Latest news
'Slingshot' is out now and available everywhere HERE.
A song about that very first crush... or maybe the person you were meant to meet.
2019: Reel
2019 has been a wild year since we came back on the music scene. See some of our highlights.
Interview with Tonotopic Records
Earlier this month Evan and Steven sat down with the A&R team at Tonotopic Records, signing a new record deal that promises a slew of tracks to be released throughout 2019.
After nearly 5 years on hiatus the band are back with a bang, and ready to showcase a new taste of indie music, with ‘Whitewater’ set for release mid January. We caught up with guys to get some vital info on what makes them tick….
Thanks for your time guys, first and foremost, what's the origin of the band name?
(Evan) The name came from a wall of vinyl records we have in our studio, it had everything from The Beatles, Eagles, Pink Floyd, Beach Boys, even Santo & Johnny. We realized that we wanted to make music that took influences from a wide and diverse spectrum of artists to create something special.
(Steven) It has become problematic at times (laughs), usually people assign their own meaning to the name but on occasion people will judge us because they think we're trying to say that we are the influencers. We hope one day others will view us as potential influencers for the next generation.
How long have you guys known each other? How did you meet?
(Evan) We have known each other for almost 20 years! Which is weird saying aloud. I met Steven because of his older brother Paul. He got me into playing guitar and would play music with Steven at every occasion. Paul can be heard on a bunch of our tracks and I like to think of him as the spark that lit the fire between us.
Who writes your songs? What’s the process like?
(Evan) I write most of the songs intially and Steven helps refine it. Generally, a song will come to me and I'll record the parts I can on my phone. I then wait for the 'morning after test'. If I can remember how the song goes then I'll work on it to give it full lyrics and record a proper demo. It's quite fun to write parts as you record in the studio. You don't quite know where the song is going to land. Being a two man act forces us to write the other parts and compensate for not having more members.
What genre would you say The Influencers fall into?
(Steven) It seems to be an evolving answer, when we started out we thought we fell into the rock genre but as we wrote more music we began to move into the alternative category. Lately we’ve have fallen into the indie genre, despite what many reviewers / blogs may say. Some have even said we are exclusively pop!
When you’re recording where do you go? Do you do everything yourselves?
(Steven) When we started out we had 2 local home studios we'd track at. Now we split up the work and track and mix in 3 different places; my studio (known as INF Studios), Steven's home studio and Cove City Sounds Studios for certain parts.
You’ve had 3 albums since 2012, how do you feel your music’s change since you started out?
(Evan) The way I see it, our first album was very restrained because we had never recorded professionally before. We were very mindful of the cost of making an album and the quality of the production took a hit. During our second album, we found ourselves at the helm and made more experimental music. We were allowed to be as creative as we wanted but had to learn about engineering music ourselves. During our third album, we had refined our production issues a bit more but there wasn't a unifying theme to the album and in many ways, it felt like a compilation of different songs.
Now that we came back, I feel like we've addressed all the issues. Our first album was us struggling, our second album was us experimenting while struggling, our third album was us experimenting to find our voice. Who we are. And now I think we've found who we are. Our last single, Dancing on Graves, although brand new, really is the "last brick" of 2014 for us. We're also more aware of the current music environment and you're in for something new.
What has been your biggest challenge as a band?
(Evan) Our biggest challenge was hitting all the marks with each album and making music better than the last. I think that each album suffered something differently. I also think that taking off for 5 years gave us such incredible insight to study every aspect of what we were doing. Exposure can be frustrating as well but we feel that the stars are aligned this time around and we're not missing our 'train' this time.
What attracted you to signing with a record label?
(Steven) A few reasons. We've always wanted someone with a mutual interest in us to help us get our music from good to great and it seemed like the next logical step for us in our careers. We were attracted to Tonotopic Records because of their clear focus on fulfilling their signed artist's potential and helping to development each and every artist. Being independent nowadays is quite difficult.
What advice do you have for bands just starting out?
(Evan) I believe if the music is good, the success will come. The hardest part of writing is music is being honest and accepting who you are. I heard someone say that songwriting is like an outdoor water tap. When you first turn it on, the water is dirty, undrinkable. But as you let run, the water begins to clear up with only small bits of dirt still in there. But finally after a long while, the water is pure. And that's when you write your best songs. Things happens when you least expect it and if you're doing something that makes you happy, you're fulfilling yourself at the very least.
