Adventure the Great

Adventure the Great is not just a band on the constant search for its next local gig with hopes of making it big.

It's a project created for the search of true happiness; happiness that differs from the materialistic gains and lecherous lifestyles that are typically associated with the music industry.

It has become a collaborative effort to share with others that finding happiness is an adventure, and a great one at that.

"It all started with a philosophy," said Chandler Jones, creator of the epic project.

As he talks, he sips Lipton green tea, which the band jokingly refers to as "Chan Chan Juice" because of his perpetual consumption of a gallon's worth at every practice.

He sits across the small wooden table that is set against the wall in the middle of his living room that doubles as practice space for the band. The house he and the band's bassist, Robert Fowler, share is nicknamed "the tree house," with its small and aged wooden structure.

Jones continues explaining the birth of his brainchild, beginning with the discovery of the band's founding philosophy upon his introduction to Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" at age 14.

"A theme in the book is the word 'infinite,' and that was my anthem back then," Jones said. "I lived by it."

Jones compared himself to the main character of the book, which he described as a seeker of moments of bliss and moments of complete spontaneous happiness that combine to create "infinite moments."

The example he gives of an "infinite moment" from "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is a moment of bliss the main character and his friends experience as they cruise through a tunnel with the windows down and music playing. Then, there is a moment of spontaneous happiness they experience as they come out of the tunnel to witness a burst of skylight.

"All these elements combine to create a feeling of 'infinite,'" Jones clarified. "I became obsessed with this philosophy. His dedication was to seeking these sensations and answers to what create these moments, as I made my own throughout high school. Then, I saw them as 'adventure moments,' and began to develop this band."

Jones then said after its conception the band drew further inspiration from Jack Kerouac's quest for truth and beauty in his autobiographical book "On the Road."

A specific part of the novel Jones said has greatly influenced the band's performance is when the author visits a jazz club in San Francisco where a saxophone player creates a "moment" for the entire audience. Jones says that in these "moments," the universe connects and everything is how it should be.

"The goal for Adventure the Great is to inspire others to seek these moments that are the complete essence of life and to discover and create them through music," Jones said.

Jones said the band was called "the Adventure" until the summer after his freshman year. He said he spent an eye-opening summer as a camp counselor and hiking guide in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and felt the need to add "the Great" to the end of the band's name.

"It's not just about discovering and seeking (these moments), but Adventure the Great is the process of the soul that lies in all of us and it's about releasing that," Jones said. "Upon releasing that, these moments are created."

Jones' artist management internship at Street Talk Media in Nashville this past summer spurred even more contemplation.

"This question kept racking my brain to discover what beauty is," Jones said. "I realized that that is the core of our music and what we write: to seek and question the answer of beauty."

Now that he and the rest of the band are back in Auburn after a summer of being away, Jones said they have had more time to work on new material. He explains there is no formula for this process.

Of his role as songwriter, Jones said he has been writing songs since he was 11 and that it is one of his greatest passions in life.

Another adventure Jones said molded the fate of Adventure the Great is a spur of the moment, week-long trip to Chicago in search of inspiration.

He and his friend purchased a Megabus ticket at the last minute with plans of couch surfing once they arrived.

"It was the peak of the summer and our last day in Chicago," Jones said. "I decided to swim Lake Michigan in the freezing cold water. I was floating on my back in the lake."

"An infinite moment was created in the sensation where half of my body was freezing and half of my body was burning. As I looked up to the see the skyscrapers of the city, I realized that this was the perfect example of a moment being created."