Sometimes, love stings.
Love can send you singing, falling and even apologizing.
Kirkland resident Peter McMurray is no stranger to these feelings, and that’s why he wrote some songs about love for his pop rock band, Rising Union. The band’s debut album, “Love Songs” will be released on Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day.
McMurray, who is the lead song writer and singer for the band, wrote many of the album’s songs when he attended Inglemoor High School.
“When you’re in high school, your biggest life concerns are things like relationships,” said McMurray, who is now 20 and currently studying Music Industry at Northwest University.
The album, which is signed with Tate Music Group, offers several perspectives about love: breaking up, loving somebody who doesn’t love you back and apologizing.
One song, King of Awareness Day, says that valentines are nothing more than glue and construction paper.
“Every time Valentine’s Day comes around, there are certain people who get really upset and touchy,” said McMurray about the song. “So with that song we try to reach out to people like that. You shouldn’t let Valentine’s Day tell you what it means to love. You don’t have to be in a relationship or love someone to understand what love means. You don’t need another person – you can take pride in just being alone.”
And sometimes just as messy as finding the right love is creating a band, McMurray has learned. He started out messing around with the idea of forming a band when he was at Finn Hill Junior High.
“My friends and I decided it would be really cool to start a band. We played electric guitars and electric drums. We didn’t even have a real drum set,” said McMurray. “We wanted to be a punk rock band, like Blink 182. But that eventually changed.”
After many of his friends left the band for other endeavors over the years, McMurray finally got serious when he was a senior.
The seven-member Rising Union now consists of McMurray, Beth Ross (violin, pitch percussion), Kira Johnson (lead female vocals), Doug Stewart (keyboard), Andrew Wilde (bass), Garrett Congdon (lead guitar), and Colin Walter Votteler (drums, percussion and harmonica). All of the members live in Kirkland, except Votteler, who lives in Kenmore.
“It’s pretty serious now,” said McMurray. “Most of the band wants to do something musical for a career, so we all have some investment in wanting to make this actually succeed.”
The band’s biggest challenge so far is just getting heard, and McMurray hopes that’s where his business background will help out.
Rising Union has played at several local churches, the Lyon’s Den in Bothell and most recently they played for a human trafficking awareness concert at Northwest University on Tuesday. Their next show is set for Feb 12 at Studio Seven in Seattle.
McMurray says the band’s genre is hard to define.
“We try and be versatile. Most people compare us to Death Cab for Cutie (Indie pop-rock) and Gungor (Christian folk-rock).”
But what really sets Rising Union apart is that each song sounds completely different.
“We have one song that’s like tango, another that’s 1930’s swing, so we have people get up and swing dance during the concert,” said McMurray. “We have a waltz and folk hoedown-type style with people stomping their feet. We try and mix it up so it’s interesting and it’s not the same thing over and over again.”
Most importantly, he says, he writes lyrics with meaning.
“I think music can be a very powerful and effective form of communication. I think you can express things clearer through music than you can express otherwise.”
He said the band chose the name “Rising Union” primarily for the meaning behind “union” as a symbol of joining together.
“People can feel so alone and broken up and separated,” he said. “So when people listen to our music, I want them to think, man, this person gets me. It’s good to know that you’re not alone in these kinds of situations.”
For more information about Rising Union, visit risingunion.tmgartist.com
