interview with Comfort Within Noise
How was the band formed? I was tired of always looking for a drummer so I bought GarageBand and started making electronic music productions for me to write guitar parts over.
Can you tell about your band? Its a one man show, First I was just looking to write some tunes I had in my head, and slowly that turned into me making hip hop beats for local MC's in my town. As I grew more interested in the whole electronic production I started bringing in my rock influences like NIN, Deftones, Tool, Marilyn Manson, Pantera, and a few others. I started to notice that I had a good sound for EDM or techno whatever you wanna call it. That turned into what I am doing now and is always growing and forever changing.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? I was born in the Bronx but moved to upstate NY was a child, I do everything in the project from creating sounds to mixing the tracks I make.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? At first I took the name Comfort Within Noise and was just going to make it a hiphop production company, but after 5 years of doing that I grew bored and wanted to go out and perform, at the time I wasn't sure how I would do that. So I started a two man band called Mercury in Transit after a year we stopped playing out due to the other guy being a dick and I went back to the studio and producing hiphop then once again wanted to perform and found Ableton Push and saw it could be a tool I can use to do what I wanted to do live. I wanted to present my music to everyone and bring instrumental music more to the forefront over the idea that you need lyrics to a song for it to move you which is not true at all. I strongly feel you don't need lyrics to connect with a song.
Where was your first gig? I just started gigging out with the project recently. Right now im focused on one spot in New Paltz N.Y at a place called Snugs Harbor and just do open mic to figure out all the shit I will need to work out for a full live show. On November 1st and 2nd me and my partner of the recording studio we run are putting together a mix media gallery where I will be performing and he will be and a few djs as we show art from local artist in Poughkeepsie, Beacon, and New Paltz area.
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? Comfort Within Noise is about throwing the concept of genre out the window. It is everything...
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? I have released 4 solo albums so far the first one was Melodic Noise then I did a little drum and bass ep called Static along the Brainstem, after that I decided to release a few NIN remixes I did and called it Comfort Remixes, and just over this past summer I released another EP called Late Nights and Mystics
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes... This is a clip of me at my first open mic performence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOylkJsJkFo I also have a few videos I made on my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrI0xdKJyAWFw7-ElPAN5XQ
How old are you?/What got you started in music? I am 32 right now, started playing music very young. I was about 4 when I started banging on a piano and around 6 when I started piano lessons, I then played in the school band on saxophone, but had a hard time reading the sheet music. I was more interested in playing my sax along tapes I had like Cypress Hill black sunday and wreckx n effect and a few 90s hip hop I was into as a child. When I got into middle school the music teacher grew very frustrated with me not being able to read the music and didn't care that I can follow any note and suggested I give up. So I went home and said to my mother and father fuck all that bs I wanna sell my sax and get a guitar. So my father said to me ok well before we do that lets see if you like it and had my mother drive me to the music shop. I picked up my first electric guitar and fell in love and the guy that worked in the shop gave me encouragement, this shop I can't remember the name of but I believe it closed shortly after that. So after a few months of me begging to get a guitar my father asked my oldest cousin that had a guitar to lend it to me and to my sister cuz she wanted to play as well. So every night me and my sis would fight over who got to play it and most the time I won that fight and would sleep with the guitar in hand. So then around Christmas time my father brought me to this local shop called Let's Jam, and told me to pick out a guitar. He sold them my sax and I got a Fernedes guitar with a lil 40 watt Crate amp and he sold my sisters cello and got her a washburn guitar and a 40 watt crate amp. From there I started playing guitar and took interest in recording myself on tape cassettes and and found an interest in recording along with playing guitar. By the time I was 17 I got a digital recording mixer, it was a fostex 16 channel with 8 inputs and started recording. After high school I went to The New School University in NYC for recording engineering for about a year then I took all I learned and started doing recordings and got in a few bands along the way.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? My first time on stage I was 21 it was a club in brooklyn called Lamors my band at the time was a lil metal band called Somewhere between nothing.
What year was the band started? around 2003
Best/worst gig you've played? Oh man so many I cant remember. I remember this one gig I played when I was 23 with my band A dying Vision, it was a pig roast for the Hells angels and we played at 1pm outside and Iv been drinking since 9am and playing on stage under that hot sun i ended up puking during the last song a I played. But I never stopped playing and didn't miss a note. The bikers thought it was apart of the act...
What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? At my studio for a gallery we are hosting
Is it always the same songs live? No... I mix all my songs together as one big song and each time its different.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? I am looking to perfect my live performance and I want to start putting together some kind of festival
Where do you usually play? New Paltz NY. and Poughkeepie NY
What are your goals with your music? I just want my music to be heard and influence the youth to bring new music to the world.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? when I was 2 hahahah for real though... My sister had some poster on her wall of some 80s glam rock or something not sure who it was but I wanted to do what they were doing. its been a passion of mine my whole life.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Both honestly
What are your sources of inspiration? Movies inspire me a lot and just listening to the bands I have growing up with inspire me. The biggest influence was my father showing me Jimi Hendrix playing the star spangled banner.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Download my music please... hahaha If it wasn't for downloading I wouldn't have found so much music cuz cds are expensive. So download your favorite band, but also Go to there shows pay for the show and buy a shirt or two.
What would be your dreams for the band? To start a new movement in the music industry
Have you been part of any other projects? Yes, lots and lots of others... Right now there is a project called The Digital Dope Boys, and a project called The pushers, and a rock band called Goodbye January.
Have you been in any other bands? oh yes many, Somewhere Between Nothing, A Dying Vision, Cove Road, Mercury in Transit, Goodbye January, and Urban Terrorist.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I run a recording studio with my good friend Bugsy Blue. Who is a very talented producer and musician.
What would you do if there was no music? I would create it.
How important are your fans? more important than my music. without them there is no ears to hear my soul
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Asked my for a autograph at a club 5 minutes from my house and acted like I was a big rock star...
How often do you rehearse? everyday
Where do you rehearse? My recording studio and my bedroom
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Late Night and Mystics its the title track of my last ep, and this Tool remix I haven't released just yet.
What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? The flaming Lips, they made me cry at the show and felt like I was on acid without even smoking and weed that night.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? Passion and love for music.
Do you have any webpages? Just ReverbNation and SoundCloud Bandcamp and Facebook you can find them all here https://www.facebook.com/ComfortWithinNoise
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Always give it your all, put music first in your life and it will reward you one day, and stay away from things a soul can't handle.
Describe your show, visually and musically. Right now its just me with a guitar and ableton push, but im looking to have video playing behind me and having dancers (like Rob Zombie has) on each side of me
What advice would you like to give other bands? Stay True to yourself and what you want to bring to the world musically
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? I found in my life the biggest obstacle is other members lacking dedication or finding love for a drug.
What is best/worst with playing the clubs? I love dive bars the fans can be close and your not on a stage being all high and mighty, the worst part is the clubs don't pay you what you deserve
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? My upcoming gig is going to be worth being apart of. We are taking every local artist we find and hanging their art work on our walls and then having live music from 12pm-9pm. we want to make a community in our local area for artist of all kinds to be able to come and be around like minded people and get their art out to the world.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence Stimulates all of your emotions.
What is your favorite crappy instrument? there is no such thing as a crappy instrument
Whats your Pre-show ritual? Drink a Rum and Coke and smoke some bud
Do you have anything to add? Music is the sound of our souls, us musicians take out our souls and show you are true selves through these sounds. Music can help you in any situation you are in in life and will alway be there.
Tack. :D