The Los Angeles progressive rock band The Obvious Wish, made up of singer/guitarist Paul Calder, guitarist Jason Sweeny, drummer Geoff Dunbar and bassist Steve Giles, wished for freedom from the constraints of cookie-cutter radio rock when they formed in the mid-90’s. They’ve been successfully exploring that freedom ever since.
These four passionate and talented musicians share a love for extended musical adventures, complex time changes, aggressive guitar-driven sounds, thoughtful lyrics and melancholy melodies. Influenced by bands like Porcupine Tree, Rush and others on the modern prog scene, they also maintain an appreciation for great hooks a la Muse and Foo Fighters. This collision of progressive and hook-driven rock keeps their music accessible while simultaneously living outside the lines of the formulaic establishment. “The Wish” has never stopped pushing boundaries and taking chances.
Musically unpredictable and lyrically thoughtful, the band explores subject matter not often seen in the world of rock and roll, while never losing contact with the fragility of the human condition. From astral projection (“The Meeting Place”) to mysterious geological phenomenon (“Under the Mud Volcano”) to the miracle of human DNA (“In the Teeth”), their music reaches out into worlds worth exploring, ideas worth analyzing, humanity worth uncovering.
After a nearly seven-year journey making their 2014 release ‘Concerning Time’ (appropriately named not only for the extended period it took to create but also for the primarily time-driven lyrical themes of the ten songs it contains), the band has followed up with it’s first live album ‘Turn the Lights On’. Recorded in Los Angeles for a packed house of fans and friends in June of 2014, TTLO was released in January of 2015 and marks a triumphant return to performing after a long hiatus.
If you are a fan of thought-provoking, powerful, modern progressive rock music there is no need to look any further; you’ve found exactly what you’ve been wishing for.