History
The main force behind the band is Karl Ridgeway, who plays guitar and occasionally jumps in for backup vocals against his will. Karl has been playing guitar for a very long time and gets progressively better at it every year. His main influences include a longstanding loyalty for Tool, a passionate love affair with Opeth, and a few (select) others such as Meshuggah (for rhythmic intricacy), Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, and Dragonforce (in a tongue-in cheek sort of way). He also occasionally lends an ear to acoustic-based bands such as The Decemberists, Iron and Wine, and even singer/songwriter Imogen Heap. Karl has consistently written and recorded songs since high school, and is the driving force behind our creative efforts. He has also participated in numerous musical projects throughout the years. It is true that he is very talented, but it is even more true that he is persistent, driven, and (although it is a bit indulgent to say so) visionary.
In 2003, Karl formed Epistemic (www.epistemic.org) with Stephanie Hossfeld (myself), four other non-members of Origin Theory in Harrisonburg, VA. At this point, Karl and Stephanie were all ex-music majors at James Madison with a slight chip on our shoulders. At the time, forming a metal/prog band seemed like the perfect snub aimed towards the music department, although it was most likely unnoticed by anyone who could actually give a shit.
Influences
Our sound is generally a melange of slightly altered ripped-offish riffs that slowly evolve into something more unique. If we were to classify ourselves, we might say something confusing like melodic hard rock/gothic metal with a splash of acoustic, or maybe some sort of prog. Our songs tend to visit several different musical themes within one body, often contrasting greatly between sections in terms of style and time signature.
While Karl generally comes up with the original idea for a song, Stephanie usually writes the lyrics and vocal melodies.
Once the song has become less nebulous, Aaron, Aaron, and Ori write their parts to create a more finished sound. The synergy of the whole group often changes the songs even more, sometimes altering the overall form and flow and provoking other new ideas.
Another quirk to our band is that we use Subversion to designate and monitor tasks. Chalk that up to having four programmers in our midst (Karl, Ori, and the Aarons).
Origin Theory. Pretentious? Yes. Self indulgent? Oh definitely. But if we don’t, who will?
