• About
  • Articles
  • Make Memphis
  • Music Blog
  • Photography
    • Behance
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • Linkedin
    • Pinterest
    • Tumblr
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Rachelandthecity

Blogger. Photographer. Graphic Designer. Podcaster.

Arma Secreta Prepare to Release New Album, A Centuries Remains

December 14, 2005 by Rachel Hurley Leave a Comment

Arma Secreta

While many artists are inspired by relationships between both friends and lovers, math rock outfit Arma Secreta, which is Portuguese for “the secret weapon,” tends to cover more imaginative territory. Their forthcoming album A Centuries Remains contains songs covering such a wide array of topics as a brainwashing operation disguised as a hair salon, two aspiring ninjas working a at car wash, and a song about an amateur astronomer obsessed with premillennialist eschatology – which is the study of the end of all things (not to be confused with teleology which is the study of final things).  If the content of their music seems a little off-kilter to most, well maybe that’s exactly what they were going for.

“I don’t write music to be understood by other people, I write music that I think is fun to play, and I write it for my own benefit,” explains singer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Wark. “I try to write stuff that doesn’t sound like anyone else, and I don’t listen to a lot of new bands because I don’t want to be influenced by them.”

Arma Secreta was formed in 2003 by high school friends Wark and drummer Brad Bean after stints in other local Memphis bands, including Staynless and Doubt, respectively.  And while it’s certainly not out of the ordinary for a group to want to sound original, Wark’s particular place in life while recording last year was not necessarily run of the mill. Shortly after the conception of the band, he was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. He was 26 years old.

“It was actually in my large intestine,” Wark is quick to point out.  “It wasn’t rectal, put it that way.”

The illness took his band mate by complete surprise.

“I was really scared, heartbroken, and I mean I guess all of the normal things when people find out that someone they know has cancer,” says Bean. “I mean it was kind of surreal because he was so young.”

After seeing a brigade of doctors, having surgery and being prescribed chemotherapy, Wark, and his wife decided to take a leap of faith and treat his illness with little more than the food he ate.

“The thing about chemotherapy is it kills the immune system, so if the cancer comes back, well, you’re dead,” says Wark. ”So I went to an entirely vegan diet, and ate only raw fruits and vegetables,  and drank so many carrots I turned orange for a year.”

“And all this time I thought it wasn’t easy being green,” jokes Bean.

Miraculously, Wark’s body was determined by doctors to be cancer-free in 2004, and very quickly afterward he became determined to get back into the swing of making music.

“Once it became apparent that I was gonna live, then it became clear that we had to make this record, so we stopped playing shows to focus on writing and recording,” says Wark.

Bean and Wark began recording with producer Kevin Cubbins at Easley McCain Recording and were lucky enough to have copies of most of their music before a fire destroyed the vaults in the studio in early March of 2005.  In another positive spin, Wark and Bean took the loss of the Easley as an opportunity to build their studio, Missile Silo, in the rear of Bean’s family furniture business.

After finishing the record earlier this year, Wark and Bean set out to find a bass player to enable them to play their songs live. After being introduced to bassist Michael Brandon, they realized that he held the final piece to the Arma Secreta puzzle.

“There are really six things that you look for in someone before you ask them to join your band,” explains Wark. “They need to possess the skill, personal style, commitment, dependability, personality, and the last one is, ‘do they have a van?’ – and he did, so he was in.”

Now that their team is complete, the band has gotten back into playing live shows, preferring all age venues like The Complex on Madison and The Skatepark in Cordova.

“We just like to play to new people, we don’t want to play to the same mid-town crowd every week,” says Wark. “We play in Southaven, Bartlett, Nashville.”

Odd time signatures, weird song structure, and a lack of the same verse chorus verse structure that is the signature of most rock albums are not the only ways the band has set their debut album apart, and it has already sparked interest from three independent record labels.

“This band allows me to open up my pallet a little more, it’s allowed me to integrate a lot of styles that wouldn‘t be allowed in a different situation, artwork,” says Bean. “We have an open dialog about what we’re trying to put across which helps us write the music.”

“The theme of the album is two things,” explains Wark. “One is the artwork for the album is a photo essay done by an aerial photographer – basically what was left over after a century of industrialization, junkyards, strip mines, iron ore, and process plants, but it also refers to that the songs are a lot of ideas I had before the cancer, before the turn of the century .”

Arma Secreta plays with the Lights at The Young Avenue Deli on December 22nd. Their forthcoming album is due to be released in March 2006.

Blair Combest Releases Follow Up Album Produced by Cubbins, Postlethwaite

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Testimonials

  • Peggy Phillip

    Peggy Phillip

    Station Manager at WMC-TV

    "Rachel is a bright and personable individual. She is a hard-working self-starter, capable of achieving any goal she sets her mind to. She truly understands and embraces communication on various platforms and was an Early Adopter in all things "internet."

      While at WMC Action News 5, she injected passion and pizzazz into the assignment desk and on special projects. Personally and professionally, she was a positive force in our news department."

     

  • Tim Sampson

    Tim Sampson

    Communications Director for The Stax Museum of American Soul Music
      "Rachel Hurley is one of the best communicators in Memphis, Tennessee, and has been a tremendous help to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and Stax Music Academy. Through her popular blog and other means of communication, she has been of invaluable help to us in helping spread the word, promote events, and help keep the Stax Museum name in front of people in the music industry, which is of paramount importance to us. I would highly recommend her for any position that includes communicating with people at any level."

     

  • Marvin Stockwell

    Marvin Stockwell

    Founder of Rock for Love

     

      "Rachel Hurley is a person with great ideas and the confidence to make them happen. She is on the leading edge with social media and has proven she knows how to leverage its potential to achieve real-world results. She is also passionate about Memphis and making it all it can be. Rachel finds creative ways to be helpful. Rachel is a leader, and is equally adept during the big-picture phase and in handling the nitty-gritty details."

     

  • Parker Hayes

    Parker Hayes

    Videographer
      "I worked with Rachel on a number of "Ardent Presents" videos and also a series of videos for the Folk Alliance. Rachel was always organized and prepared for everything I was involved with at Ardent. She's a true professional and a great communicator. Any company would be lucky to have her on staff."

     

  • Alyssa DeHayes

    Alyssa DeHayes

    Publicist at Riot Act Media

     

      "Rachel is one dynamic lady. She is constantly implementing new ideas to advance the public image and recognition of Ardent Music, and create a web identity for them. As a publicist at Team Clermont, I've had the pleasure of working with Rachel as she sets up performance opportunities for our bands passing through her city (which are mutually beneficial for everyone involved: publicity for Ardent and for the band,) eloquently conducts interviews, and creates engaging web content. Rachel is a busy networker, and has developed strong relationships all over this industry."

     

  • Amy Lavere

    Amy Lavere

    Musician
      "Rachel is a wonderful person. In every situation I've encountered personally or professionally with Rachel I have found her to be very centered and positive. I am also aware that a great many of the innovative studio and artist promotional projects established over the past few years at Ardent have been of Rachel's doing.
      I first became aware of Rachel through her popular blog. She very honestly reviewed music and events and became the most feared music writer in Memphis. She kept the music community honest, helped raise the bar of craftsmanship and kept any phony hype at bay. She wasn't particularly well loved by some local bands back then, but over the past few years it has become clear that Rachel is passionate about good music, musicians and has dedicated her time and career to lifting it up, getting it out there and doing it well.
      She has the utmost respect in the music and recording community. I am a big fan. She would be an asset to any industry she became involved in."

     

  • Danny Flamberg

    Danny Flamberg

    Principal, OmniChannel Marketing at Opera Solutions
        "Rachel is among the savviest social media thinkers I know. As my editor at Talent Zoo for two years, she consistently had her finger on the pulse of consumers and brands as they negotiated and developed a new media universe.
        She is smart, easy to work with and full of ideas. She understands business and technology fundamentals and how to apply them competitively in the marketplace. She has a very pleasant manner and can seemingly get along with almost anyone. She sees 5 moves ahead because Rachel has an innate feeling for how people relate to each other and how they use technology to facilitate and enhance relationships.
        Intensely curious, with a sharp mind and even sharper wit, Rachel sees the big picture but can also focus intensely on the critical details. She will be one of the people that define and drive the next stage of social media adoption and use.
        I expect amazing things from her. If I had the opportunity to hire her as a community manager or as a content creator or as a strategic partner, I'd grab it in a New York minute."

     

  • Brandon Herrington

    Brandon Herrington

    Founder of Fareveller Music Festival
      "Rachel knows social media better than anyone I know. She always has. Ever since the inception of Rachel and the City, she has been at the forefront of the latest ways to socially connect people with the arts culture in Memphis. When I founded Fareveller Music Festival, I quickly valued her as a partner in establishing a credible online presence within the community. Everything she did worked great for me!"

     

  • Mike Williams

    Mike Williams

    President of Memphis Police Association
      "Rachel was an integral part of my campaign for Memphis Mayor. Not only did she consult with us on how to make the most of our marketing on a nominal budget, she researched and consulted on my mayoral platform. Her contributions were a tremendous asset and we would not have been as successful without her contributions. She is an extremely bright team player who can accomplish anything she sets her mind too. She is the reason Bruce VanWyngarden, Editor-in-Chief of The Memphis Flyer remarked, "I don't know who's going to win the mayor's race but @mikeformemphis def has the best social media game."

     

  • Richard Billings

    Richard Billings

    CEO of Leafless

    "Rachel is a highly motivated self-starter that is able to manage multiple projects. She is well organized and worked well with our staff and customers. While working with Leafless she helped build our social media presence through several previously unexplored channels."

     



901.619.5717 (texts preferred)
rachel@rachelandthecity.com
Current City: Denver, CO!

© 2021 · Pretty Creative WordPress Theme by, Pretty Darn Cute Design