Future best friends and close collaborators Craig Ringrose and Ben Thede first met in university, where they shared a dorm building. Thede remembers hearing someone playing “Sweet Dreams” by Marilyn Manson on electric guitar over and over and over again, while on the flip side, Craig recalls Thede’s love of Dave Matthews as being so effusive and zealous that he happened to own not just one but two copies of “Before These Crowded Streets”. Almost immediately, the two hall-mates began to pen new original songs with each other and feeling pretty excited about the results. There seemed to be something about their creative partnership that made it feel like their friendship and collaboration had been going on for years rather than mere months. They spent all of first year cowriting songs together, with the far more musically gifted Thede playing the instruments and guitar-newbie Craig singing and writing lyrics.

When the duo returned to university for sophomore year, they met Kevin Johnson, a fellow musician from California with similar roots in beachy surfer music as well as other intriguing influences. His preferred classical nylon guitar blended perfectly with Thede’s style on our existing catalogue of songs, and was immediately invited to join the nascent group. When choosing a band name, they all thought “Pacific” was a good start because of their shared origins on the West Coast, but then couldn’t decide what else to include after that, so eventually the placeholder “Pacific Blank" just became permanent.

Pacific Blank as a trio continued to write songs together at a furious pace, which they would play in their weekly live shows at coffee shops in Langley and Crescent Beach. From around 2004-2005, they churned out the following:
- Ode to the Rain
- And I (Thede original)
- Friday Night
- Win-Win
- Nest (Dream Big)
- Stars are Falling
- Reason to Wake Up
- Green-Eyed Sunshine (Kevin original)
- Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
- Something is Not Quite Right
- Alpha Omega
- Oak Cathedral
- Dilemma
- Second Verse

They decided to record an EP together of 5 songs, and tapped Jef Gibbons, the digital recording instructor at university to do it in his home studio. Those sessions were a very exciting time for everybody as their weekly performances and growing catalogue were starting to garner some positive attention, and they really wanted to have some sort of demos to have on hand in case anyone asked.

Sadly, though they didn’t know it then, the end of Pacific Blank was fast approaching. Kevin had always struggled with the homesickness and bouts of depression and so would soon return to California to finish his studies there. It was hard saying goodbye to Kevin, but they knew it was for the best.

With the Pacific Blank EP all wrapped up, Jef invited Thede and Craig to be TAs in his digital media course, which meant not only did they get a huge amount of insider knowledge on recording processes, but also 24/7 access to the studio on campus. That led to a whole new collaborative journey for the duo, as they would continue writing and performing for the rest of their university days. Unfortunately, Thede went home for Christmas break in their final year together and never returned, which did disrupt their plans of playing together much longer. However, they still communicate regularly and have a host of their own projects going on to keep them busy.

All in all, a pretty stellar first chapter for all involved.

(I recommend you listen to these tracks with headphones.)

Track Notes:

Stars are Falling

Lyrics written while lying on the ground in the forest after a bonfire with Alana and watching the stars together. Thede and Kevin both provide guitars and bass respectively, while Thede’s dorm mate Matt Dirato plays drums. A jaunty and propulsive start to the EP.

Raise me from my sleep
And be my beckoning
Like illusions in the branches
Of hours rarely seen
And the eyes awake
To partake

Build me bonfires in the forest
We’ll find them in the dark
Let me hide you in light
Sheltered in the sparks
And lay still
Lose your will

Let the leaves fall in chaos
Stars are falling

And if my star goes down
I wish the world could see
The crater where we lay tonight
The universe and me.

Someone’s digging pyramids
To the centre of the earth
Forget the buried treasure
They’ve only lost the words
To the letter
Even better

Pheromones and firewood
Blending in the smoke
Illuminating blue and yellow
Vapors that will choke
If you could breathe
Set you free

Let the leaves fall in chaos
Stars are falling

And if my star goes down
I wish the world could see
The crater where we lay tonight
The universe and me.

I’ve never heard the melody until now
Don’t record it
Or ignore it

Only once a million years can you hear it
Don’t forget it
You’ll regret it


Ode to the Rain

The first song that Thede and Craig ever wrote together, and it still remains one of the favourites of the dozens they’ve written together. There is just such immediate and obvious creative chemistry, and all the hallmarks of their best work—intricate guitar riffs, thoughtful lyrics, and so on—were already present in this first shining track. It was a staple of the live PB set, appearing at every show. “Ode” demonstrates Thede’s already quite skillful and dynamic guitar style, while Craig’s lyrics wanted to show how something that was constantly bemoaned and a source of negativity in most people’s lives—the rain—can actually be something to enjoy and appreciate if one just stop complaining about it for a while. In retrospect, this is a bit of an ironic tale because Kevin’s own struggles with life in such a cold, gray and rainy place was the main reason why he left the band, ultimately leading to the flame of PB being snuffed out rather abruptly. However, the theme of trying not to complain about things you cannot control is still a worthwhile lesson, and this song presents it pretty well.

The world never stops when it’s raining
Tides never stop for a storm
The grass always grows and the sun always shows
Its face in morning when you’re feeling alone.

The phone never rings when you’re silent
The bus is never on time
But the postman comes by piling bills to the sky
When you’ve finally lost your very last dime.

You’re always waiting for Christmas
Weekends are over too soon
The winter is long but the snowflakes are gone
And you get lost when the clouds hide the moon.

You’re always the last one to get there
Yet nobody waits for you to arrive
Your clock is okay only twice a day
So the only alarm sounds at 3:45.

Yet somehow you wake up each morning
Leave when you wish you were staying
Something in your heart stops you falling apart
Cause the world never stops when it’s raining.
The world never stops when it’s raining.


Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

This song was never played live and largely forgotten about after this EP recording, partly due to Craig’s rather corny and cringey lyrics touching on a whole mess of references without much cohesion. However, musically-speaking, Kevin’s slide guitar over Thede’s electric riffs and Dirato’s effective brushwork save the day and make it an interesting and unique part of the PB catalogue.

Where are all the temples?
We built when you were here
How did all the sacred ground
Disappear

I’ve seen Babylon
Reflected in her eyes
But she cannot see anything
She never saw me cry

I left the liars’ den
To face an earth so cold
Men are sleeping in the streets
Girls die on Asherah poles

I’m ashamed
To see them act this way
Wish I wasn’t a hypocrite
I too have gone astray
I’m begging for another chance
Before you make it stop
I’m hiding beneath the covers
Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Posters litter all the walls
With angry shreds of colour
Remind all who passed
Of war and death and hunger.

Padlocks on the windows
Chains on every fence
Paranoia leads to profit
Justice an expense

Pillaging the weak and poor
To feed Caesar Democracy
Merchants barter kingdoms when
The truth is a commodity

I’m afraid
We’ll never see the day
When men will all lay down their swords
And evil can be slain
I’m dreaming of Atlantis’ heir
Regain the paradise lost
But silence bleeds the seconds
Waiting for the other shoe to drop


Something is Not Quite Right

The band would make friends with some off-campus buddies from New Brunswick and this song was written in their basement. Another one of the many songs written about and/or with Alana, who was referenced in the final chorus. Craig always felt deeply embarrassed that he rhymed “wishes” with “fishes” in this song, but no one has ever called him on the clunker. Thede’s guitar as always presents a neat canvas to work with, crafting a memorable and under-rated PB song.

With a thousand wishes
Filling the seas
Hiding all the fishes
From the eyes that see

Them in their deepest sympathies
And know that in the afternoon
They’ll be
Gone
Gone away

I can’t find it
Just outside my grasp
The feeling never lasts
But something’s not quite right

You were waving
And I ran smiling
Blue and white bouquet of flowers
I stopped hiding

Alone I was
Lonely and alone
But you came back to me
Let me hold you tightly by the sea

Tides chasing crabs
Rough seas calmed
The worst is past

If I could promise
Peace
I would promise
Sanity
I would promise
Grateful melodies
Of you and me

I think I found it
The one that saved me
The only one that makes
Everything alright


Reason to Wake Up

This song begins with a layered fade in of interconnected guitars from all 3 band members before suddenly shifting into a whole new song with Dirato’s drums for the rest of the track. This was an intentional homage to Franz Ferdinand’s song “Take Me Out”, which has a similar “false start” to it as well. The song is a sort of ballad, telling the story of the titular “red apartment” and those inhabiting its walls. This was probably one of the best PB songs that featured contributions from each person, with lyrics and melodies to match the strong musical backdrop. Craig was still essentially learning to play guitar at this point, which is why lyrics and vocals would usually fall to him. On this EP finale, he thinks he did pretty good.


Red apartment
Studios haunted
But it’s got the greatest view
That your dollar can buy

Two floors below
Year round it snows
It’s always winter
For one lonely soul, he’s in there all alone

Live on the top floor
Park at the front door
Then you can jump and be buried
In the getaway car.

Eighty doors on seven floors
All waiting for the hiccup
The next big thing their mail will bring
A reason to wake up
A reason to wake up

Poker Tuesdays
Followed by a few days
For the man in 213
To snap out of his bankrupt haze

An ancient prophet
They think he’s lost it
Until the Rapture comes
And he’ll be the first to go.

From the silver screen
Came the beauty queen
Broke her legs, won’t walk again
She’s in her final scene

Eighty doors on seven floors
Feel the lifeboat break up
If this is it let’s hope its quick
They’ve got no reason to wake up
No reason to wake up

And every New Years
They hang up their calendars
And go back to bed
Twelve months they mourn
That they don’t live amongst the stars
Why wake up instead?

Eighty souls without a goal
To ever want to break up
The monotony of autonomy
With a reason to wake up
A reason to wake up