(...but were too oblivious of our existence to ask!)
by Eric Martin

Hi. This is Eric, from Stained Glass Republic. I wanted to thank you for your interest in our band and for caring enough to read our bio. Tim's been on me for about a month to write this bio, and I've put it off for a myriad of reasons, but I have finally sat down to face the task of introducing us to the world. I tried to be the Hype Man, and write the great outsider sales pitch, about how "awesome" and "unique" Stained Glass Republic is. And, I hope we are those things! I think we are anyway. But I just can't bring myself to be The Marketing Man. In truth, I don't know how to. I don't know how you're supposed to see us right now. All I know is how I see us.

So here goes. Stained Glass Republic is Ryan Whatley (guitar), Jake Whatley (drums), Tim Iler (keys), and Eric Martin, yours truly, the singer. We actually all do more than our assigned labels allow. For instance, everyone here could be considered a writer. I'm just throwing that out for the sake of brevity.

Ryan and I have been playing music together since 1996, when we met at a Christian summer camp in Florida called Breakaway. We were both introverted and obsessed with music. I knew immediately that I loved the way Ryan wrote, and I have come to know him as one of the most creative people I have ever met. We went through a half-dozen name changes ("pSalt," anyone? How about "Against the World"?--there's one sure to win those lost souls over!), probably twice that many line-up changes, and still more life changes to get to where we are now. A lot of good friends came and went that for whatever reason didn't care for the lifestyle, or just couldn't justify putting something like this in the top tier of their life priorities. In 2001, Ryan's younger brother Jake joined the group as our full-time drummer, and he's been with us ever since. Jake's got a lot of passion, and he has a killer energy that gives the ethereal, mysterious vibe that Ryan and I love so much, a much-needed booster shot.

I guess that leaves Tim. Tim has jazz hands. He also has computer programming hands, and he makes a mean Triple Chocolate Rum Cake with nuts. Okay, that last part isn't true, but I'd like him a lot more if he did. (Just kidding.) Tim did one tour of duty with us back when we were known as Goin Nova (or was it Going Nova? Did we ever actually decide?), and has recently come back to the fold. Seriously, Tim is the best pianist I know and he needs to stick around this time.

You probably want to know what we sound like. I don't know how to describe that. There are clips on our MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/sgrmusic or on our media page. I can tell you some artists that I think we all love. Steely Dan, The Police, U2, Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Imogen Heap, Doves, Elbow, My Bloody Valentine, Stevie Wonder, And Off The Wall/Thriller-era Michael Jackson. Maybe when you listen to our music, you'll hear some of these things, maybe you won't. To me, we just sound like us. We want to create music as beautiful and as dynamic as the experience of life itself. Lofty, huh?

What else is there to say? Anyone who's played music for long enough will tell you that being in a band is like having a second family. I would say this band is very close. There are a lot of things that unite these four very different souls. Love of music. Love of beauty. Love of contemplation and meditation. We are all acutely aware of the human experience--both joy and pain. Last and most importantly, we all share a love of God, and have trusted in our savior Jesus Christ. It is that final thing that probably defines how we're known as artists more than anything else. It draws a line all the way down from the first song Ryan and I wrote together at Breakaway (does anyone reading this remember "(In a) Life Broken Down"?), through relationship-oriented songs like "Reasons", to our newest unreleased material, which touches on both the spritual and the temporal, as well as social themes.

Speaking of new music, I guess I should mention that last year, we signed a production/development deal with Fidelity Entertainment Group. Everyone has been super cool so far, and it's nice to have more people on your team that seem to "get it". With them, we're working on a new album that's coming out in 2009. I know that sounds like bad news to some of you who were hoping to hear the new music sooner, but we're taking our time and hopefully doing it right. We'll be sharing some of the new music sooner,on MySpace and hopefully at our shows. I really do think these are some of the best songs we've written, and that we're really stretching out and getting comfortable being ourselves as well. This record will really be the first recorded music that truly consists of this lineup of SGR, and I'm truly excited to see how it turns out. (For the record, we have self-released what are basically two elaborate demo CD's -- Stealing From the Sky in 2001, which was credited to Goin Nova, and then Hymns For the Unborn came out under our bright and shiny new name in 2006. You can still order it from the MySpace page for those who don't want to wait until next year to get our music into your hands.)

So, there it is! Our 2008 super-bio extraordinaire! Maybe you think it's a bit pretentious, maybe you don't. I thought it was better than pretending to be someone I'm not. For now at least (ha ha). And don't forget: Stained Glass Republic is the coolest, hottest, youngest, prettiest, hippest, most original out of the up-and-coming independent Christian bands! If you don't buy our record, you may experience bowel discomfort and questionable taste in music!

Just kidding. Much love to everyone reading this, and we hope to see you soon.

-Eric, on behalf of Ryan, Jake and Tim.