Patrick Grant and the Rising, Clarity, and Find Vienna.
These three names mark this band's evolutionary journey and unwavering devotion to music over the past six years. Since launching their 2009 EP release, In Your Favorite Colors, Find Vienna has shot to quench their curiosity and discover life's importance by offering fans their own captivatingly melodic blend of pop-rock tunes.
Brothers Patrick and Paul Mencel, with Mark Mcguire and Greg Fisher, all of Lansdale, PA, have been practicing since as far back as they can remember, cultivating their talents in music programs, church, in front of family and friends. "Every single member in this band has insatiable motivation to do everything to make this opportunity a success," says Mark, the band's drummer. "Find Vienna will be a household name soon enough."
High ambitions. But... there's nothing else in the world they'd rather be doing. "Music is physical, emotional, and even metaphysical. Wouldn't that make music the Omega?" says Patrick, Find Vienna's vocalist and guitarist. "Performing is the ultimate. No job ever would even pale in comparison."
So why the name changes? "To us, Vienna represents beauty, passion and fulfillment," says Paul. "These are always things people seem to be searching for, so we thought it appropriate to name ourselves 'Find Vienna.' Our goal is to find and live a life of fulfillment and happiness."
Their EP, In Your Favorite Colors, was an artistically gratifying six-month process. The band took residence in Nashville, TN, working under producer Dustin Burnett. Dubbing it "a product that [they'll] always be most proud of," each member says they intensified their creativity and became vulnerable to exposing the magnitude of their art. "It's the type of record that says, 'Here we are, finally... this is us,'" says Patrick. "In Your Favorite Colors is something that I hope one day this band will hold their glasses to."
Find Vienna has already begun grasping the attention of prime media outlets. 93.7 WSTW's Mark Rodgers' radio show, Hometown Heroes (Sundays at 8 p.m.) awarded Find Vienna the "Homey Award" in the Best New Artist 2009 category. The guys followed it up with four wins in 2010: Best Band, Best Lead Singer, Best EP, and Best Drummer. "Sanity" from In Your Favorite Colors was the third most-requested song.
Radio requests and fan attention is what fuels Find Vienna. Although they have yet to play a part of a major national tour, they've had their fair share of shows, the longest lasting around 10 days. "For the first time we are being demanded in cities," says Paul. "It's a bit weird, but we are working to hit all the cities that people are asking us to play in."
Drunken kids, a parking barricade, and a dented van were part of one of these exploits, and the guys are lucky to be able to talk about it. After a show in New York, Paul got verbally attacked by seemingly drunken scenesters, who actually threw a parking barricade at the band's van. Mark had to grab the barricade to chase after the kids with Paul. And in closing an eventful night short, Paul and Mark received some Good Samaritan help from four Brazilian strangers exiting the bar next to the van, who, for lack of a better phrase, taught the kids a lesson. Mark calls it "By far one of the most epic and stupider things I've ever been apart of."
Back in Philly, World Café Live is agreed to be their favorite venue. "World Café blows the other clubs out of the water," says Mark, who also admits the local music scene can be tough. He says it's especially cringe-worthy when the audiences who come out only to see their favorite band leave without giving the fully-booked bill a chance. "That completely defeats the purpose of playing shows with other bands, you know?" he says.
For those who stick around, Find Vienna's style has been described as "U2 with Sting as the lead singer," Patrick remembers overhearing. Another favorite is, "You guys mesh As Tall As Lions with The Killers." But the natural, uniquely instinctive and undeniable appeal in the music is unmistakable. The lyrics upspring from everyday occurrences. "A lonely guy hitting on a Barista at 9:00 a.m. A bum smoking a cigar," says Patrick. "Ironic things, colorful things, romantic things, and everything in between."
Patrick has used songwriting to find sense in things that people think about. Likewise, real situations breathe life into the songs. "'City of Flowers' from In Your Favorite Colors, is about a relationship I had with a girl while I was living in Philadelphia," he says. "To me, she made the city look like flowers. She brought out everything colorfully beautiful about it."
The band says "All In My Head" is a crowd favorite, likely because of the immediately addictive phrases of a song. Coincidentally, this track is the repercussion of Patrick's "City of Flowers" muse.
Offstage, Find Vienna seeks to bridge the gap between themselves and fans online through social networking websites. "I want our fans to see that we are down to earth people just like everyone else: we watch Jersey Shore, snowboard, play video games and go to bars," says Paul. "We are constantly on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, trying to stay as close to the people who support us as we can."
Find Vienna describe themselves as "Olympians, each in our own way" and "four lost boys in a grown up world" with "passionate lyrics, brilliant melodies, and intricate instrumentals...or musical originality with an undeniable drive."
They'll be opening for The Script on March 17th at the P.C. Richard & Son Theater in the TriBeca section of Manhattan, a show the band highly anticipates. "In the words of the late Harry Kalas, this band has 'high hopes,'" says Mark. "We really have big plans."
