Revive the Lifeless hopes to gain followers

Forming a band takes the right combination of timing, talent and creativity, and four Saratoga High students recently achieved that feat by forming Revive the Lifeless, a metal band that has now recorded two original songs and two covers.

“We have a page set up on Myspace, and I’m pretty sure everyone knows about it, but I think that if we have a show we’ll get a lot more plays,” said guitarist senior Kelvin Tow.

All the members are seniors, excluding Tow’s brother sophomore Derek Tow, who is also a guitarist. Along with the two guitarists, vocalist Shawn Pierce, bassist Devin Rigg and drummer Ryan Kerin complete Revive the Lifeless. The band holds practices three times a week on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at Kerin’s house.

The band gets its inspiration from record label bands such as Trivium, As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage, along with local bands, such as North of the Woods and Heroshima.

Revive the Lifeless started off with just three members–the Tow brothers and Kerin. They have recently been joined by Pierce and Rigg, who goes to Valley Christian High. Pierce brought more than just vocals to the group: he came up with the band’s name and also writes all the lyrics.

“Since I don’t have the history in my life with which I can write in-depth lyrics, I’ll find a story about someone or hear something in the news and I write about how they would be feeling from their perspective,” said Pierce. “That’s where most of the intense and exciting lyrics come from–what’s happening in peoples lives, and since I can’t necessarily draw from that, I use other people’s experiences.”

Pierce tries to find stories with conflict and relates to people who are pulling hope and optimism out of the situation.

“I try to carry the message that when things are bad, it’s not necessarily the end,” he said.
After a few more songs are written, the next step will be to record their own album. The members are currently attempting to book a show at San Jose Skate and hope it will help them gain popularity.

“We plan on recording a CD after we have six originals, so we’re four songs away,” said Kelvin.

With so many seniors in the group, the future of Revive the Lifeless remains unclear.

“We’re trying to get everyone to stay close by for college so we can stay together and continue playing,” said Kelvin. “Whether or not all the band members will stay in the area won’t be apparent until summer.”