For a relatively new band, profound maturity and depth surrounds History At Our Disposal. Their music, deftly-layered rock songs rooted in the study of classical composition as much as they are saturated with the best of “classic rock,” displays remarkable patience, clever songwriting, and an ability to assimilate their influences without regurgitating them; they’re taking what they know and turning it into something forward-thinking. Without, it should be noted, sounding derivative. The fact the band can discuss such things intelligently without the advantage of being press-savvy makes their existence all the more rewarding for those whose paths cross that of HAOD’s Jason Reimer and Clay Stinnett.
For starters, there is the context of their name. Taken from a statement made, in all places, a modern-day college classroom by a classmate of Reimer’s girlfriend, Daughter Entertainment publicist Kristen Butler.
“ At some point, they were talking about art movements, trying to determine where we were at currently, and someone in the class mentioned that everything we see today is history at our disposal,” said Reimer. “It seemed to me to fit everything we could ever try to do. A year from now, the band will be completely different at our discretion. If we feel like showing up to a gig and playing country and western, then we will and it won’t be tongue in cheek, it will be because we really like different kinds of music and want to incorporate the best of what we like into a vision of what we’d like to see. This is not to say that we have some pretentious idea about ourselves as changing the world with a guitar chord or something like that, but I am really tired of hearing the same song played again and again. And to me, it’s not an accurate portrayal of what is going on in music and art combined.”