Though each member of the band — Miles Seaton, Seth Olinsky, Dana Janssen and formerly Ryan Vanderhoof — can be relegated to loosely defined roles (drummer, guitarist, bassist, vocalist), all of them play several instruments and sing, as evidenced by their shows and recorded material. When playing live, the band makes prominent use of improvisation and vocal harmonies. On their self-titled debut record, field recordings of a creaking chair, thunderclaps and the white noise of a television find their way alongside psychedelic and electronic elements, guitars and a glockenspiel.
In addition to their solo debut in 2005, the band played behind Michael Gira on his Angels of Light project as well as splitting a full length CD with Angels of Light.
In 2006, the band released an EP, “Meek Warrior,” a collaboration with master drummer/hero Hamid Drake which contained both more traditional folk music such as the lovely "Gone Beyond" and a pair of throbbing electric guitar monsters in “The Rider (Dolphin Song)” and the epic “Blessing Force,” which ends with an exploration into free jazz.
Sometime between the completion of [2007 release] Love Is Simple and Akron/Family’s 2007 U.S. tour, Vanderhoof left Akron/Family to live in a Buddhist Dharma center in the Midwest.
The band has also released several tour EPs featuring demos and other recordings. In May of 2009, the trio released Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free. This album serves as a blend of the previous albums with more acoustic-folk songs like "Set 'em Free," to fusion freak-outs like "Gravelly Mountains of the Moon."
In January of 2011 they released their album, "S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey Of Shinju TNT ."
Akron/Family's sixth studio album, Sub Verses, was released on April 30, 2013 on Dead Oceans. The band toured for the album from January 29 to December 8, 2013. After the tour the band decided to focus on personal projects, leaving the door open for a possible reunion in the future.
There's So Many Colors
Akron/Family Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shades of purple mainly, but clarity and sharpness too while
The mountains just push right through
Herds of elk to return to the plains
Plainly sky shades blue endlessly
Mountains they plane towards the sky, endlessly
Illusory they appear to meet
Illusory at points horize, but
No point exists
Sun rise, sun set
Sun ever set and rise to reach
Sun, a chemical reacting ahead above then gone behind, and thus are days and time and our movement/spaces are defined. We finish in the dark
Mountains plane towards sky behind
Plains plainly sky out ahead
And trees disappear to us with sun
That chemical mountain chaser
The lyrics of Akron/Family's song "There's So Many Colors" describe the beauty of nature when observed without any obstructions. The first line "There's so many colors without the dirty windows" suggests that when there is nothing obscuring the view, one can see a myriad of colors that are often missed with dirty windows. The shades of purple are prominent, but there is also clarity and sharpness that can be observed. The following line "The mountains just push right through" describes the sublime power of mountains that even though they are a part of nature, they appear to be breaking through the earth's crust. The herds of elk returning to the plains shows the cycle of life and the harmony that exists in nature.
The lyrics go on to describe the illusory meeting of the horizon, which appears to meet at certain points but in reality, it doesn't. This reflects the idea that what we see may not always be what is actually there. The sunrise and sunset are described as chemical reactions of the sun that create a contrast between day and night. The mountain behind and plain ahead, and the disappearing trees suggest the movement of the observer and the ever-changing landscape.
Overall, the lyrics of "There's So Many Colors" explore the theme of the beauty and ever-changing nature of our surroundings. The song invites listeners to appreciate and observe the world around them without any preconceptions or biases.
Line by Line Meaning
There's so many colors without the dirty windows
There are numerous colors around us, but we fail to see them because of our tainted perceptions
Shades of purple mainly, but clarity and sharpness too while
Mostly, we see varying shades of purple, but occasionally we witness clarity and sharpness in our surroundings
The mountains just push right through
The mountains are a powerful force that rise above all else
Herds of elk to return to the plains
The elk migrate from the mountains to the plains regularly
Plainly sky shades blue endlessly
The plain and simple sky keeps changing its blue hue constantly
Mountains they plane towards the sky, endlessly
The mountains seem to reach the sky continuously, without end
Plains parallel sky
The flat plains run parallel to the vast sky above
Illusory they appear to meet
At certain points, it seems like the mountains and sky are touching but they're actually an illusion
No point exists
There's no actual point where the mountains meet the sky
Sun rise, sun set
The sun rises and sets each day, indicating the passing of time
Sun ever set and rise to reach
The sun continuously sets and rises, marking the progression of time and the movement of celestial bodies
Sun, a chemical reacting ahead above then gone behind, and thus are days and time and our movement/spaces are defined. We finish in the dark
The sun is a chemical reaction in the sky that appears to move, and our concept of time and space is defined by its movements. At the end of each day, we are left in darkness
Mountains plane towards sky behind
The mountains appear to flatten out as they rise towards the sky above
Plains plainly sky out ahead
The flat plains stretch out uninterrupted towards the open sky
And trees disappear to us with sun
As the sun sets, the trees begin to blend into the background and slowly disappear from view
That chemical mountain chaser
The sun is a chemical entity that appears to follow the mountains across the sky
Contributed by Avery F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.