5 Questions
with...
1. If I knew absolutely nothing about Mar,
how would you describe the group’s music to me?
-- It's very hopeful... It's not necessarily sad
music, it's not necessarily happy. 'The Sound' is sort of a powerfully
content record in my opinion. There is a lot of intensity, and a lot of
thought-provoking ambience.
2. If I were to buy your new album,
what songs should I pay particular attention to and why?
-- 'A Celebration' is the opening track of the
record (tends to be people's favorite). It's definitely the most climactic
song on the record. 'Mother Star Sun' and 'Lover' are also very single-friendly,
though two completely different moods. Also, 'Underwater', which has
been used overseas on several soundtracks in film and television is
a very epic song, which has a wide spectrum from completely calm to
completely intense.
3. When and where did the band form, and where did the
name come from? -- I started the
band in 2003 in Charlotte, NC. In 2004 we started getting a lot of local
attention, and then after our debut 'The Silence', which we recorded in Reykjavik,
Iceland after Sigur Ros opened up their studio to us, we started getting
a lot of worldwide attention, from a very particular fan base. Since then,
the band went back to just being me, but I've formed a new band in my current
hometown of Fayetteville, AR. This is the band that recorded 'The Sound'.
The name Mar was my mom's name. She died of cancer in 1999.
4.
What was your worst on stage experience? What was your
best?
-- I sing in a lot of falsetto, sometimes very
strong, loud falsetto. Anyone, who has an untrained voice knows that
at least 1 out of every 1,000 times you sing in falsetto your voice cracks....one
time while playing a show in Charlotte, in front of about 800 people,
my voice didn't necessarily crack as much as it grew legs and took off
running around everywhere. It was horrifying to see the crowd, the sound
guy, and even the rest of the band trying hard not to laugh at me!
So far, my best experience live was also in Charlotte, NC. We had the
honor of opening for the Icelandic band Mum, whom I've always loved and
respected....we nailed our set that night, and afterwards my manager
at the time came to me with tears in his eyes amazed by the show, and
told me how he had overheard the compliments that the Mum guys and girls
were telling each other about my band and my voice. That meant a lot
to me. (Two of the guys from Mum ended up playing on a producing our
record when we went to Iceland).
5. Do you think that the Internet (whether it be Internet
radio, legal downloading, MySpace, streaming audio, etc.) is a good tool
for musicians or is it a bad thing because it hinders profits?
-- It is all great in my opinion. Perhaps I would
think differently had I started making music when the only record sales you
had were from...record sales! The only reason I'm making a living, running
a band, running a record label, and have the means to continue is because
of internet radio, myspace, blogs, and downloading. How could I not be happy
with it.
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