Rise RecordsWhen Gone Is Gone -- a band made up of Mastodon's Troy Sanders, Queens of the Stone Age's Troy Van Leeuwen, At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar and multi-instrumentalist Mike Zarin -- first formed, they really didn't have big expectations. In fact, the fleeting, unknown nature of the group is reflected in the name Gone Is Gone.
"We took this idea of becoming a band as an opportunity, an opportunity that could've easily blown right over our heads," Sanders tells ABC Radio.
"None of us truly need to be in more bands," he cracks. "But in our short time together, we had already been very energized and excited to be a part of this different musical adventure that we are creating."
On Gone Is Gone's debut album, Echolocation, all the band members were able to experiment with new sounds, particularly of the atmospheric and cinematic variety. For Sanders, who shares vocal duties with multiple people in Mastodon, it was also a chance to demonstrate his flexibility as a singer.
"I put the most energy and effort into finding memorable vocal patterns and vocal placement, and whatever few voices I may have, I wanna try to find the best voice to fit the best part," he says. "It's the coolest musical challenge I've ever been faced with, but I take pride in giving it my best."
Another left turn on Echolocation is a cover of Portishead's "Roads."
"It was an opportunity to...spread the wings of what Gone Is Gone will be in the future," Van Leeuwen says of the cover. "I think it's one of the more cinematic pieces of music on the record. And to me, that's got the orchestra on it, and it's got this great electronic feel as well, but not synthetic at all."
Echolocation is out now.
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