what music was all about..... this was my time spent with Ethan Durelle.