Butler Band on the Rise

Plenty of us have tried our hand at a musical instrument at some point-often unsuccessfully and sometimes against our will. Few of us, however, have had the determination to make it as far as Matt Simon and his band, Downcast Theory.

Simon, who sings lead vocals and plays rhythm guitar for the group, anticipates a great release for their third independent studio recording.

“We’re real excited to do a big show and show all of our fans, and friends and family this is what we’ve been doing for the last few months. We’re just really looking forward to sharing it with everyone,” Simon said.

The release party for their new self-titled album will be held at Architekt, the recording/instruction/live performance venue in Butler, on April 2. Downcast Theory will perform along with three other bands: Jaded Faith, Scantily Clad and Life Without Warning, who Downcast Theory met while opening for touring band Drowning Pool.

Guitarist Jake Raynor said he remembers the trouble with his new amplifier during the show.

“My amp wouldn’t work. I wasn’t getting any juice in it,” he said.

It turns out the amp had a separate on/off switch from the main unit. Apparently, nerves took over with such a big show looming over them. They survived by swapping amps and equipment. The gig turned out to be a success. The band has since opened for Nonpoint, Cold and Powerman 5000 at the Starland Ballroom. The band has come a long way for being a little more than three and a half years old.

With things going so well for Downcast Theory, you might expect the band to have very lofty goals for the future. Their dreams are actually fairly modest.

“My big goal for the band has got to be to open for Sevendust. That’s my goal. If we open for them then I don’t care if we all cripple and die after that,” said drummer Matt Raunick.

Ryan Sauerman, the bassist, has a decidedly less morbid hope.

“As long as I’m able to hang out with these guys and able to rehearse and play our shows, wherever that takes us it takes us. As long as we’re playing shows, I’m happy,” he said.

The band will be playing at the Battle of the Bands at Adelphi University on March 25. An early release of their new CD will be available at the show.