You don't hear words like integrity or responsibility much in the Rock world. It's a world forged in the flames of indulgence and rebellion. Well, the rebellion part's hard to find now days and somewhere along the line, probably the 70's, the indulgence backfired. It's no longer the artists who drink from the golden cup but the people behind the scenes, the record industry. Sure, if your band adheres to an established and financially proven style of music, the industry might let you get a sip of success, but only on their terms. It seems that a rock fan's biggest mistake, was paying money to hear their favorite band. Like blood thirsty sharks, the money men crashed the Rock n Roll world and from the ashes arose the Rock n Roll industry.

There is however a glimmer of hope. Actually three by my count and Eve to Adam is one of them. True students of music, Eve to Adam are dedicated remaining independent from the mega-rock conglomerate that is strangling the very soul out of Rock n Roll. They are down to Earth, strait forward artists with two qualities that are very rare in their world. Integrity and a sense of responsibility.

What follows is a very important interview that every fan of Rock music should read.   

 

 

 

What makes you want to play music?

 Taki-  A combination of Guns n Roses and being somewhat of a loner.  I started playing guitar when I was twelve and my brother started playing drums when he was ten.  We really didn’t fit in with anybody else and music gave us an identity and an escape. 

 What role do you think music plays in society and how much influence does it have over the youth?

 Taki-  I think it has an amazing influence over the youth but it cannot be held responsible for certain individuals’ actions.  Ozzy didn’t make anyone kill anybody.  He wasn’t there, he didn’t pull the fucking trigger.  There’s plenty of violence all over television but that doesn’t mean you have to go out and slaughter somebody.  Music plays a role, hopefully the listeners are smart enough to know where the reality begins and the fantasy ends.  Music is art, it’s meant to inspire the mind, not to be imitated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you a political band?  Are you out to change the world with your music?

 Taki-  Out to change the world?  No, we’re not going to change the world.  Help the world a little bit, maybe bring some consciousness back to world.  Bring some songs to the table that have some meaning and some soul in them.  Not one person, not one government, not one band can change the world. 

 

 

 

 

Tell me about your song writing process.

 Taki-  We try to keep it open to whatever catches our ear and inspires us to want to write a song.  Song writing can be really arduous and it can be really boring and if you really think about it too much, you’re really missing it somehow.  There’s no way to read a book on how to build a rock band or how to write a rock song.  You just do it.

 

Are you guys classically trained musicians?

 Taki-  Everyone’s [in the band] got some sort of training.  I think you have to. If you want to have a real career and a real level of success you got to have some sort of training.  It’s not going to make your sound, you have to find that on your own.  There’s so much competition and the way to sift it out is who’s better on stage.  It’s so funny, Rock bands are made out to be these cool people and when you think about it all of us are kinds of geeks because anyone who sits in his room practicing guitar for that long or going to vocal lessons is not the cool thing to do.

 

 

 

Well since you are a trained musician, what do you think of someone like Kurt Cobain, the inventor of the “Anti-solo”, getting big?

 Taki-  You can’t tell me Kurt Cobain didn’t practice.  You can’t tell me he didn’t study the entire Beetles catalogue in and out to learn how to write a great pop tune.  He was playing the grungy “I wear my grandfather’s sweatshirts and I don’t give a fuck,” thing and that was just a front.   Just like Poison wearing the Spandex was a front.  It’s all the same thing.  It’s all just marketing.  He wasn’t Randy Rhodes but playing and singing is not an easy thing to do.  I don’t think Kurt Cobain was any different than anybody else, he still had to grind it out and practice. 

 

 

 

 

Every band I’ve ever interviewed agrees that the state of the popular music scene is poor.  So my question is, what needs to be fixed in the mainstream music scene?

 Taki- The state of popular music?  Who’s responsible for that?  Well, radio stations, MTV, and record companies, because they’re the ones who pay for all that shit to get played.  A band like us who has some mainstream qualities to our music is never going to get played on MTV unless we get a major deal and someone pays enough.  They don’t play you on MTV unless you’re on the radio already and getting on the radio today is harder than it’s ever been because DJ’s have no control, it’s all the stations.  There’s one big company called Clear Channel that owns like ninety percent of all big radio stations across the country and whether you’re in Seattle or New York, those play lists are pretty identical.  You’re going to hear Puddle of Mud, Limp Bizkit, and Drowning Pool because those bands are supposed to get a certain amount of spins everyday because they’ve [radio stations] have been paid to do that.  What I would do is open up the air waves so other music could be heard.  You shouldn’t have to hear Puddle of Mud twenty times a day.  I wouldn’t want to hear my band twenty times a day.  That’s what record companies do, they play your single every hour on the hour because they want you to buy the record.  They’re all about money but then the bands’ careers get fucked.  The fans are disgusted because they’ve heard you too much and you’re good for like a couple tours and maybe another album but then you’re done.  That’s why we remain independent because we’re afraid of losing control. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This sounds pretty grim.  Is there any way of fixing popular music?

 Taki-  Do you know how you can fix it?  When artists who are significant enough get big have a hand in fixing it.  Tool is probably the only band in the last ten years to come out with a song that’s seven minutes long, and do you know what, they [radio stations] played the whole damn thing.  They wanted the Tool bad enough and the record was going to sell either way either through touring, or their website, or their fanbase and they said play the song as is or fuck off, the records going to sell.  And I think they brought radio to their knees.  That’s a testament to a band that for ten years laid a ground work so when they got to that stage of Lateralus their fans were so hungry for it that whoever wanted a piece of it was going to have to do things [Tool’s] way or fuck off.  Imagine if all the bands that were that big had that fire under their ass to really try and change things they probably could, but does it really matter to them or are they happy enough with what they’ve got.  I don’t think people are concerned enough with this stuff.  I think we are.  I’m hoping that one day we’ll be big enough to help some band that’s up and coming.  I’m not going to charge them three hundred-thousand dollars to go on tour with us.  That’s what’s going on today.  You want to tour with a big band they say, “yeah, come on, do you got the money for it?”  “You’re using our crowd to make a name off it so if we can make money off you we will.”  So here’s this band who just got signed and they want to sell a bunch of records so they go on tour.  First you got to pay three hundred and fifty thousand to the main band, and then tour support for like busses and a crew and insurance and shit like that is probably another half a million.  You get money for going out and playing every night but it’s just going to someone else because you’re already in debt.  Who’s got that kind of money to go on tour?  I don’t.  You don’t.  The record companies do. They’re the only ones with that kind of money.  That’s what’s going on.  That’s the story.  It’s become a corporate business.