ENGINE DOWN TR: How would you define the music your band makes? If I were to throw what we do into a musical category, rock comes to mind. Dissonant guitar structured tight rhythmic backbone power mood altering rock with attention to melody. In a fragmented sort of answer. TR: How important was your live show in cultivating your sound? the live show is more like the Mr. Hyde of song writing for us. After the long and critical process of composing a song we tend to not get our hopes up all at once. Playing live is the truth behind the sound and will quickly tell how strong the song is. We could spend weeks perfecting a sound in our confined environment (practice space) and sometimes get lost in the circle of playing rather than listening. After a live performance of a new song, given a few chances, it is easier to separate ourselves from what we have created and feel the outsider input. The energy is also more powerful live which will tell the mood of a song. TR: How long did you play as a band before you recorded the album? Engine Down was around for maybe two years before recording the first full length on Lovitt Records. A seven inch was birthed before that. TR: How important do you feel the guitar is to contemporary music and is this good or bad? I feel guitar is only important if you are using the instrument for that sound. A guitar is a very flexible instrument, allowing many sounds to merge and define, but i dont think it is the most important instrument in contemporary music. It all depends on the desired effect. Do you want to create a classical feel or an abrasive feel? Should the sound be tight and dead on or experimental and loose? I have been more effected by music with just beats and voice than with a wall of sound distorted by two guitars. I would only say this is a bad thing to guitar manufacturers but should leave musicians a choice for which instrument they feel best serves their sound. TR: In your music is the rhythm/groove the driving force or the melodies? No one thing is a driving force for us. They both are as important as anything else. Rhythm is sometimes driving the grid with all attention focused on the swing or rump shaker aspect. Songs with a heavier melody are also very important to us because this allows us to create a desired mood over top of driving rhythm. Rhythm tends to snap, and melody tends to capture. TR: Which is more important sound/atmosphere or song/message? My personal taste in music, and life, is to be vague. This leaves all to interpretation and a flare for the unknown. It could go both ways in the sense that I sound “hippiefied” at the moment, only in the trip sense and not the politics side. I dont disagree that a song with a strong message is important. I do think that music is a strong tool to make changes and/or inform others. Engine down is not a political band or a world leader, we just try to make music that inspires us and others to stay in that mode of creation. TR: How many times a week does your band practice? 2 as a band TR: Do you have a day job and what is it? I work at a small print shop, Jason works at a record store, Cornbread is finishing school, and Jonathan is freelance production assistant. TR: Would you tell other bands to move to smaller cities rather than go to music Meccas like New York of LA? We have not experienced the mecca life but in my dealings with living in smaller cities i would say try both. Living in a small city has its rewards in dealing with little “competition” to obtain that spot for the “good” shows. You may also feel a more family like environment when everyone knows of everyone’s band. Larger cities would be beneficial if you are looking to “make it”............what do i know? TR: What does it take to have a hit song? publicity stunts. TR: What is your definition of success? If what you do inspires others, you are a success. TR: Do musicians in general lose credibility with the mass popular audience as their music became free as traded mp3s on the Internet? More accessible music tends to gain credibility and fan base. If the musician is whining and bitching about their loss in units sold then yes there is credibility loss there. TR: What do you think is going to happen with Napster? It will be gone and reformed under a different name. TR: Where do you get most of your music? Online stores, traditional record stores? I buy music from stores and bands on the road. TR: What % is indie vs. major? On Napster? It seems like it would be more indie because that is the whole idea behind indie. isn’t it? TR: What bands do you feel aren't getting the attention they deserve? Cornbread would tell you that Jeff Buckley did not get the attention he deserved before his departure. The Fin Fang Foom are a great band. Um well that question is hard for me to grasp because personally I have found it hard to enjoy bands these days, too much of the same around me, and the bands i enjoy (QandNotU, Milemarker, Mercury Program, ......) are getting recognition because they make great music. I do feel for those who put everything honest into their music and get nothing in return. TR: Do you think the greater presence of booking agents, distributors, and publicity crews have made indie-rock in the mirror image of the type of musical organizations indie labels were trying to remove/distance themselves from? Maybe the the word crews but otherwise i dont think an indie using outside help to spread the knowledge of a band that they feel deserves it is unindie. Sure the word is short for independent but i think that it is independent from the type of morfing that a band goes through to shove their music down everyone’s throut. The goal for major labels is to get you to buy their record, even if you dont like the band. It is like flashing popcorn before a movie. You didnt want popcorn before you came in but now you feel a pull to enjoy such a “product” TR: Do labels become obsolete in the future? A future where a band can inexpensively afford to record two songs and post it on the Internet, and possibly eventually stream their live shows through high speed cable wires? No. Bands could do that right now if they wanted to. And cudos to those musicians who have enough time to put their heart and soul into the music and the promotion and the distribution and the booking and the interviews. interviews? TR: Do you feel the merger of AOL and Time Warner will really mess things up, or make cross entertainment (MSNBC/NBCi, CBS-VIACOM, ABC-DISNEY) the new positive standard for the future? less surfing, eh. TR: Are indie bands even the underground anymore? And if not them, who is? Would you say underground is anything less popular than Britney Spears? If the answer is no then sure I know of the “real” underground and they tend to play in front of your favorite theatre or on corners. That is underground and cudos to them also. Learn more about Engine Down at their website http://www.enginedown.com