Artists to Check Out: 10 Years

You know how you listen to Pandora or grooveshark or whatever, looking for a new artist, and you listen to one song, and then say, "Yeah, not really into them?" Well, that was the band 10 Years for me. But believe me, I am kicking myself for it now, because they are AMAZING.


This is the band that mixes hard-and-heavy with literally the most poetic lyrics I've ever heard: "Casting a cool breeze/supplied by the autumn/question where it went wrong/climbing Jacob's ladder" ("The Autumn Effect). Writers like me eat that stuff up with a bloody spoon.


You've probably heard their breakout hit, "Wasteland." The song was written by lead singer Jesse Hasek about his cousin, the actor Brad Renfro, who tragically died of an overdose in 2008. In total, three videos of the song were made, one of the band performing, one including Renfro, and the final version, which tells the harrowing stories of people from third-world countries and is by far my favorite. "...[W]e came to the conclusion that instead of showing teenage angst or the very typical cliché American video, we wanted to show the U.S. social awareness of the struggles that other countries go through - that other people go through and how easy we have it compared to their lives," said Hasek about the video in an interview.Wow.


The band was formed in Knoxville, Tennessee, and did not include Hasek as singer until their second album, Killing All That Holds You (I've never heard 2001's Into the Half Moon, and I probably won't. I feel like it wouldn't be 10 Years). 


After their third album with the current lineup, 2008's Division, the band became fed up with major record labels and made 2010's Feeding the Wolves. “It’s like breaking up with a longtime girlfriend. You’re used to the motions, but when it becomes stale and unhappy, you need to move on and get energy back into your life. There was no anger on either side. We just painlessly parted ways,” Hasek said.

 After the album was released, 10 Years launched Palehorse Records, and recently released a new album, Minus the Machine, and while not quite as good as The Autumn Effect (my personal favorite), it is definitely a legit album. I especially like the lyrics to the song "Knives:" "settled in sedatives/silence these sirens/I am uncomfortably numb."


10 Years isn't very well known, even though they've toured with acts like Korn and Mudvayne. And that's a shame, because their music and lyrics are really extraordinary. “As a band, we like to explore more and go a little left of center with song structures," Hasek says.


 I also like that the band is so down-to-earth. They asked their fans to make a video for their single "Fix Me," and they've posted several interesting videos (my favorites being a Harry Potter jellybean contest and a tour of Hasek's art studio). I love a band who can play just for the joy of playing. And I definitely respect a band who would rather keep their artistic integrity than make millions.

My favorite tracks: 10 Years – Waking Up, 10 Years – Through The Iris, 10 Years – The Autumn Effect,10 Years – Dying Youth,10 Years – Shoot It Out,10 Years – Minus The Machine,10 Years – Knives, 
"Silhouette of a Life," "R.E.S.T."