Artist to watch: Forging Reverie

Ever dream of having a full-length album out before graduating college? How about winning the Battle of the Bands, which gives the bragging rights of being one of the best bands in school? After clinching that title this weekend, PSU's own Forging Reverie is this week's group of artists to watch.

Consisting of junior Derek Heidemann on guitar, senior Tyler Newton on vocals, junior Ryan Kinghorn on bass and senior Ben Biery on drums, Forging Reverie started dabbling in music during February of 2006, "We didn't start really writing music until that February, but the four of us have been together since that next fall," Heidemann said. During that time, Forging Reverie had only a handful of original songs under their belt. Since then, the writing process has become much easier for them, "Over time I've noticed we've really gotten to know each other much better and gotten a lot faster at writing music," said Newton.

When it comes to the tunes that the group of guys are trying to create, they all agree that everything is done as a group, "Our songs are written as a collaborative effort. I couldn't be in a band that only has one person write the song," Heidemann said. Each band member adds their own spin on each song that's being written giving the band not only an interesting but also intriguing sound, "We all bring little ideas and give little pointers to one another," Newton said.

Both Newton and Heidemann attribute Forging Reverie's style of music to the very drastic taste in music that each member has, "I think because we all listen to different music it just adds to our sound," Heidemann said. With the different aspects of multiple genres being added into one group, Newton has a unique way to describe Forging Reverie, "We're a ven-diagram and we just overlap in the right places," Newton said.

One thing that the members have in common is their extensive background in music. Not only have they been hardcore fans of multiple styles and genres, but also they have played a number of different instruments starting in middle school, "I started when I was in the eighth grade playing the clarinet. I got tired of that in high school, and started playing the guitar," Heidemann said.

Newton adds, "I've always had a very musical family, and I stared playing the flute in middle school." The drummer of Forging Reverie, Ben Biery, gave a very interesting account on how he became interested in playing the drums, "I was in the fourth grade and we went to a drumming expo. I saw the one of the best drummers in the world perform, and when I got to shake his hand I knew I wanted to be a drummer," Biery said.

After winning the Battle of the Bands, Forging Reverie was blown away to say the least. "Battle of the Bands is the biggest thing to happen to bands on this campus. The energy was through the roof. It makes it so much easier to play and it's the most rewarding thing ever," Newton said. What most students are wondering is one simple question; why didn't Forging Reverie open for The Starting Line and Reel Big Fish on Saturday night? Once they snagged the title, Forging Reverie was worried about the one small problem that was holding them back, "I had no voice," Newton, in his raspy and almost non-existent voice, said. "We spent the whole day worried about what was going to happen, and there was no way that Tye was going to be able to sing a full 45 minute set," Heidemann said.

Dubbing it an "act of God," Forging Reverie wasn't able to successfully perform. Although the loss of the performance is an obvious upset to Forging Reverie, the band isn't letting it get to them. With Newton graduating on May 17, Forging Reverie still plans to practice weekly and book as many shows possible. Once the remaining members are ready to leave PSU, the band still plans to keep making music, "I'm originally from Connecticut, so once I graduate I guess it will be time to pack up and move north," Heidemann said.

For more information on Forging Reverie, check them out at Myspace.com/forgingreverie where you can listen to and purchase their debut album, "Skipping Stones."