interview with Aeonic Impulse

What´s the name of your band? Aeonic Impulse
How was the band formed? Four friends deciding to have fun jamming on a rooftop during the 4th of July 2011. Since then we have gone through a couple of lineup changes. As of today we are a 5 piece consisting of Jordan Salfity, Pete Bucci, Gasper Gray, Fernando (Fernie) Guerrero and myself (Ryan Rappaport).
Can you tell about your band? We're a group of guys who love music. We try to experiment with different styles as much as possible to keep things interesting for people who listen to us as well as ourselves. We've been around and playing concerts for about 3 years now and hope to start work on some studio recordings soon!
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band?
Jordan and myself are both the guitarists, him being lead and myself the rhythm. We both live in Redondo Beach
Our bassist Pete is from San Pedro
Gasper is our singer and he lives over in Hollywood
Last but not least our drummer Fernie hails from Inglewood
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? When we first started we just wanted to see what kind of music we could write/play.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? We usually tell people that we are trying to go for a heavier Pink Floyd haha
Where was your first gig? If we are counting house shows then the rooftop jam that we started with otherwise it would be at Suzy's Bar and Grill in Hermosa Beach
Where was the latest gig? At Bar Sinister opening up for Lesser Key
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? Everybody has had a hand in writing the music. So far I've written all of the lyrics. Sometimes Gasper will editing certain lyrics to make them flow better in the song.
Who has the best sense of humor in the band? That's a tough one. We're all goofballs!
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? If there was anything bad about us I would say it's our schedules. Sometimes it can be a pain to get all 5 members together for a practice but we make do. What I really like about us is that we all come from pretty different backgrounds musically and we have been able to make our styles blend together to make our sound rather than have everything clash. I would call us Progressive Rock/Metal because we are always looking for ways to make our songs different from each other.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We are what we are because we like to play everything! Our songs are about different aspects of being human and how certain thoughts, events, and experiences can shape us as a person.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write our own material but like to throw in a cover every now and again.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? So far we have no studio recordings but we hope to change that soon...
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Of course! Since we don't have any studio recordings yet our Youtube page is filled with many live videos.
How old are you?/What got you started in music? I'm 23. What got me started was seeing my first concert with my older brother. The band that played was The Living End and after seeing their performance I was blown away and knew that I had to pick up a guitar.
At what age did you start playing? I think I was around 15.
What year was the band started? 2011
Best/worst gig you've played? Thankfully we haven't had too many bad gigs. I think our worst was at Suzy's a few months back. They had gotten a new sound system and it was sending feedback all over the place. It was not fun on everybody's ears haha. They fixed it and the time we played there after that everything sounded great. As for our best gig. I think it's a tie between our latest show opening up for Lesser Key and a show we played back in December when we opened up for Fates Warning at The Whiskey A Go Go. Both sounded fantastic and we got an amazing response from the crowd.
What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? We'll definitely head back to Suzy's again since it's so close to us and laid back. Other places we are likely to play at soon are The Prospector, The Federal Bar, hopefully Bonnerhaus, and every other place in the LA area. We've got so many here it's hard to tell how soon the next show could be. Who knows, maybe we'll hop on to one for next week!
Where have you played from then till now? We have played on my apartment roof, in Jordan's backyard, at Suzy's, The Prospector, The Federal Underground, The Whiskey A Go Go, Motor Ave Bike Fest, Ashley's, Di Piazza, Harold's Place, and Bar Sinister.
Which band is the best you´ve seen? This is a really tough one.....Hmmmm I'm stuck in a ten way tie hahaha! For this year I would have to give it to The Ocean. They played at this really tiny place called The Soda Bar down in San Diego and it was one of the most intimate shows I have ever been to. They had played their album Pelagial in its entirety and they made the experience so explosive! Offstage they were all great guys and were extremely fun to talk to. I remember having a conversation with Jordan and their singer Loic about aliens!
Is it always the same songs live? We have about 9 songs now (one of which we haven't performed yet). We try to change things up as much as possible each show, especially if there is a certain vibe we are trying to give off for the night.
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Again a tie between both the Lesser Key and Fates Warning shows. A lot of people were excited about our performance, some of which want to work with us in the future so we'll see where that goes!
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? No tours as of yet. Hopefully next year!
How big crowds do you usually play for? Sometimes it'll be as small as 10-20 people and sometimes it can be anywhere from 70-100.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? Start recording and maybe a few shows here and there.
Whats your Pre-show ritual? Usually just a little guitar practice and drinking water to stay hydrated. It can get really hot on stage!
How do you get psyched up for a gig? Just knowing that we are about to play psyches me up!
Describe your show, visually and musically Visually we will bring out fog machines and laser lights that we feel accompany our music well. We also did a projector screen with videos once. We're tweaking that a bit so we can do it again. Musically we just go up, play our songs, and goof around a little.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Getting a fan-base that grows and cares about your music. You can't really get anywhere as a band without fans unless all you really want to do is jam with some buddies.
What is best/worst with playing the clubs? It really depends on the club. With some a band will have to do a huge ticket presale which could end up costing the band money if they want to play. Some venues will let you charge what you want and either make some or all of the profits, and some will pay you just for performing. Some have a fantastic sound system and with some you'll have to bring your own PA. Out here in Los Angeles there are a ton of clubs so you're going to get a lot of different options as far as financial opportunities/sound systems go.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Whenever we would have to find a new drummer. Fernie is our third one right now and I hope he is here to stay! 
What are your goals with your music? Right now to get it all out there! Hopefully the recording process goes smoothly and we can share our music with the world.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? I think we went all in for the music as soon as we became musicians. Music is a beautiful form of expression and it connects people of all kinds together.
What are your sources of inspiration? Life experiences and of course music.
What's the first step when making a new song? What we have done so far is we will take lyrics that have been written and discuss what sort of sound we want to go with them and list bands that are similar to that sound. We then go off in that direction and see where it takes us. Hasn't failed yet!
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? It's a double edged sword. Downloading allows for bands to have an easier platform to release their music which can get their fanbase to grow faster but can lose a lot of money on it if nobody wants to pay for it. I personally would rather buy albums instead of downloading because I like having a physical copy to listen to. It's there and I can hold on to it.
What would be your dreams for the band? To be able to live off of our own music. These days it is getting harder and harder for musicians to do that but hey it's a dream isn't it?
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Prog of course, some rockabilly, punk, metal, classic rock, jazz, and many others. Bands I really like are The Living End, Brian Setzer, Tool, Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson, 3, The Ocean, Andy McKee, Blue Oyster Cult, Deftones, Between The Buried and Me, The Dear Hunter, Coheed and Cambria, Opeth, An Endless Sporadic, Shining, Dream Theater, the list goes on and on and on.
What do you hold most dear? My family and friends. Where would I be without them?
What would be your greatest fears for the future? As a band it would be breaking up. I want to keep making music with these guys!
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Two Words: Equipment Failure
Have you been in any other bands? I helped a friend with an acoustic recording once back in high school. Jordan has been in a couple of other bands in high school as well. I think Fernie helped out some friends of his in a battle of the bands, Gasper has his solo acoutic project, and Pete is in/has been in a million different bands haha.
What would you do if there was no music? No idea though I did want to become an ornithologist when I was younger.
How important are your fans? Very Important! The amount of support that we get from them is really humbling.
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? I was seeing a show with Jordan at The Slidebar and a couple of people came up to us whom we have never met before and asked if we were in Aeonic Impulse. When we said yes they told us how much they enjoyed our set when we played at The Whiskey a year prior. For people that you have never met to tell you that they like what you are doing is one of the best things in the world.
How often do you rehearse? We try for once a week
Where do you rehearse? In Jordan's garag
What is your favorite crappy instrument? Tie between either the air horn or the vuvuzela 
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? For me it would be "Hidden Truths" and "Walls". They're so much fun to play and always get great reactions from the audience.
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? Their love of the music they make and their belief in it.
Do you have any webpages?
Yes we have quite a few:
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there?
Love the music you play. It sounds obvious and cheesey but if you're in a band playing music that you don't enjoy then why stick around?
If you get a contract of any kind, read it thoroughly and be sure to ask plenty of questions about things that seem off or that you don't understand.
Try and make each show a different experience especially if you have a tiny local fan-base. They'll be likely to come to the next one because they'll be interested in seeing what you do next. 

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