After several ideas were bantered around, Rod threw out "The Advisors". Hmmm....simple, and it doesn't necessarily denote a style. And that's about it. We both realize that a name of a band is almost irrelevant if you like the music. I mean, Nirvana sounded like a cliche Top 40 cover band name to me....

The problem with bands is that they often evolve to become the reason for being rather that a vehicle to write and perform great music. Rod and I have decided that we will finish a CD, a hard product in hand, before pursuing a band situation. At that point, we will be supporting the music and not a boys club which becomes an uncontrollable entity in itself. The music is the most important aspect of what we do and a band shouldn't deteriorate that concept.

Of course, I love playing live and can't wait until we can get something going on the live front.

We will let you know when - and it will be quite a while yet - we play live.

I don't think the advent of MP3 encoding has so much changed the record industry, but it has certainly changed the listener! It has made music portable and more obtainable. Slowly, yes perhaps it's changing the music industry indirectly, but the established and cumbersome ways of the record labels means change will be slow...and of course they'll want it their way.

While most of us artists will never be rich, or even able to make of living from producing music, the saving grace is that the MP3 format and the internet is allowing us to let you hear ours and other great bands' music. Before, we were poor AND completely unknown!

Only if they could pay me more than what I make now in my real career, and guaranty certain degree of artistic license, would I consider putting myself in such a high risk situation.

It seems that the "record contract" is simply a horribly poor loan that enslaves artists into borrowing more and more money. Think of it this way, if you own your home - or at least have a mortgage - and the bank or whoever owns the loan specifies in your loan that you will consult them in every detail of the home's upkeep - like the paint you use to the contractors you hire, and if they don't like what you've done they can force you to hire someone else to redo the work - there would be no mortgage industry. And, every cent you bring in be it your job or other sources of income go to the mortgage company first to pay off the loan. What a racket!

For some reason, most major labels believe that while the artists are good enough to get their attention, the artists are hapless to produce any music without the label's direct input. As if the record label folks - and I know some of them are musicians and artists themselves - simply purchased a band to make into puppets. The perspective seems to be the artist is an idiot and by the grace of the label, a lump of coal will be made into a diamond. Most bands and artists today do have a bit of savvy and a lot of previous examples to develop their own sound. Why can't artists be allowed to let people hear what they want them to hear rather than what the record industry thinks they should hear?

In 1996 Rod and I were in a local band called Josephine Ocean. I played bass and he was the singer. The band broke up and Rod and I went separate ways. In 2006 after moving back from Seattle, I wanted to get another project going and thought who was the best singer I've worked with? That was Rod. We've been slowly finishing songs since mid-2006.

My influences, while not nearly as broad as it should be are primarily electronic and rock - classic rock. Rod is more the smoothy - jazz and standards, and of course rock.

What you will find me listening to these days are Queen, Frou Frou, The Cars, Tears for Fears (their new stuff rocks), Curt Smith (solo work, bass player and singer/songwriter from Tears for Fears), White Stripes, and Counting Crows - just can't get enough of that Telecaster twang!

I'll have to ask Rod what he's listening to these days...

Of the few major cities I've been to, Portland is the best for me. I like Dallas quite a bit, it's they way big cities should be laid out - and great restaurants too! Denver is pretty and laid back like Portland, Phoenix - too hot! Atlanta - nice but I've not been there during their hot season to know how bad it gets there, Los Angeles - too big - City of Freeways, San Diego - very pretty, Seattle - charming but too crowded and expensive, I've lived there as well.

Recording

AMD based dual 3800 PC, Cubase SX3, RME Hammerfall interface.
Mackie mixers for monitoring synths
Behringer MIC200 mic preamp
Behringer 1955 Compressor
DBX1066 compressor
Rode NT2 Condensor
Shure SM57 Dynamic

Guitars
Gibson Firebird, Gretsch Duojet, Fender Telecaster, Danelectro Hodad, Line6 Variax 300, Squier Standard Strat, Epiphone Les Paul Standard, Musicman Stingray 4 string bass, Yamaha RBX375 5 string bass.
Vox AD60VTX and AD30VT amps
Fender Performer 1000 amp

Synths
Yamaha: Motif ES, AN1X, EX5R, CS2X, and A4000
EMU: Audity, XL1, Orbit
Roland: JV1080
Soft synths in the PC