MusicWeek Staff: Who are your biggest musical influences?
Sensaround: Noel Gallagher (Oasis) - Noel is a stickler for exciting choruses, and there is a definite energy that runs through his songs. I think Supersonic is the greatest and most infectious rock song of the last thirty years. I’ll also never get tired of Slide Away, The Masterplan, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Live Forever. Oasis is famous for brash behavior and braggadocio (when they were young anyway), but Noel’s on stage demeanor has always been very understated, confident and cool. He's hands down the funniest and most honest/entertaining interview subject in music.
Bono & The Edge (U2) - These are only two of the four members of U2, but they are the driving force behind the beautiful melodies, contemplative lyrics and the simple, but effective guitar parts. Whether we’re talking about Love Comes Tumbling, With Or Without You, Do You Feel Loved, or Every Breaking Wave, they tap into your deepest emotions and have come up with timeless masterpieces and reinvented themselves over and over. I think they stand to help themselves by talking less because Bono falls in love with every microphone he sees and he straight up admits to megalomania, but they have also done a lot of good for the world as benefactors.
Michael Jackson is most singularly responsible for stoking my interest in music and performing. I draw a sharp distinction between the vintage version of him circa 1983-1984 versus the circus version that brought myriad criticisms from the 90’s until his death in 2009. At his peak, as well as the child prodigy he was leading up to his peak, he was the paragon of talent, musicianship, and electrifying stage presence. Maybe it’s selfish on my part, but I wish we could have kept the 1983/1984 incarnation of Jackson with us for a lot longer, when the focus was where it belonged: great songs through smart collaboration, innovative music videos with universally appealing messages, and super tight vocal performances with intermittent and spectacular dance moves. Nothing beats Billie Jean live on the Victory Tour with Jonathan Moffet on drums. Over time, self-indulgence and seclusion from the real world watered down all of MJ’s strengths.
MusicWeek Staff: When/How did you become interested in music?
Sensaround: When I was very young, I remember a neighbor who introduced me to the musical stylings of the rock band KISS. My parents took me to see the band at Madison Square Garden in New York City. I got into Blondie’s catalog not long afterwards. Though I obviously loved music and sang in the church choir from elementary school through high school, I strangely did not pick up a guitar and learn any chords until my 20s and I didn’t decide it would be a serious pursuit until my 30s. I must have thought that creating music was over my head as a young kid, and that was a mistake. On the other hand, I didn’t have as much to say as a songwriter then. My lived experiences that would translate to creating worthwhile original music became richer as time went on. As they say, you cannot force open the petals of a flower.
MusicWeek Staff: How does this song "Valley Of Grey" differ with your previous song?
Sensaround: Our previous song is called Lukewarm Heart and it definitely qualifies as a power ballad. It has to do with infatuation, breaking from routine, and taking a whimsical chance. Its theme is living out a quixotic adventure. It pits euphoria against disappointment and carries a melancholic tone laced with vestiges of hope and earnest desperation. In contrast, Valley Of Grey is an uptempo rock anthem on a completely different bent; rather than focus on romance, it serves as an homage to whomever your guardian angel might be. The song was inspired by my grandfather. It’s likely our heaviest song sonically, so although we generally consider ourselves the pop-rock genre, this leans more towards rock than pop. Both songs are ear candy though, so by all means queue them up when you feel emotions coming over you. :-)
MusicWeek Staff: What skills/personal attributes are most important to being successful?
Sensaround: Musicians are noted for being casual, extravagant, spontaneous, and vulnerable. I think those attributes can inform your creative output and pin you with a rockstar distinction, but in the field of “being successful” I would say it’s equally important to be organized, discerning, responsible, and regimented. Organization means that a lack of physical clutter in your life translates to a lack of mental clutter; all tasks feel less overwhelming and more manageable. By “discerning”, I mean you should perfect your lyrics by finding a blend of honesty and eloquence (don’t assume that some trite phrase makes a great lyric just because it occurred as initially clever to you, and for God’s sake don’t curse casually in your songs; it rings immature). By being responsible you give yourself a chance to work towards your goals without self imposed blockades (ie- creating debt, broken homes, feeding addictions, etc.). Being regimented just means allocating the appropriate time for rehearsing, planning shows, and seeing recordings and music videos through. These days a lot of musicians are doing multiple jobs that used to require entire teams in previous eras: doing their own recordings, their own PR, their own videos, their own show planning.
MusicWeek Staff: How important do you think video is to your music?
Sensaround: I say very important because people are visual and sometimes a video can introduce a new layer of intrigue and excitement to a project. I am a strong advocate for well thought out, well planned, well framed, and well lit scenes that reflect effort and imagination for video, whether we’re talking about promos, music videos, or live performance recordings. I personally see the proliferation of modern day social media posting as largely detrimental to an artist’s image. While there is an honesty and spontaneous merit to some of these posts, most of them seem very impulsive and cheap. Shooting video in unedited, vertical portrait-style format with available lighting and choppy camera movements would not have made the grade before, and I don’t think it should suffice now. Our culture is moving towards lower expectations in that respect, and I believe the higher standards should be maintained.
MusicWeek Staff: What did you hope to achieve with your music video?
Sensaround: Simply put, I wanted our music video to capture a mood and compliment our song Where Are You Tonight. Our director, Roger Artola, is not only well equipped with state-of-the-art gear, but he had an answer for every challenge that was posed, be it shooting locations, timing concerns, light schemes, background projections, lens choice, etc. He also has a great eye for filling the frame. The beautiful actress, Rai Quartley, really came through for us in the video, too! As far as post production is concerned, my previous career in video editing proved to be quite helpful as I handled the offline assemblage of the footage after combing through every frame meticulously. Alex, my band’s co-founder, played a big part in a consulting capacity and ultimately we shaped a mood through the story that the video tells. The arc of that mood goes from light to dark and ultimately it’s very effective and invites contemplation. We’re very proud to see the music video’s views sitting at over half a million on YouTube.
MusicWeek Staff: How would you describe your new video to any potential new fan?
Sensaround: Our new video, which is an intricate lyric video that I made for our song Valley Of Grey, is a terrific blend of behind the scenes clips and photos along with theatrical and sophisticated graphics/animations. It’s slick and visually stimulating, but also somewhat revealing in showing the band in rehearsals and recording sessions. Regrettably, our former bass player who appears in the video, moved with his wife so he’s not in the band anymore. But very fortunately for us, we were able to find an ideal replacement in Maxwell Pierce. You won’t see Max in the Valley Of Grey lyric video, but you’ll see him in a new promo I cut that serves as a profile piece for Sensaround and of course you’ll see him at our live shows!
MusicWeek Staff: What set your music apart? What is unique, or at least uncommon?
Sensaround: The question gives me pause because I consider Sensaround four humble guys, but an honest answer requires a tinge of immodesty just any resume would. I think our music is well crafted in an organic sense and adheres to standards of an era gone by. Remember that potato chip commercial slogan “Betcha can’t eat just one!”? I would adopt that and say, “Betcha can’t listen just once.” Catchy songs with soaring choruses and great instrumentation is a compliment from me to my bandmates and Alex in particular who produces the tracks, but I would be remiss not to remark on the lyrics, which I largely handle. They’re mature, intelligent and artful. Most of my development as a musician has been through savage repetition and practice, but I think the lyric portion is probably my strongest innate talent. The idea is to forge a story, bring a mood, capture a feeling, and find words and phrases that are adequately sophisticated without being murky or pretentious. Many songwriters move in the direction of being too simplistic and literal, while conversely some move in the direction of being too poetic, vague, nebulous and artsy. When that happens, as a listener I’m focused more on the intent to be poignant instead of being captured by the natural resonating of a message.
MusicWeek Staff: Has your music career journey had a deliberately direction or did it simply gradually evolve in whatever direction it found?
Sensaround: I imagine that this is a common answer, but I think the original idea was to just be on a stage playing songs I like to an appreciative audience. When I moved to Los Angeles, I knew barely anyone and I had a handful of songs that were not yet fleshed out or properly arranged. I’m sure I would have hoped for much of what ultimately happened, but I could not have reasonably predicted that years later I’d be in a band with the three best guys I could hope to find, a Grammy award winning engineer/drummer/producer/musical director, have 23 finished professionally mixed and mastered songs, many being standout tracks, have enjoyed rotation on nine national radio stations alongside artists of household-name fame, have 513,000 views on a music video, a cutting edge rig for live shows, have gone from zero to competent on rhythm electric guitar, or be interviewed by respected music journalists. I know that there’s much yet to accomplish, but I’ve probably already surpassed the expectations of friends and family. We’ll see how far it goes, but I’m learning to savor the journey. I think the further you get, the easier it becomes to enjoy.
MusicWeek Staff: Where can potential fans find out more about you?
Sensaround: Our website is www.sensaroundmusic.com. Our Instagram handle is @sensaroundband. We have a YouTube channel and a Facebook page. All that is pretty standard. I would say if potential fans want to find out more about us, ask us hard, insightful questions. I’m not controversial, but I like being sincere, substantive and honest. An artist without artifice is what I aspire to be.
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