| DS:
Please
introduce the band members and their role.
George Payas - lead vocals and
guitar
Corey Alman - bass guitar and
vocals
Jourdan Alman - lead guitar and
vocals
Mark Brooks - drums and percussion
(also
known as biscuit tin bashing....oops guess I'm in trouble now.)
DS: What brought you together? How did you meet?
R: We actually met on MySpace, which is quite strange really
seeing as the guys live in the British overseas territory of
Gibraltar, where I'm originally from. (though I've lived in the UK
for years now.)
The guys told me they were recording an album with producer
Tony Bongiovi and were looking for a good singer. I told the guys
I didn’t know any good singers....but I'd do it!
DS: Originally known as Milbajac, what led you to the name
change?
R: The name change? Well I gotta say, I never liked the
name. When friends asked me the name of the band, I always got the
standard response of “Mil....who??” As
it happens, the guys decided to change the name mainly due to the
difference in style and sound that the band was heading in.
DS: Did you all agree on the style/genre of music?
R: Although we like all kinds of different artists and
music styles, what we do musically just seems to come naturally to
us....so why fight it? Having said that, I'd personally like to go
a little heavier on the next album.
DS: Networking has proved to be successful for many
artists. How would you compare networking on the internet, opposed
to the public community?
R: Well I think both forms of networking are extremely
useful and necessary.
I guess you can reach more people, fans, agents, promoters, etc
quicker on the internet, but sometimes the personal touch produces
better results and is more enjoyable.
DS: Since reforming the band, has this changed the style of
music being written/produced?
R: Well, actually the band never split. Original
singer Lawrence Imossi left the band, and the guys struggled to
find a singer who could fit into what they wanted to do. That
coupled with some personal problems, saw a period of inactivity on
the 'live' scene and in terms of recording, but the guys never
stopped writing songs and jamming. The
band’s sound and songwriting style does seem to have just
naturally evolved.
DS: Who is writing the lyrics and where do you gain your
inspiration?
R: I’ve written most of the lyrics this time, not because
I'm the singer, it just worked out that way this time. Everybody
is very laidback about listening to each other’s ideas with
regards to songwriting, so I'm looking forward to the next album
because we really will have gelled by then. I
gain inspiration from things I've experienced, or issues that
matter to me, and the guys are the same really.
DS: More and more musicians/artists are taking advantage of
downloading songs opposed to waiting for a CD. Which do you prefer
and why?
R: I don’t really know, sometimes I think it's cool to
actually hold a CD in your hand and look at the CD artwork and
stuff. On the other hand, downloading is much more convenient,
instant and cheaper. From a
business point of view, I prefer selling our album as a download
because it's much less hassle and we don’t have to pay for the
manufacture of a physical product.
DS: What drives your band?
R: A love of music,
songwriting and performing......simple!
DS: Are you completely satisfied with your music, or is
there room for improvement?
R: Satisfied??....hell no!
If you think there is no room for
improvement then what have you got left to aim for? Where can you
go in terms of music? I think our
next album will be noticeably better. The band had not recorded or
performed for a few years, so the feeling within the camp was “enough
is enough" lets get something done!” We kinda drew a
line and said “by this date we record what we’ve got.”
I know we’ll be a well oiled machine
by the time we next record an album.
DS: Do you have bigger plans, and if so, what are they?
R: There is only one plan, and
that is to write and record the best songs we can, and perform to
the best of our ability with the hope of reaching the greatest
amount of people possible, with our music. We
are going to be doing a little tour in Japan in November of this
year which I'm excited about though!
DS: If your band had a chance to perform anywhere for one
night, where would that be and why?
R: Nowhere specific, maybe one
of the world’s great stadiums or one of the huge
festivals....that's gotta be every musician’s dream! To hear
50,000 people sing along to your songs must be an awesome feeling.
As far as countries and cities go, there
are a few, but I don’t think I'd like to perform my dream gig in
Australia because Aussie girls are just too attractive...I'd forget
my lyrics!
DS: What does rock and roll mean
to REAL?
R: Well rock n’ roll as we
perform it means a solid drum beat, big guitars and melodic songs,
all delivered with truck loads of tongue in cheek humour.
DS: You released your first album with producer, Tony
Bongiovi. What valuable advice have you inherited, which might
benefit others in the business?
R: As simple as it sounds, the
main thing is to give 100% to anything you do, if you do something,
do it right! Make sure your songs
are good enough before you record them, because the production
should enhance your songs, not save them!.....AND you’re gonna' be
playing them for a long time!
DS: What music is REAL
listening to when not at work?
R: Anything good, from Bob
Marley to Metallica.
We mainly
listen to rock and metal though; Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows, Bon
Jovi, Velvet Revolver, Iron Maiden, Metallica.....the list goes on!
DS: In one word, describe your band.
R: I’m not gonna' say “REAL”...that's
so cheesy!! I guess it would be
“honest”, because we are not a bunch of young kids trying to
look or sound like the latest big thing, we are not obsessed with
acquiring money or fame, we do what we do because we love it!
DS: Where do you see yourselves, five years from now?
R: Mowing your lawn or being
your “pool boy”.. Seriously?
We
don’t look that far. Our goal is to write, record and perform our
music for as long as we enjoy it, and to try and reach the greatest
amount of people.
DS: Where can our readers locate a copy of the latest album, "Minute
Before Last"?
R: We don’t have CD distribution in Australia yet, we’re
actually discussing the subject with a couple of companies right now
and hope to have something set up in the next couple of months.
Our CD is available from several places
such as Amazon.co.uk, but to be honest, the best place to buy the CD
is from American company http://
cdbaby.com. It will be much cheaper for
fans and they will only have to wait a few days for delivery.
The album is available from itunes, 7Digital and many other
online shops as a download. There are several links to these shops
on our MySpace.
http://www.myspace.com/realbanduk
http://www.realband.co.uk
|
