Name: Brent Nolan
Band: Caesura
Location: Kansas City
Members of the Band:
Matt Gregory- Vocals
Mike Christman- Drums
Jack Nasty- Bass
Brent Nolan- Guitar
1.) Where has your band been for almost a year of not doing shows until now?
About a year ago we parted ways with our old singer so we had to regroup because we weren’t ready to call it quits. So the majority of that time was spent in our drummer’s basement trying to find a new singer who wouldn’t just be a quick replacement, but could take our music in a positive direction. We had a couple good prospects before deciding to go with Matt, but as a band we weren’t 100% on them. In hindsight it was a smart decision because now we are better than we’ve ever been. Also, since we had some free time in between tryouts and getting Matt up to speed we also have already recorded the majority of our next album and should be finishing it up within the next couple months. Hopefully we’ll have that ready mid to late summer.
2.) You are playing the 2011 Midwest Rock Awards show on June 25th, can you’re fans expect anything special? Absolutely, we have a couple songs we feel are our best and most powerful songs that we have yet to play live due to time restraints and will be debuting those at the June 25th show. There’s also the possibility we’ll be making a big announcement for our band at that show as well, but you’ll have to wait and find out.
3.) How do you personally feel about the local independent music scene, and what are some ways to improve it? It definitely has its pros and cons and in the year we’ve been regrouping we’ve noticed quite a few changes. There are a ton of new bands that I’ve never heard of popping up, which is always a good thing. Hopefully bands will continue to show each other support because it’s not easy being in a local band nor is it cheap. Sometimes there’s a sense of politics that comes around in the local scene which sucks, but we try to just avoid that and play music.
A couple things I think would help draw more people out to shows would be if the music venues would offer drink specials once in a while; especially since they’re charging a cover at the door. Most people would rather go somewhere with cheap drinks then pay to see a band and have to spend $4 and up for a beer. Hell, the uptown charged $10 for a beer which is ridiculous! Also it would be nice to have more all age venues. KC’s youth is one thing I think could help revitalize the local scene, but it’s hard to do so when they can’t get into a show.
4.) What makes you different from every other rock band trying to make it? What is your niche?
I think one thing that makes us different is our lack of a set style. Stylistically we’re a rock band, but with that said we tend to be all over the place. Personally I hate listening to a CD where every song sounds just like the one before it. We like to try to explore different styles and see what we come up with and the stranger it is the more we tend to like it. It challenges us more as musicians and keeps our fans not knowing what’s coming next.
I’m not sure if we really have a niche which could be our greatest downfall, but we don’t care. The one thing I can say is our music isn’t geared towards people with short attention spans as we tend to write longer songs with a progressive element. To us a song is more of a story then it is just a catchy hook. We’ll probably never get any radio play for that reason and it’ll probably turn some people away from our music, but we’re okay with that because it’s what we enjoy doing.
5.) What is one thing about the band that would surprise many of your fans if they knew?
Had our bassist Jack Nasty not met his wife when he did he had aspirations of becoming the next Ron Jeremy and would be famous for much different talents. Luckily that didn’t happen because he probably wouldn’t be playing bass for us unless he shot his films locally.
6.) What are the future plans for your band and what is the ultimate goal?
Our ultimate goal is to take over the world, but right now its baby steps. The plan is to continue hitting the local scene as well as the Midwest region as hard as possible and getting our new CD finished. With Matt joining as our new singer we just want to get our music out there and let people hear us, plus playing out live is the best part of being in a band. Our shows are a big party where we just happen to be playing.
7.) Where are your influences derived from when developing new music for your fans?
We all have our own eclectic tastes which we pull influences from as well as just using our own life experiences. For example, one song on our new CD called ‘Face plant from a Cloud’ is a heavier song we wrote as a big fuck you to people who pretended to be our friends just to screw us over. I could probably pick a song with a nicer connotation, but it’s that attitude from personal experiences that gives our songs a very intimate energy that hopefully people will be able to relate to.
Visit Caesura here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caesura/48712708071
Questions from: Frank Arena, ProjectBackstage.com
