E: The sound of Maida is powerful and difficult to describe. What made the band choose to seek this style of music?
Evan: We all love heavy and intelligent music, and playing it is one of the best feelings in the world, so it was a natural decision to want to make music similar to our favorite hardcore and metal bands. But overall, I would say the main reason behind it is fun, and that is really the only thing that should matter in music anyway.
E: The band plays a lot of shows. Do you feel as though the bands you are usually paired with are appropriate for your sound?
Evan: It really depends. We have played with a lot of bands that are total opposites of us, musically, but it never has really been too strange. I think diverse shows are generally more interesting, anyway. Nobody wants to listen to four bands that sound the same, one after another. Generally the response we get has been fairly consistent, no matter what other bands are playing with us. We just try to put on a good show, and even if you hate us, you can still have fun watching us jiggle around onstage.
E: What kind of vibe do you think fans get from your shows?
Evan: A good one, hopefully... or, failing that, one that makes them think, "What just happened? And why is my hair messed up?" *Laughs*
E: How much energy does it take to put on a truly great show?
Evan: Just being onstage gives us enough energy to do what we need to do during our whole set, but a truly good show happens when the crowd is shooting energy back at us, as if they were equipped with Ghostbuster proton pack ray guns. And, in keeping with that metaphor, right after we are done playing we get so tired that it feels like the crowd trapped us in one of those ghost boxes and we exist no more. Yeah... I don't know what that means, either. There is this other thing that happens when nobody seems to be into our band--we start to rock out a lot harder, as if to make up for their lack of energy... energy is weird.
E: The band was recently signed to a label called the Imprint, which is a subsiduary of Fiddler Records, is it not?
Evan: Correct.
E: Were there any immediate changes that were tangible to you once you attained the support of a label?
Evan: Well for one thing, we had our EP recorded and finished before we started talking to them. We had no idea how we would get any money to press the EP to release it, and that was the first thing the Imprint did for us. That, and getting the EP distributed to indie stores and having it sold online are a few of the things that they are making possible for us. We are their first release, so both of us are just kind of going with the flow to see what happens. We were really lucky and are very grateful to have met them.
E: How did the label come about signing you?
Evan: We sent them our demo, and then just kind of waited. Apparently it caught their ear, and they decided to fly up for one of our shows. Ironically it was one of our worst shows, and I thought for sure that they wouldn't be interested in us, but later that night they told us they wanted to sign us and help us out. We knew almost instantly that it would work out, because it was clear that they were awesome people and [were] interested in helping bands. Every band says that about their label, but we couldn't mean it more.
E: How difficult would you say your style of music is to write, as opposed to other genres?
Evan: It really depends. We have written songs in one practice, and others have taken a month or so to finish. Writing a good, heavy song that doesn't get boring is really where the challenge is. We seem to be able to write our more mellow songs much quicker than our loud ones. But the loud ones are kind of like passing stones when we are done with one. My guess is that it depends more on the people than [on] the people, though. Maybe if Thom York or John Lennon was in the band, we would have 300 songs written.
E: When do you plan on going into the studio next?
Evan: We are in the process of writing for a full-length album right now, with tentative plans to record in fall or early winter of 2004.
E: Do you expect the band to have changed much by then?
Evan: Hopefully we will get better. Our songs are already evolving into something different than the EP, but not a total 180 from what we have been doing, so it should be interesting to hear what we sound like a few months from now. Mainly we just want to be so awesome that it hurts to listen to us, but feels good at the same time.
E: Well, thanks a whole lot for talking.
Evan: No problem. Thanks for the interview. |
