Nether & I: The Interview
Posted by WillowRaine on March 3, 2010 | 2 Comments
If you know me for more than a few moments, you know that I have social networking sites, but I don’t often mess with them. I mostly check them if I am informed via email, or friend that I have messages, or a reason to login. I’m horrible, I’m aware.
However, when I happened upon a friend request from the band Nether, I listened to their music, and knew immediately that they (if they were willing) would be amazing to interview. I was correct.
I asked them if they’d mind an interview and one of my favorite quotes of all time, was the reply I received : “Being as we are a bunch of egotistical rock stars in our own minds 
we would be down for an interview.” (A La Tre)
So because they were different, and I enjoy being random, I invented an interview that fits the meeting of our styles. I simply adored their answers and know you will as well.
Without further adieu or rambling from yours truly:
Willow: Do you believe in destiny, or perhaps the more appropriately worded question would be, do you feel that music is each of your destinies?
Mike Perry: Absolutely!
Chris Kirchgessner: Music has always been my passion and forever will be. So I would have to say yes, it is my destiny to ROCK!
Tre: I’ve talked about this with the guys a few times, actually. It seems amazing to me that we all ended up in the same room. My family is from PA yet somehow here I sit in a room with 4 other guys in Marysville, Washington, and each one has a story to tell about how they ended up here with me. Wes showed up to a party one night at the house we run practices in. He was a friend of a friend. When he saw the guitars, he asked if he could play; so I said “Do you want to be in a band?” Each one of the guys has an equally unlikely story. So yes, I believe in destiny or dumb luck or serendipity or fate to a point. We’ve had to put in a lot of work for this though. That’s where destiny ends and we take over.
Wes Hoyt: I believe that God has definitely blessed me with a significant musical ability. I feel that my ability to write and play music while reaching out to others with my music is no accident. I have an incredible passion for music and I do believe that music is definitely part of something I’m destined to do. 
Shane: Yeah, I guess. I’m not sure if I’d call it destiny, or a purpose though. I believe we all have a purpose, and I try to always live to where I’m fulfilling mine. Yes, I feel that Music is definitely a part of that purpose, so I guess right there I’m on the right track! Yay!
Willow: Reality. Illusion versus perception. Do you feel that reality is tangible, that it’s an illusion we form, or that it’s merely a perception that changes from individual to individual?
Mike Perry: I believe all are true depending on the circumstances.
Chris Kirchgessner: I think the way you want to live your life is how you want others to see you as an individual.
Tre: I feel like reality is hard truth. That’s what everyone is searching for. But we’re all human and perception is our own filtered reality. Can you imagine if we all could truly see reality? Everyone would understand each other. No disagreements. No discussion. No exploration. No fighting. In a word : boring. I think calling it illusion is a bit strong. Everything in your life colors your perception of reality.
Shane: Reality is tangible, yes. I’d say that if you ask someone who works in an emergency room of a hospital they would agree, however our perception of what is happening around us is not always even nearly the same.
Willow:If you were given three wishes, what would you wish for?
Mike Perry: Hard to say, I have pretty much everything I want except a lot of money.
Chris Kirchgessner: I want to make a difference in peoples lives i.e. thru music, to live comfortably with my wife with no worries, and my wife’s photography business to take off.
Tre: I’m always the jerk that wishes for more wishes. Right now though my wish would be to be able to quit my 9 to 5 and really put the time and money into this band that it needs. Wait, I still have 2 wishes! Oh well. The genie would probably cut me off for asking for more wishes. I’d yell something about world peace as he poofed back into the lamp.
Wes Hoyt:Two wishes that I think I would want for sure are to make music a living, not just for me but for the other guys in the band as well i.e.. Writing, recording, touring. I would also wish for at least enough money to allow me and my Fiance to live comfortably without worrying about bills.
Shane: Well, I’m a greedy %&$*, so I’d have to wish for more wishes, of course, but assuming I didn’t get them, I’d have to go with: Wisdom, Love, & Happiness. This is also assuming my bandmates get their wishes fulfilled
Willow:Your favorite sound?
Mike Perry: An explosion
Chris Kirchgessner: Breaking Glass
Tre: I think all guys have a common favorite sound… Other than that, I’m a mechanic by day so I always look up when I hear cars and motorcycles revving their engines way up.
Wes Hoyt: CHA CHING but really…. probably the sound of bass or the kick drum at a concert, when you can feel it in your chest, and makes it feel like you can’t breathe!
Shane: oooooh! good one Mike! I’m going with the wind hustling through the trees, when there is no other sounds to be heard on the top of a mountain ridge.
Willow:You’re stranded on a deserted Island, you have your basic necessities shelter, purified drinking water,of course you can gather food. You were allowed to keep one thing with you, and just one, (not a person) what would it be and why?
Mike Perry: That’s not fair, all I would want is my wife! Since I couldn’t have her I think I would want a surfboard (hopefully it’s a tropical island with good surf).
Chris Kirchgessner: A time machine. So I could avoid being stranded on a desert island.
Tre: All 6 seasons of “Lost” and and a flat screen. I love irony.
Wes Hoyt: This is a hard one. I would probably want a kite board so I could go huge in the surf!
Shane : A speed boat with unlimited size fuel tank (in perfect operating order)…. duh!
Willow: What is your mantra?
Mike: “Does that make sense? (I say a lot at work)
Chris Kirchgessner: “Music = life”
Tre: “We got some diem to carpe!” Ok, so that’s a quote from “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Lately my mantra has been “Do what you’re great at, not what you’re good at.” I think that’s what pushes people to follow passions like music as a career over easier paths.
Wes Hoyt: “At least life gives me something to write songs about.”
Shane: “Work hard so you can play hard!”
Willow: Love Versus Lust. The eternal debate. Do you feel as if people confuse the two? What do you feel is the difference?
Mike Perry: Absolutely. Love is beautiful, rights all wrongs. Love is spiritual; lust is powerful and sometimes spiritual but usually leads to destruction.
Wes Hoyt: For sure. I believe people definitely confuse the two. Love is supposed to be something powerful, long lasting, sometimes it can’t be helped. People may feel like they are in love with someone, but the truth of the matter is that 9 times out of 10, they are in fact lusting after the other person. Hopping in the sack with someone they don’t really know, wondering why things are not working out a month into the relationship. It usually leads to something bad in the end or just a good night!
Tre: What a huge topic! I’ll just say this: They are meant to exist in balance. Lust is way easier to chase after, but without the balance you just end up with drama and problems that don’t stop inside the walls of your love life. Makes for good locker room b.s. though.
Shane: Easy to confuse the two, yes. Isn’t that why people end up in the wrong relationship, or marrying the wrong person? The difference in my world is: Lust is short term (though is needed even inside of a loving relationship), Love is unconditional….and a many splendored thing
Willow: Explain your sound in as few as one word or as many as you want. Make our mouths water.
Mike Perry: Maulternative, Shaken not stirred
Chris Kirchgessner: Melodic Mayhem
Tre: We’re at a bit of a crossroads right now with sound. Our songs up to this point have been heavy percussive guitars and melodic vocals. An energetic, progressive rock style that wasn’t too artsy for its own good. Now we’re shifting gears slightly. We’ve always toyed with piano and strings as background to recordings. Recently we re-wrote one of our songs to feature piano and really loved it! So we’re focusing our new materiel around piano as a main part. Wes and I both love singing to piano so watch for his voice in future songs! I’d love to think your mouth was watering right now. Every band should have a food song, right? We’ll get to work on that.
Shane: Umm let’s see: your favorite! /or specifically MY sound? uhh, jug jijijug jijijug jijijug jijijahh jahh!……..this Strongbad moment was brought to you by, Shane. / but really, ya just really need to hear our music to know, and I can almost guarantee it WILL make your mouths water!!!!!
Willow: What do you think sets you apart from all the other bands out there?
Mike Perry: I have never heard a band quite like ours collectively, and our music is fairly complex. It would be fun to watch someone try to cover one of our songs and play it exactly how we do it.
Chris Kirchgessner: We are a heavy rock band with great melodic vocals, crunchy tones, sporadic drum beats, and a grooving bass. A sound that everybody can enjoy.
Wes Hoyt: I’ve never heard a rock band that incorporates the piano, while maintaining heavy guitar riffs/ progressions and melodic vocals quite like ours. We are very organized and pretty complex.
Tre: Talk about an invite for some trash talk! Really though, I’d like to think that we put more depth in our music than most. The notes and rhythms are layered. The lyrics have meaning and feeling. I try to draw a line between evocative and poetic. I think people connect with the words better when they can find their own meaning and relate. My favorite thing is for someone to come up to me and start talking about something in their life that reflected back at them from our songs. We put a lot of effort into our music and the band in general. Our sound is evolving. Our show is evolving. Even the songs evolve for a long time before we feel ready to record and lock it in.
Shane: People have a hunger for a music that we make. Just listen to it, and you tell us how we’re different, but that much is surely true, we are different.
Willow: If you could choose your legacy, the way that people remembered you, what would you choose yours to be?
Mike Perry: I want people to remember how we rocked their worlds, when you say Nether, people say “Oh yeah I’ve heard them ,they rock! You should see ‘em live, it’s awesome!”
Chris Kirchgessner: The band that changed people’s lives.
Tre: This question makes me feel like you’re standing out side my window with a gun and a note pad! Personally, I’d like people to say that I was an example; an inspiration. Not that I was perfect but that I lived with integrity, passion, and wisdom balanced with my silliness. I’d like a similar legacy for the band. It would be awesome if we could really have an effect on people. I’d love to find an audience that connects with the band on every level.
Shane: I’m in agreement with the previous answers, but Tre is the one that STOLE my answer! I’d like to be remembered as a man who lived a life of integrity. One who worked hard and helped others. For the band: I’ve got to say I feel the same as my bandmates!
Thanks guys, you were incredible to interview. I wish you all the best in your musical pursuits. You guys ROCK!
Want more NETHER? Of course you do! You can check them out HERE! Go on, I’ll shut up now.
