Local band Active Transport releases new album ‘Osmosis’
The term Active Transport comes from biology the class many of the band members were in when the band formed. Their new album Osmosis similarly reflects those biology-based roots.
Active Transport is the term for the movement of ions and molecules through the cell membrane. It is also the name of a local Byron rock band that just released its first full original album: Osmosis.
The similarly biology-themed album name showcases the origins of the band: a Byron high school biology class that many of the six band members Jay Holmes, Connor Esser, Madelyn Anderson, DrewAnne Oestreich and Evan Lujan took when the band formed in 2023.
As such, the new album is built around the concept of osmosis, the movement of molecules through a membrane from a high density to a lower and equal density. The album begins high-tempo, high energy and gradually lowers with each song, reflecting the movement of molecules.
“We’re all a little nerdy with our names,” laughed Holmes about the band’s biology throughline.
The band of 2026 and 2027 Byron high school grads have been jamming for years, with many members learning their instruments specifically for Active Transport. Playing a mix of originals and covers, Byron residents may have heard Active Transport at a number of previous gigs including playing at Good Neighbor Days.
Osmosis was influenced by the band’s opportunity to record their single Opposites Attract in the Blue Lagoon Recording Room in Rochester after submitting a demo at the Rochester Music Mashup.
The biology-theme is front and center in the song, with the line from the refrain “opposites attract, we are reverse polarity.”
The jump from recording the demo on the voice memo app on a bandmember’s phone to playing in a professional recording studio was eye-opening, said Holmes. “It felt so professional, because it was.”
The band’s first studio time gave the band a “jump-off point of what we should record first,” for the new album, said Holmes.
The album released Saturday, July 18 at Thesis Brewing in Rochester.
For Holmes, the event is bittersweet. After graduation, many of the members, including Holmes, are moving away to go to school, numbering Active Transports days. With the release of the album, however, Holmes is open to the possibilities of keeping the band going.
“If we blow up, we might go on tour, who knows?”
Active Transport’s new album Osmosis can be found on Spotify and wherever you get music.
