Below Grey |
So how many members are in Below Grey? |
Currently there are 4, we are looking for a new Bass player so 5 is the magic number. |
Talented band that is building a fan base quickly! Listen for their new music all week at Hardcoremix.com |
Who does most of the songwriting? |
To date, all of the music has been written by me (Doyle Johnson). The lyrics and
vocal melodies are the work of Justin Babcock. We are currently working on a new
song called “The Letter” that will feature some writing by Jay Schankman on keys. |
Where does the band record? |
That is a great question… everywhere! Since this is a band that has actually never
met face to face, recording is a challenge. Each of us records our parts in different
ways... John Wooten (drums/Kansas), Jay Schankman (keys/Ohio) and I (guitars/Arizona)
all have small studios at home. Justin records at a studio in Detroit.
I do all the mixing and mastering for the project so far but we will be
calling on one of my local Arizona studios to master the final tracks for the
CD. The idea of “long distance” song writing actually is not new. Many bands that have logistical problems have mailed tapes back and forth before the internet. I can think of a few bands that used to record this way to keep from killing each other…) |
The bands music and marketing seems to go in a cool dark direction, what type of
fans do you have because of this? |
The fan base is actually pretty surprising. It varies from old school metal heads
to progressive rockers. We have been very pleased with the diverse audience and
age ranges.. it’s pretty cool to be able to reach a modern and classic audience
at the same time, hopefully that will continue. We will be doing a couple
tunes with a more progressive structure too so hopefully we will continue to
appeal to as many people as possible and not just one genre. |
Is there ever any tension between band members? |
LOL… well of course…) But only during drum take #428 or if you try to introduce anything
to do with a sword…) But really, it has been awesome, we all get along
great and so far have been syncing musically. I’m sure we will have some disagreements
at some point but for now we are having a great time. |
Is there any meaning behind the bands name? |
Justin originally came up with the name from some ideas he had in the past… but as
soon as we heard it we knew it fit perfectly… Not too light, not too dark…
our music sits just “Below Grey” |
Do you find that you sell more CD's or downloads of your music? |
Well right now it would be downloads because our first CD is still in the works.
We hope to do well in both areas once the CD is complete. |
What is next for Below Grey? |
Next and current.. we will continue to work on material for our CD release targeted
for May 2010. We will be looking to come together to support the CD with some
live gigs soon after so we are looking forward to that challenge.. |
What type of music do you all listen to in your personal life? |
Oh boy.. that varies. The actual bands are different for all of us but I think new,
old, symphonic or British metal/hard rock is pretty common. We are all serious
musicians so we also get into a lot of prog rock and even some modern blues.
|
There seems to be no pictures of the band on your Myspace page, are you keeping the
bands appearance a mystery? |
LOL.. No not intentionally..:) (hmmm interesting idea) We have been 100% focused
on writing and recording right now but should have some photos up soon along
with a new website. |
Copyright 2009 Hardcoremix/Hardcorejamz |
They are in the process of recording their debut CD. We had a chance to talk with
them! |