driVen

Driven is a hard rock band with progressive and instrumental tendencies that hails from the Midwest, most notably South Bend, Indiana. The band is fronted by Zach Hess on vocals and guitars, provided with one hell of a rock-fusion back beat by Blake Bertles on drums, and finally the ground trembling Drew Granville on bass. Driven has become a powerful, well known three piece band in their hometown, defined by creating dark, melodic, and rhythmic music.
Going back to the start, Driven was more commercial rock, inspired by the sounds of grunge and radio rock. The band's first EP titled "Dissociative Mentality" was released in 2006; then re-released as a full length album early 2007 with the addition of a few new songs. Dissociative Mentality was a collaboration of the original line-up, before Drew entered the band. The album feel settled around more rock oriented song structures Unfortunately, the original line-up disbanded in 2009, leaving Blake and Zach to their own devices. Since that album, Driven's music has evolved to more progressive hard rock and slightly instrumental, but still sustaining a commercial feel. Some listeners have said a mix between Tool and Pink Floyd.
Blake and Zach spent the time off writing new music and also listening to different elements of rock music. Hence the evolution of Driven's sound. Such influences now included Deftones, Tool, Russian Circles, Isis, Pelican, Nine Inch Nails, Karnivool. Amid the new take on Driven, Blake and Zach stumbled upon a bass player who could bring a much more extreme influence to their music yet still capture the essence of the sound they were looking for. Drew Granville joined the band in Spring of 2010. Drew was, and still is, very much a metal-head, drawing influence from Cannibal Corpse, Pantera, Slayer, and several other groups of said genre. The group worked on finalizing the new material and fine tuning their live show.
Finally, Driven is propelled by their passion to create music that is not quite like anything in their hometown, not quite like anything they hear on the radio, yet still providing that familiar sense of melody and structure to appeal to the masses. They write their music by a code agreed upon by the band, incorporating their influences by filtering through their own dreams and love of music. Our album was recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago, IL, and engineered by Greg Norman; Mr. Norman has worked with artists who have influenced Driven. The album was mastered at Chicago Mastering Service, a company who often works with Electrical Audio.