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Organizations Graduate Teaching Assistant teaches by day, rocks out by night
Organizations Graduate Teaching Assistant teaches by day, rocks out by night | Graduate Teaching Assistant teaches by day, rocks out by night |
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| Written by Emily Toman, The Shorthorn staff | ||||
| Wednesday, 24 October 2007 06:15 PM | ||||
 Arlington-based rock band The Future Unlived from top left clockwise Danny Future, Justin Tyme, Jesse “The Professor” Meik, and Deff Javis. Meik plays bass and is a biology graduate teaching assistant at UTA. (The Shorthorn: Kyle Clothier) Once the lights go down and the fans crowd in, the 32-year-old simply goes by “Professor,” taking on an image quite different than his students may expect. “My students think that I’m very serious,” Meik said. “When they find out I can rock their faces off, they’re shocked.” The band members compare themselves to Built to Spill and Queens of the Stone Age. Growing up in a different generation than the other three members, Meik takes his influences from bassists of genre-bending bands like Rush and Primus. “Those two bands in the early ’90s made me buy a bass,” Meik said. “Their bass lines are very fat and have space.” Since beginning as a Ph.D. student, Meik has received two teaching awards and a research award and publishes journals focusing on the evolutionary side of biology, he said. Somewhere between class lectures, working on his dissertation and spending time with his wife and 10-month-old son, Meik manages to practice twice a week with the band and play in frequent shows, he said. “I feel like I do end up spending a lot of time helping other people, but band time is my time,” he said. Loaded with rhythmic change-ups, the blues-rock band thrives on guitars and drums more than vocals, said Danny Future, guitarist and lead vocalist. After creating instrumental progressions, the core of their music, the band forms vocals around them, molding and shaping each song to make it perfect, Meik said. “The ideas come from tinkering on the fret board,” he said. One song gets changed six or seven times before it’s finished, drummer Justin Tyme said. The band released a self-titled, five-song EP in May and will begin recording an album in November at Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, picking and choosing which songs will be sent to radio stations, Meik said. “We would love to be successful but not to where it compromises what we love,” Meik said. “We want to play what we want.” Playing local shows gives the band exposure and helps them reach the goal of getting signed and going on tour, guitarist Deff Javis said. “We think it’s going to be pretty easy to get signed once we’re ready,” he said. The band performed its first gig for a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd in August 2005 at Caves Lounge on Division Street, where Future bartends. They will return Saturday for a special Halloween show with two sets — one as The Future Unlived and another as Space Pharaoh in honor of the Halloween festivities, Future said. “I want them to be humming our songs on the way home,” he said. The members’ deep respect for each other and humble attitude distinguishes them, helping to avoid the fate suffered by many aspiring bands, Javis said. “We don’t have big heads,” he said. “That’s what creates conflict in bands.” Forming a bond much like brothers, the band has nowhere to move but forward, Meik said. “This band is like family to me,” he said. “It’s an outlet for emotion. There aren’t many chances for me to get my emotions out. I look forward to practice every day.” Views: 1748 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 November 2007 03:55 PM ) | ||||
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