What words typically describe the musical genre of hardcore? Some words might be loud, intense, abrasive, aggressive, or extreme. Although every one of these descriptors apply to The Infantry’s sound, you may have never guessed that many of the band’s musicians have a background in jazz music.
The drummer, for instance, listens to jazz music and first learned how to play drums to jazz music. The bassist studied trombone in college, and also plays the upright bass. One of the guitarists played the trumpet before he picked up a guitar. The other guitarist has played guitar for 16 years and said his guitar is old enough to drive. The vocalist also plays guitar, bass guitar and drums.
The Infantry classifies themselves as a hardcore band. They hail from Mansfield and started making music together in late 2010. In that time, the band has seen some changes in members due to individual’s life changes in the form of family obligations or moving. Currently, the band is comprised of five young men in their twenties: 24-year-old guitarist Aaron Bard, 23-year-old guitarist Austin Moore, 23-year-old bassist Ben Schnell, 23-year-old drummer Aaron Hill, and 21-year-old vocalist Travis Porter. Austin Moore and Aaron Hill are the only original band members.
The band started after Moore and Hill decided they wanted to generate a sound that was different than any other band. When listening to their music for the first time, the differences may seem far from obvious when compared to other “hardcore” bands. However, Hill’s background in jazz drums influences the band’s song writing.
Influences vary from each band member. Moore, one of the guitarists, listens to metal and hardcore bands like Slayer, Pantera, and Metallica. The other guitarist, Bard, is influenced by bands like Blink 182, Brand New, Every Time I Die, and Chariot. The drummer and bassist listen to jazz. The vocalist is influenced by bands like ZZ Top, Linkin Park, Death Cab For Cutie and American Football.
Hill is the primary song writer. When writing a new song he will write the drum part first, and add other instruments from a computer based program. He will then present this rudimentary version of the song to the rest of the band. Porter, the vocalist, writes the lyrics. The rest of the band will listen to it and add their own flavor during practice sessions.
This technique works well for the band. Porter currently lives in Mount Vernon where he attends university for a Fine Arts major. The rest of the band’s members have busy schedules with work. Too work around their schedules, Hill will send these rough draft song ideas electronically so the rest of them can listen and add individual parts at their leisure.
“I wrote a song once [that is] in 17/16 with 4/4 superimposed,” said Hill. The fractions refer to the song’s time signature, which means how many beats are found within one bar of written music. A time signature of 4/4 is the most common found in Western music, such as rock and roll.
“We call him ‘The Man’ because he does everything,” said Bard. “It’s definitely a collective thing though- it’s not like we don’t have a choice in how we want to play [the song],” he added.
The Infantry plays a show as often as they are able. They all agreed that playing music is not about the money for them. It’s simple, they just have fun doing it.
“That’s why I’m here- just because it’s fun,” said Bard. “Touring is the most fun thing I will ever do,” he added. The rest of the band members quickly nodded in agreement.
The band released their EP in Mansfield at Relax, It’s Just Coffee on February 17. They were joined by local bands Mahoney and the Pliers and Divebomb before a standing room only audience in the downtown coffee shop.
The Infantry has a Facebook page, where you can find samples of their music and more information on the band.
