Los Angeles trio Pedestrian are a work in progress. Ever evolving and
adding to their palette, the group's music blends melody and angst,
bleeds pure emotion, and breathes life into the art of music.
"Our music is a reflection of how we feel," says vocalist and
guitarist, Joel Shearer. "Some moments are fun, some moments are dark,
some moments we're taking the piss, sometimes we're angry and other
times it's dreamy and lovely."
Pedestrian is centered around old neighborhood buddies Joel Shearer and
Kane McGee, who have played on and off together since they were
teenagers. As in any evolving friendship, their paths crossed and
diverged, eventually crossing again when one day on a break from
touring as guitarist in Alanis Morissette's band, Shearer called up his
old mate and suggested a jam session. Pedestrian's first song "Plucked"
was the outcome, and the rest is quickly becoming history.
"Our first song was written and recorded in one day. It was the first
time I'd sung lead vocal on a song," recalls Shearer, whose brooding
melancholic tones reference some of the most celebrated
singer/songwriters of the last 20 years. Hearing him sing in harmony
with McGee, you'd be forgiven for thinking they were brothers.
It was some months later, fresh off a tour with Ben Taylor (son of
James and Carly Simon), that Shearer reassembled the group with a sheaf
of new songs, and Pedestrian was officially formed. "I wanted to play
rock guitar, and I wanted to sing, have harmony and good songs
with moody segues and beautiful moments and angry moments. Kane and I
both come from musical families and so we mixed all the styles of music
we had grown up listening to," says Shearer, the son of a rock
journalist and a Flamenco musician.
Modesty and understatement led the trio to such an unlikely moniker.
With scads of experience playing and touring with popular bands, they
knew when it came to their own music they wanted to keep their feet
firmly on the ground. "Pedestrian means mediocre," says Shearer,
matter-of-factly. "I didn't want a pretentious name. I just liked the
way it sounded, it's understated, a common thing. You see the word
everywhere, it means the same all over the world."
After some local gigs in L.A. including a month-long residency at the
Viper Room in early 2003, the group teamed up with producer/engineer
Andrew Scheps who produced their first EP at his studio. Though
Pedestrian has played some 60 shows since making the record and the
songs have evolved and expanded almost beyond recognition, the Electric
EP is surprisingly mature for a band at such an early stage in its
development.
Shearer's deeply thoughtful take on life is what gives depth to songs
like "Overwhelmed," "Red Tape" and "Eventually."
"When I wrote 'Overwhelmed', I was feeling overwhelmed by
relationships, by myself, by the world. I'd see a bum on the street,
traffic jams, the news... all that stuff seeps into my soul," he
explains. "I got home late at night and had to write that song because
I was feeling so sad. 'Red Tape' is a fun song about the kind of
self-promoting, self-absorbed person that's unaware of how they affect
people around them. The song exploits that psychology. 'Eventually' is
about claiming space in a relationship, in the sense of allowing
someone the space to evolve and fulfill their own expectations, not
waiting for them to live up to yours."
Shortly after the Electric EP was recorded, Shearer was invited on a
seven-week solo tour opening for Irish singer/songwriter and fellow
wanderer Damien Rice. So he hastily recorded some new and reworked
Pedestrian songs in a totally stripped down setting to have something
more representative to sell on the tour. The group now incorporates
songs from the Acoustic EP into their highly melodic set. "Our show is
very dynamic. When it's big it's as big as you can get. When it's
mellow it's like a flower blooming," says Shearer.
Pedestrian is currently touring as a full trio, once again opening for
Damien Rice. And after that, who knows? The future is an open canvas at
this point, though with the songs coming thick and fast it's unlikely
to stay that way for long.
"We just want to get through to people, to present our music so people can hear
it and make up their own minds. I'm no savior, I'm as f'ed up as the next guy" confesses
Shearer, "but I do want to challenge myself and the norm. There's a movement
to put art back into music, and we are part of that movement."
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