Zephyre

Living in a small-town can be detrimental to the aspirations of young men and women, but to Michael Patton and Matt Minor, the founders of Zephyre (zeh-fire), it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Growing up in the rural town Mechanicsville, VA as a teenager is something that isn't very exciting. Aside from hanging out at the local BP gas station or attending Lee-Davis High School sporting events, there really isn't much to do. Because of this lack of exploits, Mike & Matt turned ...

Living in a small-town can be detrimental to the aspirations of young men and women, but to Michael Patton and Matt Minor, the founders of Zephyre (zeh-fire), it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Growing up in the rural town Mechanicsville, VA as a teenager is something that isn't very exciting. Aside from hanging out at the local BP gas station or attending Lee-Davis High School sporting events, there really isn't much to do. Because of this lack of exploits, Mike & Matt turned to the acoustic guitar as a means to pass the time, not knowing that it would soon lead them to a world of possibilities which they could only have dreamed about. Fast forward through a tremultuous 2008 senior year of high school to the month of February. This was when the two met and began to play guitar together in an attempt to emulate the success of their biggest musical influences, ranging widely from Sublime, Jack Johnson, and Slightly Stoopid to Pantera, Metallica, and GWAR. They had trouble, however, in the beginning. They couldn’t write songs that were worth listening to at all to save their life. It was almost like a missing ingredient; there was something that just wasn’t there. That all changed though when they encountered a “ghost” who called itself “RD.” As the two band members sat in Matt’s bedroom contemplating song ideas and inspirations for songs, Matt received a text message from his cousin who was staying the night at his house that simply read: “Weird stuff happening in the guest bedroom. Come here.” Skeptical, the two made their way to the guestroom expecting a prank of some sort. When they opened the door, however, an eerie blue light flashed in the corner of the room. What was odd was that the room was pitch black and it was 3 a.m. This prompted Matt to run and retrieve his Ouija board, unbeknownst to him that something chilling was about to occur in the room at the top of the stairs and to the left. When they sat the board out on the bed, placed their fingers on the indicator, and asked the spirit’s name as the first question, it was almost immediately that the small plastic triangle spelled out simply: “RD.” This was extremely abnormal but they decided to ask one more question, which was what year the spirit had died. When it replied 1877, they decided to rush out of the room and try to go to bed. The following week, as Mike & Matt spoke of the event, a sudden moment of self-realization poured over them. It was then that they wrote the song “aRDy” in honor of the ghost. After completing the song, all of the sudden musical ideas started to flow out uncontrollably, which they still do to this day. Throughout all their local success, however, the duo still remain humble about every opportunity that they receive and are extremely thankful for every blessing that comes to their way in the form of music. And partially because of growing up in Mechanicsville, these traits will follow them throughout their whole life. They aren’t in the music industry, because the music is in them. They write songs for the enjoyment of others, and always will. Zephyre is rising, and it’s only a matter of time until the whole world is engulfed.