Tell us about yourself and your music
We are a three piece, Alt Rock band based out of South Shore MA. That being said, we don’t force our songs to be one “genre” or another, but generally speaking, we tend to have a late 90s rock sound.
Talk to us more about your latest release
Our Sophomore EP “Far Away” released on July 27th. Although the theme is generally positive, the contents of the lyrics on the songs “Curse of Wisdom” and “Angel’s Gun” takes a harsher look on the realities of both Domestic Violence and the “judge first” mentality of society. This coupled with Dropped tuning, added double bass infused drum beats and you get a overarcing sound that is more daring than our initial EP release. The fun twist in the EP is the title track “Far Away,” which totally goes the other way sonically. This song provides the acoustic breather needed to digest the heaviness of the first four songs, while also providing its own internal story which is reflective in-and-of-itself.
What inspired you to write this release?
Our goal at the start of this year was to get music out there. We had, at the start of 2019, set up a really solid foundation with social media accounts, a website, merch and had played a handful of successful gigs at local venues. Really the only thing we had yet to do is release some professionally mixed/mastered songs. So we took the songs that we thought went together and provided our audience (current and new) a variety of music. Now that we have two EPs and a single available for public consumption, we plan to focus on a few singles that we feel will allow us to dive deeper into our creative abilities.
Describe the writing and recording process
The writing process for us changes depending on the song. Sometimes Zach C, writes the song, sometimes it’s Zach D, and other times it’s a combo of all three of us. For the most part, songs start off either one of two ways, lyrics or riff. For a song like “Aim Straight” Gordon came up with the riff, then lyrics came from there. On the other hand, “Curse of Wisdom” had the lyrics all written before music was put to it.
The recording process is a lot more structured. We record a scratch track before the session, so that way we can lay down drum tracking first thing once the session starts. For us it goes, Drums, Bass, Guitar, Vocals. Pretty standard format. The most interesting part of the recording process is the fact that everything’s done electronically. Meaning guitars and bass are direct-in, and drums are recorded on an electronic kit. Given our genre, most instrumentals are typically acoustic drum kits and real amps. We also have to take this opportunity to express our utmost appreciation for Joe Merrick and his Guilty Dog Studio for making these incredible songs come to life for us. We very much look forward to continuing our work and friendship with him.
Any plans to release a video?
Any plans to hit the road?
The goal is always to hit the road. It just comes down to opportunity. Being an up and coming band, we have to take the gigs we can get, which to this point have been local, bar gigs. We’ve been reaching out to some other bands that we find that might be a good match musically to play some larger scale gigs, but so far those haven’t worked out. We know that this industry is about hard work and persistence though, so the more people we can reach and show our music too, our chance of getting recognition and gig opportunity goes up. You get out what you put in.
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
Our challenge is to try to combine the modern stylistic aspects of music that is currently dominating the charts, with a classic, raw rock sound that is near and dear to our tastes musically. So for example, our next project, “Eyes Open” has a song format that lyrically is more “pop centric” with a focus on the chorus which is catchy and fun, but then we tease the rock audience with some subtle layers of double bass and guitar solos. Time will tell what the people think, but the single should be releasing the end of this year, or beginning of 2020 depending on how long the recording process takes.
Who have you been listening to lately?
So we all listen to different things so we’re going to answer this one each separately.
Zach C: I just got off a two month Struts binge. Nowadays though I’m looking back at some of my first musical influences, like the Police, R.E.M., Foo Fighters, and Pearl Jam, that first stirred my interest in songwriting.
Gordon Z: I’m always listening to a huge variety of types of music, lately Steely Dan, The Struts, and Led Zeppelin have been taking up most of my listening time. Along with different types of jazz such as Stacey Kent, and 90s alternative rock like Stone Temple Pilots.
Zach D: Lately, I’ve come to really enjoy the music of Theory of a Deadman and the new songs from Ed Sheeran. Very, very different musical styles I know, but they both help me to write and think of fresh ideas as far as drumming, and means of delivery when it comes to lyrics.
Who are your biggest influences?
Influences are pretty fluid for us, as they are for most artists. Meaning, as time goes on and we grow as a band, and hear the new music coming out and assessing what the modern audience wants to hear, we have to find ways to adjust within the spectrum of our “sound” to remain relevant and attractive. Giving a bigger picture, and less vague answer, what has molded our music to this point has been the 90s grunge rock genre, primarily bands like the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc.
Tell us about your passions
This is another one that we will each take a turn answering.
Zach C: I’ve started the foray into cooking recently, fingers crossed I don’t burn the house down! Other than that, I like a good science podcast to get me through my day. It’s interesting learning about all the crazy ways our world works that aren’t obvious to us in our day to day existence.
Gordon Z: One thing that gets me up is teaching, I teach private instrument lessons and all of my students are the best, and I’m always excited to get to work and sit down with my students and learn some new music.
Zach D: Well besides feeding my coffee addiction, what gets me out of bed in the morning is the urge I have to make the most of life. One of my favorite things is going on a drive or finding somewhere to “people watch” with my fiancée. Nothing fancy or expensive, just those priceless moments you can’t really plan in advance. All that and tacos. Tacos are great.
What else is happening next in your world?
Like we’ve said before, we start work on our next single “Eyes Open” starting at the end of this month. We also plan to keep playing gigs locally, and work on landing bigger gigs as we grow and gain more followers.
Thanks for an awesome interview, No Small Matter
Connect with No Small Matter
Website: http://www.nosmallmatterband.comFacebook: http://facebook.com/nosmallmatterbandInstagram: http://instagram.com/nosmallmatterbandTwitter: http://twitter.com/NSM_bandYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1E9V0xPoJPC-4R59qMWf_Q
