What are your names?
Chris Chappel
Scott Hinckley
What would you say you contribute to the band that is different from the other member?
CC: Well, we both contribute a lot of the same things but I'd say my unique contribution would be more on the technical side of things.
SH: Different songwriting style. Different melodic sensibility. Different voice. Different hairdo.
Could you two walk me through the process of writing a song?
Seeing as though you live in different states, how does this happen?
CC: We use Apple's iDisk to share ideas back and forth. When one of us has an idea for a song, they work up a basic demo on Pro Tools and then upload it to the iDisk for the other person to add to, expand on, etc. I then dump the song into Logic and start structuring it and adding additional layers. Once we get a little more complete version of the song up and running, we send ideas back and forth and continue refining it until we're both happy.
SH: We approach the writing of each song in a very organic way...there's no formula. Many of these newer songs have started with lyrics, a simple melody, and a basic chord progression. Some started as merely a concept: for example, a single sentence or song title, a melody line, and a "mood" we want to convey. We probably COULD write songs in a formulaic manner if we wanted to; I think we're comfortable enough with the songwriting process to do that, but we try to avoid being comfortable if at all possible. Some of our best music has been born from uncomfortable places.
I noticed both of you are singing on the album, does that mean
one of you is flying a lot? Or do you track the vocals separately and send
files back 'n forth?
SH: I'm the jet setter. Our vocal recording studio is in Burbank, CA. For this new album, and like with our recent EP, we worked the songs up to a point where we were satisfied with tempo, the overall sound, and the general "feel". At this point, I flew down to our studio and recorded all of my vocals in the space of a week, which had the added benefit of consistency across all the album's songs.
Scott, how much of any given track would you say "is yours"?
SH: Depends on the song. I write nearly all of our lyrics. More than half of the songs on the new album, including all of our singles were concepts of mine. I'm a good "polisher" too; I give a lot of input on those nit picky details that take a song from raw to refined. Honestly though, Chris does most of the heavy lifting; the assembly of the songs is almost entirely his domain, and for good reason...he's brilliant at it! My abilities shine in the inception and conclusion of a song, it's baby and adult years. Chris gets to handle those messy formative teenage years.
Same question for you, Chris?
CC: I don't know - that's a hard question. Mostly I think they're about 50/50 but once in a while Scott or I will write a more complete song where the other person isn't as involved in it. We really look at each song as a collaboration, though. This time around, many of the initial song ideas/demos came from Scott.
How did you two get started being so far apart? Wouldn't it be
easier to go on Craigslist and get a "writing buddy" that way? At
least they'd be local?
SH: Sure would! But Chris and I have been friends and writing partners since Junior High. We are irreplaceable to each other at this point. Honestly, the miles between us haven't impaired our ability to write songs at all. On the contrary: I think we're writing the best songs we've ever written right now. The only time the distance becomes a nuisance is when we need to record my vocals. In the future, we'd love to be neighbors again, but for now we're making it work.
CC: Scott and I met at school in Washington and formed a band, Mosaic, while we were in High School. We wrote a number of songs over the years and formed a great musical partnership. After Mosaic sort of fell apart, I tried doing music with a few other people but never found the same spark that Scott and I had. When the time was right, we got back together and we're feeling better than ever.
Stay tuned for the next installment of KT interviews! Coming up: In the studio with Chris Chappel! Chris gives us a walk through and explains the monstrously impressive bits of analog gear used on the album!
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