GETTING TO KNOW FALLING INTO RED
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
Interviewing: Scott Gainar & Amy Gainar
We live just south of Pittsburgh, PA..
We have a pretty vibrant live music scene all around the City. There are a number of small neighborhood hangouts, smaller venues as well as larger concert stages. From original music to cover bands, it’s very diverse. And there has definitely been a revival in support for live bands, and that’s really been great to see. However, It is definitely still a struggle for original music which is why having a unique, captivating sound and engaging live performance is so important.
Music Business…
For an indie band getting started, there hasn’t been a better time as far as reach. There are so many outlets that you basically have access to the world right in front of you. In addition to music sales, there are more placement and licensing opportunities than ever resulting from the heavy consumption of visual media these days. The challenge for any artist comes when trying to stand out among the masses. Anybody that has tried to find new, good music knows that there is a lot of “noise” that you have to trudge through to find the gems – you really need to stand out to be noticed. For us, in the short time we’ve been working together on this, the overall experience has been great. We feel we have a unique sound for our genera and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We are very thankful for our fans and the many supporters we have and really appreciate all the work they have been doing to get us out there.
I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
Amy: That’s a tough one. We have been so lucky to get to talk with so many of the musicians we admire when we’ve gone to see them play, at their shows and at different music festivals. And, when we went on the Axes and Anchors cruise last year, we really got to talk a bit more in depth with some of them – from all the guys in Breaking Benjamin to Alex Skolnick, to Pamela Moore, Marty Friedman, Chris Broderick, Trevor from Thousand Foot Krutch, and even a few words with Yngwie Malmsteen. So that’s a tough one to answer. We’re going to see a few Alter Bridge shows coming up – so it would be great to be able to talk with those guys. We have a few questions for them that we’re hoping to get the chance to ask.
Haunt Me
Amy: In the beginning, “Haunt Me” was about loss and losing someone when you were totally unprepared to lose it. At first, we were writing with a specific situation in mind. But as it was developing, we realized that it was a more universal feeling.
While it certainly still represents loss and the agonizing feelings surrounding loss and getting over a loss, it could also be a vice, addiction or something someone is in the grips of, as they try to overcome it and eventually succumb to it. I think we’ve all been there at one point: haunted by something, yearning for something or desperate to get through a situation.
And actually, we’re finding that it has meant a lot of different things to people. A friend of ours was moved by it because to her it represented love and longing for new beginnings. And another friend, who is going through some medical issues right now, said that, to her, it represents trying to overcome her illness even when on some days she wants to give in to it.
So it’s really interesting, the different ways it has been interpreted.
As far as a back story about the song, we knew we wanted to start writing songs together and were working though song ideas. Scott’s brother was going through a divorce and so we were helping him through all of the mixed up feelings and the process of the whole thing. And that sort of fed into the focus for the lyrics. Scott had already been working on a music and instrumentation idea that he had for it, so I started jotting down some words and then we worked through them with the music playing in our studio until we had something that we were happy with. We recorded the vocals, and made a few more adjustments, mixed it and put it out there to see what happened.
The Album…
Amy: For me, I think the main significance of the album is that it is our collaboration, together. We both have always had a definite love of music, and Scott has an amazing talent for creating music, and my strength has always been writing, so finding each other, and putting it all together is the best part of all of this.
But beyond that, it’s a well-thought out and performed alternative rock album with influences from our favorite bands, like Breaking Benjamin, Alter Bridge and Starset. We’ve been to so many concerts and music festivals, that it’s great to be able to put something out there and imagine all of the “what ifs.” And that makes it special, too.
Scott: I agree. It’s really about our partnership and what we can create together. Musically, there are a number of different components to Falling into Red and our overall sound. First, big, heavy guitars – rock guitar was my first musical love and all of our music is based upon and delivered in the “rock band” format. Weaved into this you will hear orchestral/cinematic and modern synth/techo elements that are drawn from my composition background and time spent composing underscore for games, movies and advertising. Music for visual media is primarily used to create emotion and feeling that supports the intent of the visual. I like to use these elements to further support the musical message we are trying to convey with our music.
Social Links:
http://soundcloud.com/fallingintored/haunt-me
http://www.twitter.com/fallingintored
http://www.facebook.com/fallingintored