: Whatever, Newt. Newt? That's not a name, it's a type of lizard.
I hate to say this, but it had a lot to do with Kaidan. He is the big brother and just being around him growing up and listening to his music and being a round for the entire process of him learning to play guitar was a huge influence. I decided to take up drums in the school band and it just went from there. So much happens in the music world every day it keeps things interesting.
I dunno. I have played guitar ever since I can remember. My dad had an old out of tune acoustic guitar laying around that I was allowed to play with and it just came naturally to me. I can hear something once and duplicate it. I remember an early music teacher calling me a savant. That may or may not be true but I love music. You know, there was a study done and it was found that when you listen to music, especially if you have any kind of music training, that your heartbeat will change to match the beat of the music. Some people really can feel music, it's what makes some people dance when they hear a particular song. That is part of me and I don't think I could live without it.
I was the kid forced to take music lessons, specifically piano. Hated every minute of it. Finally my parents gave up after a couple of years. Later in high school there was this guy in a band who played bass. We started hanging out and later dating. He would play for me and eventually started teaching me. It just one of those weird things that spawned from my first love. After we broke up I just kept playing and then I met Cayenne and Kaidan and Neon Tarantula happened.
: I started by singing in the high school choir. They made us take a music elective and it turned out to be an easy class to pass. Found out that I had a talent that I didn't know I had. Honestly, I never thought that would be singing in a band. Auditioning for Neon Tarantula was something I did on whim. I just got lucky.
How does a prodigy become a rock star? Is it really that unheard of? Do the names Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Jeff Healy and more importantly Thomas McRocklin mean nothing to you? Infidel!
Those are guitar players and he is a bass player. He may not even know who you are talking about.
He should pay more attention then. Anyway, I am not sure, really, what anyone is supposed to do with music talent. It's not like there is some awesome greater good that musicians do and for whatever reason, when you're a kid, adults don't take you seriously when you say you want to be a musician or artist or writer. They aren't seen as "real" jobs. They want you to do something they consider sensible, a steady daily 9 to 5 job. Yea, that wasn't happening. It only seemed normal to do something with my talent and this is where it lead. I wouldn't do anything differently. As for other genres, they just didn't interest me.
Really? Country music? Isn't there enough songs out there about having your significant other leaving you, getting drunk, and getting into a bar fight? And everyone says rock music is a bad influence.
Artistic differences? Is that what it's being called? My brother is an idiot. How much creativity does it take to play guitar in a punk band? You only need to know three cords. He's not living up to his potential, you know. Anyway, better you being stuck with him than me.
Wasn't one of those lead singers a girl-friend that he had just broken up with. What was her name? Lana? Lori? Lauren?
Cayenne: Lita. Yea, that was the only reason she was in the band. Insistence of Kaidan despite the fact that she couldn't carry a tune in a paper bag. Glad that was a short lived relationship.
You and me both. She was a bit crazy. Anyway, I don't think we actually ever totally hit rock bottom. Even if we hadn't been able to replace Kaidan or find a lead singer there are plenty of non-traditional duets out there who have made a name for themselves. It was just a love of music that kept us going.
You want the truth? Kaidan said we would never make it without him. I actually set out to prove him wrong.
Newt, you surprise me. I have to say I didn't think you would know a word like trepidation. Why would I have any concerns about joining the band? When forming a band if you put the right group of people together it will usually work out. Consider that Metallica didn't become famous until Dave Mustaine left and they hired Kirk Hammett. Mustaine went on to form Megadeath and now there are two successful bands. The same can be said for Neon Tarantula and Toxic Dream. It's all about getting together personalities that mesh on both a personal and musical level.
It was kind of weird but you have to consider too that a lot of that came from Cayenne and Pretty Boy not being able to agree on anything. By time I joined the band that tension was gone and it's like Maria said, you just have to have to put the right group together. It's either going to work or it's not.
Maria, he knows the word fruition as well. Impressive. All I can say is that it's about time. It's really great. This would have happened a lot sooner if it wasn't for Kaidan.
I honestly think that sibling rivalry was the worst thing ever for Neon Tarantula. I'm glad we are finally on the right track.
You know, Newt, you ask a lot of questions. Did someone put these together for you? Breaking into the club scene is kind of interesting. It takes a lot of phone calls and a lot of networking. Sometimes you have to suck it up and open for an opening band who is opening for someone big. It's about getting your name out there. Sometimes it means playing at the worst dive bar in town to a crowd of three people but in the end it's all about getting your name out there. We've done that. People know who we are now and we are finally being called instead of us calling clubs and asking if we can play or open for someone or answering ads for rappy gigs in the paper or on Craigslist. I don't think we will be looking for a manager any time soon. I mean, on one hand it could be a good thing, take some of the pressure off us where we don't have to do our own networking but on the other hand it could be bad if we end up with someone who doesn't understand the vision or direction of Neon Tarantula and makes decisions and commitments for us that we would never make given the choice.
We write the music together. We're lucky that we can take three or four different ideas and come up with compromises that work and sound good. As for producing our own CD, it's not as costly these days as it used to be. Most of it can be done with audio recording and editing software that you can get for your home computer. You would be surprised what you can do with Garageband. You guys should try it out sometime. Anyway, we would initially burn CDs as we needed them and sell them at gigs. It just took off from there.
That's funny, Newt. But, yea, we've heard that a number times, that we are trying to latch onto the success of Toxic Dream. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I will admit though, bands that manage to win at SIFF, and that happens to mean Toxic Dream and Eduardo Catelinne, who people seem to forget about, tend to become household names. Even just being part of the band search means we get our name out there even if we don't win. Unfortunately though, that also means that we are going to be remembered for being associated with Toxic Dream and it's going to do nothing to dispell those rumors.
We are working on something. We actually have a couple ideas that we are tossing around, and it will be something new.
Kaidan can take any mentoring he wants to do and shove it. You can tell him I said that too. In fact, you can pass that along personally, Newt.
: Don't be so hasty there, Cayenne. He might have something useful that could help us...
Rio: What are you getting at Newt? There is nothing going on between me and Pretty Boy. Yea...that's why you have his poster hanging up in your room. It's just a poster. Yea, of my brother...that you won't let me throw darts at. There is nothing going on. Right....and that's why your poster is hanging up in the studio That's not a studio you have there, it's a garage with recording equipment. He's hung up my poster? Really? Yea‌nothing weird or awkward going on here‌
It's always been uncommon. I don't understand why groups like The Pussycat Dolls are considered bands, they don't play instruments, but that's the sort of thing people think of when they hear the words "girl band". Yea...no. I will admit that rock music has always been male dominated with few exceptions but that's slowly changing. More and more females are coming forward and saying "We can do this as well as the guys" and people are taking notice. Like everything, it just takes time. As for advice I would give...just don't give up. if you work at something long enough and hard enough you can make it work.