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Arts & Entertainment

Macomb Music: The Directive Releases Debut EP 'Sleepless' on iTunes

The Directive is a young band accomplishing big things with its first record debuting on iTunes only a few months after they formed.

Local easycore-rock band, The Directive, recently released its debut record, Sleepless EP. The band of young Macomb Township residents has been making an immediate impact on the local scene in just its few short months of existence.

The EP, featuring five songs, is currently available on iTunes.

For those unfamiliar with the relatively new genre, easycore sounds exactly as drummer Jacob Burkey describes it.

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"Easycore is pop punk with hardcore influences," Burkey said.

The songs are fast with catchy sing-along choruses. It's accented by brief dashes of musical aggressiveness. The band is so tight it's hard to believe the five members are barely out of high school.

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The Directive, which includes Brandon Bidleman on bass, Evan Earle on vox and guitar, Burkey on drums, Koda Hult on synthesizer and vox, and Tyler White on vox and guitar, is a prime example of today's modern music scene.

Without the help of even a small independent label, the band has been able to amass more than 1,300 fans through Facebook alone. The EP, which sounds like it could have been recorded at an expensive Hollywood studio, was actually recorded at Royal Oak's Zoinga Recording Studio. And Zoinga is in somebody's house.

The band's record release show, too, identifies both their age and the times in which we live. They didn't celebrate the release of Sleepless at a bar–too young anyhow–and not even at a coffee shop or a friend's basement party.

"It was a blast," Burkey said. "We played at Landslide Skatepark in one of the half-pipes with some good friends."

Unfortunately, the fact that the band had to travel outside of Macomb for their record release show isn't an uncommon story for young musicians of the township. While there are a lot of young people eager for local music, the fact is that there just aren't a lot of outlets for them.

"There's a lot of people who are very supportive of the music scene," Burkey said. "The drawback is there aren't a lot of venues."

Instead, they will be playing at the Baja Beatdown in Birch Run on Sept. 4 and after that, the iLounge of Pontiac will host the band on Sept. 17.

With the release of its first record, the band is already planning its next. Bound by friendship before forming the band, the group is humble about its future–but definitely excited.

Burkey said the band is looking forward to being able "to travel and make new friends as we go."

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