The Third Half is a local band which was started by Shane Roth and Matt Wood in 2004. Since the group's formation, several members have come and gone; but once Justin Potteiger joined as their drummer, the band has been complete. Some might wonder how this talented group of musicians, who have had over fifty performances, some of the most notable being at places like The Rocking U, Pandemonium at the Pavilion, the Forest Tree Fest, Bender's, and the Balloon Fest, came to the decision to start the band. The answer is simple enough; Shane turned to Matt and said, "I'm bored, let's start a band."
Since The Third Half started, the group has been dedicated to improving themselves as musicians while making sure to have plenty of fun at the same time. They play mainly Blues and Classic Rock music, usually choosing which songs to perform based on requests; however they also write their own songs. They have two albums of unrecorded original songs and their current masterpiece, which is still in the works, is a nine minute song called "Journey of a Life Time" which revolves around a dark yet enlightening outlook on our current way of life and over dependence on technology. Their favorite part of performing on stage is when the crowd acknowledges that they are playing and visibly reacts to them by chanting, or even taking out cell phones to take pictures.
The Third Half's distinct style has developed from several major influences, including Coheed and Cambria, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd and The Mars Volta. The boys also give credit to Jim Wood, Matt's father, saying that without him "we'd be absolutely nowhere... he's basically the manager of the band." Justin's reason for learning how to even play the drums is because of his own father who helped push him to learn an instrument. Finally, Shane's mother, while at first apprehensive about him creating a band, completely changed her mind after seeing the band perform for the first time and now really supports his involvement.
Their experiences with performing on stage have also greatly helped each of the members to grow both musically and personally. Shane said that he had never learned to play a bass guitar until Matt asked him to pick one up. He said that, "ever since then that's all I've played. I used to play a bunch of other instruments, but I gave them up for bass, so it's pretty much the only instrument I play now, and it has made me more skillful." Justin also said that the band has helped him to tremendously improve his drum playing skills and has also given him invaluable crowd experience. Matt noted that "having the ability to go up and do stuff that not everyone can do has made me way more confident as a musician…my self confidence has really gone up," which is something that will help him in all areas of his life.
With one more year of High school for Matt and Shane, graduation day will quickly come for each of the members, which means that a lot of things in their lives are about to change. Matt hopes to become a songwriter and a touring musician, visiting places like LA and London. Shane hopes to attend college and get involved in music production, and while Justin is still fairly undecided about which path he hopes to take, he knows that he wants to continue playing music, be it with The Third Half or another band.
There are still some things that the boys would like to do before moving on with their lives though, the biggest being to play at Frankie's in Toledo, because that seems to be the place where musicians can catch a break if they are talented enough. They also believe that Findlay should take some steps to improve the musical world for local musicians.
The thought is that Findlay needs to have more venues for local musicians to play at and that Findlay should also put on more shows. They said that they thought The Cube would be the perfect place for local musicians to gather together and play.
With so many other recent commitments keeping them from performing, The Third Half is excited that they will hit the stage again on April 26th at the Stable in Arcadia and a gig May 10th at The Dragon's Lair in Van Buren.
Finally, their advice to any aspiring musicians who would like to start performing as a band is that "most kids our age pick up their instruments and don't take it seriously at all. If you want to start a band, be serious. Strive to be more than a garage band."
For more on the Third have you can visit them at http://www.myspace.com/thethirdhalfrocks
http://www.myspace.com/findlaylive
