‘Channel’ Surfing

Hard-rocking Doylestown quintet Sinch is back on the scene.

By: Matt Smith

Sinch (from left: Mike Abramson, Jamie Stem, Jay Smith, Tony Lannutti and Dan McFarland) will celebrate the release of Clearing the Channel at Trac Records in Doylestown March 25 and the North Star Bar in Philadelphia March 26.

   Sinch enjoyed a heady ride supporting its 2002 self-titled debut CD on Roadrunner Records. The Doylestown-based hard rockers toured shared stages with Linkin Park, P.O.D. and Chevelle, to name a few, and toured as far as Germany. However, the music business is a harsh mistress these days, and Roadrunner soon parted ways with the band.
   "When you get your foot in the door," says Sinch vocalist/lyricist/guitarist Jamie Stem, "people are going to take advantage of you. We had a lot to learn about the music business, being that we’re musicians above business people. There were a lot of things we didn’t understand at the time that you start to understand a little bit better."
   Sinch began work on a follow-up album without the advantage of the label support this time.
   "We had to start over again and get back to writing like anybody would," says Mr. Stem, "but once we got it done we had to get a label to get it out on. That was a big challenge — something we didn’t need to worry about with Roadrunner. We ended up paying for the album ourselves and working with some really good people (Rock Ridge Music) to get this album out."
   Sinch will celebrate the release of that CD, Clearing the Channel, with an in-store performance at Trac Records in Doylestown March 25 and a show at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia March 26. Mr. Stem says the CD’s title is a reference to a certain corporate behemoth but also has other, more personal meanings.
   "On the CD, we have a television on the front," he says, "and a big part of what we talk about is television. Obviously, ‘Clearing the Channel’ relates to that. I think the biggest thing when we talked about it was starting over, ‘Clearing the Channel’ out. And also, of course, Clear Channel cornering the market a little bit."
   In addition to Mr. Stem, Sinch also includes Tony Lannutti (guitar/sound design), Mike Abramson (bass/Wurlitzer organ), Dan McFarland (drums/percussion) and Jay Smith (ocular noise machine). Mr. Stem and Mr. Smith met at Central Bucks West High School, while Mr. Abramson and McFarland met at Central Bucks East. Mr. Lannutti attended Archbishop Wood High School. Some 10 years after forming, the band’s members are scattered around Bucks and Montgomery counties, and "we all have our own lives and do little things away from Sinch," says Mr. Stem, whose Doylestown home doubles as a rehearsal space.
   Sinch wrote more than 30 songs for Clearing the Channel over a year and half but ended up choosing just 11 for the CD, a tight effort with plenty of tracks that would fit right in on modern-rock radio, including the aggressively anthemic "All That’s Left Behind" and the melodic "Sails." One surprise is the ambient instrumental "Vanishing Act."
   "Tony, our guitarist, does a lot of instrumental stuff on his own," says Mr. Stem. "He does songs they use in commercials… Not only in that song, but in almost all of the songs, there’s a little piece of what he does in there."
   In fact, the members of Sinch are all fairly creatively motivated. Mr. McFarland designed the band’s impressive Web site, Mr. Abramson serves as a de facto manager and Mr. Stem teaches songwriting to kids. But Mr. Smith is perhaps the most unique as the inventor of the ocular noise machine.
   "It’s a video-editing machine that he created," says Mr. Stem. "He went to school at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and his final project was the ocular noise machine. We actually had to play a show for his professors for his final presentation — he got an A on it. What he invented is a guitar-shaped machine that loops videos along with adding effects to it."
   Mr. Smith has his own company, Livid Union, which creates software and manufactures the mechanism that controls the videos. He also "plays" ocular noise machine with other bands. "When he works with those people," says Mr. Stem, "he does it off the side of the stage. When he works with Sinch, he plays on the stage with us. He changes the videos and loops according the rhythm of what we’re playing… When we play out live there’s a giant movie screen behind us that has the visuals."
   Sinch is busy rehearsing songs from Clearing the Channel for the upcoming shows, and is even crafting an acoustic set for the all-ages in-store show at Trac Records. "I’ve been to the lot of the area schools," says Mr. Stem, "and those kids can come out and see what the band’s about without having their parents drag them out to a rock show down in Philly."
   Plans are in the works for a full tour this summer. After that, says Mr. Stem, who knows?
   "If you don’t make another album," he says, "the door closes and nobody ever remembers who you were again. We figure we’ve got to give it another shot and see how it works. Somebody said, ‘You only have one shot,’ but I’m the type of person that believes you have as many shots as you’re willing to take."
Sinch plays Trac Records, 464 N. Main St., Doylestown, March 25, 7 p.m. Free admission. For information, call (215) 348-5633. The band plays the North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., Philadelphia, March 26, 9 p.m. Tickets cost $8. For information, call (215) 684-0808. On the Web: www.northstarbar.com. Sinch on the Web: www.sinch.net