Email Interview with Something Explosive
Ah the internet, it empowers so many to do so much. Internet adventurer Matt McInerney, currently well known for his participation in the ZombieAttack Twitter story project & new website Gleamd, and musical compatriot, Casey Gibson, have taken to the tubes and produced a musical project they call Something Explosive.
Here’s a brief overview of their take on internet music, as taken from their Virb page:
We believe that our fans should be able to do whatever they choose with our music. If you’d like to use it in podcasts, videos, or mashups, feel free. We’d also love to see it shared whether it be through p2p networks or just passing a burnt cd to a friend. We’re happy to give away our songs for free. We’ll leave their worth up to you. If you’d like to pass us a little money, we’d greatly appreciate, but no pressure. If you want to download our entire album, you can download it as a torrent http://www.mininova.org/tor/754709 Or you could just download the zip file http://www.divshare.com/download/971824-23f
Matt was kind enough to answer a few questions for me via an email interview here a little while back. It helps highlight some of the band’s ideas on this whole “internet” thing, DRM, and gives newbies to computer music production a few tantalizing ideas on what is required to jam out and publish to the web.
G: Do you have a mission for this musical project?
Something Explosive: Our initial mission was just to get our music heard. That’s the reason we decided to put our album out there for free and encouraged fans to pass it on. Casey and I just recorded an album of music that we wanted to make, so if anyone else enjoys it, I think that’s all we’re looking for at this point.
G: Do you intend to take this long term?
Something Explosive: I don’t ever see this falling apart. I don’t think it really can. As long as Casey and I are friends, I know we’re always going to want to be playing music together. Whenever we have a chance to record another album, I know we will, so that will keep Something Explosive alive.
G: What’s your equipment setup like?
Something Explosive: I play a Gibson SG, Casey has a Les Paul. We play through both a Marshall JCM with a Marshall cab, and through a shitty little 20 or 30 watt amp. Kind of depends on the sound we’re going for. For recording bass, we always do direct in. Ususally we’ll use a drum machine, sometimes we record drums, but getting a good drum sound can be hard. We record everything on an 8 track USB Alesis Mixer into a Mac, using Garageband. We have various keyboards too. Pretty eclectic selection I guesss.
G: Do you recommend any purchases or education for people who would like to persue home-based recording and self-distribution?
Something Explosive: Owning a Mac is a huge help, avoids buying any recording software to start with. Obviously if you don’t have a Mac, you could go get Adobe Audition… which is less than a new computer. Look into an Alesis USB mixer too. For Self-distribution, if you’re willing to make no money at first, give it all away. I think a little good will to start with can go a long way.
G: Want to walk me through it from concept to creation?
Something Explosive: Basically I got home from college, decided I wanted to make some music, and asked Casey if he wanted to record an album with me. Casey said yes, so we spent about a week recording ten songs. It all happened really fast, and we would post them online as we finished. Once we finished ten, we decided to call it an album, and started distributing it as that.
G: Would you consider signing to any label (large or small)?
Something Explosive: Sure, if the deal was right. I don’t see that happening, but hey, if any labels come knocking, we’ll talk.
G: If you had a magical crystal ball in which you could project your ideal future, what would your crystal ball reveal about the future of music distribution?
Something Explosive: The RIAA would step back, and let music and distrubution evolve naturally, without fighting it every step of the way. I really think way too many record labels are trying to fit today’s music in a business model that is completely outdated, and anytime that starts to change, I’ll be happy.
G: I’ve seen you talk about “web 2.0″ when looking for sites to promote the band on. What is your take on the whole “web 2.0″ approach to the internet?
Something Explosive: I love Web 2.0. It’s really trendy to bash it or just be cynical and wait for the bubble to burst, but web 2.0 is simply a name for what the internet is now. And the internet right now is amazing. There’s never been an easier way to get your name out in the world, and that’s worth a lot to me.
G: ~Does~ your bologna have a first name? And if so does that make it something akin to cannibalism?
Something Explosive: Ahem… is that an inuendo? In which case… I’m keeping that a secret. So I guess I can’t answer the cannnibalism part if I’m keeping it a secret.
G: Lastly, rattle off for me a quick list of people or groups you consider influences:
Something Explosive: These Arms Are Snake, Men, Women, and Children, Joy Division, Sigur Ros, God Speed You! Black Emperor, Interpol, Bloc Party, Minor Threat, Mogwai, The Strokes, The Faint
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