Can you hear them now? Host Echo hits the road

By John Benson

These are important times for Buffalo, N.Y.-based band Host Echo.

Not only is the act about to record not one, but two studio albums for release in 2010, but the quartet – Nicholas Spacone (vocals, keys, guitar, trumpet), Andrew Bieniek (guitar) Matthew Catanese (bass) and Greg Kelly (drums) – has booked two-week tours in each of the next three months ranging from the East Coast to the Midwest and beyond.

Upon the urging of local act The Youngstown Tramps, Host Echo begins its excursions with its Youngstown debut show Friday at University Pizzeria and Italian Eatery.

“We’re just excited to finally get out there for a while and meet some people, meet some bands and play some new places,” Spacone said.

“We hooked up with the band The Youngstown Tramps through Myspace actually, and they seem really cool and helpful and really eager to bring us down. That’s all it took: someone to throw that enthusiasm back at us who wants to play. They really went out of their way to set this up.”

As far as style is concerned with Host Echo, which formed half a dozen years ago and recently underwent a line-up change, the band cites familiar names with one caveat: the tunes heard on its 2005 debut, “Be Water,” and 2008’s “Song Cycle EP” are anything but clich d.

“It’s mostly rock, but our guitarist is a classically trained guitarist, and I’m influenced by a lot of jazz singers,” Spacone said. “We have a very mellow, kind of eclectic style going on. We grew up listening to Pearl Jam and Radiohead and Portishead and Incubus. I guess we’ve kind of evolved into maybe a little closer to like Fleet Foxes. And Kings of Leon we like a lot.

“It’s really tough because we like to think that there are really not many bands we sound like these days. We have a lot of things in our music, like there’s something for everyone in there. Like you’re going to hear something that reminds you of this or that, but it’s a lot of different stuff.”

Among the unreleased songs the band plans on playing at its upcoming Northeast Ohio show are the Broken Social Scene-esque “Drifting” and the trip-hop sounding “R&R.”

Spacone feels the band’s unique approach makes it quite popular among music fans seeking out new music.

“Our set is for anyone who is interested in a completely original sound, something new yet still familiar,” Spacone said. “We have kind of a groovy sound for people who like laid-back grooves. We like to think that our lyrics are about self- improvement and self-betterment, and we like to think we strike a chord with the intellectual crowd.”

Hmm, so what makes the members of Host Echo qualified to be the Dr. Phil of the indie rock world?

“Oh, wow, nice, Dr. Phil, yeah, I don’t know man,” Spacone said. “We just like to try I guess. We don’t like to just [play] passively. ... We’re still trying to make a difference in the world and just be positive and promote, I guess, the hippie-band thing. It’s like peace and love and understanding. I think that’s what it comes back to. It’s a pretty simple message, I guess.

“I wouldn’t say we try to aggressively get into people’s lives and fix people, like Dr. Phil would. We just kind of try to lead by an example more so, and, hopefully, set a good example and hopefully say things that people like to hear and will inspire a little bit more understanding in the world.”