The Stage - Tomorrow's Music. Today.

Eighteenth Hour,
by Melissa Evanko

For Eighteenth Hour the music is the message. The quartet feels that music is their lives. Tom Chaffer, drummer for Eighteenth Hour gives "The Stage," a glimpse into his thoughts on the current state of music and an inside joke runs amok.

The Bethlehem PA based Eighteenth Hour is Geoff Houser, vocals, David Zullo, guitar, Ryan Wieand, bass, and Tom Chaffier, drums.

Eighteenth Hour, which has been together for about thee years, was formed when High School friends Houser, Zullo and Wieand wanted to form a band after graduating from college. Chaffier got on board, answering an ad a year later.

The song that Eighteenth Hour performed on "The Stage" was "Far From Here" which is available on their 2002 release "Glimpse." The band choose this song because this once neglected tune is being reintroduced into their live set.

"Shine" shows the musical growth of Eighteenth Hour. When they recorded "Glimpse" the band had been together for a short time. Chaffier feels one of the bands strengths is that you will not hear the same song five times in a row on their album. Chaffier notes that "as long as the band keeps growing, they will keep making music." When listening to "Shine" you’ll notice a story unfolding, a concept album of sorts. The songs were individually written, but, Chaffier adds, when choosing the songs to make the cut they did seem to tell a story. Basically, "the album created itself."

When it comes time to create the Eighteenth Hour sound, Zullo is the man with the lyrics and music. The rest of the band will then come in to complete the idea he presets.

Eighteenth Hour is going back to their roots and scheduling more shows in the Lehigh Valley area. The guys met with great response in both New York and Philadelphia. By doing well in larger areas they feel they can do well anywhere. Be sure to check them out when they play Musikfest on both August 6th and 7th.

Eighteenth Hour is a band that is fueled by the crowd and the feedback they receive from then at a live show. They want people to get lost in their music and have a lasting power, not just a beat that will be forgotten.

The Lehigh Valley music scene has a supporter in Chaffier who feels that the scene is great but does not get the exposure it deserves. He feels there are a lot of great bands out there who take what they are doing seriously.

As usual there is the cover Vs original songs debate. Chaffier feels that there is no big secret that clubs are in the business of making money. He jokes that it’s bad enough you have to hear Sugar Ray all day on the radio, then you go out to a club and get to hear it all over again, only performed not as well. He also adds that a lot of local venues are beginning to open up to the original scene.

Don’t expect Chaffier to be listening to mainstream radio anytime soon. Chaffier feels that it is "a bad time to be a band with live musicians." He laments that there is only so many times in an 8 hour workday that you can stand to hear a song like Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow doing "Picture." Chaffier is waiting for the day that talent and independent labels will rise again.

Now time for the little yellow guy that comes creeping into the interview. If you haven’t heard the hidden track on "Shine" or seen the interactive element on the CD, the Yellow Mighty Morphin Power Ranger is a favorite of Wieand. Chaffier explains that Weiland was playing with the found toy while the guys were recording their album. In one of those occurrences, the joke caught on and everyone is asking them about it. Chaffier hopes that they will not be know as the Power Ranger Band. As long as they keep on rockin, they have no worry of that.