Dominated by strong but melodic guitar work and tough, forceful vocals, Auxes is the brainchild of Dave Laney, former leader of the celebrated indie rock bands Milemarker and Challenger. In 2006, after Milemarker had completed a tour in support of their album Ominosity, family matters caused Laney to relocate from Chicago back to his birthplace near Chapel Hill, NC. After re-acquainting himself with his friends and contemporaries in the fertile Chapel Hill music community, Laney began writing new songs and got the itch to record. Since many of the players he had been working with were busy rehearsing and touring with their own bands (among them Sleepytime Trio, Bellafea, Fing Fang Foom, and Eagle Bravo), Laney began making an album handling most all the instruments himself, but rather than call it a solo project, he opted to use the band name Auxes. Laney went into the studio with producer Brian Paulson in early 2008, and the result was the first Auxes album, Sunshine. A five-song EP, Meow!, followed, which featured Laney on guitar and vocals accompanied by bassist Pete Wagner, drummer John Crouch, and Tara Grayson on backing vocals; the EP was a limited-edition item sold on the band's first tour. Auxes have toured in the United States and Europe since the release of Sunshine; Laney has employed a shifting set of musicians on the road, including Wagner, Crouch, Ben Davis, Adam Kish, Noah Leger, and Mike Triplett. ~ Mark Deming