《IUMA: Svelte》 - 免费有声读物

The rock group that is Svelte has formed under vague and watery circumstances. Most of the members are willing to say the group has been officially assembled since September of 1996, but the transition from '5 boys' to '5 boys in a rock band' was never that clear-cut. A much easier story would be "suburbia was boring, so we formed a band" - but that wouldn't be fair to the millions of fans who are dying to know how Svelte came to be. So here is our attempt to explain it.

Gary, Kerry, Mark, and Martin had all been friends since elementary school, and had all been forced into piano lessons in their early childhoods. For some this was a lost cause, but all four of them continued to pursue music as a hobby into their teens. Gary, Mark, and Martin taught themselves (and each other) to play guitar, and on the weekends the boys would find themselves in pairs, writing songs in their basements - pathetic, lamenting songs that often completely failed to depict their true selves. Mark and Martin used old tape machines to record terrible love ballads for girls they would never have. Gary and Martin sat in the garage and wrote childish, nonsensical verse such as "fantasti-specta-coolier". Kerry, in his usual style, sat in the doldrums of his existence drinking Coke and writing poetry. Then one summer, Gary and Martin landed positions as street entertainers at the beach. They learned every Weezer song ever written and serenaded passersby. And one day, an unlikely spark of innovation created "The Five Alive Song", which was unfortunately destined to become the group's staple tune.

Needing a creative outlet, the four boys came together quite naturally and practiced after school at Kerry's house. They sat on stools around the old piano and perfected "The Song" to a tee. Their equipment was lacking, so they would have to tape crappy microphones inside their acoustic guitars and use a tiny ghettoblaster for amplification. It soon became apparent who would play what, and needing a bass player, the band added longtime friend Oliver to the scene. He picked things up quickly. From one of these afternoon sessions sprang the first cassette recording of "The Five Alive Song". This tape was passed around school to unsuspecting friends, who complained that the music had become stuck in their heads. Realizing their terrible fate, the group named themselves "Svelte" and made a vow to keep playing.

Things evolved quite naturally from there, but most of the work was yet to be done. Svelte was landing the occasional show and practicing regularly. They wrote more songs and assembled more equipment. In September of 1997, though, Mark went to school Japan for a year. The boys agreed to play 'drumless' for the time he was gone and await his return. Although things slowed down somewhat in this period, Svelte did land a regular Friday night playing at a local coffeehouse and played to a packed house almost every week. They had hastily made some recordings before Mark's departure, and now worked to complete them. On March 5, 1998, Svelte released their first CD, a home-recorded demo entitled "Don't Panic". Shortly thereafter, the band seemed to agree that this record had been a bit premature. There was still room to improve and grow.

With Mark's happy return in the summer of 1998, Svelte worked hard to mature both lyrically and sonically. New songs were being written with more care and thought, and Svelte pleased audiences at several summer festivals. New recordings were begun and a great deal of time and production effort were put into these. The band was becoming more focused; there was suddenly an awareness of what was "Svelte material" and what wasn't. They were quite successful in this period, and in February of 1999, Svelte made their first club appearance at China Beach in Langley, where they were very well received. It seemed things could only get better.

Unfortunately, they didn't. Around this time, Oliver began to drift away from the band and question the role of music in his life. Other priorities started taking over. Then, on March 24, 1999, after much reflection, Oliver announced his resignation from the rock band Svelte. This loss was heartfelt, but assuredly for the better of everyone. To this day Oliver remains a dear friend of the band, and is greatly missed.

Not willing to give up, Gary confided that it had always been his dream to play bass. He quickly took over the role and played with unprecedented enthusiasm (even for Gary). But after only one show as a foursome, the boys agreed that something felt empty, and the search for another guitarist began. There were bitter feelings and more than a few broken hearts during this search, but Svelte was determined to find 'that special someone'. Almost jokingly, Martin placed an advertisement on the Weezer Mailing List. To his surprise it was answered the next day by a stranger named Dave Shumka, who wrote, "Good gravy! I've been waiting to play in a band like that all my life!" This sounded promising. The boys each paid a visit to Dave to assess his persona, and it was soon agreed that the search was over. Not only was Dave a raging rock guitarist, but he possessed a quick wit and charisma that would take the entity of Svelte to new heights. Dave learned quickly and was playing shows with the band within two weeks.

The summer of 1999 was the most successful one yet, with all the boys home from school and more devoted to Svelte than ever. The band played festivals, pubs, parties, and contests, and spent time finishing up their new record, "I Dig Your Mainframe". They promoted it wherever they went and waited with anticipation for its completion. Back-to-school in September meant things would slow down a bit for the boys, but there was still teeming excitement brewing (especially over the Internet) for the new record. Finally, on January 5, 2000, "I Dig Your Mainframe" arrived, making the world a very-slightly-better place for everyone.

In the meantime, the good ol' boys of Svelte continue to play shows at respectable pubs in the Vancouver area and to write new material. They extend their "c'mon"s throughout the galaxy and look forward to the future. A tour down the West Coast is tentatively planned for the summer... keep your fingers crossed.