We recently had the pleasure of interviewing WithoutSpaces, a Christian Rock band from Bay Area, California.
These guys have been busy but they gave us a few minutes to discuss the latest news and what inspires their music.
Let’s crack the ice. Who are you? Where are you from? What style of music do you create?
Mack: We are the Swarm, jk we’re withoutspaces, an alternative christian rock band hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. We make music that people can enjoy listening to. Currently that’s brought us to a pop-rock kinda sound, but we’re looking into adding a ton of new stuff in the next year. Most of us are gamers (hence the Starcraft 2 reference) and we’re a buncha pretty laid back guys who love doing what we do.
James: We are WithoutSpaces from a little town called Millbrae. We create alternative rock music akin to Switchfoot, 30 Seconds To Mars, (etc, name influences).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzwhE-lPXMY
When did you guys come together? How did you choose the name WithoutSpaces?
Mack: The band started with myself and my younger brother, James, back in 2010 and we decided that we wanted to put our musical experience to the test and see if we could even make music. After writing about 20 songs in our backyard we decided that we weren’t half bad, that we had things we wanted to say to people, and that going into the music business would be a fun experience (overall it really has). The name WithoutSpaces has a variety of meanings associated with it, and each band member has their own take on what the name means to them, but for me it really sums up my mission for the band, to be a band that interacts continually with it’s listeners. I wanted to make a band that was made up of members that just wanted to build relationships. As Clay Shirky once said at the web 2.0 conference, we’re moving towards a period where Media that doesn’t interact with you may not be worth your time. So thats our goal, be super engaging and interactive with our listeners, who to me are our friends and supporters.
James: We came together after me and you decided that we wanted a band that was not just a fling or a passing fad, but as something that was a serious commitment – and we’ve ran with it from there. We chose the name WithoutSpaces, honestly, because we wanted to know what the best, most innovative thing we could do as a band was. We decided to challenge ourselves by naming ourselves WithoutSpaces – what if a band cut as much of the red tape out as they could, and were just more people along with the large group of people known as the “world”? We’d like to think we’re doing well in that regard.
When did (any of) you realize you were going to make music your journey? Any “ah-ha” moments?
Mack: For me and my brother it was when we went to our first couple of Switchfoot concerts. Getting to meet them and talk to them about hopes, dreams, music, surfing, helped give me the encouragement and strength to put everything on the line and begin the journey as a musician.
Did you decide before coming together as WithoutSpaces? Or did you all decide collectively this was it?
For each member its a little different, but again for me and James we knew this was it right after we recorded our EP with our producer Jordan Park. That was the moment we were locked in.
Who or what inspires your songwriting and playing styles?
What doesn’t! hah! some bands within the pop/rock genre that I’ve listened to were Switchfoot, Relient K, Foo Fighters, Goo Goo Dolls, Maroon 5. Outside of that genre I listen to a ton of Electronic music from producers like Skrillex, Nero, Above and Beyond, Aviici, and back when I was younger I was an avid hip-hop and RnB fan and have listened to Usher since he first got started back in the 90’s
What was the last song you listened to?
The last song I listened to according to my iTunes player was actually a Japanese Rock song by an artist called Lisa, its called “Crossing Fields” and I’m planning on implementing some of the musical characteristics of the song in my future songwriting sessions.
What is the scene like in your area? How big is the Christian Rock market out West?
The scenes half decent. It’s a little bit bigger if you head over Northeast toward Sacramento and gets bigger also when you get into the South Bay around San Jose. We’re still trying to figure out exactly which genre we want to be firmly associated with, the Christian Rock genre or just the Alternative Rock genre. Either way, we’re all Christians and that is expressed throughout everything we do everywhere we go regardless of which genre we end up settling in.
How was it playing with Switchfoot and Relient K at Joshua Fest? I’m imagining a lot of fun?
A BLAST! those guys are AWESOME! Joshuafest does a great job taking care of artists. This was the second year we’ve worked with them and it’s not set in stone, but I believe we’ll be working with them again this fall. I spent more time with Switchfoot than Relient K this time though. I know the guys in Switchfoot a lot better, and since I surf as well it gives a nice common ground with them.
What are your goals for 2013? What can we expect?
We’re having a huge crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.com it should be up and running sometime in May with a whole slew of awesome fun perks to redeem. You can check it out in May at http://igg.me/at/withoutspaces
Where can we grab your album? Where can people find you online?
You can find our album on iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon Music, and if you’re interested in just checking out the stuff but don’t really wanna pay go listen to the entire album streaming on Spotify. In fact, if you just go to our facebook page you’ll be able to just click LISTEN and it’ll bring you to our album on Spotify. Our main web hub is http://www.withoutspaces.com and from there you can get access to all our major social media platforms where you can contact each band member directly with questions or whatever you want to talk about!
Any last thoughts or shout-outs?
Keep an eye out for the main website, www.withoutspaces.com we’re gonna be unloading some new stuff onto it by the summer. *Hint* *Hint* there will be some unconventional media that we’re producing that’s beyond what your typical band will do. We’re calling the project Ruby Sonata.
