THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH INTERVIEW, Dec 15, 2000
INTERVIEWER: Can you tell me about the lineup changes in Thousand Foot Krutch?
TREVOR: The original lineup was Christian Harvey on drums and Tim Baxter on bass, with Dave and I. We've been together for five years now, based out of Ptbo.
JOEL: The newest two members being [added] within the last year or so.
INTERVIEWER: The new CD was released recently, where was it recorded?
TREVOR: It was a bit of a mix. We started recording at A&E Studios in Kitchener Ontario, just laying some bed tracks down, drums and bass, and then finished all the rest of it, about three quarters of it, down in Anaheim, California at Desert Studios.
INTERVIEWER: So you have a deal in the works now, or is that signed and sealed?
TREVOR: We've signed a contract with an independent record company based out of California called DJD Entertainment. We're working toward the next level of trying to score something a little bigger, but it's going great. Things are cool, they brought out our record and we're having a good time.
INTERVIEWER: Any other acts on the label that people would recognize?
TREVOR: We're actually the very first band released on this label. They're people who've worked with other labels that have just brought this new one out. We're kind of like they're baby project. They're excited, we're excited.
INTERVIEWER: Where are you going now? What's the plan? Is there a plan?
TREVOR: Well, we all have the same focus. Right now we're managing and booking ourselves, so there's no "big guy" who's like "here's the plan". We obviously want to take it to the next level.
INTERVIEWER: As far as the creative process goes, where are the ideas coming from lately? What are you finding that you're writing about?
TREVOR: I don't know, we have subject matter, but we're not one of those bands where every song has a strict message like "Let's write a song about abortion". We just put things together and it comes out. There is a theme. We're not about nothing, but we're not one of those bands that's going to take a topic and run with it.
JOEL: Unless it's just something you feel the need to write about, I think it's just whatever happens. It forms as it's written, it takes shape.
TREVOR: Sometimes the melody first, sometimes the guitar.
INTERVIEWER: Do you do a lot of writing together or is it more the case where one person has an idea and builds the idea to the point where there's a skeleton and passes it on to someone else?
JOEL: "Supafly" and "Puppet" were written on the spot, but at the same time, it depends. Within the next little while we'll do the whole writing process probably a little better. It's been different at this stage. We haven't focused all our time into writing, we haven't had that luxury.
GEOFF: It was difficult because we weren't all living in the same city. We would get together and practice for a show and then go back home. Now that we live closer together, yay! (laughs).
INTERVIEWER: As far as influences go, do you have a common pool?
JOEL: John Tesh (laughs). Don't quote that!
TREVOR: There's a fairly common pool. There are a few things that some like more than others. For the most part though, everyone seems to dig, or can at least put up with, the stuff the other guys are listening to.
INTERVIEWER: Are there any old school R&B artists that you're into?
GEOFF: MOTOWN! You've got to love Motown.
TREVOR: I have all the vinyl for that stuff.
INTERVIEWER: Your music is more in the live vein. Do you think that sampling is a dying trend, or will it continue to be important?
TREVOR: Definitely important. We're probably going to get into a lot more of it. It's just that facility-wise, we haven't quite gotten to where we want to be, but we're getting there.
INTERVIEWER: You mentioned that you had a DJ at one point.
TREVOR: DJ Circa is his name, from POD. He did the scratching on our latest record. If anyone's seen us around Ontario playing, we were playing with Scoop J, a friend of ours that comes out once in a while. Sometimes we have a DJ with us, sometimes not. When we do the US shows, Circa will be with us.
INTERVIEWER: Can you trace back the roots of the urban hip-hop influence with a heavier guitar sound? In that vein, what were you influenced by?
TREVOR: It's weird because we did this stuff before we heard Limp Bizkit and that kind of thing. Rage was doing it and they did a wicked job, so that might have sparked a few ideas.
JOEL: Trevor's always been into hip hop, so have Geoff and I. I don't know about Dave, I didn't know him back then. But we've listened to a lot of hip-hop.
TREVOR: That was a strong influence, but also, everyone plays instruments, and we weren't just going to be a live hip-hop band. We were definitely doing that before it was the trend, and before a lot of the bands that you see now, like Korn …
GEOFF: They copied us!!! (laughs)
JOEL: We paved the road and they followed along after us!!! (laughter).
INTERVIEWER: I think you guys are a little more groove based. Korn are more on the heavy side as opposed to say, someone like the Chili Peppers who kind of fall on the other side of the fence.
TREVOR: We definitely like it heavy, but there's a funk aspect to it.
INTERVIEWER: Is there anything that you listen to that people would be surprised about?
JOEL: Did I say John Tesh? (laughs). People are surprised that I listen to Stevie Ray Vaughn. I've been known to listen to Stevie Ray quite a bit.
GEOFF: I'm a big Depeche Mode fan.
TREVOR: I like way too many bands.
INTERVIEWER: Favorite Drinks?
GROUP: Dr. Pepper. Grape Crush!
TREVOR: We don't actually booze a lot, if that's what you mean.
JOEL: If there was a favorite drink, I'd say Guinness, Stout for me, but don't hold me on that because I'm not really a big drinker.
INTERVIEWER: So in three years, we'll be looking for the Dr. Pepper or Grape Crush endorsement?
JOEL: For sure, they're actually the same company.
INTERVIEWER: So in the studio, do you have a setup now where you're able to experiment and play around with different sounds, or is it coming from jamming and you're getting the studio time where you can?
TREVOR: We don't have a lot of our own studio gear. Some, but not enough so that we can do a lot of pre-production. We'd like to though.
JOEL: We do a lot of sitting around with acoustic guitars to go over things, but as far as sounds and that kind of thing, it's sort of "all in the head" now.
INTERVIEWER: So how did you find the studio experience?
GEOFF: Oh, it was fun.
TREVOR: We spent a lot of time, the four of us, in different studios over the years, so it's not that much of a new thing. There are tons of bigger and better studios that we haven't been in, but we've been in some pretty nice ones and it's starting to get a lot more cool.
INTERVIEWER: Have you noticed any cities in particular where the band is catching on more than others right now?
TREVOR: It's kind of odd, because we've been checking our guestbook a lot lately, and there are kids from all over the states, and a lot of different places.
INTERVIEWER: Your local following is amazing.
TREVOR: Obviously Ontario is the best because we've been a lot longer. Peterborough has been our favorite, easily the best.
INTERVIEWER: You're probably one of the few local bands that can announce a show one week and sell it out the next. Is there anything that you want to say to your hardcore local fans.
JOEL: Thank you, thank you!
TREVOR: Yeah, we really appreciate that they're that cool.
INTERVIEWER: Do you guys want to talk about your webpage a bit?
JOEL: www.thousandfootkrutch.com
TREVOR: We've got a lot of new improvements and graphics. It's gotten a lot of hits, we've been just floored by all the people that are checking it out.
INTERVIEWER: You've mentioned www.farmclub.com previously. Can you tell me a little about that?
TREVOR: If you go to our homepage, you'll find a graphic that says "Click here to vote for TFK on Farmclub". It takes you to right our vote page. We just uploaded our stuff recently.
INTERVIEWER: Guitar talk. A lot of younger players get on stage and just shred all night. Dave, you don't do that, which is cool.
DAVE: The reason I don't do that is because I can't (laughs). I've never really been into the big "wank" solo. It depends on what kind of song it is. I'll get the guys to run through it a bunch of times, and it's more about playing what I'm hearing in my head than playing through my fingers.
INTERVIEWER: How does the rhythm section work? Did you [Joel and Geoff] know each other before the band.
GEOFF: No. Very interesting story. They lost their bass player, and I came up to audition for it, was basically offered the job, and was told to go home for a week and think about it. So I go home, and in the meantime, Joel shows up and they offered him the job. I was like "Awww, this sucks, I wanted the job". The weird thing about it is that Joel also plays drums, so had it actually worked out the other way ...
JOEL: I'd be the drummer, and he'd be the bass player.
INTERVIEWER: How do you find you play off each other onstage?
JOEL: I think it's getting better now. I think we're starting to understand each other as a rhythm section a lot better now. We've only played together for about a year, but I'm happy with the way things are going.
INTERVIEWER: For vocals, what do the rest of you feel that Trevor brings to the band?
DAVE: I think he adds a really cool stage presence that helps the live crowd get into it. As far as the hip-hop thing with everybody else, there's too much "weak" out there. From my point of view, I figure Trev is far from weak, he's been at it for a long time, and I've just got love for the brother.
JOEL: There's way too much love in here. Boys, they're gonna think we're soft (laughter).
GEOFF: We're four bruthaz from different mothers (laughter). Don't use that!
JOEL: Ok, you can use that if you leave out the John Tesh thing (laughter).
INTERVIEWER: Anything else you want to get the word out about?
TREVOR: I'd like to say one thing. There are tons of rumors going around about a lot of different things about the band. One thing that we would like to make clear is that we are all Christian guys, we go to church every Sunday and everything like that, but that's what we believe in and the way we live. We want to write positive music but we don't try to preach through our music at all, and we're not like a "Christian rock" band at all.
JOEL: We don't try to write music for the church per se, it's for everybody.
TREVOR: Yeah, it's not about that at all, but it's definitely what we believe in and we don't want to deny that in any way. We make music for everyone, we don't want people to be offended because they think we're preachy, we're not trying to do that at all.
Interview by Brian
Benwell for
and
SIN CITY
TREVOR: That was a strong influence, but also, everyone plays instruments, and we weren't just going to be a live hip-hop band. We were definitely doing that before it was the trend, and before a lot of the bands that you see now, like Korn …
DAVE: The reason I don't do that is because I can't (laughs). I've never really been into the big "wank" solo. It depends on what kind of song it is. I'll get the guys to run through it a bunch of times, and it's more about playing what I'm hearing in my head than playing through my fingers.
