Danielle Ate the sandwich Interview

I’ve been following ‘ Danielle ate the sandwich’  for quite some time now, She was one of the first people I subscribed to on YouTube. you can subscribe here if you like what you hear.
I am honored to interview her, and she gave some nice in depth info about her inspiration and playing live on the road which can really help out aspiring musicians out there. We had a lot to talk about, so lets get right to it shall we?


SO WHAT SANDWICH DID YOU EAT?

All sandwiches that have ever been created, made or manufactured have first been approved by and tasted by me. And ohhhhh yeahhhhh, it was good! I never considered dropping music and eating sandwiches full time though. I’m much better at singing than I am at eating sandwiches!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING YOUR OWN MUSIC?

I have notebooks dating back to the 6th grade, when I was about 11 or 12. I really started to believe in my songs enough to share them with other people when I was in college, about 4 years ago, in 2006.

HAVE YOU WRITTEN SONGS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN RELEASED?

Yeah. I have a few finished and recorded at home that nobody has heard and some really really early songs that few have heard, but I don’t have any plans on releasing those!

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FROM?

Everywhere! Death, traffic, celebrities, architecture, love, loss, vending machines. I feel like it’s my job to always be looking and watching and turning what I see into a song lyric. Music kind of works as self therapy for me. I use it to tell my stories and to spend time thinking about and coping with things that have happened to me.

ARE YOU SIGNED TO A LABLE?

No, I don’t have a label. I released my newest CD on Younges tDaughter Records, which is my own label, but it has no benefits of a real record label. It does however means that I get to keep all the money I make. I’ve gotten some very casual interest from record labels though, but nothing concrete enough to brag about or even mention.

OVER 25,000 SUBSCRIBERS ON YOUTUBE IS QUITE AN ACHIEVEMENT! WHAT’S YOUR SECRET?

I don’t know! I’m just trying to be myself. I’m dorky and I try to deliver good performances. I try to be consistent and release a new video every few weeks. I also try to be funny and engaging. Maybe it’s just working?

YOUR INTRO’S ARE PRETTY FUNNY. DO YOU PLAN THEM OUT, OR DO YOU JUST LET THEM HAPPEN?

They actually take a while. Sometimes I plan them out and then in the process of filming them, they change or are left behind, because they weren’t funny. Sometimes I’m able to think of something really quick and easy, but I also have a list of possible ideas to use to try and inspire me.

UKULELE OR GUITAR?

Ukulele, but some of my favorite songs have been written on guitar. So I’m not throwing it off the boat yet. But if I could only choose one, I’d take the ukelele.

YOU’RE CURRENTLY TOURING SOLO. YOU ALSO HAVE A BAND. HOW DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR SHOW?

I think the band changes the show more than me playing solo does. It’s where I started, in a way it’s where I’m most comfortable. I think the solo show is more engaging and intimate. I talk to the crowd and point at the guy inthe front row and ask him what he thinks. When I’m with the band, the sound is much fuller and at times cooler, the songs move easily. I’m happy either way, but wouldn’t ever discount my solo performances!

EVER JUST FORGOT THE WORDS TO YOUR SONGS ON STAGE AND HAD A REALLY AWKWARD TIME.. LIKE I DID?

Yes, all the time. I’m still not quite sure how to handle messing up. Everybody always says to pretend like you didn’t and keep going. Don’t say anything and no-one will notice. But, sometimes you forget the words, you play the absolute wrong chord and you just have to stop and say something.

DID YOU SET UP THE TOUR YOURSELF?

The first tours I’ve done I booked myself, but most of the dates in this tour were booked through the help of a friend of mine who is a booking agent. I don’t have anyone driving me around for the tour. My boyfriend Ivan and I go out on the road and drive ourselves around. I was really excited to play in Cambridge, Maussachusetts. I had never been to Massachusetts before and really loved being near Harvard.

WHAT DO YOU PREFER: THE INTIMACY OF A COFFEE SHOP OR THE SCALE OF A VENUE TO PLAY AT?

I like the smaller venues better than the big ones. I feel my music and my performances are better when I’m closer to those listening to me play. The big, fancy venues are cool and fun to get to play, but I  usually have my best shows in small coffee shops and intimate venues.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR MERCHANDISE? DO YOUR HANDLE IT YOURSELF?

I order, make and plan out my merch. I have a designer who’s helping me with T-shirt and sticker designs. I have them printed locally in Fort Collins, CO, and some things I make by hand, like bags and clocks. I really love having lots of bright, fun and goofy merchandise. It’s fun for me to make and think of things to sell and fun to see people look through it all.

HOW DID BEING A YOUTUBE PARTNER CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

I’ve been a partner since the beginning of 2009. It’s really cool. You get some money (very little though) when you allow Google to advertise on your video. I like getting to have a channel banner. The best thing I think is that I can be in contact with people at YouTube. They helped me with the release of my new album by featuring one of my videos on the day of the album release. Taht’s incredible. I can send an email and say: ‘Hi, I’m a partner. Can you help me promote my new project?’

ANY ADVICE FOR MUSICIANS WHO ARE JUST STARTING OUT ON YOUTUBE?

Be yourself, deliver good performances, try to make the sound as good as you can, act like you’re playing live in front of an audience.

HAVE YOU MET OTHER BIG YOUTUBERS IN REAL LIFE?

I’ve played shows with Pomplamoose and Wade Johnston and have met Julia Nunes, Lauren O’Connell, Seeso, Lisaxy 424, Ukulelezo and I’m sure some others. I’ve never been to Comic-con or a YouTube gathering though. These meetings were just live shows we played togheter or they showed up to support the music that was being played.

WHAT HAS LICENSING YOUR MUSIC FOR TV, DONE FOR YOU?

I was hired to write a song for a daytime talk show in Denver. That was a little weird and intimidating, but I got a nice paycheck and got to hear my song played on TV every week day at 4pm for a season. I’m not sure how much exposure it gave me because the audience of the talk show probably wasn’t out to hear more indie folk music, but it definitely got my name out in the mainstream a little more!

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON MYSPACE?

I like how the Myspace profile page used to look. It was straight-forward. You could easily see te music player and show schedule. The bio page was there and I liked that you can post pictures to your profile, but obviously Myspace is kind of useless nowadays. I’m still not too keen on using Facebook as a means of a find-out-more-about-me tool. I use Facebook to tell people who already know who I am, what I’m about, about my shows and news. I think it’s harder to navigate to find music and videos and bio, since you have to search through the tabs to find certain info.

ONLINE OR OFFLINE?

I’m an online person most ofthe time. I do all of my socializing there. I’m a realy hombody, I stay in and stay away from people. I am however a real life person too. I go places and do things and play live shows out in the world in front of people. I think sometimes when people see you on YouTube, singing in your bedroom to your webcam, it’shard to believe that you’re also a real musician outside of your room. I am! And I think some people aren’t expecting that.

GOT A FAVORITE SITE THAT YOU CAN’T WAIT TO SHARE WITH OTHER PEOPLE?

I like to look at apartments on graigslist.com.

Katie Armstrong Interview by ADAMHOEK

Katie Armstrong

I recently found Katie, through a website called Kickstarter. This website lets people put up projects they are working on and asks for community funding for it. It’s pretty awesome. Also the more you contribute, the more you get back. Katie gave her biggest ‘funder‘ some home made freshly baked cookies!

Katie is an animator, who works with music in her pieces, I am kind of the other way around. I am a musician who does animation. So I thought it would be fun to chat with her and see what makes her tick. We talk about, animated Gifs, Germany and Britney Spears. Check out the animation below, then have a read through the interview. Katie has also been so kind as to give us a free mp3 of a track from the animation she is working on to be released in January. Make sure to go get that and check out the other featured artists tracks!

Goodbye Sorrow from Katie Armstrong on Vimeo.

Which video of yours is your favorite?

I haven’t made it yet! I think if I had, I’d start doing something else. It’s the fact that I’m still unsatisfied with my own skill that keeps me motivated to continue making videos.

How long have you been animating?

A little over two years. I’m still very much a baby.

Have you had any interest from the original artists of the tracks you cover?

No, I think they probably have bigger fish to fry. I was hoping that perhaps Baby Spice would contact me and finally realize that we were meant to be best friends, but alas, no such luck.

How long do you take to make your animations?

For a two minute video, my average is about three months. For the most part, I am doing frame by frame, hand drawn animation, scanning each frame and composting everything in the computer. I’m still just learning though, every new project is an experiment, and I am getting faster.

Do you storyboard them out first or just free style them?

No, I don’t storyboard and I don’t really make any kind of concrete plan. I’m not making cartoons, and I’m not really aiming at any kind of narrative in the traditional sense. My work is very much about the process of doing something so tedious, about working to the point of exhaustion, and improvising from there. For the pop song series, I always start with the song itself. I will sit in my bed for a few days and sing, record, sing, record. I lay around and listen to the song on repeat until something inside me starts to vibrate a little, and I feel the itch to start drawing. From there, with the lyrics in mind, I just draw. I have a catalog of imagery in my mind that I come back to over and over again. I project my own memories, experiences, questions, and dreams into the work. The pop songs serve as empty containers, vapid in their original form. My hope is that I am able to fill them, to turn them into something rich, touching, and relatable. I suppose the result is just a small, one-sided expression of what’s it’s like to be a human. A little sad, a little sleepy, and a little funny.

Why do you make them?

Ah, for many reasons. Let’s see if I can conjure a few. First, the obvious one, which is the fact that I very much like to draw, and I very much like to sing. I was a dancer for most of my adolescence up until I graduated from high school, so I have always had an affinity for the pairing of movement and sound. Animation came to me as the natural progression of my work, the combination of all my interests. It is something that is still young in terms of the history of art, and the untapped potential of the medium is like this magical little puzzle that I hope to someday figure out. I am also very interested in the Internet as a platform for creating and sharing art, and video works are so easily displayed in cyberspace.

What is the reason you moved to Germany?

I came to Germany to live and make work at the Leipzig International Art Programme, a five month artist residency. In January I will show a brand new animation at the winter Spinnerei Rundgang.

How is your German?

Ich kann kein Deutsch. In other words, not so great.

Will you go back to your home country eventually you think?

Yes, this is only a temporary residency, although I am interested in returning to Europe on a more permanent basis in the future. For now, I have a kitty and a boyfriend waiting for me in New York.

Tell us a little about your Kickstarter experience.

I made the Kickstarter as a means to pay for my living expenses during my stay here in Leipzig. I received a grant to cover the costs of the residency program, but as a recent graduate from art school, living one of the most expensive cities in the world, my savings situation was not pretty. I made a video talking about my project, and offered varying incentives for different amounts of money that people could donate to the endeavor. I was absolutely startled by how much money was raised, half of which came from the generous pockets of total strangers. I quadrupled my original goal, and sent parcels all over the world to everyone that helped. It was truly moving, I would not have been able to come here without the help of so many people.

I make work that is intended to be distributed for free. I want as many people as possible to see my work, because it really doesn’t exist until someone presses that “Play” button. The Internet is such an important tool in this way, it is a level playing field that gives people from all walks of life the opportunity to experience art on a day to day basis. Because I am not making big paintings that can sell for thousands of dollars, I have to be creative in my means of generating income, and Kickstarter proved that people appreciate and are willing to support this kind of artwork. There is an exchange taking place that is much richer than a typical monetary transaction. It becomes personal.

Do you know other people that have personally used Kickstarter?

Yes, a have several friends who have successfully funded art projects with Kickstarter.

What kind of cookies did you make for your biggest contributor?

Good old chocolate chip.

What’s the story behind the rabbit with the diamonds?

Diamond Rabbit

This is part of ‘Goodbye Sorrow’. The diamonds appeared as the girl recognized herself in the animal. She identified with it, became it, wanted to run and hide, find a safe place, follow it down the rabbit hole. I think as children we often have these fantasies, and I use animal imagery in my work a lot. I think it is really up to the viewer to make meaning and interpret the imagery according to their own internal narrative.

Do you know Anna Vogelzang personally?

Yes, we actually met online through a blogging community many many years ago, but have also had the pleasure of meeting in person recently. She is just as charming as one might imagine her to be.

How did you end up collaborating with her on the video?

We had wanted to collaborate for a while, and the timing was just right.

Do you have any new big projects you’re working on?

Yes, I am currently working on an animation to accompany a cover I made of the classic Britney Spears song, “…Baby One More Time”. I think Britney is the quintessential tragic heroine of pop music, and I have such a strong personal connection to this ridiculous tune. The animation will premiere on January 15th at the Spinnerei’s winter Rundgang. For information on this event, check out: http://www.spinnerei.de or head to my website for updates: http://www.katiearmstrong.com

Would you say you live more online or offline?

Offline, for sure. Just because I have an affinity for my computer and my bed doesn’t mean that I spend all of my time on the interwebs! I’m quite keen on riding my bike, reading in sunny spots outside, cooking meals, seeing live music, watching films, and getting down on the dance floor.

Do you have a favorite site you need to go to all the time?

I obsessively refresh my inbox, and I subscribe to hundreds of blogs. I go through periods where I have to delete my Facebook because it just get’s to be too much. I also spend an unhealthy amount of time on this web installation by Rafael Rozendaal: http://www.jellotime.com

Do you have an all time favorite .gif animation?

The great thing about .gifs is that once they are uploaded to the Internet, they begin an infinite animation, they will continue moving forever. What I’m trying to say is, when something is eternal, it seems sort of silly to pick favorites, doesn’t it?

Really though, I have so many favorites. There is a folder on my desktop full of repetitive animated goodness. This one is pretty high up on my list right now: http://iwdrm.tumblr.com/post/1439925923
Check out katiearmstrong.com for more awesomness!

Come check out my other featured artists by clicking here.

Joost Dobbe interviewed by ADAMHOEK

Joost Dobbe Interviewed by ADAMHOEK

Joost Dobbe gets intimate and tells us about swimming naked. I myself have never done that before. Seems a bit scary to me. Lets see what he has to say about it shall we? Joost has also been nice enough to hook us up with a free downloadable track from his album ‘Time Will Tell’.

You can get the free track here:
Joost Dobbe – Swim Naked

Also check out this AWESOME music video he made for the track:

So how long have you been playing?

‘I started with playing the guitar at the age of 8. When I was
around the age of twelve I started with singing.’

are you signed?

‘At this moment I’m working with Kletter Recorings on a
new album.’

do you prefer Solo or band?

‘Because of my gigs with Popronde (www.popronde.nl) I started a new
band with a bass player and a drummer. It’s new and fresh, so on this
moment I prefer band!’

Have you been writing your own music since the begining?

‘Yes, I started writing my own music at the age of 12.’

Why sing in english and not in dutch?

I prefer the english language in songs.

Did you want to be something totally different as a child?

‘I always wanted to be an artist, but as a child I wanted to become a
cartoonist.’

A cartoonist, that’s awesome. Do you do your own artwork for your CDs?

‘I don’t do the artwork for my CD’s. Sometimes I draw, but when I was a
kid I was always drawing. Now I’m always playing the guitar.’

Where do you get your inspiration for your lyrics?

‘People around me, girls, great music from other artists and… life.’

Which song of yours is your favorite?

‘Hard to say… I like the new single Swim Naked, because of the band
sound and the video at YouTube!

Tell me more about your music video. Did you direct it?

‘Naomi Bais, a friend of mine, directed it. With a couple of more
friends we made the clip in one day! It was awesome.’

Have you gotten it on TV? Is that a difficult process?

‘Not yet… It’s hard to get it on TV. I think you need to have success
first, before it will go on television. Swim Naked isn’t a hit yet…’

Have you ever swam naked? Did you get caught?

‘I don’t remember doing that… I don’t think so. :)’

Do you find it difficult to get your music out there?

‘I love to write and to perform. Sometimes it’s hard to ‘sell’ your
music and to get gigs. I really hope I will meet somebody who wants to
do that for me (gigs and promotion) in the near future…’

Would you say you live more in the real world or in the online world?

‘I prefer to live in the real world, because I love life.’

Whats your favorite icecream flavor?

‘Cinnamon! In Haarlem, the place where I live, you can get the best
cinnamon icecream!’

Anything awesome you got coming up soonish?

‘Check my gigs at www.popronde.nl and www.joostdobbe.nl! To watch the
videoclip of Swim Naked, just go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmUtZ9X1yYI

GET YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD OF ‘SWIM NAKED’ BY JOOST DOBBE HERE

Jacob Fannin interview with ADAMHOEK

Jacob Fannin Interview with ADAMHOEK

I recently had the pleasure to talk to Jacob Fannin from youtube sensation Fannin Eleven.

Fannin 11 consists of 11 brothers and sisters. I had to interview him!

I found them through ‘Super Vlogger’ ShayCarl who gave them a shout out on one of his videos.

Jacob also has done some solo music, and has given you guys a free download of his song 919 from his album Upside Down which you can purchase here.

Have a listen to Jacobs track as you read through the article.

So Jake, Tell us about your family, I hear there are a lot of you guys!

There are 11 of us in total: 6 boys and 5 girls. I’m number 4 and have two brothers and sister above me.

I love the mix of siblings. We compliment each other well and get along great.

Do you play solo as well as a group?

I do play solo quite a bit since I love the independent nature of playing solo gigs.

I don’t have a band. Back in college I played with some guys but our drummer quit and then the bassist,

so we couldn’t be consistent. Then I went solo.

Do you write your own songs?

I do. I put together a cd of my own songs, back in August 2007. They’re all solo acoustic tracks.

I’m currently in the studio putting together my first “real” album, which is hopefully finished by mid spring.

Most songs will be acoustic guitar led, but we are adding multiple instruments to these and trying to tell

different stories through the instrumentation as well as the lyrics.

Do you do your promotion yourself?

Yep, I’ve always done everything myself. I’ve toned it down a little because I am in grad school now

so I have to concentrate on that.

How explosive was the power of Shaycarl for you and your family?

It was everything. We had only been posting videos on youtube for about 3 or 4 months.

We just love to sing and its fun for us, so, to be honest, the positive feedback was an added bonus.

When the Shay Carl thing happened and things got crazy. It was really an overnight thing too;

going from about 500 subscribers to about 27,000. We had to sit down and talk about how serious we wanted to be

with all of this. Us older kids have known for a while that music is what we wanted to do, but we didn’t want

to force opinions on the younger kids. We just want them to choose their career path for themselves.

But, they were as excited as we were.

Shay was awesome. In the first place, to get a compliment like that from him was humbling. I really believe he’s

a good person and I respect him. He knows the power he has with YouTube and for him to basically gift us into

a position where we can start to help people, is incredible. We plan on meeting him someday and it is going

to be a good thank you party!

So have you got a CD together with the whole gang?

We haven’t. I do plan on getting everyone into the studio for a song on my cd.

We have for sure been thinking about it though. But, trying to coordinate 11 people with our schedules is near impossible.

9 of us are still in school, all over the state.

Where do you find inspiration for your music?

I’m a people person … I love stories of perseverance and family.

Life is such a cool concept,  I just love making my songs from everything I see.

Can you tell me anything about upcoming album?

It is definitely different than the first cd I put out. This one is going to have more bite, meaning:

the songs are a bit more Jason Mraz-esque, where the lyrics carry the rhythm of the song.

Is there a website you visit all the time, that you think the rest of the world is missing out on?

I’m a big fan of the KIVA organization. In short, it’s an organization that allows individuals to donate money

(that gets returned) to parts of the world where bank loans might not be possible.

So, essentially we are the banks for these people and like I said before, I love reading and hearing good

stories about perseverance and lending a hand. Reading success stories on Kiva.org is a weekly thing for me.

What song did you choose to share with us?

It’s a song called “919” off of my first disc. I’m hoping to redo the song for my CD this spring and class it up a little bit.

The version I’m giving you is solo acoustic on a piano and it is real innocent.

Actually, it was the first love song I ever wrote. The concept was simple: as nice as “things” are, there are

probably times when they mask what the meaning of a great relationship is, as I see it.

The real meaning is simply the power behind someone wanting to call you theirs and vice versa.

What’s your favorite icecream flavour?

cookies ‘n cream.

What else would you like to say to my readers?

The one thing I want to say, and this is simply a belief of mine, is that everyone deserves a chance.

People are made up of more good than bad. And sometimes we have to pull it out of ourselves and sometimes

we have to work a little bit to pull it out of everyone else. But it is there and it wants to be there.

If you can believe that, the rest of life becomes simple and really it becomes a kick to live.

Thank you to everyone for your support of myself and my family. Be good!

Check out www.FanninEleven.com and www.youtube.com/fannineleven for some good music and more.


Jacob Fannin

GET YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD OF ‘919’ BY JACOB FANNING HERE


For more Jacob Fannin goodness head on over to his site: http://jacobfannin.com/

Eva Ellingsworth Interview with ADAMHOEK

After I played recently, Eva played everyone out into the night.  It was so nice to have such soothing music at the end of a day to calm people down and relax before they drift into a nice sleep where they dream of rainbows and halcyon birds. So if you struggle from Redbull overloads..it might be nice to play the video below and read over what she has to say about her soothing music. She also gave you guys a free music download! You can find it at the end of this interview. Its a song called ‘Murder’ from Eva’s EP titled ‘ Halcyon Bird EP’. Do yourself a favour and download it and listen to it on the train. It’s an awesome track

First up…What’s up?

I released my first EP last year called Halcyon Bird EP.  I was just offered a publishing deal with a compnay here in Holland for three tracks on my EP.

What genre would you say your music is?

Indy Rock

Why did you come to Holland?

I came to work for a non-for profit here in the city(Amsterdam).  We are a community of Christians that are learning about our faith and growing in what it means to follow Christ.

Are you planning on staying?

I have been here for 4 years total and I am planning on being here for the next couple years.

Who are your big influencers in music?

Hmmm….always a hard one.  For my EP we really looked to Feist and Emilianna Torrini for the sound.

How long have you been playing?

I have been playing piano since I was 8 years old and started writing songs on the piano when I was 13.  I picked up the guitar when I was 21 and the first song I could play was one that I wrote as I was teaching myself chords.

Do you play mostly with a band or solo?

I have been a solo act for a long time, but I have recently been playing more with a band.  It’s an all women band we call “the Diva’s”.

Do you try to bring a certain message across with your songs?

I hope to bring truth and life through my lyrics. I want people to connect with their own hearts for a minute because that is when change and new life can happen.

Where did you first hear about the Halcyon Bird from your EP title?

My friend Dave mentioned the word “Halcyon” so I looked it up and read about the bird.  I decided it would be the title of the EP, then I wrote the title track “Halcyon Bird”.

Are your songs based on experiences?

Yes, most of them are.  It isn’t direct, but I hope to create the same feeling in the listener as I was going through when I was writing the song.

Do you have any exciting projects coming up?

Other then the publishing deal and the hopes to keep playing shows, I dream of recording a full-length album within a year or so, so keep your ears open!!

What’s your favorite ice cream flavour?

French fries over ice cream unless it is hot outside, then raspberry and chocolate anything!

FREE DOWNLOAD

Look out for a music video for this track soon. Sign up to the free newsletter to hear about when she releases the video!

Coppersky Interview with ADAMHOEK


Recently I had the honour to play a show with COPPERSKY. I thought they were so good, that I want to share them with you guys! Below are a few questions I asked them, along with some video and pictures…. In fact why don’t you let the video play whilst you read the article! What an experience that would be for your senses!

First up…What’s up?

A lot, we’re writing songs, recording demo’s, planning an EP, thinking about stage performance, too much to jot down in a few sentences. Oh almost forgot: we’re having fun!

What genre would you say you guys are?

We’re still finding out really. We know and feel what we are playing but putting it into words is pretty hard still as a new band. I would say that we play indie-rock even though that is way too broad. I think people can party to our music but there are also some intense melodramatic moments too haha!

Where did the name Coppersky come from?

 

There was a phrase in a song and suddenly while singing it (i wasn;t happy with the entire set of lyrics and subsequently tossed them away later) i thought it would be a really cool bandname. Everyone agreed. I think the name captures a mood more than it has a certain meaning. It’s visual if you think about it. Aside from that copper isn;t gold or silver, it’s a commonly used in a sorts of ways and it has something earthy about. Earth meets sky so to say.

How long have you been playing together?

Coppersky has been in business for less than a year now.

Do you try to bring a certain message across with your songs?

Yes but not one single message. Song topics range from the disappearances in South America under cruel regimes a couple of decades ago to a semi-autobiographical song about splitting up as a band to a song exploring a third way beyond violent revolution and doing nothing. So there are personal songs and some political/historical songs lyrics.

Are your songs based on experiences?

Yes. The aforementioned song about a band splitting up. Sometimes there is a sentence in a song that is personal like in Hero. I sing “Where did you go, when the most was at stake you left hero” in the chorus and that was actually from a time when i felt i had really left a friend of mine hanging dry. In the end the lyrics went in a totally different direction but maintained those words.

Who writes the songs and how does he write them?

 

Marty and Robert (Guitar and bass) come up with an idea. Usually a chorus and verse and some loose bits that we can use for other parts. Then we get together and jam. Everyone has a say about the shape of the song so in a way all songs are a collaborative effort. Marty and Robert are not dictators when it comes to their ideas. They present them plus there ideas and we add our own ideas. I try and sing some to get a melody and usually i
write lyrics later once the song has crystalized some more.

Do you have any exciting projects coming up?

Well we’re going to be recording a demo with a friend of ours and he is going to use it as his final project for his audio-engineer course so that’s pretty sweet. We’ll keep you posted once we have a facebook, twitter myspace and the whole shoolapallooza. We do have an email adress: and we have a twitter account too: @copperskymusic  but you can add us if you want to. We’ll get active somewhere in the fall I think.

What’s your favorite icecream flavor?

Hard to choose. Melon, banana, strawberry. Just plain vanilla is the best sometimes. That sounds cool: “just plain vanilla” maybe that sums up our music haha!