In Remembrance: By The End Of Tonight
Short-lived, young, and wild – By The End Of Tonight, why did you have to go?
In the world of post-rock instrumental music you need only turn to one label. Temporary Residence Limited, the label that the likes of Mono and Explosions in the Sky, call home, was once home to another post-rock great, By The End Of Tonight. Like Explosions in the Sky, By The End Of Tonight also hailed from Texas; however, lack of vocals, label, and state of origin are all these two groups had in common.
Where other melodic instrumental bands like Mono or Explosions tend to stick to longer pieces which often including separate movements within each song. By The End Of Tonight, on the other hand, doesn’t play that game. Characterized by frantic and sweeping guitar riffs, heavily overdriven bass, and crashing drums, BTEOT is anything but relaxing, yet still manage to keep the melodies of their music center stage. Their short chaotic songs often do quite the opposite. BTEOT also never put out too many recordings. A final tally of one full-length, one split LP, micro EPs, and a demo and EP which contain most of the same tracks only amounted to about 25 songs total.
The group started in 2003 in Alvin, Texas with Stefan Mach and Josh Smith on guitar, James Templeton on bass, and Jeff Wilson on drums. Josh smith also played keyboard during some of the bands songs, supplying the occasional synth which can sometimes be heard in the group’s earlier songs. The band also went a different direction as far as drumming was concerned; Jeff Wilson’s drum set often consisted entirely or partially of child sized drums. The smaller drums, especially the snare, helped cut through the mix and gave the band a bit of a novelty feel when witnessed live.
In 2003, the group recorded their first demo, …In a Letter to the Sandbox. The demo was self-released by the group and sent out to several record labels. Of those labels, Temporary Residence Limited expressed major interest in the band; they were eventually signed and to this day remain the only band ever signed to Temporary Residence Limited based solely on a single demo. The label then went on to pick their favorite songs off the demo, which the band then in turn re-recorded and released as the Fireworks on Ice EP.
After the successful release of the Fireworks on Ice EP, BTEOT hit the studio to record their first LP. In order to capture the mayhem that was their live show, the group decided to record the album live. While only five songs longs and just under half an hour in length, A Tribute to Tigers solidified the group’s reputation at a real up-and-coming act filled with energy and verve.
The next year, with support from the label, each member of the group went off to record their own solo 3” cd EPs. The EPs were issued in very limited quantities and each followed the members’ unique style. The last EP released, The Imaginary EP by guitarist Josh Smith, marked the guitarist’s last contribution to the band before leaving the group. Josh then went on to start his own project called Ghost The Machine. Josh was immediately replaced by one of the band’s longtime friends, Brett Taylor.
In 2007, By The End Of Tonight recorded and released a split album with Tera Melos. While the split did extremely well among independent circles and smaller publications, it failed to achieve much commercial success. Unlike their earlier work, Complex Full of Phantoms featured much heavier guitar riffs and noticeably more intense drumming. The band’s progress as a whole is also evident on this album, it being even more melodic and complex than its predecessors.
Things would not continue so well for BTEOT however, in mid-2007, the band had hinted that drummer Jeff Wilson would be leaving the group, and even started looking for a replacement drummer. As it happened, after the release of Complex Full of Phantoms, Jeff had a short change of heart and toured with the band in support of the album, only to once again decide to leave the band completely in 2008 in order to start a family and pursue other efforts. The remaining members searched for a drummer for well over a year before finally announcing that there would be no new drummer or new album and that they had decided to part ways.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Dec 07, 2009 @ 10:00 am