RICK MESTER / vocals & guitars

Mike

musical history

I started out in a metal band called Grievance Honor. We played around the midwest for about five years. Many of my ‘firsts’ were experienced during the GH years. The first time you hear one of your songs on the radio, the first time you get to play out live, the first time you get to be on TV – all of these were first experienced in GH.

After about five years I outgrew the GH sound and began yearning to create more emotional music so I left the band and started a small folk band called “Porch of an Angry Grasshopper.” We wrote a few songs and fell apart pretty quickly. I was really into the goth/post punk scene (especially Fields of the Nephilim and Bauhaus) and wanted to explore that style.

It was then that I started Sombrance (around 1997) and we began the evolution to where we are now. Much of the goth sound has fallen off yet I am still a big fan of goth music. I am very pleased with the personality that Sombrance has developed.

We continue to evolve our sound and our friends and fans have let us know that they like what they hear. To answer the next question for you who are reading this and wondering what to expect when listening to us, four of our biggest influences are Pink Floyd, StarFlyer 59, the Cure and the Violet Burning. Hope that helps!

I have also kept busy with an ambient side project called Ishur Ninku. I think that I listen to trance/world beat/new age music more than anything else and this is a chance to express that side of myself.

I am very happy to be playing with the talented guys in Sombrance who are all very diverse in their musical tastes and expressions, so here’s to the continual evolution! For more information about me, go to http://www.rickmester.com