CH: How long have you guys been playing together? How did you meet? Why did you decide to become a band?
Scott: we have been playing together for six years. pat and i started 8 years ago, gradually picked up the stragglers along the way. we started the band as musical outlet for our different personalities.
Pat: "Why," you ask? I guess if I had to answer why we did it... For me, Its because I'm completely obsessed with making, playing, listening to, watching, experiencing music by any means available. Its truly a sickness.

CH: How did you come up with the name The HipNecks ?
Scott: because Creed was already taken.
Pat: Well, there is that... and a Funny Story: We didn't have that name until mere weeks before we released our first album, Just Another Fine Day, in 2005. We went by "The Farmhouse" for over a year, and then Harrison taught us about Phish. That obviously ruined it for us as we didn't want people to think we were some kind of tribute band. So... we had a big pile of names, and everybody liked a different one. It was a nightmare. We did one last show at the bar where we first started playing several years before (which we still frequent), and we let a rowdy crowd vote on it by measure of applause taken by our applaus-o-meter, Peter Works-Leary. The name "The HipNecks" won, and that was that. Our fans voted on it, and I can't think of a more appropriate way for it to have been settled.

CH: Who are some of your major influences ? (why?)
Pat: Big Smith, Led Zeppelin, the Band, and most importantly, everyone I have ever played music with.
Scott: belinda carlisle is a big influence of mine. and ghandi.
Stubbs: Dennis Chambers, Phish, Burning Spear, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who. I always look up to musicians who go outside of the norm, perhaps push the envelope of the standard 4/4 time. John Fishman and Dennis Chambers are two of my favorites who really go beyond traditional rhythm.
Renne: Radiohead, Pink Floyd and Wilco. The things they can do creatively and emotionally in a 4 or 5 minute song are incredible.
 

CH: What is that song "takin out the trash" about? (who wrote it? Does it stem from real life experiences? etc....)
Scott: I'm sorry, i can't reveal that. It does stem from real life experiences, but the subject matter is an inside joke and i am afraid it will have to remain that way or my mother will be seriously dissappointed in me.

CH: Where is your favorite place to play?
Scott: I like Lucas School house in STL, it is my favorite room to play. the sound is great and the crowds always seem to have lots of fun. I also like playing at the blue note, everytime you go on stage it is fun to just think about all the other great acts that have played on that stage before you.
Renne: Shiloh's is up there. The crowd always has a great energy and are always receptive. When we knocked the power out a few years ago and all our instruments went dead, they kept chanting the lyrics until power came back on. Crowds don't get much more supportive than that.
Stubbs: Anyplace we have never played before. Its always a great experience being taken out of your comfort zone and playing to new faces and a new environment.
Harrison: any place where people appreciate music and live entertainment.
Pat: anywhere that allows music... the Blue Note will always be my favorite stage. The place is oozing with nostalgia.

CH: Do you use any particular brand of instruments. If so, what? Any particular reason why?
Pat: "When I was in China on the All-America Harmonica Team, I just loved playing music with my Hohner Special 20 Harmonica." (big smile for camera) I just bought a Collings mandolin that cost more than my truck. I will never again feel as satisfied with a purchase as I did that day. The playability of an instrument really makes a difference. The top on my last mandolin caved in, and I had the bridge propped up with dimes, nickels and paint stirring sticks I found in the closet of the Fieldhouse when we were doing a Hatrick show there. I still have it, it sounds awful.
Scott: I like to play guitars that sound good onstage, but are not too expensive that I can't be scared to beat on it and toss it around a bit. My ibanez acoustic has been the best to this point.

CH: How would you classify yourselves in the musical world? (country, rock, indie etc.)
Pat: Good question.
Scott: Midwestern rural americana rock or Trash Can Americana
Harrison: Traditional rock based with country/mountain music vibes. 

CH: Can you tell us about your upcoming album? (title, major inspirations, differences from the last one etc)
Renne: The new album is considerably different than our first. Where with the first, we recorded all our tracks within a 2 or 3 week period. Here, we've been recording and revising our parts for nearly a year now, and the extra time has really paid off. The hastiness in which we recorded our first album gave it an improvised feel, which worked out great for a first outing. The material was straightforward and we were simply adding to the main elements of the songwriting. Now, we've taken the songwriting and pushed and pulled it in each of our own directions to create something more complex. The main elements of the songwriting are still very much there, but they now have an expanded purpose. We've also been adding instrumentation that wasn't there on the first album. That coupled with a healthy dose of experimentation has resulted is something you can't listen to once to pick up on everything.
Harrison: I think its typical of the sophomore effort, more collective song writing and diversity with the overall emotions of the songs. We tried to focus on what the core elements of the song were and only add what was necessary, instead of trying to pack every option available and ending up with something sounding busy. But overall, we wanted to make sure we still had great energy throughout the album.
Pat: There are still incredibly busy songs on there, we didn't learn the true potency of brevity until we arranged "A Day is an Inch" and "AM Gold." I'm excited to carry that lesson into the next project.

CH: Are you a signed band? If so, what label?
Scott: not signed as of right now, but we are always open to new and exciting offers.
Pat: Our new record is being released nonexclusively through local label Home Tone Records. 

CH: Any amusing anecdotes you care to share? (on the road? local?)
Scott: never go on the road with sean canan. he smells like burnt turnips. oh...and when in colorado...drink beer or alcohol brewed or distilled in colorado, it is never better than in the mountains. come to think of it...EVERYTHING is better in the mountains.
Pat: You don't have much room to talk, Scooter... Word to the wise: Don't do "chili night" on the road when you have a van full of 5 grown men... Then after you learn your lesson, don't be so careless as to do it again the following week.
On a side note: We are referencing the work of Einstein in developing way to 'skip' the drive through Kansas...folding space, time and all that jazz. Due to inadequate inventory of current assets, we don't yet posses the means nor the resources to construct our space/time continuum folding machine. But once we do, everyone in the world will finally be able skip Kansas in their travels... and suffer uncontrollable fits of joy in regards.

CH: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
(All): Thank YOU.

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BUSTING DOWN THE GARAGE DOOR
Local bands on a budget equalize the musical playing field
VOX MAGAZINE, July 11, 2006.

Columbia might not have the music scene of Seattle, but plenty of local bands are anxious to get their music out to the public. But how does an emerging band that has never released an album do it successfully? Many local bands in Columbia have found their own ways to accomplish this task.

Lack of time and money are often obstacles for bands trying to produce their own albums. Some local bands are tackling these issues by transforming their homes into makeshift recording studios.

We did all our recording at home, says Jarrett Crader, bassist for the Kingdom Flying Club. Because band member Matthew ONeill studied recording, the band successfully recorded and mastered its albums for the price of microphones and new drumheads and did it with no more than a desktop computer, a low-end 16-track soundboard and some ingenuity.

Sometimes you could run into problems like sound quality, Crader says. But you could always go back and re-record what you didnt like.

The recording for the bands debut album, Minutes from the Meeting, was so successful the band self-recorded its second album, Non-Fiction, and its Sumutra Fox EP.

However, some bands might not possess the expertise or equipment needed for an at-home recording project. In that case, a visit to a local recording studio, such as Pete Szkolkas self-titled facility, is in order. Producing an album begins with the band recording a basic track. After a band records this track, the next step is overdubbing. During this process, each instrument is separated with musicians playing in different rooms. Then they are recorded onto their own track as the band plays over the original recording.

Mixing, when each track is processed and blended, comes next. Volume, tone and audio effects, such as reverberation, are changed on their individual tracks and then blended into a stereo mix. Finally, in the editing stage, computers are used to add precise touch-ups or major alterations on the tracks.

The price of recording can fluctuate greatly depending on the amount of time dedicated to each of the steps.

Szkolka says a singer with a karaoke machine who records a few songs will likely spend a few hundred dollars, and a band actively involved in the overdubbing and mixing processes could expect to spend up to a few thousand dollars.

After production, the CD is ready to be submitted to a record label. But as Crader points out, its important that bands not go overboard with the information they release when sending out their CDs.

Labels get packets from people that are ridiculous, says Crader, who also works in public relations for Columbias Emergency Umbrella recording label. We dont want 40 pages of biography.

Emergency Umbrella, which represents local bands including Bald Eagle, The Doxies and Witchs Hat, leaves the recording in the hands of its artists. However, the label facilitates the bands production, distribution and promotion of CDs and provides guidance in graphic design.

Crader says Emergency Umbrella can spend $1,200 to $1,500 to make 1,000 copies of an album. Next, one department sends the CD to music magazines and Web sites for review, while another mails copies to NPR and college radio stations all over the country.

The label also handles negotiations with independent distribution firms that are responsible for disseminating the CDs to chosen markets.

However, if a band wants to retain control over every facet of distribution and marketing, it is possible for members to create their own independent label.

It doesnt take much to have a label on paper, Szkolka says. There are some legal documents that need to be drawn up. But then it just depends on how aggressive you are.

The F*Bombs, a central Missouri band, independently published its CD The Stars Align last year under their self-titled label.

The band members earned enough money to produce their second album by playing shows and supplying DJ services.

To spread news of their new release, many local bands rely mostly on Web sites such as MySpace and PureVolume. Beyond that, bands such as the F*Bombs depend on good, old-fashioned hard work.

By Kyle Puetz