This Patch Of Sky Brings Post-Rock To SoCal

THIS PATCH OF SKY play Hi Hat Sep. 20; photo Shane Cotee

THIS PATCH OF SKY play Hi Hat Sep. 20; photo Shane Cotee

Those who are looking for the chance to enjoy music that is instrumental but cinematic in quality are in luck as This Patch Of Sky shall soon be coming to Neck Of The Woods in San Francisco Sep. 19 and The Hi Hat in Los Angeles Sep. 20.

“We’re really looking forward to Neck Of The Woods – we’ve never played there before,” Kit Day, the group’s lead guitarist, mentioned. “And then, down in L.A., The Hi Hat looks like an incredible venue so we’re excited for that one as well.”

Of the two appearances, Day proclaims he is especially looking forward to playing at Neck Of The Woods.

“I’m really looking forward to playing with the bands Wander and Our Fathers. Wander is also a post-rock band and Our Fathers has vocals with a bit of post-rock tendencies.”

This Patch Of Sky, like Wander, is a post-rock band. First formed in Eugene, Oregon in 2010. Day says the group initially started off as just a means for him and friends to meet and indulge in their love of playing their own music.

“I started the band after a band that I was in kind of faded away and it was really just to have some fun, jam with some friends,” Day recalled.

“Growing up, I’ve been in a ton of bands. It always seemed to be the vocalists that kind of made or broke the band. And this time around we just decided, ‘hey, let’s just start playing with no vocalist’.
That way we’re not stuck with verse, chorus, verse, chorus and can do what we want to do, let the song, the music take you where you want it to go without having vocals in it.”

Day describes the music as “the soundtrack to the end of world.” Instead of words, their songs depend entirely on atmosphere, mood and sound.

“The music that we create, we try to invoke emotions through it,” Day explained. “We don’t have a vocalist and so instead we let the instruments basically do the talking for you. Anyone that listens to our music, they’re really just interpreting it how they want to interpret it which is what we love. It’s really a universal language. A lot of what we do is more soundtrack type stuff for movies so when you just think of the end of the world, you have a roller coaster of emotions that are going up and down and that’s what we try to create.”

Their unique music has helped them acquire a following in the music community along with critical praise. Such support has, as of this writing, been of immense aid in the creation of three albums with the latest, These Small Spaces, being released last September. It’s even helped Day and his bandmates produce the soundtrack for the Russell Brand documentary Brand: A Second Coming.

But despite all that, Day says the group still enjoys the thrill of playing live.

“Oh man, it’s so much fun,” Day said. “Playing live is definitely my favorite thing to do. A lot of people don’t really know what to expect when they go and see an instrumental band because they’re usually focused on the singer. Being able to present what we have to an audience and being able to create those emotions live, that’s definitely one of our favorite parts.”

Though This Patch Of Sky has performed at a sizeable number of live concerts, the most memorable to date was some time ago in Phoenix, Arizona.
.
“We played at The Rebel Lounge with a band called Holy Fawn,” recounts Day. “We didn’t really know what to expect when playing with them and the first time seeing them live they just absolutely blew us away. This was a year ago. Since then we’ve become really good friends and we ended up doing a small tour together this year. It was incredible just to see that band night after night perform. They’re probably one of our favorite bands to play with.”

Beyond their upcoming appearances in SoCal and other places around the United States, Day says that the group plans to take their music in a new direction: around the world.

“Europe is a big one we’re looking forward to next year,” Day mused. “We haven’t quite announced it yet, but we are looking to get overseas. We’re also playing in Mexico City this February that we’re excited to announce here shortly as well. So really, it’s just taking a national act and becoming international. That’s really what we’re focused on right now.”