1. A common myth about being an independent artist is that you do it all yourself. I think our truth is you really rely on your friends to help. People like to be helpful. Or maybe I just have great friends!
2. Advice I would give someone trying to get into the music industry: I would say find what you love to do and do it, and don’t stop. Sometimes it might not be as a musician. Management, promotions, agents, radio dj, engineer, producer and more I forgot to mention are all awesome jobs in the music industry. Being a fan is the most important job of all. And everyone in music loves music. We’re all fans.
3. Resources or advice that has helped me: Best advice I got was when I was going to art school and my sculpture teacher asked me what I really wanted to do with my art, what my dream was, and I said that what I truly loved was music. He said “What are you doing here then?” So I dropped out and went on the road playing rock and roll. Best decision ever.
4. Biggest accomplishment so far: As far as material stuff my old band had some songs on a TV show and we got paid all right. I love getting paid and it made me feel like a “real” musician. But my actual biggest accomplishment in music is writing a record that I’m proud of. Our new Album – I Wanna Live
I’m proud of this album.
5. What I wish I had known about when starting out is if you have a great band with great chemistry do all you can to keep it together. I just assumed all my bands were going to be great forever after and it simply wasn’t the case. If you have that magic don’t waste it or throw it away. It’s a lot like love. Don’t take it for granted. You’ll just wind up pining for it. That being said; when it’s time to go, it’s time to go.
6. What led to me becoming a singer/songwriter is listening to music with my dad. He loves Roy Orbison so I really remember and love The Big O. But what really got me going was KISS. Of course. I was a little kid gimme a break! Actually I’m going to see them in November. One last time… we’ve all heard that before!
7. A unique skill that has helped me become successful is I always try to be the student. Always learning something new. You never know who or what will be the teacher that day. If you know it all you stop growing.
8. My journey through music has been great. It’s changed slightly. I focus on writing more now than ever. I used to just live for the show and the afterparty but now I’m really into writing and recording. All the time. Even when I’m not inspired I just go to work and spend my time on it. You get out what you put into it when it comes to songwriting.
9. This project began when Lana sang backups on a song and it made the song so much better. It was like ” oh there’s the sound we were looking for”. We haven’t really looked back since. She is a lifelong drummer who always wanted to sing. So it’s really exciting that she’s learning a new instrument and I love seeing the progress.
10. What makes this project different from past projects is we’re a couple. So along with our personal relationship we have a musical one now as well. So it’s been pretty easy to navigate the band stuff because we’re already on the same team. For me personally it’s nice having a great singer on the songs. I always seemed to get stuck as the guy who had to sing because I wrote the songs, now I get to play guitar and sing backups and that’s always what I wanted to do.
11. The inspiration behind this project is guitar rock. Classic rock mixed with modern sounds. I love the 70s guitar stuff and early punk rock. Ramones, Cheap Trick, Blondie, the Pretenders and I love the Stones. A good song is a good song and if it’s disco or americana or whatevs, and it sounds good, we’re gonna put it out.
12. The phrase I use most to describe this project is “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus.”
14. What’s next in the immediate future is a show this weekend here in Vancouver and we are just in the middle of trying to book some shows in Europe. And of course writing the next record.
15. I think people get overwhelmed trying to be musicians because they try to do too much. Teamwork makes the dream work. Stick to making music. Other people are good at their jobs so find them and work together. It’s got to be a group effort.
16. The reason people fail or give up is because it’s hard! Especially if it’s not your calling. I feel lucky I’ve always known what I wanted to do with my life. Some people never figure that out. Also define what success means to you. I already have a great life so I don’t need to be a famous rockstar. I can just be a musician. That takes a lot of pressure off “making it”. Whatever that means to you.
17. What is my favorite word? Wow tricky question. I guess grateful is my favorite word these days. It’s a good feeling too.
18. What am I not very good at? I’m a terrible swimmer! Just can’t seem to do it well. But I love the water! Especially the ocean. I can dog paddle like crazy though. I always wear a life jacket when I’m on the water.
19. If I could have one superpower it would be strength. Hulk Smash.
20. If I were a type of food I would be Greek food because that is some dang good eating! Or maybe I would be a clove of garlic. My favorite smell is fried onions and garlic! Earthy and sweet….
21. If I could switch lives with someone for a day I would switch spots with a pro athlete, music and sports are both focus and performance based. I just watched an ESPN documentary about Derek Jeter so maybe Jeter in his prime playing shortstop in Yankee stadium during the dynasty. All that confidence and pressure! Intensity! But I’m pretty happy with the life I have…
Thanks for the interview. It was a lot of fun thinking up the answers to your questions. I like how they weren’t all music based.
Carman Lethbridge
The Get Arounds