Intercept interview

 

While attending a fashion show earlier last year as part of my journalism assignment for LA Splash Magazine in Hollywood, CA, I received an awesome goodie bag that contained several items of interest. One of them being a CD entitled “Magnolia Road” by a band that has been creating quite the underground buzz around Hollywood and in the independent music industry, Intercept. I like to describe this band in one phrase––“A Labor of Love”––meaning work that is undertaken for the pleasure of it or for the benefit of a loved one. This statement most aptly applies to Intercept, who is passionate about their music and is willing to share their love for their craft and entertainment with the world. After listening to “Magnolia Road”, I was immediately hooked on their sound and their CD stays on heavy rotation in my iPod. In fact, after listening to them so much, I started to have questions about them and decided to meet them in person at the Roxy in Hollywood. They turned out to be some real guys who are humble and are in a great place with their creative vibe.

INTERCEPT comprises of band members: Christian and Jeff Knudsen, Jason Weiner and Phil Romo. For more information on this group, please visit their website.

After hanging out a few times, I got the chance to sit down with the lead singer of the group, Christian Knudsen to discuss their inspiration behind their growing fan base, what direction they are going with their music and just some good one-on-one time.

JW: How did the band INTERCEPT get started?

 

Christian Knudsen (Lead Singer): We all met as a band for the first time at the studio where we were recording the first album. My brother, Jeff, had moved to Los Angeles and started a rock band, while the drummer he left behind (Jason) and I had worked up some material for the acoustic scene in San Diego. We needed some other parts so Jeff brought his guitar and new bassist down one weekend to basically just fill out the tracks. We all got along, and the album––a very short and quirky EP––actually got a little attention, so we just kept working together.

JW: What genre or genre(s) of music is your greatest influence?

CK: There at the beginning the music was really just me––I just needed parts for songs that were written primarily as solo acoustic songs, so you definitely can hear a lot more Paul Simon, Ani DiFranco, Sublime and other artists that I was listening to heavily at the time. As things evolved, everyone began to bring new riffs and arrangements that were a bit more in line with what they knew; Jeff’s always been into a lot harder rock than I have and so he brought in a major influence from bands like Tool, etc., and you can start to hear some of the bigger electric parts on “Yellow Dog.” Phil and Jason both brought a really diverse palate of influences to the table––jazz fusion, funk, 90’s indie, 80’s electronica…you can’t hear some of it in the music right away, but after two or three listens to some of the songs I think the different influences start to make themselves known.

JW: Your latest album “Magnolia Road” is wonderful. Can you discuss the concept behind this album and what inspired your song choices?

CK: I think primarily we don’t want to make albums that “have a sound.” A lot of people in the industry feel uncomfortable with the idea that a record can’t be labeled quickly––but that’s where we feel most comfortable right now. We want to write new material that is different from song to song, so one of the main ways we write is by having each person bring riffs into the room and having everyone else either agree to work on it or shoot it down because either we’re not feeling it, or it sounds too much like something else. Once we’re all working on something, we are good at shaping it into a song that “sounds like us,” but doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of the rest of the material in terms of arrangement or instrumentation.

 

JW: As an independent artist, how and what avenues are you using in order to promote yourself and get your name out there?

CK: There are a million ways to get your music out there, but I think we’ve learned a few central things. First, there’s no need to jump through hoops––forget Battles of the Bands, songwriter contests, American Idol tryouts. Everyone’s always looking for some way to sort of quantum leap into superstardom, and that’s why so many companies are out there trying to get you to sign up, pay $300 and bust your own ass while they don’t do a thing to promote. Often, you’re just out the money and end up playing in front of very few, disinterested people. Spend that same amount of time in your room, writing new material and getting better. To promote, a better idea might be continuing to submit your stuff to free internet radio sites, compilation CDs, and keep gigging the old fashioned way. As the music gets better, and as you get more experience and make more connections, things will start to coalesce. Explore every opportunity and be realistic––sure, someone wants to split the $5,000 cost of making a music video with you, but is that honestly something you’re ready to get distributed and tour in support of, or is it just something that you think a “real artist” is supposed to have? Treat people well, follow-through, be where you’re supposed to be and understand that you’re nowhere close to being a superstar and things will develop more quickly than you’d expect.

JW: You were recently winners of the 2008 DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Convention, which is an annual competition that honors the best in independent and self-promotion music. Please tell us more about this competition, your Grand Prize win, and how did it help in gaining exposure for the band?

CK: This is a great organization that looks to help independent bands get ahead, mostly by breaking down some of the realities of the industry. Their hope is that they can beat the idea of “instant stardom” out of bands by revealing how much they stand to lose by signing, or even pursuing, a record contract without first getting some basic protections in place. We got a chance to sit down at a private dinner with some amazing, top individuals from some of the biggest companies in the business. We asked questions for two or three hours over wine and when we walked out we were a little shell-shocked. It was like, “Did that really just happen?” These people weren’t there to tell us the fastest way to the top, they were there to tell us how to keep having fun and have a career. It was amazing.

JW: You have developed quite the following. Tell us about the venues you got the chance to perform in as well as the bands you got the opportunity to open up for?

CK: Things are always evolving on this front––we have amazingly supportive fans. We’ve been playing up and down Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood for a while now. Venues like the Viper Room, the House of Blues and, of course, one of our favorites, The Roxy. A little over a year ago now we got a chance to open the mainstage at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival, which meant opening for Peter Frampton. We were also one of the first-ever bands to play at the ComicCon in San Diego as part of a partnership with Tokyopop. California has been very good to us. But in a lot of ways we feel like it’s time to stretch out and tour nationally––we’ve started to aim for more festivals, conventions, and showcases because we really want to get out into the world and try some new material and, more importantly, introduce ourselves. We can’t wait to meet more people, but I already know we’re going to miss our fan base here––seeing them at shows, hanging out with them during the week and even throwing big parties together. It’s become like a family.

JW: What is next up for the band Intercept?

CK: First, we're a featured act for the launch of LP33.tv, a really incredible
site that is going to focus on unsigned bands -- and not just any unsigned
bands, but ones who they believe are making the music they want to while
purposefully avoiding major labels.

Our album is selling really well and is being played at over 70 radio stations right now, which was a hard thing to accomplish without major label connections.  We've also been added to a compilation CD going out with all the new books in the "Princess Ai" series from Tokyopop.

We've had a bunch of music appearing on TV shows and it's just been an
exciting time; but I guess the most exciting thing for us is that
pre-production has begun on another album.  A lot of creative energy is
starting to go into that, although touring colleges in support of "Magnolia
Road" has really just begun.  We're just riding the wave and having fun!
Check out their band's MySpace.

 

BIO: Jerod Williams is a playwright, screenwriter and freelance journalist. He is currently writing for LA Splash Magazine Online and reporting for the prestigious annual Mercedes Benz L.A. Fashion Week which is attended by various celebrities, fashion designers and critics. Last year, Jerod published his play The Manipulation . . . which can be purchased through various online outlets including Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Xlibris.com and his website, just to name a few. His most recent achievement was placing as a finalist in the Gimme Credit Screenplay Competition for his short screenplay The Lovelorn, an unconventional, May / December dark romantic comedy which ranked in the top 25 out of 1,000 entries. Jerod is also a member of EditRed and AuthorNation. Right now, he is working on a full length mystery/thriller screenplay and writing a novel.


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