Picturesque

Picturesque was a rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1997 drummer Mike Paradise and I, fresh from the demise of our previous band, Threadbare, began writing again with the aim of building on some of the more melodic and “post-hardcore” tendencies displayed on the final Threadbare recordings. After recording a demo of five instrumental tracks we began the process of seeking out bass and vocals to round out the lineup. Brad Senne came on board first as vocalist/lyricist, having played with Mike in Reach in the early 90’s, pre-Threadbare. I then convinced my iron-livered friend Chris Dales to come on board (which required him to forsake his chosen instrument of guitar for a bass). And thus, Picturesque strode forth o’er the earth.
We started playing shows around the Twin Cities with a handful of short trips around the midwest, and quickly cut another 4-song demo. I was good friends with Harvest, also from Minneapolis, and when they had a stop back home in the midst of a tour in support of their first record on Trustkill, I gave a copy of the demo to Trustkill boss Josh Grabelle, who was along for the tour. This was back in the pre-Myspace days when it wasn’t completely unthinkable for an unsolicited demo to do anything more than circle the proverbial drain. Instead, perhaps goaded on by the Harvest guys, Josh called from the road to ask if we’d like to put some records out on his label. Shortly thereafter the deal was done and we began work on our first EP.
Recorded at Gark Studio with renowned engineer/soundman/tour manager Dave Pinsky, Shine In Eyes was knocked out in a weekend in one of those rare studio sessions where everything goes right the first time. The EP was released on March 1,1998. At the same time, Brad began playing 2nd guitar live, adding further depth to the live sound. Favorable reviews for the EP started rolling in, including a nod from CMJ as their “Pick Of The Week” the same month as it was released. We spent the summer of 1998 writing for what was to be the first full length. We had begun a round of preproduction on seven new tracks when Brad left the band in the early fall of 98, wanting to pursue more acoustic, pop-based music.
Without our frontman and chief lyricist, someone who was such a integral part of our sound, there wasn’t much time left for Picturesque. With the support of Trustkill we auditioned vocalists for a few months but were unable to find that perfect fit, and it just didn’t feel right. Defeated, we stuck a fork in the band that winter. Despite the positive reviews for the EP, we hadn’t had a chance to tour widely beyond the midwest, so our demise was hardly an earthshattering loss for the music scene of the day.
Brad went on to release a solo record and is now leading his new band, Beight, to great reviews and a strong following. Chris and I formed Seconds Before in the summer of 1999 (with Chris back on guitar), with Mike joining us in 2005. Thanks to the magic of the interwebs, you can check out some of the unreleased Picturesque demo and pre-production work right here. Some of the tracks never had vocals recorded, but you’ll get a sense for the direction the shelved album might have taken. The Shine In Eyes EP is still available at online music stores like iTunes. And there you have it.
-Carl Skildum, March 2007