Bitten By The Darkness Of Love – “Venom” By Thousand Years Wide

I first became familiar with Missouri hard rock band Thousand Years Wide when I wrote about their 2022 song “Yesterday” and the video that accompanied it.  I remember back then I was very impressed by this band, both as musicians and the way they conduct themselves professionally. In October 2023, I was fortunate to see Thousand Years Wide perform live about 20 minutes from where I live, when they were on tour with Earshot and MCHNZ.  I was so happy to get to see them, and they put on a great show!

“Yesterday” was on Thousand Years Wide’s 2022 album Audio Therapy.  Since then, they put out a couple more songs, including one which is currently only available on YouTube, “Removed”, in August 2023, and “Medicine” a little over a year ago.  Thousand Years Wide just dropped a brand new single, “Venom”, April 17th, and a music video to go along with it. They’re both awesome, and I figured it was a perfect time to write about this fantastic band again.

Thousand Years Wide is from St. Joseph, Missouri. Current band members are Trent Holcomb (vocalist); Pat Jonas (guitars); Derrick Eggleston (bass); and Zach Wilson (drums). The band formed in February 2014.  After more than a decade together, they’ve had a few member changes. They have always tried to put together the best lineup they could. Every member has been hand-picked for certain things, whether it be booking, graphic design, and so on.  All of the members are multi-talented, which is so important for a hands-on, do-it-yourself band.

How did the band come up with the name Thousand Years Wide? Well, Pat Jonas is a Soundgarden fan, and he picked it up from their song “Room A Thousand Years Wide” in the early stages of the band. Basically, to the band members, the name represents “infinity”. This is fitting, considering Thousand Years Wide has been around for over ten years and is still going strong.

The music and lyrics for the latest Thousand Years Wide song, “Venom”, were written by the band along with Elevated Productions.  Mixing and mastering were handled by Elevated Productions, and Eric Tomes, lead vocalist of MCHNZ, was involved with writing and instrumentation.  Basically, the band wrote the demo and sent it in, and it was bounced back and forth until they were happy with the final product.

Musically, I’m really impressed with this new song.  It has a different, almost more modern feel to it than previous Thousand Years Wide music.  It’s a bit edgier and incorporates some interesting twists, such as electronic elements.  At the same time, the excellent musicianship of this veteran band is showcased, along with the passionate vocals of Trent Holcomb.

“Venom” has a dark vibe to it.  To me, the overall concept is about someone who’s trapped in a relationship that is destructive but they’re not really sure how to get out and away from the “venom” the other person is producing.  They know if they don’t escape it will lead to their demise.

For the music video, Thousand Years Wide went to the incredibly talented and well-known cinematographer, director, and editor Juan “J.T.” Ibanez.  The band had some ideas for the video, but J.T. brought them to life, building the set with several different scenes and putting the final touches on it. The video is dark like the song and tells a story of a venomous relationship.  One of the scenes looks almost like a cheap motel room. Trent is there with a woman and it’s clear they are going through a disagreement, and you can almost sense this is a pattern for them. The woman in the video has what I would call a demonic aura. Some of the video also includes the band performing the song in a dim setting, again reflecting the dark theme.

I’m really excited to see what direction Thousand Years Wide is heading in.  The band is writing and producing a full album.  They are spending this spring and summer working on new music and videos and lots of content.  If “Venom” is any indication, I think there will be some awesome new material coming. 

Thousand Years Wide will be performing at Monser Hall Music Fest in Unity Wisconsin Friday, June 13th. They were there last year and really enjoyed it and are stoked to play there again this year. The band also just announced a show with their good friends Etched In Embers Saturday, May 31st at Café Acoustic Music Hall in Saint Joseph, Missouri. These two bands did a tour together last year and get along really well, so that is sure to be an amazing night!

Make sure to follow Thousand Years Wide on Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube. WRITTEN BY: Annie Schlottman

PHOTO CREDIT: Kelly Henshaw