Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Arts & Society

Media Credit: Photo Courtesy of Robert Scheuerman Trees Above Mandalay, natives of Rockaway, New Jersey were formed in November 2006. Their latest EP, Palace, chronicles the hardships faced when in a band. All of the members of the band took part in writing the lyrics as one of the band's greatest characteristics is team effort. The band has a myspace.com webpage including songs and photos.

Remember when (or if) you had a Myspace account, and random bands you've never heard of added you as a friend?

You'd click on their page, give it a once-over, and accept or deny based on that? Yeah, I used to do that, too.
I've realized that in my time on Myspace (yes, I still have one) that I've "friended" quite a few bands without actually listening to them. So while I was looking through my ever-growing list, I stumbled across the band Trees Above Mandalay.

While looking at their page, I noticed that they're from Rockaway, N.J. I thought to myself, "Half of Loyola is from New Jersey, why not tell them about this band?" And BAM! This article was born.

Trees Above Mandalay was born in November 2006, when the other bands that the boys had been in disbanded. The first four original members were: Brett, Dave, Sean, and Tim.

Later, Mike and Ronnie joined the four, creating the final roster. Dave wails the vocals, Mike and Brett jam on guitars, Sean beats the drums, Ronnie rocks the bass, and Tim owns the keyboards.

Once I got into contact with the guys, I had a few questions for them. One thing I wanted to know was how does one pronounce Mandalay?

Brett clarified this for me, telling me you say it MAN-DUH-LAY. Brett also told me that the name of the band came from Sean, although the original name for the band was Trees Above the Mandalay. Not much of a difference, but still enough.

While looking at their Myspace, I saw that they're soon coming out with a new EP, sometime in Sept. or Oct. and Sean confirmed this information. I asked them what the title will be, and Brett replied again, "The name of the new EP is Palace, which is loosely a metaphor for your own personal paradise or space or where you really feel the most comfortable," he said.

Continued...

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