A little cocky

“We’re all very friendly and try to be humble,” says Joel Byrum, the lead singer of rock-and-reggae band Harmonic Prophecy. Byrum, from Bakersfield, Calif., does his best to keep a level head about his band’s music, but he admits, “It’s possible some of us can be a little cocky.”

This is a group making music with a spirit you can move to. Formed two years ago by musicians from all around the West, the band now stands ready to take on the world.

Lead guitarist Trent Jacobsin, from Anaheim, Calif., says he truly, fervently believes in the music the band creates. “We want to make music that gets people excited,” he says.

“We just want to make music that anyone can groove to,” says Chris Candelari, the rhythm guitarist from Houston, Texas. “The music is not too hard, not too soft. There’s something for everybody.”

Bassist Todd Krause, also from Bakersfield, Calif., co-founded the band with Byrum. Krause and Byrum have been friends for more than 10 years, and have been playing in bands together nearly the entire time.

The final member of the band is Jake Young, the newest addition to the group and the only Reno native. Harmonic Prophecy has gone through a Spinal Tap-like parade of four drummers in two short years, but band members hope, with Young on the drums, the band is now solid.

“We’re a tight group. When we’re not playing music, we’re hanging out,” says Candelari.

The unity of the band is noticeable onstage. The songs are coherent and rocking, and each instrument has a clear separation and purpose. Strong rhythm sounds are punctuated by the vocals, and the grooves are so solid that live audiences can’t help but tap their toes.

The band wants to have as much fun as possible … while staying within lines. “We like to party,” says Byrum, “but we don’t condone anything. People should be able to do what they will. …We’re not a religious band, the name can be misleading. We don’t push our beliefs onto anybody.”

This free-spirited attitude provokes some caution from Krause, “We don’t want drugs to bring us down, like it has brought down other bands.” He points to a band that inspires them and has gone clean: “The Red Hot Chili Peppers can still make their music sober. … We want to learn from [others'] mistakes.”

Though the band has yet to record an album, they expect to spend the next couple of months in the studio. The goal is to have a finished CD by mid-summer in time for a two-week California tour. Eventually, the band hopes to head to Southern California.

“Once we’ve got everything together, we want to head down to Long Beach and make music,” says Candelari.

The song-writing process involves the entire band. “We build off of each other,” says Byrum, “Everybody contributes when we write a song.”

“Joel is a poet,” says Jacobsin. “He puts the lyrics down, and we make the song around it … Joel was born to be a musician, and so was I.”

Byrum, struggling to remain humble, boasts that if you come and hear Harmonic Prophecy play once, “you’ll want to come back.”