Five Minutes with the Unfathomable

Hitting the scene with their unique sound, nothing quite compares to Unfathom, a Dallas native band. The band is made up of Brandon McInnis (vocals), Derek Troxtell (guitar), Lisa Chou (synth), Nick Troxtell (bass), and Stephanie Thornton (drums).

Starting it all, Brandon and Derek spent much of their time in an Austin College practice room turned recording studio in Craig Hall. Talking about the twists and turns that led from classical music to J-pop to their current alternative/rock sound, I sat down for an interview with Brandon McInnis (via Skype) and cousins Nick and Derek Troxtell.

How did Unfathom form?

Brandon: It actually all started with J-pop. I was a Japanese major at Austin College and studied abroad for a semester. My host mom told me I should I try writing Japanese music so I did. When I came back to Sherman, I got a job at Circuit City fixing computers. That’s where I met Derek. It was just us to begin with. We started out playing like at AC Lunar Festival. We actually ended up touring in Japan.

Derek: That’s when we brought in Lisa, and we had a different drummer at that time.

Brandon: But about Japan, to make a long story short-we were white. There’s no way it would have worked out so we switched to rock.

What was touring in Japan like?

Brandon: It was lots of fun but stressful. We self-managed that tour. We learned that it is definitely important to outsource some responsibilities. As a performer, it’s hard to find balance when you’re managing yourself.

Derek: We would have to set-up and then still have energy for the crowd.

Brandon (laughs): Derek do you remember Timmy?


Derek (laughs): Oh yeah! So Timmy was this kid in Japan who would run on stage to bring me a different guitar while we were performing. This one time, some girl threw a lead bra at the stage while he was running on and totally took out Timmy!

Brandon: It was hilarious!

Derek: But yeah, we lost Timmy’s help after that.

What is your favorite thing about performing?

Nick: There are so many different aspects to it.

Brandon: Yeah definitely. I would say it’s the rush. Everything just evaporates and it’s awesome. It’s you and the stage and your fans.

Nick: Like at Edgefest, as we got ready to perform, there was a huge rush of people on either side.

Who are some of your influences?

Brandon: I would definitely say Paramore.

Nick: My main influence is definitely Rush.

Derek: One thing that’s very interesting about us is we all have very different musical backgrounds. Brandon was into classical music.

Brandon: Yeah, I sang opera for six years.

Derek: Yeah, we all have all these different tastes ranging from jazz to The Birthday Massacre.

How much do you practice?

Brandon (laughs): Oh, you know, we’ll go for with no food or water for four or five days, just music.

Derek: We practice every Sunday for four or five hours.
Do you have any gigs coming up?

Brandon: We planning on playing at The Door in Dallas. Right now, we’re focusing on a full CD.

Derek: It should be releasing this year if everything goes smoothly, very soon.

After I finished my interview questions, we just talked for a little bit. Brandon told me about how he and Derek turned one of the old practice rooms in Craig Hall into a small recording studio. They actually calked the acoustic panels.

“He would record the vocals, and I played to that,” Derek said.

Brandon said that Derek has been a really good friend to him.

“There were times when all-nighters were pulled in that practice room. I would get really frustrated working,” Brandon said. “Derek would say, ‘It’s okay, you can do it,’ or, ‘SUCK IT UP!’ depending on what was appropriate to the situation.”