In July of 2001, multi-instrumentalist, Kurt Tischer and drummer/percussionist, David Clark met as unsuspecting members of an otherwise low-key demo recording project that would become the catalyst for what is now Temple 8. By October 2001, the first Temple 8 recordings were streaming from music web sites all over the Internet and garnering attention from fans in America and even moreso in Europe and Asia.
Since the 2003 release of their debut CD Enter the Temple, Temple 8 has been impressing music fans wherever the band appears. Straddling the realms of Neo-Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock, and Progressive Metal, Temple 8 delivers a brand of exciting, stadium-ready Progressive Rock full of thick, chunky, driving riffs, melodic chords and open atmospheric vibe that defies tradition.
Inspired by such rock greats as Rush, Triumph, Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, Marillion and Pink Floyd, Temple 8 is philosophically inquisitive and politically irreverent, hitting a home run by using poetic and politically charged lyrics to illustrate the stark state of world affairs, driving toward spiritual awakening, all laid out and wrapped around a superb, epic musical platform.
"Temple 8 ... combines the best of rock with metal and electronics into this driving extravaganza that could be played with a dozen performers and not just three or four. Temple 8 has both paradox and simplicity at its core. It is both grand and restrained." -- [ Janie Franz, SKOPE Magazine ]
Veteran performers with conference, festival and tour experience, Temple 8's graphic, controversial background video presentations and backdrops give the a band a visual appeal rivaled only by their major label counterparts.
Temple 8 has a growing number of accolades to its credit including an endorsement with Canada's Carparelli Guitars (formerly Dot-On-Shaft Guitars), long-running top 100 chart positions at Neil Young's "Living With War Today" web site in 2004, an Honorable Mention in the PeaceDriven Songwriting Awards in 2005, inclusion on the Progressive Rock Hall of Fame CD Volume 1 in 2008, and inclusion in the "Noccalula" film soundtrack in 2010. The band is currently in the pre-production stages of their sophomore effort "Iconoclast", available soon.
