Prophetstown's own local boys Alborn (formerly Alborn
Theory) are making quite the impact in rock music not just locally but all over
the radio and available to stream on Spotify and download from iTunes. They
have been recording for the last year and a half at The Attic Recording Studios
(in Geneseo, IL) as well as released the single "Full Circle" accompanied
with a music video and have recently launched their own online store where you can
purchase merchandise including their new T-shirt, drum heads, guitar picks,
koozies and more.
These young musicians have been making a dent in the music
scene and JMR had our NEW team member CRYSTAL BLUE have a Q & A with them after
she checked out their Halloween show on Oct. 27. Check out this Q & A with
Crystal Blue and Alborn Drummer, Alex Raser.
(by-DanismDEATH)
(by-DanismDEATH)
Crystal Blue: Let's start in the obvious place, the
beginning. Let's lay the ground work so
our readers will know where and how it all began...
First of all, whose idea was this? Who is responsible for getting Alborn
together?
Alex Raser: Thanks for showing interest in us! Alborn Theory
started as a solo project by Justin [Taylor] (lead guitar/vocals) during high
school writing originals as a hobby. Once it was discovered that some/all of
the material had the potential to be played out, but would pose difficulty
without a full band, he sought out the drummer [Raser], and a couple other
buddies that he had musical history with.
CB: How long have you been playing music; individually, and
collectively?
AR: The band has since gone thru a couple lineup changes,
landing on the current lineup we have now and have had for over 2 years, with
Justin at guitar & vocals, Zame [Lewis] at bass, Tyler [Mendenhall] (Meaty)
on guitar, and Raser on drums & unclean vocals.
CB: And what a lineup it is!
Are all of you from the same hometown? Did you guys all know each other
from school, or did someone point you in the right direction when you were in
the process of switching out band members?
AR: Justin, Tyler, and myself are all from Prophetstown and
knew each other beforehand, yes. Justin and I’s dads played music together for
many years when we were younger, so you could say that was one of the main
aspects that brought Justin and I together at a young age. Meaty was a family
friend of sorts that hung out and ran around with us when we were just getting
started, and stepped up to the plate when we were in need of a filler guitarist
for a gig way back when, which made it easy for us to bring him on to the
permanent roster when we separated from our former guitarist. Zame is from Sterling,
and with many family members having a history in music, we caught wind of him
brought him in for an audition, and it didn’t take us long to decide he was
just what we needed.
CB: Agreed, he definitely does keep that low end locked in
tight! My nose was getting tickled
Saturday night with all that boom!
Tell me about the writing process a little bit, Raser. Do
you each get to write your own parts with some guidance with what Justin brings
to the table?
AR: For us, building a song typically begins with a single
guitar riff. Justin will present it to the rest of us and we will give our
opinions, offer changes, or whatever we feel on it, and it just kind of goes on
from there. We’ll continue to build around that riff with everything complementing
each other. Justin will often times assist everyone in the building of their
parts, but there is definitely always room for everyone to put their own spin
on it.
CB: Do you guys use practice time to write collectively? Is
the writing process a constant thing, or is there time for that set aside from
dialing in current originals?
AR: As far as balancing rehearsal with writing time, it
really depends on the tasks on hand and what’s coming in the near future, so we
sort of have to play it by ear. Especially with how much we’ve been recording,
we’ve had to bust buns to get all the new tunes down to a T to be able to
perform them live.
CB: All the hard work definitely shows at your live
performances, and nothing makes a band tighter than jamming nonstop. It's a rare thing when a group of young
talented musicians can keep all their heads pointed in the same direction. So,
kudos to you guys for that.
As of right now, what is the status of Alborn's musical
catalog?
AR: Well, as you might know, we’ve spent the last year and a
half at the Attic recording studios, recording material co-produced by Jose
Urquiza of 3 Years Hollow and co-owner of the Attic, and Morgan Rose of
Sevendust. So far, we have recorded 10 songs. What we intend to do with them as
far as how we release them is still in the works honestly, some have names,
some just placeholders or "codenames." As of now, we’re working on promoting our
new single and music video “Full Circle” that was released Oct. 23rd. Depending
on where that takes us could affect the standpoint of future releases.
CB: Let's talk about this new single. "Full Circle" has a much heavier
sound than your first single "Settling In." Would you guys still
consider yourselves Hard Rock or would you say your sound has evolved into
Metal, or both?
AR: I would most definitely classify it as metal, or we like
to use the term alternative metal, hard shit with a lot of depth if you will,
ha-ha. But yes we have definitely evolved and sought out new direction in the
best of ways, we believe. But that’s what it’s all about, new discoveries and
endeavors. Where would the fun be just re-writing in the same format and style
throughout one’s career?!
CB: That is definitely true.
There is a definite change in heaviness and the sound is more complex.
How long did the new single take to get thru the writing process, from riff to
finished recording?
AR: When we brought the riff ideas into the studio, we were
suuuper stumped at just above ground zero at first. It went through the ringer
big time. But eventually after about 2 days of running in place, we had a
breakthrough that set the pace and it was smooth sailing from there. Took us
about a day to get the rest of the song mapped out and recorded for the most
part.
CB: I suppose it's time to ask the most obvious question; what
is "Full Circle" about?
AR: "Full circle" is about the process of getting
stuck into a monotonous cycle, you could relate this to life in general or a
specific situation. As well as the thoughts that come with, the fear of trying
to step out and going down the wrong path, and so forth.
CB: What made you guys decide that this was the song that
should become your newest single?
AR: We just felt like that was then one that was the best
vein for demonstrating our improved sound. It incorporates all the elements,
some stronger than others, but it’s very well rounded as far as all of the new
factors go.
CB: I really liked the effect of using vertical lighting in
the video. Who shot the video for you and how long was the process? Did you guys give a lot of direction or did
you give the videographer full creative control?
AR: It was shot by Freddy D’Angelo of FDS Studios, based out
of St. Louis, and also edited and produced by himself and his partner Jordan
Hageman. And I would say it was a collaboration of ideas for putting it all
together. We had some broad ideas that we wanted and Freddy helped us narrow
down the logistics of it all. It was recorded at a place called Utopia Studios,
in St. Louis. We drove down Saturday afternoon, recorded alllllll day Sunday,
and drove back Sunday night. Honestly Freddy made it very smooth and as
painless as possible, he does great work and knows what he’s doing for sure.
CB: What's on the horizon for Alborn? Are you guys going to keep bringing new
material into The Attic to record?
AR: At the moment we’re just working on pushing our new
single as much as we can and getting our name to the right people. Eventually
we’d love to get some more material laid down, but many things are still up in
the air so we’re not sure when that time will come.
CB: Any tour plans in
the works or major plans/events up your sleeve you'd like to hint around at for
your fans?
AR: We definitely wanna go out on the road, hopefully
sometime mid-next year once we’ve established rock solid support in the local
area to help propel us into other regions. We have Jose on our side along with
tons of business contacts so playing our cards right could result in great
things happening.
CB: We have a pretty good community of musicians in our area
doing a variety of different things.
It's always good to see two or more bands on the same bill, I think it
helps draw them out. You guys play in a much broader area than some, in Kewanee
and the QCA and such. Is there any
advice you guys can give other aspiring musicians who want to take their sound
to the next level as well?
AR: Outsourcing to new places, meeting new faces, and
playing to new ears is very important. Many times, especially with local bands
that may not have a lot of material that people can listen to, people will form
their impression based off of your live show. Get your live show tight as can
be and showcase it in as many different venues and events as possible! Music is
a product and one must be convinced it’s a great product!
CB: Alright, one more question. Collectively, who are your
top five musical influences, band or musician?
AR: Deftones, Mudvayne, Tool, Korn, Alice in Chains. There
can be many more but it starts with those bands and branches out from there
basically ha-ha.
CB: Thanks so much guys!
(by Crystal Blue / edited by-DanismDEATH)
Check out Alborn on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/albornofficial
You can check out Alborns merch store:
https://squareup.com/store/alborn/
Check out The Attic Recording Studios:
https://www.facebook.com/theatticrecordingstudios/
**Check out the Jon McClause reporting Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/jonmcclausereporting/
DANismDEATH: https://www.facebook.com/danismdeath
Crystal Blue: https://www.facebook.com/Crystal-Blue-217832595595742/
