S.C. Heavy Rockers AURALAYER Drop New Single “Shelf Black”
I’ve been contending for a few years that we’re in for a big grunge revival in the heavy underground. In fact, that’s been happening for the better part of a decade in Brazil and has since spread to Germany and to the four corners of Earth. Now from Greenville, South Carolina emerges the three-piece AURALAYER and their first full-length record, ‘Thousand Petals’ (2023).
The band’s signature brand of metal comes from its members’ diverse musical interests. “I’m really into doom, especially bands like High on Fire,” says guitarist Thomas Powell. “Vladimir, the drummer, is really into progressive rock, and his favorite drummer is Neil Peart. And Jake, our bassist, really likes pop music—The Beatles and Talking Heads.”
Brash and earthy, fuzzy and disaffected, Thousand Petals is the spirit of grunge fused to a body of metal. Lyrical and artistic inspiration also touches upon ancient spirituality, the band’s name referencing the seven layers of human aura and the album cover the sahasrara padma (“lotus of a thousand petals”) – a state of supreme enlightenment.
Today, the revelation of a third single, “Shelf Black,” on the way to the album’s July 14th release date. Auralayer share more about its background in the piece below. Look for Thousand Petals this summer c/o Kozmik Artifactz/King Volume Records records, on vinyl and digital formats (pre-order here. Stick it on a playlist with Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Foot, and Goodeye.
Give ear…
The Story Behind “Shelf Black”
By Jake “Kimble” Williams of Auralayer
I met Casey ‘Shelfblack’ Platt on Instagram in 2018. He made electronic music and would post electronic jams on the platform. He had a large community and was well-respected among other artists in his genre. I had just started posting about my music and he was one of my biggest supporters. He would send me encouraging messages and comments on everything musical I did, cheering me on from the sidelines every opportunity he got.
We realized one day that we lived only 15 minutes from each other and planned on meeting up and hanging out, but unfortunately we never had the opportunity. One day in February 2020, I was in bed sick with the flu and I opened Instagram and saw his picture with a caption saying Casey had passed away. I didn’t know at the time, but I discovered later through a mutual friend it was to suicide.
I was heartbroken, I sat there in shock for almost an hour. I picked up my guitar and just started playing chords and one after the other the song just happened. I went down to my basement and plugged in my guitar and got out my phone and recorded myself playing it. I brought it to the other guys and they liked the tune and so we learned it. We played it a couple of times and it felt like it was missing something and so I went on Casey’s Instagram and saw this jam he posted about 10 days before he passed called “So It Goes.” It had this great melody and I thought what better way to cap the song than combining one of his melodies?
We played it and it sounded great, and one accidental bass solo later, and the song was cemented. We didn’t actually end up playing the song live until later in the year. I didn’t feel right playing it without having some kind of permission from Casey’s family. I tried to contact Casey’s widow, Maria Bedolla-Harper a few months after the song was written, but obviously, when you have a loved one pass away the last thing you want to do is be on social media with all those photos and reminders.
One day in September, I was taking my new-to-me bass that I use for all the Auralayer stuff to my guitar tech who lives in Duncan, South Carolina. I pulled into his neighborhood and passed a woman and a man walking their dogs. My eyes went wide with realization “There she was” and I slammed on my brakes and threw my car into reverse. I rolled down my window and said “This is going to sound crazy but…” and before I could finish she said to me “You knew Casey didn’t you?” We spoke in the middle of the street about how he cheered me on for years and encouraged me to keep pursuing music, how wonderful of a person he was, and how loved he was by people all over the world through his kindness and music.
I told her about the song and asked her for her permission to use the part Casey wrote in it. She was extremely gracious and said yes and told me if I needed anything else to make it happen she would help. We were standing there in the street crying and talking about how weird this chance meeting was, and despite us both not being spiritual people, it felt like a magic moment. This song means a lot to me for a few reasons; I want to remember Casey, if not for his constant encouragement to keep going and pursue my dreams, maybe I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing now. The other is, that it’s not fucking fair that I get to go out and play my music and keep going when Casey can’t.
It breaks my heart, and I hope that by playing this song and his melody I get to carry his memory everywhere we go and I dedicate the song to him every time we play it live. It also means a lot to me because I suffered through my own suicidal thoughts and attempts over my life, including a failed attempt in 2017 that launched me into eventual recovery. I was lucky that I failed but many people do follow through with it, and it would mean a lot to me for this song to be a conduit to let others know that they can get help and feel better and that their story doesn’t have to end there, that there can be hope in what feels like a hopeless situation.