4TM Brings a Unique New Sound to the High Country Music Scene

4TM rehearsing at bassist Oliver Blain’s house. Photo Credits: Oliver Blain. Pictured left to right: Brayden Mack, Oliver Blain, Jedidiah Verling. The band often holds rehearsals and records demo tracks at Blain’s house.  

Ian Biles, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn 

Boone’s music scene is a vibrant community. The town's unique mix of bluegrass history and newer indie and metal scenes combine to create a music environment that is entirely unique.  Boone’s music scene has produced everything from bluegrass legends like Doc Watson to modern indie pop sensations like Rainbow Kitten Surprise. New to the scene is rock band 4TM (The Theory of the Teenage Mind), a band made up of 3 current, and 1 former, Watauga High School Students.  The band consists of Oliver Blain on piano, electric bass, and vocals, Jedidiah, “Jedi” Verling on Guitar and vocals, Brayden Mack on drums, and Holden Womack on piano/keyboard. With this band comes a unique sound inspired by a variety of popular rock bands. 

Oliver Blain,  junior and founding member of the band, had the idea for starting a band his freshman year, but said that the idea hadn’t materialized until this year, when he met drummer Brayden Mack in his jazz band class.

“Brayden really shares my passion for the band,” Blain said. “And with his passion and my passion behind this band project we were really able to get it. He was actually the one who suggested asking Jedi to play guitar for us. Brayden really helped to connect the dots on this idea that had been in my head for so long.”

The band started with three people: Oliver, Brayden, and Jedi. However, the recent addition of keyboard player Holden Womack shifts the band’s instrumentation to allow Blain to focus on bass guitar, his main instrument.  This change comes as the band is still discovering what they want their sound to be. 

“Our genre of playing is all over the place right now, in a good way,” said Blain. “I would describe it as funk, some indie rock, and, randomly, some blues-style stuff in there. However, it really depends on whose song we’re playing.” 

Blaine and Verling write and sing the band's music, with what Blain describes as drastically different inspirations and styles. Blain believes this two-songwriter format is what makes the band hard to place in one genre.

“Jedi and I have this agreement: the person who writes the song, sings the song,” said Blain. “I’d say the stuff I write is a sort of Coldplay vibe, with the slow buildup and the variety of sounds, like string sections and whatnot. What Jedi writes, however, I would describe it as more Beatles or Rolling Stones-inspired. Funkier, 60’s style rock music. I don’t think, at least for now, that we will narrow down the genres of music that we play. I don’t think we’ll have one ‘distinct sound’ like a band like Coldplay does.”

As far as recording goes, the band has some demos that Blain described as “scratch tracks” or tracks recorded without the use of professional studio equipment. Blain described the recording process as a fun challenge that presented unexpected obstacles. 

“The biggest recording challenge for me so far is figuring out how I want the songs to sound. There were times when I’ve gotten really fed up when I can't decide what direction I want to go with on a song or, if I’ve written part of something, how I want to complete it so it sounds as good as it can,” said Blain. 

Starting a new band presents new challenges, but Blain, and the rest of the band look forwards to the band’s future in recording, songwriting and performing. According to Blain, the band will start to play gigs in the near future, with some dates already lined up.  4TM will be competing in a local battle of the bands competition in late March, which Blain hopes will give them a feel for playing with a live audience. The band, and their future gig schedules, can be found on their Instagram, @4tmoutofboone.