A Great Big Pile Of Leaves

Brooklyn-based trio A Great Big Pile of Leaves originated in 2007 when guitarist/singer Peter Weiland and drummer Tyler Soucy took time from their prior projects to start writing material together. The first six songs came together as the self-released EP The Fiery Works, which the duo put out as a free download on the band’s official website. As word spread online, the band’s fanbase grew - along with Weiland and Soucy's excitement to get back to recording. Taking advantage of the positive word-of-mouth, A Great Big Pile of Leaves released another self-produced EP - The Fiery Works II - again as a free online download. Within the next year, both digital releases accumulated over 12,000 downloads and the group prepared for a live setting with the addition of bassist Tucker Yaro. After playing several shows and writing a batch of new songs over the next few months, the newfound trio geared up to record the full-length album Have You Seen My Perfrontal Cortex?. Each member took on engineering, production, mixing and mastering duties during the recording process; the record became a full collaboration of each member’s respective influences and knowledge. "We don't like to set up any boundaries when writing; we don't consciously come into it with any walls up" says Soucy. "The three of us have a rather eclectic background of musical influences and we like to explore that and have a good time. The only thing we knew coming into this record, is that we were in control and that we wanted to make the best record we could; something we would enjoy from beginning to end with no sense of filler." Since the release of Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex? in summer 2010, the group has seen a rapidly growing fanbase as well as praise on influential sites like absolutepunk.net - where the record was reviewed with a 93% approval rating. The momentum continues in the rest of 2010 with a vinyl release of the album and a large-scale fall tour to showcase A Great Big Pile of Leaves’ powerful live set to a wider audience. “The positive reactions to our music have been pretty overwhelming so far, especially in a day and age when the Internet seems to be filled with a lot of negativity on message boards,” explains Soucy, “we haven't really gotten much of that yet.” A Great Big Pile of Leaves will be hitting the road this fall on their first national tour - opening for Motion City Soundtrack, Say Anything, and Saves the Day.