Indie Music Stop: Interview April 2008
http://indiemusicstop.com

IMS: Your band mixes many different musical elements to achieve your sound. How do you describe your music?


Aric: Industrifemetal rock. does that count? (industrial female vocal metal rock music). So I guess we’re abrasive, clean, and sexy all at the same time.

Kirsten: That’s a fun, new word!

Josh: The three of us each have a vast pool of varying musical tastes.  Between us the influences range from blues and jazz singers to rock and roll, funk, metal, industrial music and too many more to mention.  Our music incorporates computer programming and synthesizers, but when you really break our songs down I believe we're a rock and roll band that happens to utilize modern technology.  We're rock music for the 21st century. 



IMS:  How did the band get started? Did you know each other?


Josh: Aric and I met through mutual friends early in 2001.  I had been doing electronic music since I was 16 years old and he had been playing guitar from an even earlier age.  He heard some of the things I was working on and we decided to get together and work on things.  For a while the sessions were just experiments in mixing his guitars with my then primitive programming.  Life took its course and we both ended up on a hiatus from the project until 2005 when we had both broke free of the groups we were in during the hiatus.  We both had sharpened our respective musical abilities and decided to give the project another go. We brought in Kirsten, an amazing vocalist with whom Aric had previously worked with.  This new combination must have been cosmic in nature because from that point on the lot of us have seemed to explode with creativity.

Aric: Josh put it best from my end other than to add that that we had done work with another female vocalist in the past and we had thought about going with another female vocalist again. Kirsten stuck out in my mind from meeting her and working with her in a previous band. I really liked her vocals on the one song she did guest vocals for, so when Josh and I talked about a vocalist she immediately into mind. When she came to work with us I actually wasn't sure what to expect vocally other than what I already knew: she was really good. When she first started singing with some music we had been working on, I was blown away and knew we would all work great together.

Kirsten: I guess I’m the newbie in the group. Aric and Josh have been doing Wreckcreation for almost seven or eight years, now, and I’ve only been with them since 2005. 



IMS:  What do you hope people take away from hearing your music?


Aric: Well...everyone interprets things differently. There are emotions and messages in our music, but I would honestly hope that listeners take what they want or need from it, whether it be an emotion or message, or simply listening for entertainment. Music is food for the soul. What you get out of it all depends on what you’re hungry for.

Josh: After hearing us, I hope people will realize that there are way more possibilities to music than what they've been exposed to through music video channels, that music, bands, and artists don't have to be one style.  Red is boring; blue is boring, but red and blue is purple.

Kirsten: The only thing I have ever wanted to accomplish when making music is this: to make people feel the way that I feel when I hear a great song. I love that soul-swelling, excited feeling I get when a great song comes on the radio or the next track on the CD is your favorite. I want to give those good sensations to people.



IMS: Are you working on any recording projects?

Josh: We are currently recording our as-yet-to-be-named debut album with Rowen Poole (Persephone's Dream).  Also on the album will be some songs that we previously recorded with Larry Luther at Mr. Smalls Studios in Pittsburgh.  Both are great engineers and producers and you can hear the Larry Luther tracks at our Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/wreckcreation 



IMS: I like good 'on the road stories' will you tell us about one of the more strange things that has happened at one of your shows? 

Josh: Does opening for somewhat big, headlining band and seeing some of their members pee behind a dumpster count?  For legal reasons I shall go no further...

Aric: Oh man. All I can say is, “thank God for oddly-placed, overly-expensive Radio Shacks, and the random people that know they're there.” Other than that and Josh's circular directional skills, I can't think of anything good. I'm sure you have a good one, Kirsten.

Kirsten: Driving to do a show in Cleveland with Josh in the lead of the Wreckcreation caravan was quite the experience.  I think it took us a good half an hour trying to figure out how to get into the hotel parking lot while driving down a one way street with a concrete barrier blocking our path. By far, though, I think the best story has been from the same Cleveland show, where we were the only people to show up on time…literally. The staff, headliners…everyone was late. We sat in our cars forever, and when they finally let us in the venue, we had to sit for several more hours because we couldn’t get answers or directions from the staff, and we were starting to think we had made the long haul for nothing, that we had been forgotten. Finally, the promoter called my cell phone asking us if we were canceling because we hadn’t shown up yet. I was like, “Uhh… We’ve been here for a few hours already. We’re sitting on our equipment in front of the stage. I’m the brunette with the really long hair.” Man, he was so embarrassed. 



IMS: If you could have the chance to play with any band who would it be?

Josh: If I were to pick any group or artist, it would probably be Kanye West, the most talented man in hip-hop at the moment. I feel we share a common thread in that we're not afraid to mix and mash different styles together

Kirsten: Nine Inch Nails. Hands down. I think Trent Reznor is a brilliant composer, producer…everything. And he puts on an awesome show. I would love to be a part of that.

Aric: Wow… Honestly there are a lot of bands that have been a huge inspiration to me as an artist that I would love to be able to share a stage with. I already had the opportunity to do that with Chemlab, one of my favorite bands. Those guys are awesome!  So I guess I'll say Rob Zombie. He'd be up there on the list, but there are a lot of other bands I'd love to be able to share a stage with.


IMS: Have you been touring any outside of the Pittsburgh area?

Aric: I wouldn't say touring just yet, but we have been playing some shows outside the Pittsburgh area. It's been great. We’re really mainly focused on the album right now but I'd love to get out to a lot more cities and play a lot more shows outside of the area.

Kirsten: We’ve hit Cleveland, Columbus, some other Ohio cities, and we’ve made it to some northern parts of Pennsylvania. We love to travel, and want to do much more of it. We’re going to spread Wreckcreation as far as we can once the album is finished.

Josh: We would certainly love to do more! If you would like to see us in your area contact your local venue or promoter, if you don't know any then shoot us an e-mail at wreckcreation@gmail.com 


IMS: Anything we missed that you would like to get out to the readers?

Aric: I just hope people enjoy the music. I know I enjoy making it. Get out and support the local artists. Who knows? You might have a lot of fun.

Josh: Mainly, don't be afraid to listen to different types of music.

Kirsten: There is some great music our there that the public is missing because no one is taking the time to look for it, or because the artists don’t fit the mold as far as appearance goes. Our radio airwaves and Mtv are highly controlled outlets, so they don’t give you a good idea of actual talent and good songwriting. People that rely on them are missing out on some of the greatest music they would have ever heard. Don’t take what’s handed to you, and think for yourself.

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