The Anatomy of the Band - Part 1

We recently did an interview with a local university, but with a twist.

Instead of a more standard ‘talk to the whole band at once’ scenario, the interviewer chose to ask each of us five questions separately. The purpose of this method was to see how each band member would answer alone. Would our answers be even remotely close? Wildly different? Start a fight? That is what this exercise set out to prove.

In keeping with the title of our upcoming album The Anatomy of the Machine, we’re calling this interview series The Anatomy of the Band.

One more thing—to add another layer of mystery to the exercise, we’re not going to reveal who gave each answer until the end of each post.

Enjoy.

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:: The Deepest Red:: The Anatomy of the Band, Part 1

Interviewer: “So, let’s start with the go to question first. What are your influences?”

[Band Member 1]: Ah yes. The age old question. You know for me, one of my favorite things to do is to ask people who aren’t in the band what they think our influences are. I’ve gotten everything from “You sound like Glenn Danzig singing for System of a Down” to my personal favorite, “It’s like Metallica, Iron Maiden and a band I’ve never heard before had a baby.” As far as bands go, my list of inspiration is kind of the metal ‘par for the course’ list. You’ve got Metallica, and Iron Maiden. There are other bands that certainly influence me in part, sure, but no one else’s entire catalogue (with the rough spots that all catalogue’s have) is on my iPod.

[Band Member 2]: I would say that there are a plethora of bands that have influenced me over the years. In the beginning, Led Zeppelin, Floyd and various other 70's artists played a key role in my song writing. I like bands that think outside the box and don't care if a song is 10 minutes or 2 and 1/2 minutes, as long as it's good. Most bands nowadays care about singles and not substance, and I feel very few artists are writing "iconic" music anymore. I also like Metallica, Soundgarden, Collective Soul and Pearl Jam. The 90's was a great decade for music, so I would like to think that I still draw inspiration from those bands and that era.

[Band Member 3]: As far as my influences, I have a good bit of them, starting with Metallica by far. I feel that Metallica have a vast number of songs that are very well written-- composed thoughtfully. After them, just come the bands I respect the most: Iron Maiden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Sevendust.

[Band Member 4]: Listing my influences will always be a daunting task. I've drawn creativity with everything from Beethoven to Slayer. I, like my peers, have "the big 5" but even the choices in there are subject to change depending on my state of mind. Listing them in no particular order it's: Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Led Zeppelin.

The answers were given by:

[Band Member 1]: Tim Kearney [Guitar/Lead Vocals]

[Band Member 2]: Alex Darnell [Drums/Vocals/Tambourine/Kazoo]

[Band Member 3]: Thom Kearney [Guitars]

[Band Member 4]: Jordan Blake [Bass Vocals]