Bassist Amy Humphrey and drummer Joe Hayes have learned to deal with the naysayers. In fact, they embrace these skeptics.

“When we were trying to get our sound together for this project, a lot of people kept telling us that you can't play rock music without a guitar. We were like, 'Why not?' That made us that much more determined to make it work,” Hayes says.

So far their quest has proven victorious. As the sole members of Clatter, Humphrey and Hayes have turned their rhythm-section talents into a fully realized band. The married duo benefits from the lilting vocals and nimble bass playing of Humphrey and the thunderous-yet-tasty stick skills of Hayes.

Clatter’s latest record, “Monarch,” marks yet another creative step for this harmonious couple. The dozen-song effort strikes a sonic balance between the aggressive and the emotional, the restrained and the complex.

"Everything has been an evolution with our sound," Humphrey admits. "Our biggest strength is we're not easily pigeonholed."

Humphrey and Hayes first met while students at Kansas University when a mutual guitarist friend invited the pair to form a trio. Although the band went nowhere, the couple's relationship flourished.

They got married and graduated KU the same year -- Hayes earning a degree in English literature, and Humphrey netting two, one in French and one in Russian (a skill that allowed her to pen a tune called "Nevsky Prospekt," which she sings entirely in Russian).

In the early '90s when the grunge scene was in full swing, the couple decided to pull up stakes and move to Seattle. >>>>>>> read the rest here