interview with Rest, Repose

Have any of you played in other bands? I think i speak for all of us when i say we've never really not been playing in bands, Fluff was in a band called "as fate would have it". Jared most recently was in a band called "Dissimulator" Vince we poached from a band called "Reach for the sky" and tony played in a bunch of bands in California like "Betrayal" (now called "Runaway Kids") Curricula (with members of the Neighborhood and most recently "the Sheds". 
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Fluff - Guitar - 34
Tony - Guitar - 24
Jared - Drums - 26
Josh - Bass - 23
Vince - Vocals - 25
Have you had other previous members? No, The current line up always has been the lineup.. We believe in finding members that play well and work well. This is as much a friendship as it is a partnership and we were picky about who we selected. I see the lineup we have being consistent for a long time. 
Where are you from? Most of us live in the Tacoma, WA. Area, but Vince is a few miles south of that, and Tony lives in Seattle.
What year did the band form? We actually just finalized the line up a few weeks ago. But Fluff, Jared and Josh started writing in July i believe?
What inspires you? This is a complex question. I know for Fluff, it's sitting down in front of a REALLY loud amp and just jamming it out. I think Tony and Fluff both find a lot of inspiration in watching live music, and tour documentaries. for most of us i think we just have moments of inspiration, And honestly a lot of accidental moments of genius. The creative process is just that, A process. Sit down with your favorite Guitar, Drum kit, or whatever instrument you play and just do weird things with your hands. I think you'll discover some notes, chords and melodies you've never played. 
How often and where do you reherse? We play every Sunday as a group, at "Joe's Studio" aka Jared's house. 
How have you developed since you started with the music? We have all grown, in a lot of ways. Before Rest, Repose i think a lot of us dragged ourselves to practice with our previous bands, It felt like a chore because it was'nt nearly as productive. We have all grown as musicians in how we write, rehearse, and think about our live show. We have also grown as people. Our dedication to what we are doing has solidified a stronger bond between members. For the first time i think we're all excited to live in a van with the group we have. 
Are you looking for a booking agency, or a label and what are your thoughts around that? The million dollar question.. Really we don't know. Over the years i have met so many bad managers and have had some REALLY bad label experiences. So no not really. We have some extremely talented Audio Engineers in the band with a huge outreach from their work on YouTube. So i don't think there is much that a booking agent or label can do for us right now that we can't do on our own. 
What is your song writing process like? Typically it all starts with finding a great riff to write around. And building a catchy chorus around that, that doesn't over power the vocals. Vince arranges the lyrics and 95% of the melody, then we make minor tweaks in production. That's where a portion of the writing happens. In pre and post production. 
Where can people buy your merchandise?
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Hmm.. That's a great question. If we are talking about purchasing a download. There isn't a difference as long the people are listening that's what matters. The content isn't whats important to us. It's about playing live. That's where we all think our purpose is. The music is just a billboard. Get people excited about the fresh original content you're putting out and the growth will be there.. Making money isn't what this is all about. It would be a great Bi-product. If we can quit our day jobs to make music and travel. Then you can download all the songs you want. 
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? I think the advent of illegal downloads has really seperated the willing from the working if you will. We are willing to put the time into this, We release our albums our selves, we do the majority of the recording, all the mixing, mastering and writing, knowing it will probably not come back to us monetarily. I think low album sales mean that your music probably just isn't great. A cult like fan following will still buy your record. And it will force the people who make music for money and don't tour to stop doing that. People used to make their living off of writing a crap song, Because if you wanted it you had to buy it. Now musicians are forced to really get out there and work for it (tour). Most musicians won't even bet on themselves any more. They beg for money on these crowd sourcing sites. It's gross. If you want it bad enough and you believe in it, you should pay for it on your own. There isn't any reward if there is no risk. That's why we are soo fortunate to have a band with a lot of Engineering / Producing experience. We don't need 20k to make an album. Really no one does.. What I'm trying to say is. Download it, buy it, steal it from a store. Just make sure your telling people about it and we'll be happy. 
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? hopefully only in a positive way! but we have no expectations! 
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? I think for most of us it's older bands. They had far more fresh ideas than the bands we hear today. Most of which recycle cliche lyrical content with boring riffs and cadences. I know we like bands like Mastodon, Cloudkicker, Cave in. which are all pretty relevant. But without the older bands like earlier Lamb of God, Tool, Alice in Chains, Ect. We wouldn't have near the musical interest we do now. 
What have been your biggest obstacles? Finding a great singer for sure, But we got very lucky with Vince. We love what he brings to the music. It's pretty early though. I'm sure we'll have more obstacles to tackle in the future. 
What advice would you give other bands or artists? At the risk of sounding like a cheesy rock song, Don't quit. Don't suck, and practice a lot. By yourself, as a group, wherever and whenever. Practice. A tight live show is more important than most things.. And if you think you're being tough on yourself. Wait till the internet get's a hold of it. But don't mind people that don't like the music.. It's ok if people aren't into it. A genuine supportive crowd is more important than a large crowd. 
How do you get psyched for a gig? that happens all on it's own. We LOVE playing live. So we can't help but be psyched. But we are working on bringing the fans a better and more unique live experience. That's the focus now.
What are your plans for the future? Hopefully travel and play as many places as possible. stoke you with the EP and eventually Put out the full length

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