Ester Drang

A live sonic boom

'Ester Drang has managed to grow out of the rock music wasteland that is Oklahoma and carve their niche into the national scene.

"It's the Flaming Lips, Starlight Mints, and the Aquaducts (in Oklahoma)," began the band's musical guru, James McAllister. "There are other bands here but this is as close as you'll come to a scene. Outside of that, it's all churches and Oral Roberts University."

This drawback aside, Drang continues to strive forward, writing music for musicians. Sonically dense and multileveled, the web of otherwise nebulous parts weave together to create endless facets of sound that could make Pink Floyd blush. On record, namely with the release of their Jade Tree debut, "Infinite Keys," it hits right on the mark. Live, though, this creates difficulties.

"We use technology to our advantage. Anything we can play live, we play. The rest we throw on a track. People are coming to see us live so we try to do most of it ourselves to make it as interesting as possible."