ALMOST IS NOTHING

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSE SCHAFER
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/almostisnothing
COUNTRY: United States STYLE: Metal / Thrash

Interview Answered by Aaron McCoy

WHAT IS THE THING YOU LOVE THE MOST ABOUT THE METAL CULTURE AND SOUND?

The thing I love most about metal culture is the dedication people show it. Unlike most other forms of music metal never goes out of style because of the dedication of the fans. It is a lifestyle and once you are part of it you stay with it forever. That is also why metal has had the staying power that it has, people stand by it.

I KNOW IT IS NOT EASY BUT HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC AND WHAT ASPECT OF YOUR SOUND WILL YOU ALWAYS LIKE TO KEEP IN YOUR MUSIC AND WHAT ASPECTS OF YOUR SOUND WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXPERIMENT WITH MORE?

I would like to make sure that we never lose the core of what made us play our style of metal to begin with. We are big fans of eighties bay-area thrash and the Gothenberg death metal sound, we have basically moulded those two together and have taken it in our own direction to forge what we consider to be something new and unique.

More specifically, we would like our music to remain guitar driven with a tight rhythm section for our vocalist to work around. Jeremy’s lead playing is essentially the catalyst of our music and we will make sure that his talent always shines through. We also maintain a strict focus on ensuring that we don’t write “filler” riffs, that shouldn’t make it into our songs.

If there is anything we would like to expand upon it would be to include more heavy doomy parts within the context of our up-tempo songs. We do this in a few of our songs and the dichotomy has a really cool contrast.

DO YOU HAVE “RULES” LIKE WRITING A SONG THAT IS NOT LONGER THAN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME WHEN WRITING NEW MATERIAL?

Not really, we just allow each other to be ourselves within the context of the band at all times. If your own personality doesn’t shine through what you are doing then you aren’t being honest with yourself or your fans and both deserve better.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE EACH MEMBER OF THE BAND’S PLAYING STYLE, AND WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST FACTOR THAT MAKES YOU ALL “FUSE” TOGETHER SO WELL AS A BAND?

Jeremy is the lead guitar player in our band; he draws from a lot of virtuoso type shredders and has a good grasp on the techniques that allow guitarist to really control the instrument while having a soulful bluesy side to it.

Hunter can play a wide range of music as a drummer. He can go from jazz and funk to our own music easily, it seems like he uses all the technique he has learned over the years to create original drum parts.

Drew’s main job in our band is to keep our rhythm section tight, he has developed into a very solid bass player who plays his parts well and knows that his most important role is keep locked into the pocket.

I focus on holding down the rhythm end of the guitar playing similarly to what Drew does with the bass. Bands can sound sloppy very easily if the guitars aren’t tight and my goal is to keep all the technical, up-tempo riffs we play locked in.

Toby has a more shrill screaming style than most heavy metal vocalist and it is very abrasive. It’s quite different than most that you would hear, but that is what we like about it.

I think the thing that makes us gel well together is that four of us have been playing together for over four years now and we have developed a chemistry with each other that only comes with time. Hunter has only joined us recently, but he has integrated himself into our group seamlessly and has been able to pick up on the things that gel us as a band, which is our ability to play well together as a group.

THE BAND IS LAUNCHING A NEW CD ON THE 9TH OF MAY; CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE CD?

The new CD is more up-tempo than anything we have done in the past. This is the first CD Hunter has played on and his ability to keep the drums tight at higher tempos allowed us to write more technical music. This is because for the first time our rhythm section could fully hold up their end. Everyone’s playing shines on this record and you can really hear the strengths of each person.

BEING AN INDEPENDENT BAND, WHAT HAS BEEN SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED WHEN IT COMES TO THINGS LIKE CD DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING THE BAND SO THAT YOU CAN INCREASE YOUR FAN BASE?

The toughest part is really financial, we spend a ton of time doing self-promoting in a number of different ways, but we only have so many resources to fall back on. Everything comes down to money, whether it be advertising, recording a CD or purchasing merch, a band needs money to get the word out and if that resource is limited so are your options for promotion.

YOU SEEM REALLY PROUD TO BE A D.I.Y. BAND. WHAT LEAD YOU TO GO THE DO IT YOURSELF ROUTE?

It really is more by force than choice. We would love to work with someone who really believes in our band who would help take this to another level. Since the start we knew we needed to stay focused on our goals and we had to try to reach them on our own and that is how we would catch someone’s interest, accomplishing things with no one’s helped will prove how serious we are, and we have accomplished quite a bit.

YOU HAVE TWO LIVE VIDEOS POSTED ON YOUR MYSPACE; DO YOU ALWAYS WRITE YOUR MUSIC WITH THE BAND’S LIVE SHOW IN MIND?

It is usually the opposite; we write music and then see how it can be integrated into our live show. The music needs to be written in as natural a way as possible so it doesn’t feel forced. Putting limitations on it by making rules so it can fit into our live set a certain way could potentially hurt the final product, so we stay away from that.

READING YOUR BAND BIOGRAPHY I SEE YOU HAVE OPENED SHOWS FOR SOME REALLY BIG BANDS SO FAR, IN WHAT WAYS HAVE OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THAT ENCOURAGED YOU TO MOVE FORWARD?

It keeps driving us. With everything we accomplish, we realize there is so much more to do. We can never settle for just the things we have done because we can always do so much more. Our goals for our band are far beyond what we have done so far, so while it is neat that we have done some pretty cool stuff, those things are only stepping stones towards the ultimate goal.

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU CURRENTLY USE FOR YOUR LIVE SHOWS AND DO YOU HAVE “THAT INSTRUMENT” WHICH YOU’VE HAD FOR YEARS AND WOULD NOT SELL FOR ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY IN THE WORLD?

Our gear is pretty straight-forward, I use a Marshall JCM 2000 through a 1960 Vintage cab with Gibson Explorer guitars. Jeremy uses a Peavey XXX, through the same cab as myself with various guitars and Drew runs an Ampeg SVT Classic through an Ampeg 8x10 with an Ibanez Bass. Hunter uses Tama Drums and Sabian Cymbals and Toby uses an AKG microphone live.

Jeremy has an old Ibanez RG he’s owned for a long time now that he has played pretty much the entire history of our band. It is the only piece of gear that has been with one of our players for as long as it has and is the guitar Jeremy is most associated with.

DO YOU GO OUT TO WATCH OTHER BANDS LIVE ON A REGULAR BASIS AND WHEN YOU PLAY A SHOW WHERE THERE ARE A FEW BANDS PLAYING THAT NIGHT HOW DO YOU “FEED” OF THE PREVIOUS BAND’S ENERGY AND GET THE CROWD “INTO” YOUR SET?

When we play live we simply go onstage and do what we do. Seeing another band play well can get you pumped because you always want to outdo your peers, but it is a positive type of competition where you always drive each other to be better.

IS HAVING LONG HAIR A MUST WHEN IT COMES TO ADDING THAT EXTRA BIT OF “METALLITY” TO YOUR SHOW?

No, we all have different length hair and really, it is a personal choice for all of us. Having long hair does make headbanging look way better though!

ANY LAST COMMENTS / ADVICE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Thanks to anyone who has ever supported us or given our band any of their time, hopefully we’ll see all of you soon!