1. How did the band get started? How did you meet
and how long have you been together?
Jason Bitner:
Toby, Greg, Byron, and I were friends from high school and had
been making demos for a while. Toby went to school and found more
people interested in what he was doing and the ideas got more advanced.
The material was put on our website and we got signed by Dark Symphonies
so we kept playing/recording. We have been togther as this group since
around 1996.
2. How would you describe your music?
Jason Bitner: I really don't like to describe/label the
sounds of a band, one I am in or otherwise. But if you must have a
description it would be: enveloping.
3. What are your
biggest influences?
Jason Bitner: Sound is very
important to me. If you look deep enough in to the structure of all
that is around you it all has a vibration so you can hear, as well
as see or touch just about anything and I am influenced by all that
surrounds me.
4. What influence do you think your bands
has in music and metal today?
Jason Bitner: The
influence that I hope/think we as a band have in Metal is to get people
to listen and think rather than to hear and react.
5.
What made you want to be in the band? And if you weren't in the band
what would you be doing now?
Jason Bitner: One
day after a trumpet lesson I went over to Tobias' house and he was
in the process of recording a demo and asked if I wanted to do a quick
track. I said yes and after I heard the final result I was hooked.
As for the what if thing I would really rather not think about that.
6. Are any band members in side projects? If so what are they,
and explain a little about them.
Jason Bitner: No,
there are no "side projects." But Greg REALLY wants to be
in a power metal band.
7. How would you feel if a band
took their sound from yours and became very well known?
Jason Bitner: At first I would have the feeling of being robbed.
But I suppose if they were doing it for the right reasons (The expansion
of their minds as well as the minds of the audience; personal growth)
as opposed to the generation of quick cash it probably wouldn't be
terrible.
8. What current bands do you like or respect?
Jason Bitner: Tower of Power, Fiona Apple, Radiohead.
9. How many demos/albums do you have? Tell me about them!!
Jason Bitner: Four, as follows: "Through
Languid Veins," "Odes To Darksome Spring," "Begat
Of The Haunted Oak ...An Acorn," "For my wife." The
demos are really still a very active part of the music we currently
have avalible; it just takes time for deas to mature to the point
we feel they are ready.
10. What demo/album do you like
the best?
Jason Bitner: That would have to be
the demo version of "The Curve That To An Angle Turned ...The
Garden Song." It is on the "Odes To Darksome Spring"
sessions and it's called "Dandylione." It just puts the
sweetest, sickest smile on my face everytime I hear it. The horns
were different (bari sax and trumpet duet) as well as different lyrics.
It was and still is a REALLY fun song.
11. What is the
meaning behind the songs?
Jason Bitner: I can't
tell you the meaning without giving away the joy of listening and
figuring the meaning out for your self.
12. What are the
bands favorite songs?
Jason Bitner: "Birth
Pains Of Astral Projection," as well as "The Garden Song."
We all have favourites that we hold dear but as a collective those
aforementioned are the favourites.
13. What does the future
hold for the band?
Jason Bitner: I hope it is
just the opportunity to continue to do what we enjoy doing.
14. If you could play with any band who would it be and why?
Jason Bitner: Tower of Power. Great, fun, horn heavy music.
15. Who writes the majority of the music?
Jason
Bitner: Tobias draws up the blueprints then, its pretty much up
to us how we want to decorate our rooms.
16. Who has been
the favorite band you've played with and why?
Jason
Bitner: That would be the salsa group I worked with in high school
Cojunto Caribe. They were a local group of great musicans and the
lessons I learned and the times I had were incredible. How many times
in your life do you get paid to do what you enjoy, have too much fun
and learn a completely new (to me) style of music.
17.
Where did you get the band name from?
Jason Bitner:
The name came from Toby and Byron wanting to describe their collective
interest in expressing themselves through music/art. The name is purely
a creation of the minds of Toby and Byron.
18. Describe
what the band is like live?
Jason Bitner: There
is no real costume or antics - we get on stage and play. And theatrics
that occur are a pure representation of what we are feeling as the
notes leave and enter our bodies collectively.
19. If
you are gonna do any kind of video what would be in it?
Jason Bitner: Probably not much if any of us, and more a visual
represntation of what is going on in the music. But not to distract,
more to help in understanding what is going on.
20. Are
there any touring plans made; if so tell me about them?
Jason Bitner: Not at the moment. But we would love to hook
up with some one and hit the road. We have no clue how to get that
type of thing going so as we learn how the ins and outs of that situation
go, there might be a little more of us out there.
21.
Where do you think the band will be 20 years from now?
Jason Bitner: I would like for us to still be doing what we
enjoy doing and I think it would be cool if we we were doing it togther
in whole or part. I think the overall sound would be different as
we expanded as a part of the learning experience - that is the cornerstone
of the creative process we use. |
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