Wild At Heart
Hello every and welcome back to the blog this week and I have a lot to cover so let me get started. Back in December I was promoting the Hometown Sound contest by maurices and I hope all the great local Detroit bands signed up to represent what I feel is the best rock N roll city in the US. I just got back by questions from last year’s winners Audri & Aaron which were answered by Aaron himself about there involvement in the contest so here we go.
1. How did you guys get together ad start making music?
We started creating music a few months in to 2010. We met in a vocal class at Lewis and Clark Community College. She came into the piano room that I was practicing in and asked if I wanted to hear a song that she wrote. I quickly realized her talent and offered my music anytime she had some spare lyrics. A few weeks later she asked if I wanted to try to add some music to a song she wrote. The rest is history.
2. Give me an idea of your musical influences and inspirations?
We have a broad line of inspiration. The reason that Audri wanted to write heroin music is because of a artist by the name of Henry Wolfe. We have since had the pleasure of sharing the stage with him. There is a mix of Norah Jones, Amos Lee, Colbi Caillat, Henry Wolfe and the Civil Wars in our music. We are both big fans of artists such as Paul Simon, Michael Buble, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and the Bangles.
3. How did you find out about the Hometown Sound contest and what inspired you to get involved?
We stumbled upon the Hometown Sound contest by luck. My fiancée is a physical therapist, and one of her patients brought in a flyer for the competition. Not knowing what it was, I waited until the last possible day to submit our music. Audri didn't even know we were in the contest until halfway through the first round. It seemed like a perfect fit for our group, but procrastination got the best of me. We were about 2 hours from missing our opportunity for this incredible competition.
4. How supportive were your fans and friends once they found out you were part of the contest?
Our family, friends and fans were more supportive than we would have ever imagined. We didn't know it was a voting contest until the first round, and our fans got us into the top 50 within about 2 days. After that, we were moving 2-3 spots daily. It was really overwhelming to see all of the support. People we didn't even realize knew we were a group were posting things about voting for us. It was pretty eye opening, and gave us the realization that without our fans we have absolutely nothing.
5. Before the contest, what were you looking to accomplish with your music and how did winning the contest change you goals?
We knew when we first started that we had something special, and we really wanted to try to make a career out of it. We knew that it'd be a long journey but were quite willing to give it a shot. Winning the contest helped 10 fold by getting our name out across the country. Our music and faces were in maurices stores and flyers across the country. This is something that could take independent groups years to do. Now, if you google our name, there are hundreds of results that come up. We've met people and made friends with people that we probably would have never met otherwise. Not to mention we got to open up for the Bangles at SXSW. That's something we could have only dreamed of before the contest.
6. You got to open for one of my favorite bands, the Bangles, at SXSW? Was that something you ever thought possible before the contest?
We would have never thought opening for the Bangles would have been something that we would get to do in our career. I've shared the stage with groups like the Gin Blossoms, One Republic and Switchfoot, but there's some about the Bangles that makes them so legendary and untouchable. They were some of the nicest people that we've played with. You'd never guess that they at the most successful female group of all time.
7. I have yet t go to a SXSW but I hear it can be intense? What was it like being part of that event?
Being part of SXSW with the maurices crew and Play Network was unreal. I've played the festival previously, but it was nothing compared to this experience. There was an entire showcase set up just for us and the competition, which is overwhelming to think about. Many artists just dream of being there, and we got to open up for the Bangles. Since we were with Play Network, who has ties to EVERYONE, we were able to get into any party that we wanted. At one point we were at the Grammy Party, on Hanson's guest list. It was pretty surreal. We ended the trip at a private rooftop party with Dennis Quaid. The experience couldn't have been more incredible.
8. You got to shoot your own professional video? How much of the creativity behind the video did you get and how proud are you of the final results?
The video shoot was probably one of the best first video experiences that we could have had. The crew was extremely open to any idea that we had for the video. They of course brought a great core of ideas, but they definitely valued our opinions as well. The whole idea of the contest was to capture that hometown vibe, and by letting us freely express who we are and what we do, it really came across in the video. We are extremely proud of the end results. They absolutely nailed everything in the video. The song is a story, and he story was perfectly displayed in the video.
9. How have you grown as a band since winning the contest? What are the biggest changes you have gone through?
We have changed quite a bit as a group. It helped us come to the realization that this can be a profession, so we are much more aware of every single decision that we make as a group. It's helped us mature, both as people and in our music. We realize how important every show is, every fan is, every twitter or facebook post is, and every other decision that we make. The biggest change has been the ease of getting shows. Our name is becoming much more recognized. As a matter of fact, I had to take a break from this interview to check an email saying we've been added to the bill of a Drake Bell show.
10. I see you have a new album, "Her Story His Music". How would describe this album to people who are not familiar with your music?
This album can best be described as an acoustic/folk/pop album. It's very vocal driven, with light and tasteful instrumentation. It's extremely easy to listen to and is pretty open to any mood that you're in. And there's not really a direct audience that it is aimed at. I think the stories that are told are relatable to a variety of ages/genders/races.
11. Would this album have been possible without winning the contest or were you working on it prior to the contest?
We were actually in the middle stages of the album when we won the contest, which is why it took almost a year to release. It got put on the back burner once things got rolling with the contest. It turned out to be a good thing though because it gave new life to some of our older songs.
12. How did the album come together? Who shares what duties in the creation of the music?
The creativity in the songs is a combined effort between the two of us. It's worked out well so far that she comes up with lyrics, and I put music to it. Once we get that we both help create melody lines and harmonies. It's a much easier process than I've experienced before. It just works for us. The artwork was created by Scott Hayes. He's a great photographer from Alton, IL, now working in LA.
13. What are your plans from here in regards to your music?
Our goal is to be traveling by early 2012. We want to get out as quickly as we can, but you also have to be intelligent about it. We're in the beginning stages of planning it out. We are currently an independent group as well, so that's always an option for our future, locking down some kind of management deal or record contract. We've already got some great connections, so we see big things for 2012.
14. Is there anything you would like to say to your fans or maurices?
We just want to tell maurices and our fans thank you so incredibly much. You have no idea the impact you've had on our lives. You all are as much a part of this journey as we are. We love you all.
Here is a video from the band to enjoy.
Switching to some upcoming concert, once again we have a week with not a lot for me to work with those some great local talent to choose from. Here are my picks this week:
Friday (1/13) - Trivium and In Flames @ Royal Oak Music Theatre, Larry Lee and the Back In The Day Band @ Chromatics Lounge (Motorcity Casino)
Saturday (1/14) - the Ruiners @ Park Bar, folk singers Yellow Room Gang @ the Ark, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels @ Callahans
I just went to see a musical called “Tom Foolery” which was based on the songs of the great satirist Tom Lehrer covering his greatest hits like “Poisoning Pigeons In The Park”, “the Element Song” and ‘The Masochism Tango”. I have been a huge fan ever since I discovered his music on Dr Demento. It would be a great show for the Ringwald or Meadowbrook Theatre (hint, hint). In a similar vein of great musicals, my favorite is coming to Detroit hosted by the Farmington Players. They are putting on a production of “Little Shop Of Horrors” and are holding auditions on January 22 at 3PM with callbacks on January 23rd at 7PM. The director is open to any type of casting so if you are interested in performing in this classic, you can ask questions and request a copy of the script by emailing: littleshop@farmingtonplayers.org. The Farmington Players Barn is located at 32332 W Twelve Mile Road in Farmington Hills. It’s the big white barn on the north side of Twelve Mile between Orchard Lake and Farmington. Get you act together and hurry.
I also had some fun at the Advanced Auto Parts Monster Trucks event here in Rochester and this show is coming to Ford Field on January 14th. Monster Trucks are always a fun and loud event. A few of the trucks that were here are going to be at the event at Ford Field including Grave Digger which is celebrating his 30th Anniversary and a fan favorite. Make sure to bring lots of money to by those $12 collectors cups. I got down in the pits early and got to see the truck close up which was cool. Here are some pictures of the truck with a few of myself.
Of the four events, Grave Digger took the racing but lost the overall competition to 9 time Monster Truck winner Maximum Destruction who will also be at Detroit this week. He took the figure 8’s and overall freestyle to clinch. Here are a few shots of him.
In that last picture is another colorful truck who will be at the show in Detroit with his flashing lights and sirens. One of the coolest trucks on the tour here is Backdraft.
One truck that is not coming to Detroit but I enjoyed was Stone Crusher who has one of the coolest paint jobs. He took the wheelie event to start off strong but had a few problems later on during freestyle.
One of the fun things is to get a pit pass befoe the show because that is what makes the sport. If you can avoid buying everything is site, it is a great opportunity to meet the drivers, get autographs and see the trucks up close. I spent a few minutes with the driver of Spiderman and we talked about a few things. Apparently he used to work at a company that made the small motorized toy trucks and got the call about 2 years ago to drive this truck, sponsored by Marvel. It was a dream come true for him as he was always fascinated by the trucks. While there were no flips at the show, I did ask him what it was like to experience that moment when you know your truck is going down. He said it really isn’t a big deal because of all the safety features and the strong roll cages. I can only imagine what it must be like to have that driving power but he wouldn’t let me take it for a test drive.
I also got to meet stunt woman Cannonlady who did some nice death defying stunt which is hard to do in a small arena. She must have been within 20 feet of the roof before hitting the net.
And they had music by local rockers Ezra and the Storm.
Overall, it was just a fun time and you can experience it too by heading down to Ford Field on the 14th. If you miss that, you can also check out the show on March 3rd which also has Grave Digger and maximum Destruction and a whole round of different trucks such as Wolverine and Superman.
I am getting ready to head out to Toronto this weekend to check out the Mayan Exhibit at the ROM and the Otherworldly exhibit at the TIFF. Look for upcoming pictures and interviews concerning this trip over the next 2 weeks. Have a good week and see you next Monday.