The Wasatch Fault release debut album

Local band The Wasatch Fault released its first album on Oct. 24. The album is titled The Wasatch Fault and was recorded by Sandy-based producer Robert LeCheminant.

The band is partially Logan-based, with three of the band’s four members living in Salt Lake City and one in Logan. They’ve been a band since October of last year.

The recording for the album was done at a house in Orem. Aaron McCuiston, the drummer for The Wasatch Fault and the band’s sole Logan member, said the recording process took about five months.

“I got all of my tracks done within five or six hours,” McCuiston said. “The rest of the recording, as far as bass guitar, guitar, effects and mixing, took another couple of months.”

"I previously played in a band with the drummer,” LeCheminant said. “He’s got to be one of the best in the state.”

“It’s the first good album I’ve ever been a part of,” said Tyler Gilvarry, lead singer and guitarist for The Wasatch Fault. “This is the first thing I’ve actually put my entire heart and soul into. I’m very proud of it.”

LeCheminant is currently a member of a Salt Lake City band called L’anarchiste and said he’s fairly new to recording music. He did all the recording, producing and mixing for the record. “They gave me a lot of creative control and I feel like the end product turned out really well, so I can't thank them enough for trusting me that much,” he said.

Gilvarry and McCuiston originally formed The Wasatch Front after being in a band together previously. “We were talking about starting a new project and setting the bar higher for ourselves, as far as melody and rhythm goes, and made it a little more complex,” McCuiston said.

All songs on The Wasatch Fault were written by Gilvarry except for “Monster Falcon,” which was written by McCuiston.

Gilvarry said his lyrics were influenced by Taoist teachings and transcendentalist poets like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. “It’s about the more positive aspects of metaphysical things,” he said. “Being outside and going on hikes in the Wasatch mountains influences a lot of stuff as well.”

Two tracks on the album, “Demon Angel of Honesty” and “Baker’s Chocolate,” were written about David Charles Baker, a man from the Salt Lake City area who was arrested last fall after placing fake explosives on his driveway. “’Baker’s Chocolate’ is a song we play at every show, it’s very special to us,” McCuiston said.

McCuiston and Gilvarry said some bands that influence their musical style include The Dodos, The Dismemberment Plan and Modest Mouse. “I don’t think there’s a bunch of stuff in the Utah music scene that sounds like we sound,” Gilvarry said. “It’s good for people who like who like good, loud, aggressive indie rock.”

The band has pressed 50 CD copies of its self-titled album and has sold 15 so far. “We know the best thing for us to be doing is to play as many shows as possible and advertise the shows, because we usually get a high volume of traffic on our website after a show,” McCuiston said. “We’re hoping for the best as far as word-of-mouth goes, with people sharing links online.”

“We usually get 20 to 30 people at a show,” Gilvarry said. “We’re still kind of new, but we’re steadily growing a bigger following.”

The Wasatch Fault will be performing at Why Sound in Logan on Thursday, sharing a bill with Logan-based band Racecar Racecar and Salt Lake City’s And I, the Lion. McCuiston said he and his band plan on playing nine songs from The Wasatch Fault. “It’s going to be very good show and we’re going to go all-out,” he said. The show starts at 8 p.m. and admission costs $5.

The Wasatch Fault’s debut album is $5 for a physical copy. The album is also streaming online for free on the band’s bandcamp.com website.