Elder Brother (members of The Story So Far, Daybreaker) - “Pennsylvania” song premiere

Elder Brother, project of The Story So Far guitarist/vocalist Kevin Geyer and Daybreaker vocalist Dan Rose, fittingly kick off their debut release Heavy Head (out March 11 on Pure Noise Records) with the track “Pennsylvania.” The song, Rose told us, was the very first thing the duo worked on together.

“The intro to 'Pennsylvania' was the first thing that Kevin showed me when we had the idea to do the band,” Rose said. “I loved it and we were immediately on the same page.”

In a juxtaposing turn, the first song the band worked on together, also turned out to be one of the last.

“The solo in the bridge of 'Pennsylvania' was one of the last things recorded for the album.  There aren't any solos in any The Story So Far songs, so this was actually the first time Kevin ever had to solo. 

“It was the end of the day and he was kind of messing with a couple things that just weren't really working, so we decided to call it for the day, have Kevin go home and spend some time with it, and come back and try it again tomorrow.  I sent him a couple of Smashing Pumpkins songs (I think it was “Tales of a Scorched Earth” and “Drown”) and a couple of Radiohead songs (“Electioneering” and “My Iron Lung”) to kind of get him in the mindset of what might be cool—solos that are less technically proficient and more noisy and with feeling. 

“He came back the next morning and played it, and what you hear on the record is the first take from the next morning.  Sam (Pura) and I just looked at each other and were like “yeah alright cool, that was the one”.  I think we tried it a couple more times but the first take was hands down the one.  [It was] one of the cooler moments in the recording process.”

Check out the song below and tell us what you think. How did Geyer do on his first ever solo?