I love when my friends do cool shit. Thomas Vanderpol is a homie who contributes to No Echo on a regular basis, but his biggest contribution to the hardcore community comes through his drumming work in bands like Dying for It and Enact.
His latest project is Reflex, which finds him collaborating with current and former members of such groups as Life Force, Climate, and Fired Up. "We are all Portland transplants," Thomas tells me about the new endeavor and its formation stofy. "Driggs is from Connecticut, Cody is from New York, Davis is from Texas, and I’m from California.
"I met Driggs and Cody when their Portland bands played with my California band in a garage in rural northern California in late 2016. It’s really true that you meet someone at a show once and then you stay connected to them on social media forever. I eventually moved to Portland and we became friends. Davis and I also play in Legendary Weapons together."
Reflex released their demo just a few days ago, and from what Thomas says, things have been flowing beautifully for the quartet. "The best part about this band is that everything has come together so quickly. Cody approached me at JAG in Tacoma back in March about playing together.
"At our first practice in April, Cody asked if we wanted to play a show a month later with What Counts. We learned five songs and a cover and had a great response. Chance from What Counts offered to put out our demo on his label, RTR Tapes. After the show, we went to work in the studio with Jason McGhee, who I’ve been working with for the last several years on almost everything I’ve recorded."
As much as I love the metallic-leaning side of the genre's sonic spectrum, the Reflex demo is straight down the middle hardcore, which is a style I'll always ride for. "We all have very different influences but we all love fast hardcore," says Thomas.
Now that their demo is up on the usual streaming outlets, Reflex is focused on the live side of things, as well as penning new material. "Our next show is at the end of July supporting Combust at Stronger Skatepark here in Portland.
"We plan to play some more shows this year, play out of town here and there, and keep writing songs and putting out new music."
***
The Reflex demo is available on cassette via RTR Tapes.
Reflex on social media: Instagram
Tagged: cutting through, dying for it, fired up, life force, reflex
