Explosions In The Sky

Explosions In The Sky is an American instrumental post-rock band, which formed in Austin, Texas in 1999. Munaf Rayani, Mark Smith, and Michael James had just moved to Austin from Midland, Texas, and drummer Chris Hrasky had just moved to Austin from Rockford, Illinois. The band quickly gained a reputation for their live shows even amongst other established local bands such as Lift to Experience. They also garnered a small amount of media attention as a result of their second album, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, due to rumors linking it to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - The album was released in late August 2001, with liner notes containing a picture of an airplane and the text "This Plane Will Crash Tomorrow". "The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place" is their third full-length album (counting "How Strange, Innocence" as their debut, see below). It shows the band has developed their characteristic sound to its full potential and the album has been critically acclaimed. Friday Night Lights, the football movie based on the book of the same name, featured a soundtrack consisting mostly of songs by Explosions in the Sky, both original (as found on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack ) and from earlier releases. They are also frequently played in the TV-series sharing the name. 21: The Rescue, an experimental work for which the band sat down for eight days creating a song for each. The clapping and finger snapping on "Day Eight" is a good example of a harmonic restructuring of their old sound. How Strange, Innocence, the band's debut album, was finally remastered and re-released, making it accessible to a much larger audience. The first pressing consisted of only 300 CD-Rs that the band would later regret handing out as they felt the work to be naive, musically simple and not up to their standards. They have since learned to love, as well as hate, their debut as a showcase of their emotional range and emerging talent. The newest full-length album, entitled 'All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone' came out as of February 20th, 2007. As of August 7th 2008, the band is on a tentative hiatus of sorts as announced on their website. "Well, our two years of near constant touring has come to an end. It is now time for us to sit quietly at home and try and write some new songs. We've been working in fits and starts and we're pretty excited about some of the music we're coming up with. There is really no telling when we may have a new album ready. It will probably be awhile. Aside from coming up with new stuff, we're looking forward to getting back to our normal lives here in Austin...walking dogs, taking naps, having babies, playing scrabble, painting bathrooms, fixing air conditioners, reading about the Civil War, etc." Munaf Rayani - guitar Mark Smith - guitar Michael James - bass/electric guitar Chris Hrasky - drums www.myspace.com/explosionsinthesky