October 07, 2005

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Publication Date: Friday, October 07, 2005

Thriving Ivory makes its way in the local music scene and beyond

When Thriving Ivory took to the stage at Cafˇ du Nord as the headlining band one Saturday night in August, the room certainly wasn't packed. Maybe 200 people filled the San Francisco club, known for its live music and lounge atmosphere, and half of them were more focused on getting the bartender's attention than the music. But that didn't matter to the Thriving Ivory fans who came to see their favorite local band, and they weren't disappointed. They pushed to the front of the stage, eager to grab lead singer Clayton Stroopes's outstretched hand or take a picture with their camera phone. As Clayton danced around the stage, the audience fed off his energy, and vice-versa. Many of the die-hards knew the words to every song, even before Clayton sang them, an impressive feat considering the band has yet to release a full length album.

"I think the intensity of our live shows is one thing that sets us apart from other bands," said Clayton, who is a former Pleasanton resident. Clayton moved to Pleasanton with his family when he was 13 years-old and attended Pleasanton Middle and Foothill High schools. Although he has moved since graduating in 2000, his parents still live in Pleasanton and Clayton stays close to the East Bay Area, at least when he's not on tour.

"It was a nice place to grow up," Clayton said. "I made a lot of good friends that I still talk to today."

As a student at Foothill, Clayton was in a few school plays here and there, but music was not a huge factor in his life. That changed when he started his freshman year at UC Santa Barbara in 2000. There Clayton met Scott Jason, the band's pianist and songwriter, and the two discovered a new sound when they mixed Scott's instrumental skills and Clayton's raw vocal talent. But despite their successful union, what really got the two to assemble the rest of the band was ego.

"There were a lot of other bands in the area (Santa Barbara), and we just thought it was kinda cool and we wanted some attention," Clayton said. "We weren't that serious when we started, but then we started playing shows in LA and played parties around Santa Barbara. There are a couple thousand college kids there, so we got some response."

Since that beginning, the band has switched gears, focusing more on the music instead of the fame, Clayton said. He and Scott, along with band members Drew Cribley, Paul Niedermier and Bret Cohune, began touring and put together an EP, a CD that is typically shorter than a full length album, after they graduated from - or in Clayton's case dropped out of - UC Santa Barbara.

"My parents weren't too happy about that one," Clayton admitted, "but as we got more of a fan base, the band became progressively more serious and we realized we should go for this."

Their first self-titled six-song EP was released two years ago and was followed six months later by a second EP, also six songs, titled, "Secrets." Now that the band is doing serious touring, it has begun the "long road to getting a record deal," Clayton said. He hopes they will get signed to a major record label, but there are also plans in the works to record a full-length record independently and then shop it around.

"We're playing more shows and getting better," Clayton said.

Helping get the word out, the band has a "street team" of "eight or nine members who spread the word and the vibe," Clayton told the crowd during the show at Cafˇ du Nord. "They are an intense group that comes out to a lot of shows," he said before dedicating the song "Long Hallway with a Broken Light" to the group.

Thriving Ivory has also begun to receive attention from radio stations, such as 104.5 KFOG, which featured it as a local band to watch and put the band's song "Overrated" on the station's latest "Local Scene" CD.

"The melodies, the presence of the piano, that's what gives us a different sound," Clayton said. "It really is in the forefront, on the same level as the guitar. That's why we're called a piano rock band."

Since dedicating itself full-time to its music, Thriving Ivory has not only headlined small venues, but also opened for big names like Kelly Clarkson and the Steve Miller Band. Even as its star begins to rise, the band is trying to stay grounded.

"You can never think that you've 'made it,'" Clayton said. "As soon as you do, your music will get crappy and you'll start playing bad shows, and that definitely hasn't happened to us yet."

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