MICROTIA
PHOTO BY: Brian Lee  l  WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/microtia

YOUR BAND NAME SOUNDS COOL BUT WHEN ONE ACTUALLY GOES AND LOOKS UP ITS MEANING YOU FINDS OUT IT IS A CONDITION WHERE THE OUTER EAR IS VERY SMALL AND UNDERDEVELOPED. IS THAT WHAT KIND OF ATTRACTED YOU GUYS TO IT; THE CONTRAST?

We were watching a TV special about a kid with Microtia. At the end, he receives new ears, and he was very excited about them. At the time we were looking for a band name, and we liked the idea of being given new ears, so we decided to call the band Microtia.

YOUR LATEST ALBUM “SPACEMAKER” IS A ROLLERCOASTER RIDE OF SOUNDS AND MUSICAL ATMOSPHERES. A LOT OF WORK MUST GO INTO FINISHING JUST ONE SONG ON ITS OWN NOT TO MENTION AN ENTIRE ALBUM?

It took us over a year to finish writing this album. I think that is mostly due to the fact that we’ve had a lot of member changes, that always slows things down a bit. But we do invest a lot of work into writing songs. Eric, Dan, and Tim are vinyl collectors, and when we started arranging songs for the album, we went into it with the idea of having two sides. Both sides having somewhat different tones, but in the end all tying together. We’re tired of listening to song 1, song 2, song 3. Take us on a musical journey! Or even, I feel like listening to side 2 right now, rather than song 7 a couple times.

HAS THE BAND DEVELOPED A SET APPROACH TO WRITING SONGS OVER THE YEARS OR IS IT MORE LIKE PUTTING THE PIECES OF A PUZZLE TOGETHER WHEN EVERYONE PRESENTS THEIR SONG IDEAS DURING THE WRITING PROCESS?

Our writing process is a collaborative effort that starts with somebody bringing a simple song idea to the table, and we jam on that for a week or so, and 9 times out of 10 we throw the whole thing out, and after we do that 2 or 3 times, we re-visit our favourite parts and, like you said it, put the puzzle together. We don’t want the listener to ever get bored, so if we’re at all unhappy with a part, we throw it out.

YOUR VOCALIST HAS A VERY PASSIONATE AND ENERGY FILLED VOICE. WHAT SUBJECTS DO YOU SING ABOUT THE MOST THAT HELP BRING OUT THAT EMOTION WHICH GIVES YOUR SONGS THAT EXTRA LEVEL OF INTENSITY?

His lyrics are generally abstract, and politically charged that metaphorically talk about being screwed over by the man and the media driving society into a state of fear.

THE PACKAGING FOR YOU LATEST ALBUM WAS MADE USING STACKS OF OLD CIGARETTE AND BEER BOXES FOR PACKAGING. THE BAND MUST HAVE A VERY STRONG D.I.Y. ETHIC?

Well, it’s a mix of DIY ethic, and the fact that we drink a lot of beer and smoke a lot of cigarettes collectively.

APPARENTLY YOU GUYS MAKE YOUR OWN INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT AS WELL; PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT AND HOW THEY ARE USED IN YOUR SONGS?

For a few years we had to load a bunch of gear into venues because we like to run our keys, guitars, and bass in stereo. We got tired of loading so much gear so we decided to combine stereo keyboards and guitars into 2 cabinets. We take up way less room on stage now, and everything sounds really good live. We get a lot of comments on how thick, and clear everything sounds. Tim made his drum shells in his spare time a few years ago, rather than buying a new drum set. We think all of this gives us a real unique live sound.

BESIDES THE INSTRUMENTS YOU MAKE YOURSELVES WHAT GEAR DOES THE BAND CURRENTLY USE?

We use an Orange AD30 and Sunn Beta Lead for guitars, Sunn 300t for bass, and Roland, Clavia, Rhodes, and Korg keyboards, and fender Guitars and Basses.

WITH ALL THE COMPUTER SOFTWARE THAT IS AVAILABLE TODAY DO YOU FIND THAT THE COOLEST SOUNDS AND EFFECTS STILL COME FROM THE INSTRUMENTS THEMSELVES AND DIFFERENT AMP AND PEDAL COMBINATIONS RATHER THAN FROM A COMPUTER?

We use a Korg MS2000 for most of the noses and effects you hear on the album. But we like to use pedals to get crazy guitar effects. It adds to our “spacy” sound.

BANDS WITH A UNIQUE SOUND OR VIBE LIKE YOURSELVES USUALLY BUILD UP A VERY DEDICATED AN “DEVOTED” FOLLOWING. DO YOU FIND THAT TO BE TRUE FROM THE FEEDBACK YOU HAVE RECEIVED ABOUT YOUR MUSIC AT SHOWS AND ONLINE?

We definitely have some “devoted” fans, but we’re still pretty young in the music world, so we have yet to really make a real impact on the music scene. But we hope our “unique” sound will grab people’s attention.

DO YOU TAKE THE APPROACH OF QUALITY NOT QUANTITY WHEN IT COMES TO LIVE SHOWS OR IS THE BAND WORKING ON TRAVELLING A LOT MORE IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS?

We normally like to tour about 4 times a year. We haven’t been touring as much recently because of the album. We’re doing a western United States tour in May. Dates will be posted soon on our Myspace.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

We will be hand making our record cases for our upcoming tour. So if you want to get a piece of Microtia from Microtia themselves, come out and hang out with us!

INTERVIEW BY NEIL VAN ZYL