Music and Truth

As acoustic duo Postmark Twain, Hamilton natives Dave Sanchez and Jim Gaven unleash honest and believable songs.

By: Megan Sullivan
   Mark Twain wrote "all of us contain music and truth, but most of us can’t get it out." Perhaps that’s why so many pop stars today rely on professional songwriters (not to mention voice alteration software) to do all the work for them. American mainstream music has become increasingly repetitive, unoriginal and, well, boring.
   So what about all of the talented musicians who are able to spill out their own truths? It doesn’t seem right that a lot of music is based on a marketing technique, what will drive this corporate product, and not the music itself.
   "I think a lot of people just want music to be taken back to a time when a good song is a good song," says Dave Sanchez, half of the Hamilton-based acoustic duo Postmark Twain. "That’s all we want to do, that’s part of where our name comes from — we just want to do something that’s timeless, you know?"
   "Mark Twain definitely did that, all the great stories," adds Jim Gaven, Postmark’s other half. "Being a great storyteller is something that’s very rare."
   No matter what the trend at any given time, there are artists who come along and simply play great songs that audiences respond to. "That’s our goal," Mr. Sanchez says, "to not be a fad and do something that people say, ‘This is real, this makes me believe what they’re saying and I want to be a part of it.’"
   The local duo will bring its blend of indie rock and pop to Brewed Attitude in Hamilton Dec. 22.
   Postmark Twain has generated considerable attention during its one-year existence. Within the first five months, Mr. Gaven and Mr. Sanchez wrote more than 30 songs and signed a production deal with Shep Goodman and Kenny Gioia of Sheppard Music Inc. in Manhattan. The company has worked with mainstream pop artists including Marcy Playground, LFO and Mandy Moore, as well as indie artists like Head Automatica, Bayside and Cute Is What We Aim For. In July, Postmark released its first EP, Timing Is Everything, and had already begun playing locally and regionally.
   "I can’t believe how fast this year’s gone," says Mr. Gaven, "and it’s just seriously been the best year of my life. I’m not even exaggerating."
   "It’s been the greatest year of my life as well," agrees Mr. Sanchez. "I feel like I’ve accomplished so much. You hear all these stories about how bands get discovered and make something happen and I feel like we’re just evolving at this rate… you just see little things happening for us and it’s so encouraging because it’s such a discouraging business."
   Mr. Sanchez, 23, and Mr. Gaven, 22, have experienced both the highs and lows of the business, quickly realizing that all great things take time. After recording their EP, they scored meetings with A&R reps at Epic and Hollywood Records, but nothing panned out. "We were literally at the point where we were being told (by our producer), ‘Everyone I’m playing this for likes it,’" Mr. Sanchez says. "But it’s just not that simple."
   For now, Mr. Sanchez says he and Mr. Gaven are planting the seeds and letting things happen. As part of the Internet and indie market rather than the ‘real’ business, Mr. Sanchez says people really respond to the fact that they’re trying to make a name for themselves. It’s that support, and constant reassurance in one another, that keeps the duo going.
   Although Dave and Jim both attended Steinert High School in Hamilton, they never met. Mr. Sanchez went on to study film at The College of New Jersey and Mr. Gaven business at Seton Hall University. Through the music scene, however, they eventually crossed paths. Mr. Gaven had a solo acoustic project going, and opened a couple of times for Mr. Sanchez’s former band, Raleigh St. Claire.
   After the band broke up, Mr. Sanchez looked around for musical opportunities as a vocalist, but couldn’t find anything that fit. "I just felt 100 percent into music and I knew that I had to do something," he recalls. "That’s when it was just like, I can’t rely on anyone besides myself and I sat in the basement with my guitar and notebook and tried everything I could to develop something, if anything."
   When Mr. Gaven had a performance in Trenton during winter break of his senior year, Mr. Sanchez decided to stop by and suggest they collaborate.
   "I thought if I’m going ask this guy to try to do something, I have to show him that I care about what he’s doing," Mr. Sanchez says. "So I did, and that’s when I proposed the idea."
   That week they got together and Mr. Gaven, a self-taught guitar player, took pieces of what Mr. Sanchez had been working on and helped turn them into songs. "It was really crazy," Mr. Gaven says. "All at once, that first day, six songs popped out and we were like, what the heck? This is unreal."
   Even though Mr. Gaven had to go back to college the next day, Mr. Sanchez thought they had real musical chemistry and drove to Seton Hall each Sunday thereafter to continue writing. With some money bequeathed to him by his grandfather, Mr. Sanchez eventually decided to search out producers when they had enough material. "I knew I was going to use the money for something special that wasn’t just saving it for a car or a house one day," he says. "I wanted to say, this was left for me for a reason and I’m going to use it to make something of myself. So I looked for producers because I knew that (we) had the potential to do something really great."
   When Mr. Sanchez got in touch with Sheppard Music, he refused to send in a demo. "I said, ‘No, I don’t want to record something half a— that’s just not that good, you can’t see what we’re about,’" he recounts. "’ Let us come in and play a few songs for you.’"
   The producer agreed to set up an appointment with the duo, despite having another band coming in on the same day to record. After Postmark played two songs, the producer’s interest was piqued and the other band waited as they played a couple more. A few weeks later, Postmark signed a production deal.
   Although a full band is featured on the EP, it’s strictly stripped down acoustic when Postmark hits the stage. "When we go out there and it’s just two guys playing acoustic, it’s like, this is who we are, this is raw, this is real, this is what we want to say, this is what we believe," Mr. Sanchez says. "Take it or leave it."
Postmark Twain will play at Brewed Attitude, 888 Route 33, Hamilton, Dec. 22,
8 p.m. The duo also will play at the 449 Room, 449 S. Broad St., Trenton, Jan.
26, 8 p.m., $5. Postmark Twain on the Web: www.postmarktwain.com