-Interview- Dear Karma (9/26/12)

Dear Karma
www.facebook.com/dearkarmaband
From: Little Rock, AR
Sounds like: Alternative metal

www.facebook.com/dearkarmaband


1. How did you guys get together and form? Who thought of the name “Dear Karma” and is there any meaning behind it?

The idea of the band was formed by the singer, lead guitarist and ex-bassist after jamming in their college dorm room. Soon after some searching for other members, they were contacted by singer/guitarist and drummer who were looking to complete their lineup. The five soon met up and after writing a song in one practice and decided to make things final. As time went on the band went through lineup changes, and recruited the current bassist and rhythm guitarist. The name came from a saying that is a takeoff of “oh cruel irony” which became “oh dear karma”. The meaning is stating something is ironic, the band decided to drop the “oh” feeling it was more powerful without it.


2. You guys shot a video last year for the track “Counterfeits And Clockwork”. How did the video shoot go and who directed it?

Honestly the shoot was a little chaotic. It was mostly that everybody on screen was new to serious filming. It was directed by my friend Thad Hickman and in return, I directed a music video for his band. Found Fearless – "Dreams Nails Scars".


3. How would you describe your live show? Any crazy show stories?

In a word “powerful”, each member of the band pours out their heart and soul on the stage, or in the lead guitarist words they are “venting.” The best story the band has to tell is when we had to play with a popular local band by the name of The Front Line. The venue was at a movie theater, where one of the theater rooms had been cleared out and a small stage was in place where the movie screen used to be. The event that we were playing featured many other artists, from all different kinds of genres so the room was packed. We were the 4th band to play, by the time the band before us was on stage the crowd was growing impatient with many complaints and lack of interest in the acts they had just seen. As the band was getting tuned a man came to the back stage area and demanded to know who was next. We responded and he asked us what kind of band we were and we simply answered “metal.” The man shook his head and then began to tell us that the crowd was bored and how he couldn’t hear any of the previous acts. “If yall are a metal band then I want to hear fuckin’ metal from the very first note”! He then did a rundown of our equipment and told us where to place our volume on all of our amps and sent us out with big expectations. Once the band began to play, the crowd exploded. We were the first to be heard all day, and the people loved the music. The greatest thing was that the band only knew about three of the people present, this was the first time this crowd had ever heard us. We were so loud that the venue actually had to shut us down half-way through our last song because we were the first band to be heard through the doors of the theater room we were playing.


4. Are you working on any new material? If so, when can we see a release?

What you call new we call old. We hope to have a full album by the end of the year. We have total of 18 songs 12 of which we hope to on our first album.


5. What is the music scene like in Arkansas?

The music scene is disjointed. Some bands support each other, many hate each other. The fans of bands are rarely loyal. Shows are hit and miss, making promotion through the internet the difference between life and death for a band. There are the rare shows where there is a great turn out but most shows top out at about 20 people on a good night.


6. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?

We are a metal band, however the word metal is the only common thing about our band. We fuse many different sounds together, which include blues leads, pop rhythms, jazz bass lines, thrash drums, and choral vocals.


7. What’s your favorite track to play live? What’s the favorite crowd track?

For the band, the song “The Face”, and for the crowd “Amber”.


8. Can we see another video shoot soon? If so, which track would it be for?

We will have to wait till the album tracks are done, but once that happens we hope to make a video to the track “The Face”.


9. What are you currently listening to?

All members are current listening their own influences in their own genre.


10. What’s next for Dear Karma?

To finish their upcoming album, and following up on many great contacts and lends that we have picked. One lead that comes from New York, that has the potential to propel the band up and out of Arkansas.


11. Any shoutouts?

We would like to give shoutouts to Matt Asher for recording us, our bros from, (Found Fearless, Mismanage, This Chaos Inside, Every Knee Shall Bow) and to everyone who has supported us!!