How'd you get started in music?
Unexpectedly, actually. I used to write songs for years but only for my own amusement and had no plans or dreams of going public. Besides, I have no music education or experience whatsoever. Just a self-taught rhythm guitarist who can be useful by the campfire but for something bigger... At the age of 42 suddenly something changed my point of view. I realized I still like to play some of my own songs written over 20 years ago. Then I asked myself - what if they are actually good songs? What if they deserve more than just to be played in my living room? What if... The truth is, I never thought of them as of songs in a singer/songwriter style (maybe only a few of them), I always imagined how would they sound in a full band arrangement. So I started to build and develop the idea of the band and my role in it and I've searched for answers on more questions than I could imagine it would appear.
Fast forward two years later. My mind was clear, the idea was polished and I've started to look for people who would fit in. Fit in as persons as well as musicians. I knew from the start they must be more experienced and educated than me. At the time, the only thing I knew for sure was on which side of the microphone I should stand. :-)))
I wanted to start working on my song and to finish it as our song. It took a year or so before we felt we're finally getting somewhere, mostly due to line-up changes. Main goal was to work on our original songs and to use covers as fillers for live acts. And now we are pretty much where I saw us when we took off, except for the fact it happened a bit later than planned but, hey, that's life! One can't predict everything.
I wanted to start working on my song and to finish it as our song. It took a year or so before we felt we're finally getting somewhere, mostly due to line-up changes. Main goal was to work on our original songs and to use covers as fillers for live acts. And now we are pretty much where I saw us when we took off, except for the fact it happened a bit later than planned but, hey, that's life! One can't predict everything.
Who are your inspirations or influences?
It's hard for me to say... If I started in my twenties or earlier it would be much easier to define direct influences. This way, at the age of 46, I presume my songwriting and composing style is a huge mix of the styles, music and authors I grew up with. They had some influence on younger me as a person, in my formative years, and they surely left a big impact on my music. From Ray Charles to Willie Nelson, from Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan... Van Morrison, Tom Waits, John Fogerty... I used to listen to them a lot (and still do!) and I can say the vast part of what I know now about making music and writing songs I learned from their huge and amazing body of work.
What advice would offer aspiring performers?
Considering my time in music I'm not sure if I'm entitled to do so but on the other hand, I have some life experience and that's what may be useful for uprising musicians... The same advice I gave to my sons when they decided to go into sport: Respect! Respect the music, respect your bandmates, respect the audience. And respect yourself. Make music the way you feel like, not the way music industry is forcing trends nowdays. If you put in it something that really belongs to you, then, and only then, it would be your own music. Otherwise you'll became wanna-be's. Of course, one can always say you reminded him of someone else but it's normal - traces of what made you sing or write or compose in that particular way is the same thing as what our parents did to all of us. They left traces. No matter how hard we try to be different our roots were grounded long before we wished to be different. Same in music. My music can't remind anyone on The Doors. They are not the part of my music background. So take what you like and reshape it, add a little something of yourself, let your bandmates add their ingredients and see what happens. You might get pleasantly surprised with the outcome!
How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?
Hmmm... First, there's nine of us and we're close to get ourselves a piano player so maybe in a few weeks we'll become a 10 piece band! That's already a huge difference compared to most of the bands today! LOL! Furthermore, I believe our sound is much more organic than usual nowdays. But I assure you, all nine of us strongly believe the songs come first. If the song is good, it would stand the test of time. No matter what. So we make songs with what we got not caring much about enormous possibilities of today's technology and gadgets. If we can make it sound right by ourselves, with real instruments and voices, that's it! And we can always add something later and make it sound even better.
Any new gigs or albums in the future?
I wish them nothing but luck in their success & special thanks to them for this interview. So until then
Stay Awesome & rock n roll!
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