I will forever be amazed at the diversity of Atlanta’s music scene. You can find pretty much any genre of music being championed by some band around the city with many of these bands fronted by women. If you are looking to mosh and headbang to a slew of heavy, melodic riffs, Misty Eyed might be your ticket. They are a hard rock quartet that have risen from the ashes of 2020 to beckon us back into the pit after a long hiatus of live shows. The band is composed of John Eck on guitar, Wes Powell on bass, Jeremy Yurcaba on drums, and Megan Burke on vocals.
I have been following Misty Eyed for months. My friend and local booker Joe Warren introduced me to their music, saying they were definitely a band to watch. After giving them a few listens on Spotify, I decided to keep tabs on the group. In September, Misty Eyed performed at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Virginia, playing alongside heavyweights like Rob Zombie, Ludacris, Megadeth, and Papa Roach. Then they were hyping the release of their new EP Samsara with a release party on Halloween weekend at Sabbath Brewing in EAV.
With all this movement, I wanted to get to know Misty Eyed better. I had scheduled an interview with them to take place before their release show but ended up having to reschedule at the last minute. This was a blessing in disguise as I got to see the band’s final performance of 2021. Before blowing me away with their live show, the group took me down the street where we casually exchanged words.
Check out the play-by-play below.
How did you come together as a band?
John Eck: We’ve had a lot of mistakes. Lots of other projects kept failing over the years. I was in different projects with Wes that didn’t work out. I met Megan through a mutual friend. We did some jam sessions, and I was like “Hey, do you want to be in this band?”
Megan Burke: I asked if we could play pop-punk.
Wes Powell: We were used to the hard rock scene. It’s what we were familiar with.
JE: A lot of our fans were fans of our heavier material, so we did that.
Jeremy Yurcaba: I joined recently. I’ve been in the band for about a year.
How did y’all survive 2020 as a band?
JE: We almost died. We lost half the band while we were recording Samsara. Our drummer and other guitarist left to do other ventures. Then we got Jeremy, and our style changed. His drumming complemented our music better. Our producer wanted to do new recordings and we kept going.
JY: I’m the sick ass ramp that our band can do kickflips off.
I saw recently that you were on the lineup for Blue Ridge Rock Festival up in Virginia. What was that experience like?
MB: It was everything we hoped for and more. We got to mosh in the crowd but used the nice backstage toilets.
JY: Papa Roach had their own private toilet.
WP: There’s nothing like playing to a massive crowd and feeding off their energy.
MB: [We] came back to the merch table that had a large line.
JE: We grossed the most sales we’ve ever had at that show.
JY: We had around 50 people in line that wanted us to sign stuff.
MB: We finished playing in the early afternoon and were at the merch table until 8 that night.
JE: We were VIP guests that got to perform. We crowd surfed and had backstage access.
Tell me about your new album Samsara. What was the process to make this album?
MB: Definitely a new era for Misty Eyed. The album showcases the rebirth of Misty Eyed.
WP: The symbol on the album cover represents rebirth in the Celtic culture.
JE: We didn’t get here overnight. Our label kept saying our brand needed to be stronger. We did the research and wanted to make something to represent us in this current moment in time.
WP: We went through many different titles before we came to Samsara.
JE: Sometimes you have to keep changing shit.
WP: All of the pieces eventually came together.
What is your favorite song that you have written?
JE: “The Bargain” is the one we put the most intention into. It took lots of experimentation. The song is about the five stages of grief and ends with a guitar solo to symbolize acceptance.
Hard or soft tacos?
JY, MB (together): Soft tacos.
JY: You can eat them faster.
Mb: Hard shell tacos stab me in the gums and everything just falls out.
JE: Authentic tacos only. Street style.
JY: You can also roll a soft taco into a taquito making it utilitarian.
What do y’all have planned for the rest of 2021?
WP: We might spend some time working on some new music videos for next year.
JE: Tonight is the last show of the year for us. We plan to catch up with friends and family. We want to enjoy the time off and listen to our new EP. We do have gigs as soon as the new year comes.
More Info
Web: mistyeyed.rocks
Bandcamp: mistyeyedga.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @MistyEyedGA
Instagram: @mistyeyedga
SoundCloud: @mistyeyedga
Twitter: @MistyEyedga