Local band provides ?Midwest philosophy?

Rose Aristeo

Rose AristeoReporter

The Tinder Box incorporates philosophy within their lyrics to bring individual meaning, diversified music and a sense of belonging to listeners.

“World Peace,” Dual vocalist Chad Konrad jokingly answered when asked what he hopes the music of The Tinder Box will bring to the world.

Music alone has the capability to touch hearts where walls guard, inspire minds once distraught and bring solace to troubled souls. But can music alone bring world peace? To what capacity is it able?

Throughout my encounters with various musicians I have found inspiration to believe that hope for such a cause does exist within the lyrics. Within the chosen words, one is able to find tranquility amongst even the most bittersweet realizations that lyrics unveil.

Chad Konrad, Jon Wallner and Dominic Osterloh, all SDSU students, enhance each other’s musical creativity by living, practicing and performing together as The Tinder Box. While each contribute different instrumental variety, they breathe as one, harmonizing to create the sounds of combined Folk Rock and Blues Grass Folk.

The band’s current line up started about a year ago when they came to find one another through mutual friends as well as their mutual interest in music. Prior to The Tinder Box all three musicians had been in different bands.

The band’s unique name has an equally unique beginning. While working for his landlord, Konrad came across an old German style fairy tale in the old children’s room. The fairy tale, one of Hans Christian Anderson, was titled The Tinder Box. Finding the story rather intriguing, the name “The Tinder Box’ was born.

Wallner and Konrad began harmonizing together, and with the addition of Osterloh on the banjo, located the aspired sound they visualized and what they currently are working towards enhancing.

Mutually writing all original lyrics to their songs, The Tinder Box acquires their inspiration from philosophy.

“We don’t want to be that band that just sits and writes about love songs and heartbreak,” Konrad said, “The new EP [Extended Play CD] that we have coming out is all about mid-west philosophy.”

With all three growing up in South Dakota, the main focus pertaining to the inspiration is to portray to listeners the struggles that entail with living here, while emphasizing that within their battle with Midwest philosophy, they are not alone.

Their new concept album, These Winds, is currently in the mixing process and will most likely come out in late November or early December of this year.

The Tinder Box has passionately been working on These Winds, tripping down to a studio located in Eudora, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City. While in Eudora, Konrad, Wallner and Osterloh had the opportunity to work with an engineer/producer at Black Lodge Studios, who is mixing their music.

The band members are extremely excited for the release of their CD, hoping it will allow people to listen to their music and spread it to others.

“It’s not really fair to expect people to buy them from us if they don’t know our sound yet. We really want people to listen to our music more than make money off of it,” Konrad said.

Although recently in the shadows, The Tinder Box says come Spring 2011, shows will begin to flourish. They are in the process of working towards putting on a show with Avian Sunrise, another local band.

“I really want people to interpret what is meaningful to you and what you can take from it that is positive in your life,” said Wallner, hoping their lyrics will touch the hearts of listeners.

Osterloh hopes their music will help listeners to understand the need for diversity.

“We have a different sound [trumpet and banjo]. I just want, when people listen, to find appreciation for all types of music,” Osterloh said.

Through the lyrics, Konrad wants people to come to the realization that we, as humans, are all part of the grander scheme of life.

“[To] let people know that they are one person and there are plenty of people that can relate with you,” Konrad said about writing lyrics. “That’s why I make my lyrics interpretable, so people can interpret and relate to each other. [We] need to realize that we are not so different. In reality we are all the same race, we are all the same species and … World Peace.”

We humans are not so different, spoken from true creative minds. The Tinder Box, if not convinces, enlightens people on the fact that music can bring about bliss.

More information about upcoming shows or general interesting facts can be found at The Tinderbox’s Facebook page.