TR: There are a lot
of flaky musicians out there?Qwiksand Interview continued
TR: There are a lot
of flaky musicians out there?
T.J.: Everybody's got their own agenda. Everybody's got their own work out thing. And everybody's got their own direction, their goals in life. And for us our upbringing what we're about. Just in fact that we all came together.
Mike: One thing that I wanted to add is that I liked the direction that we took on this album. I think Marlon will agree because weíve talked about this before together. We have a tremendous amount of admiration for a lot of musicians and respect what they do. One of my biggest complaints is that many of them sound so different from what they put down. And it's not necessarily that they sound bad, I just want to hear more bands that sound more like their audio recordings. I mean even if it's not polished, I'm still going to respect and admire you if your talented and if youíve got something to offer in your music. But that's what I want to hear. I want to hear you. I just don't want to hear a master wizard behind the board.
R~A~S: Yeah!
Mike: It ends up taking them like three hundred takes just to get this perfect one going. Then you go and see them live and your like, what's this? Is this really it? You know what I mean?
R~A~S: You know for us, we are just trying to put out cool music with groove and integrity. If you like it, great and if don't, then you don't. The thing for us is all about being true to what we're about. The live recordings on our first album captured the bands groove and sound. and now when our fans come out to see us, they're happy because hey, it's doesn't just sound like us, it's better -- it's live.
TR: So what's your goal for this album?
T. J.: For this album basically is just to get the word out. We see a lot of things that aren't real. I mean. Other people don't recognize other people that play music. We're just as if you really enjoy your craft and you want to be a musician. I was taught long time ago. My first bass teacher asked me "do you want to be a musician or a garage musician?" And you know what's the difference. A guy that plays in a garage band you know they get together and maybe practice twice a week. By the end of the year they have maybe five or six songs. Real musicians get together. There's a certain element of almost a spirituality that evolves and once you get out. It's like being reborn. It's like a brand new genesis and that's what we want to do. I want to be able to play the things that we enjoy playing.
Mike: You know there's
one way I try to describe it to my friends, people who are close
to me and who are obviously our biggest supporters. With the exposure
that we're getting now, for me, I like writing music that makes
them smile.
Not something thatís gonna make someone go off and say, "Oh my god!!!" I just like playing music that will get a response from them. When this happens, it's pure energy, pure music and even the most inexperienced fan of our music can enjoy it.
R~A~S: You can tell everyone here brings a lot of integrity to the table each time we get together. Planet Squared, our record label also has a similar kind of philosophy. They liked what we were doing with our music and felt it was in line with what they were doing. We put our CD out with them and it's environmental friendly. It's 100% recycled. So for us, it complimented what we're doing and we thought, hey that's cool. It was like taking what we are all about a step further and into the product. So for us, it's all positive.
TR: Do you have anything to say to that?
Marlon: I like good
music. I love this band because we do good music. That's the bottom
line. We're all real musicians. We all play our instruments. We
go to the studio and it shows that we all love our music in the
way we play in the show. I love my place. It's my gift. It's all
it is, it's just a gift.
TR: If you weren't a musician then what would you be?
Marlon: Share the love with the world. With what I have my experiences.
T.J.: I would be a writer.
Mike: I don't know. There's just to much in me.
R~A~S: Probably be surfing, doing art.
There you have it- the funky rock band. Words can say so much. But music can say a lot more. So check these guys out live. You will have a great time listening to them live!
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