Type 3 Media: What was the most challenging song on this album to write and record?

Curtis Casey: "Children of Our Mistakes," the title track, was very challenging because that song started off in so many directions and we had to pull the reins in on that one. It's not really structured like any pop song or things like that. It's not verse-chorus-verse-chorus. When it started out it went in three times as many directions as it goes in now. That one was a really tough song to record as a band. At the same time, I love the way it turned out... I absolutely love the way it turned out.

For me personally, the most difficult song to record was the last track, "Zoé's Song." I only did two takes because I just couldn't get through it. When you listen to it you can hear a lot of the pitch issues, but that's just because I didn't want it to be processed, I didn't want it to be produced. I wanted it to feel like how it was written. For me personally that was the hardest one to do.

T3M: There are so many great elements in this album, but to me the vocal performance is one of the highlights. You're able to belt out the anthem rock songs and bring it down to an intimate level on "Zoé's Song." I think your abilities as a vocalist really shine.

CC: Thank you.

T3M: Any tour plans in the works?

CC: As soon as the album drops in June we're planning to go out on a national tour to support that album. Forty or more cities around the country. We haven't solidified anything yet. A lot of our friends who got deals didn't play Phoenix after they got signed. We don't want to do that. We wanted to play as much as we could before we left, just to say thanks to everybody for all their support. It's been really good. It'll kind of be practice as well because we're not really tested yet. This will be our first tour, so we want to get a lot of shows under our belt before we really get going.

T3M: Describe what your shows are like, for those who haven't seen you perform live yet.

CC: Have you ever been so involved in something, so caught up in something that you just forgot that anyone outside of the four walls that you're in existed... like the world that you're in didn't exist. I think that's a little bit what it's like to be at a show. When I'm performing, no one else exists. It's just the people who are right there in front of me. We have a good time. I think people relate to that feeling too. That's why they come out to shows and see us live. I'd say that's what people can expect... to escape for a little while.

T3M: When I listen to your album I hear a wide range of influences that go into your music. Some bands try to put too much together and it doesn't always work, and others don't draw from enough and the music becomes mundane. I hear your music pulling from all the right places and creating a sound that's largely your own. What musical influences inspire you and help shape your sound?

CC: To be perfectly honest with you, I never listen to rock music until five or six years ago when I was eighteen. My mother is Polynesian and she was raised in Los Angeles and San Diego. I was raised on very Motown influenced things, like The Temptations, Al Green, and Sam Cooke... a bunch of singers. I didn't even know who Led Zeppelin was... I knew who they were, but I didn't know their music. About six years ago I saw a tape of Korn performing at one of the new Woodstocks, and I was like "wow." That kind of energy is very similar to something that I'd like to do. It felt a little more natural. So I decided to start this rock band, and it was a journey to get to the sound that we're at right now. At first it sounded like an R&B singer in a rock band. Since my influences mainly came from R&B... I think it makes a good contrast in what we do. I got together with these amazing musicians, and my bass player, guitar player and drummer are nothing short of that. My drummer was into Latin grooves and he brought a lot of different approaches that way. We just brought all these different influences from everywhere and made what you hear right now. What we wanted to do was rock. We wanted to make something very significant in the rock genre.

T3M: Any closing thoughts?

CC: The single "Anthem of the Used" is coming out on April 15th. It will be awesome if people start to listen for it and hit up the radio stations to spin it. The album drops on June 3rd and they should buy it as well.

T3M: Thanks for speaking with me today.

CC: Thank you very much for digging the album, that's very cool.

 
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| 05.05.2008 | Interview by J. Pierson |