Physics of Meaning

The Physics of Meaning is a chamber rock band from North Carolina, spearheaded by multi-instrumentalist songwriter Daniel Hart. Daniel is a member of St. Vincent and John Vanderslice's band, as well as a frequent contributor to The Polyphonic Spree.

Much in the same way that Daniel splits his time now between several different projects, Daniel split his time growing up between two passions. He started playing the violin when he was only three years old and continued to study classical music throughout his adolescence. The weeks were spent practicing Bach sonatas and partitas; Saturdays rehearsing "Peer Gynt" and "The Firebird Suite" in citywide youth orchestra.

But Daniel also loved plays, taking up the role of Mercutio in a high school summer Shakespeare festival, reading the work of modern greats like Sam Shepard and Samuel Beckett. At college, Daniel delved into playwriting, examining human motivation as it translates from the written word to the stage, writing his own plays and performing them with his classmates.

So The Physics of Meaning is the culmination of these two influences: Daniel's love of classical violin and his love of dialogue-driven storytelling. Physics songs are narratives, character sketches, soliloquies, arguments, secret wishes and unsolved mysteries, all accompanied by strings which slide and sear and tremble and distort. The music evokes the sweet earnestness of John Vanderslice, the technical beauty of St. Vincent, and the charging energy of the Spree, while the effects of a youth spent listening to Led Zeppelin and Yes are also evident.

The Physics of Meaning just finished recording its fully-orchestrated second album, Snake Charmer and Destiny at the Stroke of Midnight, which is slated for release by Trekky Records and Bu Hanan Records in Fall 2008. The album tells the story of a serpent who wants desperately to become a human being, set against a backdrop of magical forests, wishing wells, a king's army and the hypnotic melodies of the last real snake charmer on earth.



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