-Interview- Aterra Tale (7/3/13)

Aterra Tale
www.facebook.com/aterra.tale
From: Princeton, IL
Sounds like: Rock

http://www.facebook.com/aterra.tale

1. How did the band come together and form? Who thought of the name “Aterra Tale” and is there any meaning behind it?

The band was originally formed by bassist Eric Kalina and drummer Jason Mancini. They had been playing together for years in various bands and decided to create something new and unique from what they were currently doing. Ryan Diemer, a fan of Eric and Jason's other bands, had found out that they were starting a new project and began sending samples of songs and riffs he had written over to Eric. After hearing his writing abilities they soon brought Ryan into the band and began writing the foundation of our first album "Of Fact and Fiction". After finishing the structure of the album it was time to find a singer. Eventually we found Scottie, another local scene musician who was in-between bands at the moment, and we invited him over for a tryout. After recording some vocals over the prewritten tracks, we decided we had found the final piece to the puzzle and we dove head first into finishing the album. The name "Aterra Tale" didn't originally have any context when we decided on the name. We literally had a list of names and Aterra Tale was the name that we eventually all agreed on. However, throughout the writing process, Scottie began associating some of his lyrics with fictional characters and stories that take place within the realm of "Aterra Tale". I guess you could say the name is evolving along with our writing.


2. What do you want listeners to take away from your music?

We try to write music that is easy to listen to and fun to get into. We aren't trying to redefine music or anything like that, we just want to create music that we feel proud of and share it with anyone who will listen. Our songs are meant to paint pictures within the minds of our audience and they can give the stories life based on how the music makes them feel and how it coincides with their personal lives.


3. How would you describe your music to the average listener?

A collaboration of diverse melodies, aggressive riffs, and catchy hooks that's fun and easy to get into.


4. What can people expect from your live show? Any crazy show stories?

Our live shows are loud, hard, and full of energy between the crowd and the band. You can also expect Scottie to kick over at least 3 or 4 beers on stage while he's running around. As for crazy stories we are still pretty new but we have a few. We had a homeless chap snag one of our stickers and he tried to sell it back to us. Also, we lost a large banner we had just ordered at one of our shows before we even got to use it. You'll have that...


5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?

Hmm. If we could only pick three we would have to go with Coheed and Cambria, Story of the Year, and The Used.


6. You guys shot a music video for the track “Against The World”, how was the shoot?

Actually, we weren't even at the shoot for this video, haha. We know a great director from our area (Marc Wilkinson) that is just getting started out in LA and we told him to take our song and run with it. As expected, it turned out great.


7. What’s your take on the current state of rock?

There are a ton of talented bands out there, especially now since many bands are able to produce albums themselves without the help of a label, you just have to do a little digging. We aren't fans of lot of the stuff you hear on the radio, as we don't like the whole "cookie-cutter" or "clone-rock" scene but there are some mainstream artists out there that catch our attention and we definitely enjoy.


8. What’s the current music scene like there in Illinois both locally and state wide?

Locally there are a lot of great musicians but there isn't really much of a scene, we are all from very small towns. But the few local bars and venues we do have, are great and welcome bands with open arms. The local fans are amazing and everyone loves really getting into the music and having a good time with the bands. Statewide there are some really great bands, only met a small portion of them but the ones we have gotten the chance to share the stage with have been talented and super cool to hang out with. We really want to try and get in the Chicago scene, the shows there are so fun and we love the city.


9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?

We don't really have a problem with illegal downloading. We have always felt that if you really enjoy the band and support what they are doing you will not have a problem buying their music and spreading the word. If people download your music and dig your tunes and come out to shows and support you then its a win, no matter how they got your music.


10. What’s next for Aterra Tale?

We are doing our best to spread the word about "Of Fact and Fiction" and trying to build a fan base and getting on as many cool gigs as we can. We are working on some new music videos, new album artwork, and we are also working on our second album.


11. Any shoutouts?

Lets see..... Throw the Fight, Three Years Hollow, Parabelle, Primer 55, A Memory Down, Allgood, Egon's Unicat, Dropt, FOIL, Ahymnsa, The Penny Dreadfuls, Those Dirty Thieves, Deity Disfigured, Goodbye Good Sense, Synapsis, Flannel Mouth, Still Heart Conspiracy, Beer Goggle Prophets, Life in Cycle, Mindset Evolution, Janus, ElevenFiftyTwo, XFactor Chicago, and each and every other hard working local musician who busts their ass for what they love, and to every band we have had the pleasure of playing with!! Captive Sounds for all the attention to detail!! Thanks to 105.7 the X for spinning our album. Big shout out to our little scene here at home...I.V. represent! ...And a huge shoutout to all the fans who support what we are doing and take the time to come out to our shows and scream our lyrics and bang their heads until the sun rises.