(All photos: credit, Cody Smyth)

It’d be easy to say that just because Seattle band the Myriad is this week’s Artist of the Week simply because they won the MTV2 2007 Dew Circuit Breakout competition. It’d be easy, but it’d also be wrong. Their talent, which they’ve been honing as a band since 2002, is what edged out 4,000 hopefuls and earned them the #1 spot in the contest, which searches to find the best breakout bands and acts, like DCB alum Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard and Hawthorne Heights. That talent, plus their ability to attract and connect with fans via their moody, effortlessly melodic, atmospheric rock is also what nabbed them a spot as MTV’s Artist of the Week.

Lyrically, the Myriad is about seeking meaning beyond the earthly and ordinary. Heeding a higher calling, if you will. Playing off the cinematic approach of their upcoming album, With Arrows, With Poise, and their latest video, “A Clean Shot” — which features a symbolic excursion deep into the thick of the woods — the Myriad’s Artist of the Week videos are also about searching for something. Yet, for all their searching (and hunting), they’re turning up a lot of duck. But, God knows, if anyone can persevere through a series of Nottingham-style challenges, it’s the Myriad.

Watch their “A Clean Shot” video and their live performance from the MTV2 Dew Circuit Breakout finale, watch their Artist of the Week videos and performances, and check out behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot, filmed on location in New York at the Church of the Intercession and the Highline Ballroom. Plus, see when they’re coming to your town on their spring tour with Eisley, and download “A Clean Shot.”