The Palaxy Tracks

The founding members of indie rockers Palaxy Tracks -- Jason Masters, Greg Wallace, and Brandon Durham -- originally came together in Austin under the name the Seven Hundred Club in late 1995. Recording mainly at people's homes and in bedrooms on eight-track recorders, the group released a self-distributed demo. A short time later, the three were joined by Todd Roberts on bass and Nathan Roberts on drums, having previously played all the instruments themselves. In the few months following the addition of the Roberts brothers, the group organized several gatherings at Wallace's house under the title "The Austin School of Rock," in which other local Austin bands were invited to play and network. As a result, the band began to book dates at clubs around town and to polish their live sound. In 1996, Todd Roberts quit the group; bass duties were assumed by Keith Grap. Masters also bid farewell, and was replaced by Jay Benson. In 1997, the band changed its name to Palaxy Tracks and recorded their first album, Caught by a New Invention. The album was distributed chiefly at shows, and has since gone out of print. That same year, Jay Benson left Palaxy Tracks; guitarist Ted Cho, formerly of Poi Dog Pondering, stepped in to take his place. In late 1997, the group began recording tracks at Cho's studio, tracks that would eventually be released on the Family Tree 7" in the winter of 1998 and then on the full-length album The Long Wind Down in January 2000. By the time of that album's release, founding member Greg Wallace had departed. Palaxy Tracks played to positive responses at Austin's South by Southwest Music Conference in 2000, and made plans to relocate to Chicago the following year.