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?
When we were about 6 years old our parents took us to a concert. During one of the songs I remember getting goosebumps because of how much the song moved me emotionally. I remember saying to myself "One day I want to give people that same feeling through music that was just given to me" Since then we've stayed true to that through the years as we've performed written and released our music.
2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?
When we listen to music we try to stay open to lots of different genres/artists to help us stay well-rounded and think outside the box. On a consistent basis we listen top 40 radio stations to see what is hot now in the mainstream. But we also enjoy listening to a lot of the lesser known indie acts out there. Some artists we are currently hooked on are ben rector, the fray, usher, the script, matt nathanson, the dangerous summer and many others.
3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?
I'd say our favorite moment so far has probably been playing our first international show in Canada and having over a hundred of our fans that we didn't know at all sing back every word of our songs so loud that we couldn't even hear ourselves. It was definitely a pretty surreal moment.
4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?
I'd say that we think it can change the world. I'm not sure how much it immediately affects current events, but I think it definitely can change the way a person thinks and feels about life and every movement starts with one person. Ultimately music can change the mindset of a whole bunch of people which is when you see cultural shifts. So in a more indirect way I think music does influence current events, and I also think that events affect music. I mean throughout all of history different time periods have given us different types of music and I think it all goes hand in hand. The music is changing the landscape of current and future events, while the events are also shaping and dictating the content and the feel of the music that is being written.
5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?
I almost touched on that in the last question! Technology has had a huge impact on the music industry not only in the way that music is created with recording software and new instruments but also in the way that music is promoted, bought, shared, and discovered. When music downloading came out in the early 2000's and iTunes debuted it totally revolutionized the thinking of all artists and labels. There's a lot bigger focus now on singles as opposed to albums because tracks are typically bought one at a time. Now things are changing even more as subscription based streaming engines like spotify are becoming popular. As much as music is an art, the industry is a business so the way that money is made is always going to dictate the trends in the music industry. For us we have kind of just accepted the fact that people are going to download our music both legally and illegally and you really can't fight it. We have chosen to accept it and try to connect with fans regardless of if they are buying our music or not. We have found that often if we give music away for free, more people end up buying it and it gets spread around a lot more so we end up with bigger crowds at our shows which results in more merch sales. We also have to be adaptable as what worked last year isn't necessarily going to work this year. I mean just 2 or 3 years ago myspace was the way that we found every single one of our fans and almost all of our tours were booked through fans from myspace. Now, I don't even remember the last time we logged into our myspace account so we have had to quickly find other ways of promoting our music and connecting with fans. Anyways, I could go on a really long time about technology but bottom line is it is significantly changing the landscape of music, the creation of music and the industry as a whole and everyone involved is just along for the ride!
6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?
Just a normal pair of black Chuck Taylor Converse. It's a shoe that never goes out of style and is cool among young kids, teenagers, college kids, and adults. Those shoes meet people where they are and fit right in. We hope that our music spans generations that way with our sound, style, and content And hopefully we can also do that as people. So I guess I'd say it's more of a goal than a fact, but we'd like to be a pair of Chuck Taylor's haha.
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