September 2009

 

Interview: People Noise

 

 

 

What got this band together and started in this business?

 

ZEKE: Matt and I have been friends for a pretty good stretch of time. When everything came to an end with my last band, Matt was the one person I knew I wanted with me on this long haul.

 

Who writes and produces all the material for the band?

 

ZEKE: I do all the writing for the band, minus some drum work.

 

Although the song "Sedation" from the Ordinary Ghosts album was born from some early part sketches Matt had. Production is usually a joint effort between me and the engineer. Kevin Ratterman, who owns a really great and affordable studio in Louisville, KY called the Funeral Home, engineered the last record. I definitely recommend him. For this next record, we were lucky enough to land Manny Nieto from Worlds End to Mix and help produce. We're extremely excited. He's a great guy and talent out in LA. And we feel pretty fortunate to have someone like that take us under his wing.

 

For this next record, we were lucky enough to land Manny Nieto from Worlds End to mix and help produce. We're extremely excited. He's a great guy and talent out in LA. And we feel pretty fortunate to have someone like that take us under his wing.

 

The band played in front of or with any acts our readers would know from the mainstream?

 

ZEKE: Our first show was February 23rd, 2007 in Belleville, IL at a venue called the Ground Floor, just outside of St. Louis. That year, and in 2008, we hit the road solid for a little over a year and a half. We were fortunate enough to raise the attention of a few people and play some festivals, and also share the stage alongside some pretty incredible acts in or around the mainstream.

 

Where can people access your music on the web?

 

ZEKE: Since it was our first release, I was really anxious just to get it out there in the hands of as many people willing to listen. Selling as much as we could and giving the option for free download to everyone else. The link is still available for sharing to anyone and everyone here: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4692057. All that we ask is that you help share it.

 

Any embarrassing moments on stage?

 

ZEKE: Nothing too embarrassing. I think embarrassment is usually preceded by a good amount of anxiety or fear, so our first show was the hardest for me, but we've had pretty smooth sailing in that category from that point forward. We've had some really great people that've joined the band and come out on the road with us. You receive your fair share of bumps and bruises, but it's all been pretty amazing for the most part.

 

Any good stories you want to tell us?

 

ZEKE: Salina (Kansas) holds a lot of them, just ask the Liquid Kids posse. They are the gatekeepers.

 

Who is the band's musical influence?

 

ZEKE: The Ordinary Ghosts album had a lot of influences that we've got listed up on the MySpace site. Mostly classical music, rock and folk, but I think the main ones were Experimental Classical, Radiohead, Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins. A lot of the music those bands seemed to influences, I was influenced too. And I think it lead us down some of the same road, although at the time, I saw us as babies, treading in the footsteps of giants.

 

I really feel that this new album will People Noise as band unto itself. The influences are consciously a lot more spread out, and I was able to have a lot more fun in the making of the album once there was a jumping off point. The first album was much more of a blind jump, especially since I tried to eliminate all of the influences that were congruent with the last band.

 

How did the band get together?

 

ZEKE: I called up Matt on the phone one day, and asked him if he'd like to play together. I told him that I wanted to reclaim the success that I had with the last band, but how important it was to do that alongside good friends.

 

What is your musical background like?

 

ZEKE: I'm classical nerd. I started singing opera at age four and violin in the 4th grade. The first half of my life was spent on the road with those two things. A lot of texturing, layering and arrangement on Ordinary Ghosts came from there.

 

For this album, I've really tried to make a conscious choice of where the classical influence would be the strongest. I still use it as a good color palette in places, as well as the use of dynamics. The layering is there in places, but in a much more restrained way. I learned with Ordinary Ghosts that all the layers in classical music don't really translate well with rock music. I think a lot of people hear it as a wall of sound. Almost like the first time I heard Sonic Youth.

 

Any other members in your family that are musicians?

 

ZEKE: Too many to name. Although they're all classical musicians. Somebody's got to be the black sheep I guess.

 

What is the TOP reason why you want to play music?

 

ZEKE: That and visual is all I know. I've been doing both as long as I can remember. There have been a few times in my life where I tried to get away from it. In relationships, a lot of the people I dated perceived it as almost a mistress. It's weird. Now, I wouldn't leave it at any costs. It's become both a lover and my kids. Strange I guess, but true.

 

What's your stance on file swapping?

 

ZEKE: I think it can be mutually beneficial. Everyone's definitely taken a hit, but the longer we exist in that era, the more we as bands and new industry are learning to adapt. A little bit of ethics in that area is still good, because I think listeners still want to help the band recover in either ticket or merch sales.

 

What is the process of making a CD?

 

ZEKE: Haha, too many too name.

 

How do you get the word out about your music?

 

ZEKE: Through people like you.

 

How is your local response to your music?

 

ZEKE: Local response has been mediocre so far. To date, all the people we've taken out with us asked to work on the nights that we'd return home. So it's been pretty hard to play to make shows happen in our home town. Hopefully we can fix that this year.

 

What is the farthest you have traveled for a gig?

 

ZEKE: Matt and I have both spent a good amount of time overseas playing gigs in prior bands. But People Noise has played every state in the US minus Maryland, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, but have only played once out of the states when we did a festival in Toronto, Canada. We had other offers but couldn't yet afford it as a band.

 

What tune on the CD are you most proud of?

 

ZEKE: I'm pretty proud of the CD as a whole because each song kind of resembles a small chapter in my life. I always tend to go back and listen to "The Sun & the Moon, The Moon & The Sea". That song didn't seem to resonate with a lot of people, but was one of my favorites coming out of the studio.