Guitarist Jonathan Svel of Splender has a broken answering machine to thank for his place in the band.
"I was living in New York and answered an ad in the Village Voice," Svel said during a telephone interview from Sacramento, Calif. "The band wanted me to audition. And the cool thing was that the message was saved on an old beat-up answering machine that erased anything if you even looked at if funny."Splender -- featuring Svel, lead singer/guitarist Waymon Boone, bassist James Cruz and drummer Marc Slutsky -- will play DV8, 115 S. West Temple, on Monday, Nov. 22. Shades Apart and Pound will also play that evening. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Svel didn't begin his musical career on a guitar. He played piano while growing up in Connecticut. "I had been in bands all my life. But I was playing the keys and singing. I was in a lot of cover bands and realized I wasn't getting anywhere. So I moved to New York."
While he was there, the multitalented Svel got a gig playing cello with a dance company.
"I met a lot of people in the music scene at that time," Svel said. "And it helped with getting to know what was going on."
Svel obviously got the gig with Splender and began working right away. "There had been a few guitarists in the band before me. So there was a bit of pressure on my part. I have, however, stopped looking over my shoulder. At least I think the band likes me."
Splender is a band that doesn't have a single over-bearing ego, Svel said. "We're all magnets to each other. And we look at our situations and collectively take them on. Every goal we reach, we feel like we cleared a hurdle. Our future ideas are just to focus on each record as they come up."
The band's new release is called "Halfway Down the Sky." World-renowned techman, musician and songwriter Todd Rundgren produced it. "He was so cool. He really helped us get the sound we wanted. And we were as prepared as we could be.
"All the songs were written before we got into the studio. We brought 50 songs in and left with 14 on the album."