DANE TAYLOR TRIO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEAN LOGIE
WEBSITE: http://www.danetaylortrio.com/
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Blues / Rock

WERE ALL OF YOU PERFORMING SOLO OR IN BANDS BEFORE THE TRIO WAS FORMED?

Yeah. Before the trio, I was playing a few solo gigs, with Justin, but as soon as we started rehearsing and getting things ready with the trio, it soon became all we were doing. It still is… Rob plays in another group too, New Altum.

WHY DID YOU GUYS FORM THIS BAND AND WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WORK TOGETHER WELL AS A “UNIT”; IS IT BECAUSE YOU ARE FANS OF THE SAME TYPE OF MUSIC AND THAT SORT OF THING?

Well, we all love blues music. The minute you hear it, time stands still. And so, we love this stuff so much that at one point it was all we were playing when we’d get together and jam. So we decided to form a trio and share this music we’d come to enjoy playing so much. I think that’s the biggest thing. Sharing something you’ve come to enjoy and love so much with others. Nothing feels better…

THE BAND IS CALLED “DANE TAYLOR TRIO”. DOESN’T THAT MAKE THE OTHER BAND MEMBERS FEEL A BIT LEFT OUT, OR IS THIS DANE TAYLOR’S BAND IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

No, not at all. Dane Taylor Trio is something we’re all part of. It’s just a bunch of words we put together really. The minute someone feels left out that’s when I gotta take a look around and see who’s there.

BLUES INFLUENCED ROCK HAS ALWAYS BEEN AROUND BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN POPULAR WITH A MORE “MATURE” AUDIENCE. DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR APPROACH TO THE GENRE; ESPECIALLY WITH SONGS LIKE “SAY YOU DO” WILL ATTRACT YOUNGER AUDIENCES?

Well, a few decades back, a lot of the young people were heavily into Blues and Rock music. They still are. However, I know a lot of “mature” people are into other things other than Rock, Blues, or even Electro music. Sometimes we can be old and other times we can be young. It depends really… A lot of the time we’re not really thinking about that though. If something sounds real good it doesn’t matter how many birthdays you’ve had, I know plenty of people over sixty listening to the same stuff high school kids are into.

YOUR DEBUT EP “FOREWORD” WAS RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER. HOW CLOSE DID THE END PRODUCT COME TO THE ORIGINAL IDEAS AND SOUND THAT YOU GUYS HAD IN MIND?

Pretty close. What you hear on “ForeWord” are the original ideas. We did no tampering or arranging to the song structures once they were tracked. We rehearsed maybe once or twice the week before we recorded, and then we did most of it all live in three days.

Most of the albums we love and cherish are mostly all done live and have a certain organic entity to them. We definitely wanted to try and capture that sort of energy and honesty on this one. I’m definitely not a fan of layers and layers...That’s one way to make a record sound small.

WHAT SUBJECTS DO YOU COVER LYRICALLY WITH THE SONGS ON “FOREWORD” AND DO YOU FIND THAT YOU WRITE BETTER SONGS WHEN TIMES ARE GOOD OR WHEN THINGS DON’T ALWAYS GO YOUR WAY?

Anything from the weather, the streets, words, people, automobiles, deserts, moonlight, knocked up girls, promises, old worlds, colours. Stuff like that… Ships, remedies, murder, shooting suns, sounds, time, driving, and even speaking …Its all in there somewhere.

NOW THAT “FOREWORD” IS DONE, HAS THE BAND STARTED TO THINK ABOUT THINGS LIKE APPROACHING RECORD LABELS/DISTRIBUTORS, OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO KEEP THE BAND AS INDEPENDENT AS POSSIBLE?

We’ve thought about it. Record labels definitely help and being part of a real good one would be awesome. We want to do everything we can that’ll help the Trio expand, grow and mean something to as much people as it can.

WHAT INSTRUMENTS DID YOU USE FOR THE RECORDINGS AND DO YOU GUYS LIKE BUYING NEW INSTRUMENTS ON A REGULAR BASIS OR DO YOU HAVE A “WORK HORSE” INSTRUMENT THAT HAS A LOT OF SENTIMENTAL VALUE AND THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PLAY FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE?

For me instruments definitely have to mean something. You can tell buy just touching an instrument if they have a soul or not. They are just a tool though. I mean, a room full of a hundred guitars means nothing if no one’s playing them.

With regards to equipment, well, I’ve got some real old gear that I really love which was used on most of the tracks. Some great sounding old vintage amps, cabs and some old guitars. Justin plays a real fun Gretsch setup and he’s always tinkering here and there.

Rob plays Fender too and he’s always working on tones and colour, even more than I do…

IS THE INSTRUMENT YOU ARE PLAYING NOW THE FIRST INSTRUMENT YOU LEARNED TO PLAY; AND HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO REACH THAT POINT WHERE YOU WERE CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO WRITE AND PERFORM YOUR OWN MUSIC?

We’ve all been through a few different instruments since we started. Think I got my first electric when I was about 12 or something. And started playing all day and night learning and figuring things out…I think I do this more nowadays than when I started out though. Yeah, you have to keep yourself thinking up new things and learning everyday as much as you can. That’s the fun part, learning something new and sharing with these guys. It’s nice to keep each other on our toes. We’d get bored otherwise.

As for writing and performing, we’ve all been making music since we were real young and, like everyone else, were in a few groups and played around our suburbs and in Cape Town. Wasn’t long till we thought, “Hey, this feels real and we should do this” So we’re just following that through. And now we all have something we really love doing.

ARE THERE PLANS FOR THE BAND TO PERFORM LIVE ANY TIME SOON?

Yeah, busy sorting out a whole lot of shows at the moment. Watch the Facebook and Myspace pages for details. Everything is on there.

Check out http://www.danetaylortrio.com/

ANY COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

Thanks to everyone that’s supported us so far. It means a lot!

Please check us out online and if you haven’t got your copy of ForeWord, go get one!

THE LAST WARNING

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LAST WARNING
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/lastwarning1
COUNTRY: Austria STYLE: Metal

WITH A NAME CHANGE; A NEW LABEL AND A NEW ALBUM YOU MUST BE HAPPY THAT THINGS ARE FINALLY MOVING AHEAD TO THE POINT WHERE YOU CAN NOW CONCENTRATE ON SUPPORTING YOUR NEW ALBUM AND NOT WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE?

That’s very true. We still worked very hard on this production and we spend a lot of time in preparation of the release. We are very happy with the new material and also with our new label. It is very hard to get a deal with a label these days, because there are a lot of bands out there who are very good. But, as you say, now we are concentrating in promoting the Album and we are sure that people will love it.

HOPEFULLY IT WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN BUT IF YOU HAD TO CHANGE THE BAND’S NAME AGAIN WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT?

Haha, that’s a good question. I never thought about that case. We changed our band name from “Last Warning” in “The Last Warning”, so it is just an adaption of the name. If it happens again I would propose “The Storm Warning” or something like that.

DID YOU GUYS SIGN TO A NEW LABEL BECAUSE YOUR PREVIOUS CONTRACT ENDED OR BECAUSE YOU WERE LOOKING FOR BETTER OPPORTUNITIES TO PROMOTE THE BAND?

We signed to “7 Hard” because we wanted to have a Metal Label behind us. Our old Label, Ton 4 Records; was very passive with our band, because they are more in mainstream music. So we looked for a better opportunity to promote the band worldwide. We feel really good now to have a “Metal Label” behind us.

AS MENTIONED THE BAND HAS RELEASED ITS THIRD ALBUM TITLED “ELEGANCE OF BLOODINESS” ON THE THIRD OF OCTOBER. DOES THE ALBUM TITLE HAVE A SPECIFIC MEANING OR WERE YOU JUST LOOKING FOR A TITLE THAT ACCOMPANIED THE MUSIC ON THE ALBUM REALLY WELL?

The Title “Elegance of Bloodiness” is a synonym for the statement we want to make with the Album. It means that we, the human race in general, are very innovative to create weapons, instruments of torture, or fear. Today it looks very elegant when we see the daily news full of war and other violent stuff.

But the title means also the individual person itself. We work more and more and try to make money out of everything until we are mental ill. In the lyrics we speak about this topics and how we can overcome it. So, “Elegance of Bloodiness” is a rough title, but with a positive attitude.

HOW LONG DID THE RECORDING PROCESS TAKE AND HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE SONGS ON THIS ALBUM WITH THE SONGS ON YOUR PREVIOUS TWO RELEASES?

It’s not easy to say how long we needed to record the whole Album, because our Guitar player Roland has his own studio, so we recorded it in a lot of sessions. I think we did it in 6 month, part by part when every musician had the time to make his part in the studio.

Compared to the last album, the new songs are much more Metal and less Hardcore. My voice also goes more in the direction of Death Metal on this production, what was a big step forward for the sound of the band.

WHAT THEMES DOES THE BAND COVER LYRICALLY ON “ELEGANCE OF BLOODINESS”?

As I said before, the lyrics deal on the one hand with the “Bloodiness” of the human race in general, as you can hear in the song “We all are murderer”, and on the other hand very personal and individual “Bloodiness” in a psychological way. You can hear a lot of things in the lyrics about self-confidence and how to manage the darker days in live.

I want to make it a little bit more personal on this production because I believe that if we want to have a better world we should start with our own live and our own actions.

DO YOU FIND THAT AS TIME GOES ON YOU GROW AS MUSICIANS AND THAT YOU INCORPORATE MORE “MUSICAL INFLUENCES” INTO YOUR OWN MUSIC?

Oh yes, that’s for sure. When you get older, you see many things from other sides and you also find more and more bands you like to hear. Today, all musicians of “The Last Warning” hear a broad spectrum of music. I think that goes on with the personal experience and that we all are more open minded now, as ten years ago.

WHAT GEAR ARE YOU GUYS CURRENTLY USING TO GET THE BEST RESULTS FOR RECORDING AND PERFORMING LIVE?

I personally use a Shure SM58 Microphone, it is old but good. Our guitar players use Ibanez and ESP Guitars with Mesa Boogie and Peavy Amplifiers and our bass player use a Hughes & Kettner Bassbase 400 and Ampeg SVT PreAmp. Our drummer use Tama stuff.

WERE THERE ANY BIG CHALLENGES THAT THE BAND FACED DURING THE WRITING PROCESS OR IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE STILL LYING AHEAD WITH PROMOTING THE ALBUM AND THE BAND SO THAT YOU CAN PLAY BIGGER AND BETTER SHOWS?

One of the biggest challenges was to go on with the writing and recording process, because some band members fought with diseases during this year. A big challenge was also to find the right sound for the whole Album, because if you listen to modern productions the sound varies so much. So we wanted to make a modern production but also find a sound what is not too overmastered. The good thing now is that the label makes a lot of the promotional work, so we can concentrate in booking and playing shows.

THE BAND HAS PLAYED BIGGER SHOWS IN ASIA THAN IT HAS IN EUROPE; LOOKING BACK ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT THE BAND HAS RECEIVED MORE INTEREST OUTSIDE OF EUROPE THAN IT HAS AT HOME?

When we look back to our Asian Tour activities, I think we are very lucky that we got the chance to do this. We started the first Asia Tour with no expectations; we thought that we will play small club shows and smaller festivals. But when we arrived there, our Tour Manager told us that we have the opportunity to make a show on those big festivals. So I think it was our strong believing in the band and in the Tour that we received that interest outside of Europe. Or you can call it luck; it depends on your point of view…

THE BAND IS PLAYING A HOMETOWN GIG FOR YOUR CD LAUNCH OF “ELEGANCE OF BLOODINESS”. HOW OFTEN DO YOU STILL PERFORM HOMETOWN GIGS AND ARE THEY ALWAYS A HIGHLIGHT FOR THE BAND COMPARED TO OTHER LIVE SHOWS?

We still play not that often in our hometown, but I hope we will have more opportunities in the near future. This hometown gigs are always very special too us, because we are always sold out and the people come exclusive to see “us”. What I mean is that it is not like a festival where people come to see some bands and it’s nice that “The Last Warning” play also, at this shows people come to celebrate with us.

NOW THAT YOUR ALBUM IS OUT WHAT DOES THE BAND HAVE PLANNED FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR AND THE BEGINNING OF 2010?

We will play several shows in middle Europe to promote the Album as good as we can. We have a strong Album in our backpack and we definitely want to be on the road to play as many shows as we can, see new locations, meet new and old friends and bring our ideas of Metal to the masses.

ANY COMMENTS OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

I want to thank you for this interview and I hope that people in your country will have a look on “The Last Warning”. Maybe one day we will have the chance to play on a festival in South Africa. Thanx

JOSHUA GRIERSON

PHOTOGRAPHY: MIKE CARELSE / STYLIST: CLAIRE GRITTEN
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/joshuagrierson
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Alt-Country / Folk / Blues

I KNOW IT HAS BEEN A FEW YEARS ALREADY BUT DO YOU THINK YOU’VE ESCAPED THE NESHAMAH SHADOW OR DO YOU CONSIDER IT AS A GOOD THING TO BE REMEMBERED FOR BEING A PART OF THAT PIECE OF LOCAL MUSIC HISTORY?

Good question. It was definitely part of my journey or musical history that led to where I am today. Without it, maybe other things could not have happened that had. Everything happens for a reason! I got a taste of touring through the US Neshamah tour for a month. The tour was an amazing experience and one that I do not regret at all. Who could complain about touring another country for a month with some of the best bands in the hardcore genre?

Through Neshamah I learned a lot about myself, about the music industry and the people who can make it great or not so great at times. I don’t think there was a “Neshamah shadow” to escape.

WHAT FINALLY CONVINCED YOU TO PURSUE A SOLO CAREER? WAS IT A COMBINATION OF “OUTSIDE FACTORS” OR WAS IT PURELY A CREATIVE DECISION?

Soon after I left Neshamah, a very good friend at the time - Darryl Roggen and I started a new project called LOVEHUNTER. While this band was in its formation, I was still doing my solo project (as I had been since I was 15). The band went on to play for about 2 years and I was happy to be part of it but in the back of my mind I was always leaning towards just doing my solo project.

The “creative differences” thing did definitely play a role but also through all my meanderings with other projects and/or bands, I realised that I am a leader and not a follower and thus gave me the confidence to leave all the other projects and focus all my attention on my solo project and in hindsight, the best decision I could make. I have never really been a good team player.

WAS THE TRANSITION FROM HARDCORE TO FOLK AN EASY ONE AT FIRST OR WERE THERE A FEW CREATIVE “STUMBLING BLOCKS” AT THE BEGINNING?

I was not brought up with bands like Norma Jean, Zao, Living Sacrifice and others in that vein, I was brought up with foundational music – Bob Dylan, The Doors, Beatles, Sting, The Police and Elton John, to name a few and so I was exposed firstly to Rock, Pop, Folk and its roots and thus it lay deep and strong in my veins from a very young age. When I was about 11 or 12 years of age, I was then introduced to the big wide world of metal and its subgenres and I enjoyed all it had to offer. Between the age of 5 and 21, I was very thirsty for all and any style of music and thus opened myself to anything that came my way.

I have subsequently become quite the snob as to what music I choose to fill my ears and heart with. Needless to say, I cannot appreciate hardcore music anymore. To answer your question, there was no transition from the hardcore stuff to folk. I have been playing acoustic music while in my mother’s womb and I sometimes get the feeling that my soul was carved from the streets of Greenwich Village before it found its home in me.

DO YOU COME UP WITH SONG IDEAS PRETTY EASILY OR DO YOU SOMETIMES HAVE TO SIT YOURSELF DOWN AND REALLY WORK AT GETTING A SONG TO SOUND THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO?

I don’t have structured rehearsal times and thus only write when I feel inspired but I always seem to write at least one idea when sitting with the guitar but that does not mean my mind and heart stops thinking or working when away from the guitar. I can get very inspired by listening to other artists. Like recently, I have started a working relationship with Laurie Levine (www.myspace.com/laurielevine) and she has been a great source of inspiration. Words come to me when washing the dishes or at that time just before you fall asleep. I am an open vessel and the spirits bring me what I need when I need it.

Most recently I wrote a song from 2 separate situations: A few months ago, I was lying in a friend’s bed and was tickling on her guitar and these notes just arrived on my fingers. A melody ensued and I hummed along. The next day I went over it again and the lyrics just came to me. The song was finished in 10 minutes. That song you can find at my MYSPACE site @ www.myspace.com/joshuagrierson it’s called Send All My Love To The Kids. So as you can read, I don’t like to push songs out of me but rather wait for the stars to be aligned!

WHAT SUBJECTS HAVE BEEN SHOWING UP THE MOST IN YOUR LYRICS LATELY AND DO YOU LIKE TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM A POSITIVE OR SOMETIMES NEGATIVE PERSPECTIVE DEPENDING ON THE “FEEL” OF THE SONG YOU ARE WORKING ON?

This question could be answered much the same as the previous one but whatever I am feeling at the time, I put down. My lyrics generally deal with life, love and everything else in between and I try to write about topics I have experienced myself and feel confident to sing about and thus most of my lyrics have dealt with Love. I have experienced though where lyrics have to come to me from some spiritual source and it has no real factual story behind it, at the time, and then that exact story will unfold later on in my life. It is well documented that artists, like Bob Dylan, have been prophetic in their lyrics. One story goes that Bob Dylan released his Love and Theft album on the same day that the twin towers fell and in the lyrics from that same album, it almost would seem the man knew what was going to happen that day! Read the article - http://www.counterpunch.org/vest7.html

Being a man with many ideals and romanticised ideals about life and Love, I stumble back to that place time and time again but I recently wrote a song as an opinion to a video clip I saw on www.youtube.com. A group of individuals decided to state in their divine opinion that Oprah Winfrey is the anti-christ and then right at the end of the clip, they were promoting a book that they wrote. This type of propaganda and fear-type leadership really pissed me off and thus lead me to write a song about it. It’s called Light Your Candles And Say Your Prayers and it can be found on my 2 CD set, which is on sale at all my shows for R100.

I am a journeyman, a man wandering through this life with his ears and eyes open. I am gathering up my tales to tell a new tale of survival through an almost rebellious passion and not allowing this life and its devils to push me down!

THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR SEEMS TO BE YOUR NUMBER ONE INSTRUMENT OF CHOICE THESE DAYS. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT AND DO YOU STILL PLAY ELECTRIC GUITAR FROM TIME TO TIME?

When I play the acoustic guitar, a different type of guitarist comes out of me than when I am playing on the electric. The acoustic has always lent itself to sounds that conjure up imagery of bluesman and ‘folksies’ playing in the corner of the room, with no amplification but singing loudly above the crowd and putting their hearts on the line.

In a sentence: It is the right instrument for me right now.

I will return to the electric again one day.

YOU HAVE TWO RELEASES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. ARE YOU ALWAYS WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL AND CAN WE EXPECT A NEW EP OR ALBUM FROM YOU ANY TIME SOON?

I am always writing. Constantly moving in and out of creation. Inspiration can hit at any moment and you have to ready for it! A new album should be out by middle next year or hopefully sooner. I could release a new selection of material every 3 months but the lack of funding for this, is the problem that is stopping this! Laurie Levine and I are busy working on a collection of songs for an album to be released next year and thus keep your eyes on the press!

I SAW ONE OF YOUR SONGS BEING USED IN THE T.V. PROGRAM “GOING NOWHERE SLOWLY”. DO YOU THINK THE LOCAL MEDIA IS SLOWLY NOTICING LOCAL MUSIC AS A BETTER OPTION TO USE IN TELEVISION AND FILMS?

Yes I would say so. Local companies seemingly want to use more local talent for their adverts and TV programs but the bands with larger profiles always seem to get the bigger ad’s but programs like Going Nowhere Slowly and Cooked are establishing a great platform for the growing smaller independent bands to showcase their work and we applaud them for this.

Only drawback to this is that they generally don’t pay the artists for their contributions but it does help the artists to spread their music into homes where it might not have been able to get into otherwise. I recently got my music into a program produced for the Sports Illustrated magazine and will feature the song “Slow Train”. It should be airing on the MNET channel soon! On the Sports Illustrated website, all the artists featured in the program, will get a spotlight and all the necessary info about each artist/band will be there!

A FRIEND OF MINE WHO HAS SEEN YOUR LIVE SHOW TOLD ME THAT YOUR SONGS ALWAYS TAKE A DIFFERENT DIRECTION EACH TIME BUT THE CHORUSES ALWAYS STAY THE SAME. IS THAT TRUE AND DO YOU FEEL MORE “FREE” MUSICALLY ON STAGE COMPARED TO A RECORDING ENVIRONMENT?

That is partly true yeah. I can’t play a song the same twice but the basic structure will always be there. When I am on stage, I move in and out of whatever I am feeling at the time. An artist also gets bored of playing a song the same way over and over and thus we change little details to keep the song fresh and it also helps to keep the listener coming back for a fresh new look at each song, each time. If a song does not make ME want to cry or tap my foot, how can I expect my audience to get it!

YOU HAVE PERFORMED AT MANY VENUES. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE AND IF SO WHY DO YOU ALWAYS RETURN TO PERFORM THERE AGAIN?

Very difficult to answer but there are 3 definite places I really enjoy playing because of the atmosphere the venue has, the sound that is great and the people that frequent that place! These will have to be Mercury Live, Zula Sound Bar and The Waiting Room!

YOU ARE ALSO TRAVELLING UP TO JOHANNESBURG IN NOVEMBER TO PERFORM WITH LAURIE LEVINE AND JOSIE FIELD. ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR PERFORMANCES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY AS WELL AT A LATER STAGE?

Yes, I leave for Joburg on the 4th of November, to spend with a week with Laurie Levine. After my very successful time at the White Mountain Folk Festival, which was held at the White Mountain resort in the Drakensberg, I am set to go back to Durban in December for 10 days. Planning to fly on the 13th of December. A trip to Dubai and the UK is on the cards for early next year and thus let’s keep our fingers crossed for that!

MUSIC IS OBVIOUSLY IN YOUR BLOOD. DOES YOUR STRONG LOVE AND PASSION FOR MUSIC MAKE YOU CARRY ON WHERE OTHERS WOULD HAVE PROBABLY WALKED AWAY FROM THEIR “DREAM”?

Music is truly the only thing that makes sense to me in this life! It is my destiny to do what I am doing now. One thing that I have learned in this life is that sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing is the same! To a large extent, we choose our destiny and I am very happy with my choice!

ANY COMMENTS OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Thank You: First and foremost, THANK YOU Neil for offering me this interview and for being interested in what I am doing!

Secondly, a huge Thank You needs to go to Sean Wienand, Mad Brew Productions and Maddy Wolmarans for all their hard work and dedication to what I am doing!

Comments: Please check out Laurie Levine’s MYSPACE site @ www.myspace.com/laurielevine and my MYSPACE site @ www.myspace.com/joshuagrierson and Josie Field @ http://www.myspace.com/josiefield

Lastly: If you don’t have a passion for this industry, PLEASE don’t get into it!

THIS IS COLOUR

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM CRONIN
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/thisiscolour
COUNTRY: United Kingdom STYLE: Metal / Thrash

EXCUSE THE PUN BUT LOOKING AT THE BAND’S MYSPACE AND “IMAGE”; IT IS A LOT MORE COLOURFUL THAN OTHER BANDS IN YOUR GENRE?

Yeah man! We're all happy people and as far as we're concerned - the brighter the better. A lot of bands try to be all dark and larghan life. We want to stay as far away from that as possible.

YOUR WEB PAGE DESCRIBES YOUR MUSIC AS METAL / THRASH BUT LISTENING TO YOUR SONGS ONE HEARS A WHOLE BUNCH OF INFLUENCES. DO YOU EVER HERE MUSIC AND THINK, “HEY! WOULDN’T IT BE COOL TO DO IT THIS WAY…” AND THEN YOU COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT SOUNDS REALLY GREAT?

Well, trash metal is probably of our most favoured genre's and we seem to have been lumped in with that so we rolled with it. We're not really bothered about being under a certain or single genre as we don't really fit into anything inparticular. Apart from HEAVY FUCKIN METAL!!! Haha

I LIKE THE TITLE FOR YOUR FIRST EP TITLED “A BRIEF DEMONSTRATION”. IF YOU HAD TO COMPARE THE EP TO YOUR DEBUT ALBUM “NO BRAINER” ARE YOU EXITED WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH PROGRESS THE BAND HAS MADE MUSICALLY AND WHAT YOU COULD STILL POSSIBLY COME UP WITH?

Writing both we’re really fun as we weren't under any pressure and I guess that works with us. Yeah, we can always feel our self progressing really. And yeah, being in This is Colour we're not really restricted to anything. For example we could write an Indie song and we'd still make it fit on an album somehow. Plus the fans we get won't disown us if we did something like that which is also fairly cool (not that we'll be writing any indie anytime soon).

“A BRIEF DEMONSTRATION” CAN BE DOWNLOADED FOR FREE AT: http://www.mediafire.com/?8cxtxm0zxm1. THERE SEEMS TO BE AN OVERWHELMING TREND TO MAKE EP’S AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD THESE DAYS; HAS IT PAID OFF FOR YOU GUYS?

Yeah man! Definitely. We all know how much it sucks having no money and to be honest, someone hearing the stuff, liking it, coming to a show and buying a shirt tends to make it worth it in the end anyway! Plus, no one pays for music anymore anyway. We woulda put the album out for free, but we spent way too much time and money on it I'm afraid!

ONLINE YOU MENTION THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THE BAND USES IS POWER TABS TO SHARE IDEAS. DO YOU USUALLY START WITH THE GUITARS FIRST WHEN WRITING SONGS?

We used to! I guess it’s just a more up to date version of bands demo-ing riffs on a tape player and sending them to each other to add to etc. And yeah, we used to put guitars first I guess. But recently we try to play/write new stuff together and we're putting more thought into the rhythm side of things. We do love our widdly guitar bits though haha.

NOT MANY BANDS ACTUALLY MAKE THEIR TABS AVAILABLE, WHY DID THE BAND DECIDE TO DO SO?

I guess it's just another way of interacting with the people that care about our band. We like to give as much back as we can. Plus it's pretty cool seeing people from thousands of miles away learning our songs and putting it on Youtube.

WITH THE DIFFERENT “STYLES” YOU COVER IN YOUR MUSIC I MUST ASK WHAT GEAR AND TUNINGS YOU USE TO MAKE EVERYTHING SOUND LIKE IT FITS (IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)?

We keep it real man! There's so many bands coming around over complicating things and just making it difficult to understand, but if that works for them that’s cool I guess. Live we did put a lot of time into different guitar tones for different parts so they sounded a bit more authentic, but most of the time we just try to keep it simple and loud!

“NO BRAINER” WAS RELEASED IN MARCH. DO YOU ALREADY HAVE IDEAS FOR YOUR NEXT RELEASE OR IS THE BAND MORE FOCUSED ON PLAYING AS MANY LIVE SHOWS AS POSSIBLE RIGHT NOW?

Yeah we have many many many ideas for our next whatever it is we'll release. We tend to write as we go! Playing as many shows as possible whilst writing isn't really an issue. Write in the day, party and play at night haha.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST “HEADACHE” FOR THE BAND CURRENTLY, WHEN IT COMES TO SHOWS?

Its frustrating playing a show no one knows about. We've had people comment our page saying "COME PLAY MY TOWN!" and there's been cases where we'd be like "We played there last night!" Myspace and all that stuff is cool for promoting your music and getting bands heard, but a lot of promoters tend to think they can rely on it as a tool for promoting shows, which in some respects it is, but you still gotta flyer and poster the shows. We can't complain too much though, without sounding cheesy, as long as we "stand out" or make an impact for the few people at these smaller shows then it’s always worth it.

THE BEST “MOMENTS / MEMORIES” FOR YOU BEFORE, DURING OR AFTER A SHOW SO FAR?

There is so many I could go on about. We've been doing this for about 3 years now and we're all best friends (I duno if there is a manlier way to put that ha) so of course there's a lot of mischief going on all the time. Be it getting naked, making our drummer Nick try foods he doesn't like or just taking the piss outta each other. Some of the more "serious" highlights would include going to other countries and having people sing along to our songs, making friends all over the place. So to shorten that; Playing Music, Travellin' and hangin'.

SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME OF THE SMALL MISTAKES A BAND SHOULD TRY TO AVOID WHEN STARTING OUT?

Don't get cocky or picky, take everything you're offered. A lot of bands don't think they have to work for a "fanbase" and they'll sulk and fall out because they don't get instant success.

DO YOU GO OUT TO WATCH OTHER BANDS OFTEN AND IF SO, DO YOU USUALLY LEAVE A GIG MORE INSPIRED TO BE A BETTER MUSICIAN?

Yeah man, we'll go to shows when time and money allows. It can be a bit difficult to have that luxury as we're all working and studying and use any time we can get off to play our own shows! But yeah, I mean after going to see Metallica, Dillinger Escape Plan or Mongoloids, how can you not want to play guitar and learn new stuff when you get home?

ANY COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

We currently have a competition on our page to win some free merch that we're doing ourselves and we have a few tours being booked / announced soon! We'd also just like to say check out Audacity, One Step Down, Get Fuckin' Dead and any of the other rad bands in our top friends on Myspace.

SAMSARA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS FALVO
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/samsaramtl
COUNTRY: Canada STYLE: Experimental / Ambient / Rock

THE BAND TOOK THE INSTRUMENTAL PATH AFTER YOU GOT TIRED OF PLAYING METAL. WAS IT JUST A CASE OF NOT WANTING TO BE PART OF A GENRE THAT HAS BECOME A BIT OVERPOPULATED?

The basic answer is that we got bored of it. We do find that metal is overpopulated and diluted quite heavily, and that did play into it our choice a bit, but the basic reason we didnt want to play metal anymore was because we found that it wasn't pleasing us on a musical level. We felt that there was something else that we should be playing, that would suit us better than technical metal. Haha

WHO WAS THE FIRST INSTRUMENTAL BAND YOU EVER HEARD AND HOW WERE YOU “CONVINCED” THAT THIS IS THE DIRECTION THAT YOU WANTED TO TAKE WITH YOUR MUSIC?

That answer would probably be different for every member, but the bands that really helped make the decision to start playing the music we play today were bands like Isis, Explosions in the Sky, Red Sparowes and Eluvium. Since then, along with member changes, our influences have grown to include bands like Sigur Ros, Coldplay, EF, This Will Destroy You and Mono. Of course, every member brings in their own personal influences like with any band, but these bands are definitely huge influences on our overall sound.

DO YOU FIND THAT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC HAS A CERTAIN WAY OF CREATING THAT “DREAM WORLD” ATMOSPHERE IN LISTENERS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER KIND OF MUSIC?

Definitely. We have always loved the long, spacy, jammier songs that bands usually include on their albums (but rarely play live!). Then we all got introduced to bands (instrumental or not) that play it all the time! There are many bands who have managed to capture a certain dreamy atmosphere in their music, but the bands in "post rock" or whatever genre you'd like to categorize them in, concentrate on capturing an emotion or a feeling and trying to recreate it using only/mostly music. It's a great challenge as a musician, with all the popular/traditional ways relying on doing it with vocals, or some sort of spoken word to tell the story. Whereas, bands in "post rock" try to do it using little to no vocals at all.

DO YOU THINK INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IS AN ACQUIRED TASTE AMONG MUSIC FANS OR HAVE YOU SEEN THE GENRE GETTING MORE SUPPORT EVEN THOUGH ONE CAN’T ALWAYS FIND INSTRUMENTAL ARTIST’S MUSIC AS EASILY AS YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO WITH A MUSIC GENRE LIKE POP?

Yes and no. From what we can see, the people that listen to instrumental/experimental/post rock or whatever tend to know the genre and a lot of the bands and what's going on with the music.

At the same time however, we've encountered people who would otherwise never listen to that music, save the couple of bands/songs they know of the style.

It's hard to give a definite answer to that question, but we feel that this kind of music is very accessible and can and should be widely accepted. Anyone with an open mind can listen to just about any of the bands in the genre and admire the beauty in the sound they create. We definitely feel that this kind of music has the potential to be widely accepted.

In fact, without even knowing it, a lot of people already do. Many of the bands of the genre have been featured in or have provided the soundtracks for movies, TV and video games. Bands of the genre can be seen in popular movies and TV shows like the trailer for Disney's "Planet Earth" (Hoppipolla, by Sigur Ros) or Explosions in the Sky providing the soundtrack for "Friday Night Lights" just to name two.

EVER WONDERED HOW YOUR SONGS WOULD SOUND WITH VOCALS?

We do occasionally for sure. We've listened to some of our songs and thought that hey, maybe a singing part could be nice there. As of right now, we aren't planning on including vocals, though that may change in the future, who knows.

If vocals ever do make it into our music, they will not be in the forefront, and will take a supporting role.

Our goal is to create music that speaks for itself, to convey a message, a feeling or an image using our instruments. We’ll let people tell us what they think/see or feel when they hear it.

THE BAND RELEASED A FOUR TRACK SELF TITLED EP EARLIER IN THE YEAR. WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR THE BAND TO GET “THAT FIRST RELEASE” OVER AND DONE WITH?

Yeah, every band who wants to be successful needs to take that first plunge and record the first batch of songs. It's a great learning experience all around, about how things work in the studio, what can/cant/needs to be done and connecting on a much more personal level not only with the other members in the band, but the music itself.

You get the chance to sit there (if you wish to do so) and pour over every detail of every song, making sure everything is perfect and the way you want it to sound.

It definitely helps the band grow and learn a lot in a relatively short period of time. Recording can definitely make or break a band; it's a challenge and requires a lot of time, work and patience.

But, what really matters, and sets apart the real bands from the wannabes, has always and will always be their live performance. If you can't perform live, then you'll only get so far.

For us, recording gave us an EP which we felt comfortable enough to share with people, to show them what we were all about. Now that that is out of the way, we can concentrate on writing and recording a full length which will hopefully showcase what we've learned and how much we've grown since then.

APPARENTLY YOU ARE ALREADY WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL. DO YOU SET SMALL DEADLINES FOR YOURSELVES WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING OR DO YOU TAKE AS MUCH TIME THAT IS NEEDED TO MAKE A SONG SOUND AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE?

We try to, without a certain time frame in mind; it's very easy to get caught up in what you're doing, on tiny, sometimes insignificant details, and loosing focus on the bigger picture. That being said, we don’t rush songs or force them out. We try and give ourselves an ample amount of time to do what we feel needs to get done. Without deadlines or goals, like with anyone or anything else, we would end up stuck drifting aimlessly.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC MUST BE TO KEEP THE LISTENERS ATTENTION. THAT IS WHERE YOUR USE OF GUITARS COMES IN HANDY I GUESS?

We feel we have the chance to keep people interested more in the way we present our music on a whole and less in any specific instrument or part. We concentrate on writing/playing complete songs, if one person is taking care of the rhythm or the root of the song, someone else may be accenting or playing up… In the end though, what really counts is how it sounds on a whole.

ANY SONG THAT YOU HEARD LATELY THAT YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD?

JOEL: "Something about the way you look tonight" by Elton John

ADAM: "Maria I Like it Loud" by Scooter

PETER: "Is There a Ghost" by Horse the Band

LUCA: "Romantic Rights" by Death From Above

I SEE ONE OF YOUR SONGS IS CALLED “F SHARP” AND THE WORDS “DELAY + REVERB” ARE MENTIONED AS WELL. WHAT GUITAR TUNINGS AND GEAR DOES THE BAND USE AND DO YOU PLAN TO ADD ANY OTHER INSTRUMENTS TO YOUR LINE UP AT A LATER STAGE?

As of yet, all of our songs are in Drop A on seven string guitars. Basically, it’s standard tuning, with the low B string dropped to A, which gives us the option of low, heavier barred chords.

And as our tagline on Myspace states, Dealay+Reverb is an effect combination we (as many) do use quite often. We find it's creates beautiful soundscapes and textures that can chill a person right to the bone.

Basically, we are a rock band; bass, drums and guitar, though we add piano, keyboard pads and occasionally some orchestral parts to fill in the gaps or spice up a song. We like to experiment not only with adding instruments to the mix, but also with how they are played. We've experimented with bowed guitar, as well as E-Bow on both guitar and bass.

We like to have a lot of ideas to pull from, even if it doesn't happen until sometime in the future, the option is always there.

Something we would LOVE to do in the future is to record and play with a live orchestra. That would be a dream come true for us.

BEING AN INDEPENDENT BAND, HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE TASK OF WRITING WITH THE EFFORT THAT GOES INTO ORGANISING SHOWS AND BUILDING A FAN BASE FOR YOURSELVES?

We do everything ourselves, so we take things day by day. We try and keep conversations going with friends (new and old) on Myspace on a regular basis as well as adding friends from all around the world.

We contact any newspapers, magazines or review sites that we come across to try and get featured in any way and we book all our shows ourselves as well, occasionally actually putting some on ourselves in our area (like our show September 24th).

Basically, all the "management" of the band gets taken care of in our free time. Writing is done individually or when we get together to jam.

WHERE WILL PEOPLE BE ABLE TO SEE YOU GUYS PERFORM IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS?

Were concentrating on writing as much as we can this fall, but were going to try and play a couple of shows at home in Montreal and hopefully a couple of towns. Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, and possible a couple of other places in between, which we hope will get us out there a little. When we finish our full length (which we hope to have out before the spring) we’re hoping to play a few more shows, short tours around Quebec and Ontario, and hopefully beyond.

ANY COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Keep an eye out on our Myspace for news about shows, new music being posted, new media (pictures or videos) and other updates!