WEST ORANGE, NJ - What happens when you bring together a group of long-time friends, some super-talented quirky personalities, a pandemic, and a variety of musical styles? You get Dire Hydration, the new EP just released by West Orange’s own Rainbow Vision.
The band members are seniors at West Orange High School and play multiple instruments. On the album, Adrian Crane plays drums, Max Sanders plays rhythm guitar and provides vocals, Dylan Schatell plays bass, Peter Tunnicliffe plays lead guitar and vocals, and Emily Lossman (WOHS Class of 2024 Valedictorian) plays keyboards and vocals. The band has been together for several years with different members. Previous releases include Randomizing Reality and Not Here Not Now.
The band’s eclectic style borrows from several contrasting musical forms: pop, punk, funk, metal, and rock. According to Adrian, one of the band’s founders, the band got their name from the cover art on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. It developed into incorporating their “vision,” and the band was born. Their sound is reminiscent of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, The Adolescents, Frank Zappa, and Bootsie Collins, according to Tunnicliffe.
Tunnicliffe grew up with “guitars always being around,” thanks to his Dad, and Crane, whose dad has played in a variety of bands, allowed the group to use his sound equipment. Schatell began playing bass in eighth grade, and other members even earlier.
Rainbow Vision’s manager, Jesse Krakow, is a bassist and well-known musician in his own right. Krakow hosted “Minor Music,” a radio show on WFMU featuring under 18 artists, recorded with Shudder to Think, and is working on several musical projects nationally and internationally.
The pandemic put a damper on the release of Dire Hydration, but they managed to develop songs from home until they could officially record. There are seven cuts on the album, ranging from the funky “Clive,” the popular “Kool Aid,” and the ethereal “Point Nemo.” The album's description on Bandcamp reads: "Dire Hydration fully realizes Rainbow Vision's diverse influences only hinted at on its previous releases. The band moves effortlessly from the hard funk of songs like “The Toll” and “Clive,” to the metal-laced “Monster Bus.” The band’s newly matured songwriting and instrumental chops are on full display in the epic “Point Nemo,” and with “Kool Aid,” Rainbow Vision shows that they can write and perform radio friendly pop with the best of them."
While Tunnicliffe and Schatell wrote most of the songs, the band had plenty of musical and intellectual input. When asked to describe Rainbow Vision in one sentence, they agreed: “we push the boundaries between alt-rock, progressive, and funk.”
The band has played locally but hopes to get more exposure now that Dire Hydration has been released. Expect more on social media as well.
So what’s next for Rainbow Vision? As seniors, the group is not only hard at work focusing on their new album, but also planning on college. Tunnicliffe wants to major in music production at Berklee, Schatell in politics, Crane in Jazz and Music Engineering, Sanders on computers, and Lossman is undecided. One thing is certain, though. For all the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and the challenges, Rainbow Vision is here to stay.
You can listen to and purchase Dire Hydration on Bandcamp HERE.
Check out Rainbow Vision on Instagram at Instagram.com/official.rainbowvision.band.wo and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=rainbow%20vision
Rainbow Vision: Dylan Schatell, Adrian Crane, Max Sanders, Emily Lossman, and Peter Tunnicliffe
