Simply Six: Alexis Foxe

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?


 My defining moment was in Brazil working at The Rock in Rio music festival in 2001.  I had just come back from a long day of working directly with artists such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM, Neil Young and realizing how human and normal they were.  I was lying in bed, reflecting, writing a song, and that was the moment I knew I wanted to be a song writer.  The moment I knew I wanted to be a singer came later.  I was in New York working with a producer on a song and we needed a vocal track.  There was no one else around to sing what we were working on and I got on the mic and from that moment on I knew.  I just wanted to stay on that mic making music with my own voice.


2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?


The Beatles, The White Stripes, Joao Gilerto, The Black Keys, Gorillaz, Diplo, Mark Ronson, Nina Simone, Billy Holiday, Serge Gainsbourg, Donna Summer, Florence and The Machine, Adele, MIA, Lady Gaga


3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?


My favorite moments are in the studio when the song I'm working on suddenly declares itself, even if it's not finished yet.  The song is born.  Those moments are the greatest for me.  That said, it was extremely special for me to perform with my own dancers for the first time this Labor Day weekend in Puerto Rico at the Medalla Light Festival.


4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?


 Music can change people.  And people determine the world.  A song or a band can define a movement, a zeitgeist, and affect change on every level, both minor and major. 


5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?


Technology has changed the way people discover and access music, which means it's also changed the way musicians market and distribute themselves.  I, like every other musician out there, use mostly internet-related technology to promote my music and to sell it.


6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?


 I would be satin slippers.

Simply Six: Chad Kichula

1.For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when theyknew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance ofElvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was theBeatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?   Finding an old boxset --"Springsteen's live 1975-85" at a friend's house when I was 17.  Since then music has been my life.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?  I listen to everything from  indie-rock to outlaw country.  My favorites are Springsteen, Steve Earle, Arcade Fire, The Clash, Phoenix, The Black Keys and Johnny Cash. 

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?  Recording "World Shaker",  very proud of writing/producing that song. 

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?  I believe music is highly influencial, as are the people who perform it.  The combination of words and melody is very powerful.  Music can be so many things, whether it be the spark,  the support, or the inspiration for change.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?  Only digitally recorded so I can't relate to the changes in that technology.  In cyber, it's constantly changing. Five years ago Myspace was the rage, now it's dead in the water.  Facebook is obviously more than just a flash in the pan, but I am curious to see if Twitter will be able to do the same.   I do love how these social networks connect can connect a musician like me to people all over the world. 

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?  Steel-toed work boots.

Simply Six: The Shining Skulls

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such

 a defining moment for you?

       It was the first time I heard "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns n Roses. At that time Top 40 was all derivative pop-metal and neon colored R&B. I was in 4th or 5th grade and my mom bought me the album. I put on my huge listening cans and there were the initial delayed guitar stabs of "Welcome to the Jungle", echoing in a dirty urban world I never knew. In a way the title was completely appropriate. It took me to a place in my imagination that I had never been.  I never really came back. I have wanted to play music ever since.  

Though none of their later work measured up in my ears, Appetite for Destruction stands out to me as one of the finest rock albums of the last 2 generations. If you do not own it, I suggest you get  copy. Put on some really nice head phones and turn it up.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?
I have been listening to a lot of Tom Waits lately, Nick Drake, Nick Cave, the Black Keys. Cave SIngers. I'm sort of in a phase as a listener that I want to hear incredibly screwed up characters tell vividly screwed-up stories. As I have gotten older, I don't really buy teenage angst so much. I get it, I'm just not buying anymore. I prefer an older voice...musicians that can tell stories and can funnel all that neurosis into something less self-absorbed and more entertaining.  Oh yeah, and I have been digging on Trentmoeller a lot lately as well.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

I think finishing our album was the greatest moment for sure. We took it upon ourselves to produce the album having never really done so before. I worked on demos and our first EP, but I really had no idea how to pull off a full-scale production, especially considering the expectations we had. Instead of going into a studio, I outfitted a small but high quality recording rig and we recorded the entire thing in the basement of a house where Andrew and I lived. I was learning everything from mic placement to mixing while on the job so it took some time for me to get my confidence up. It was a massive amount if work and sometimes I just wanted to quit...b/c what I heard was not as good as I what I wanted. But we pressed on and after about 8 months of tracking, re-tracking, re-writing, second and third guessing, we finally finished the album. When I sent it off to mastering, I had the most amazing exhale of my life.

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

Absolutely. I think art changes the world everyday. It's rarely so obvious as Jimi Hendrix playing the National Anthem at Woodstock. Most of the changes are small and passing and almost all of them occur within the brain of the person experiencing the art. The truth is that "the world" is both a universal thing and a starkly personal frame of reference...and the world is both of these things at the same time all the time. The right song or photograph at the right time of day can turn that day around. Turning a day around is the first step in turning a life around. In that way, I think all art contributes to a butterfly effect. It creates small changes in the experience of a person and the world as we know it the world of people. So yeah, I know for certain that music changes the world, but it is a subtle thing.

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Now this is a loaded question. Digital technology has turned the music world upside down. Huge studios and massive retail distribution deals have given way to DIY philosophies and the tangled data-jungle of the internet. For bands willing to learn and do the work, music can be recorded and made available to every person on the planet with little more than a computer in some cases. 

I like that I can make music and not have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars in studio costs. The internet allows us to expand our reach to an international level. A lot of artists are doing this which has created it's own downside. The downside is that the internet culture is becoming a market of entitlement and short attention spans. Everybody wants everything for free and they want it now. For artists, the internet is both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that almost any piece of art available on the internet has less perceived value to a listener. It's simple psychology. We always value more what we have to work for or pay for with our own hard earned money.  Something given away for free has less value to the person consuming it. But if you charge for it there is a good chance most will never give it a try. The blessing is that it puts the onus on the artists to make the best art possible. My philosophy is that the only way to break through the static is to create music that will stand the test of time and keep putting it in front of as many people as you can. At the end of the day it's a numbers game. You increase your odds of success if you make sure that your art pleases you first....b/c only then will you muster the energy to try to share it with the rest of us.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Toe Sox I think. The Shining Skulls are Toe Sox. We have a snug little home for each of our toes....and by toes I mean fans.