https://www.facebook.com/exporter.band
Sounds like: Alternative Rock
From: California
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound?
Destin: So the way we got started playing is really because of the Nintendo Wii. As kids we are always playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero on that thing. One day our dad came in and saw us rocking out and said, "If you want to be real rockstars then you can learn to play real instruments." That Christmas I got a bass and Alec got a guitar and we started taking lessons. Next thing you know exPorter starts to become a band.
Alec: Our sound then more or less grows from those bands featured in those games, Blink 182, Nirvana, Paramore, Green Day, Foo Fighters, etc.
Destin: We grew up in Santa Barbara and they have a great alt rock station (KJEE). That was always on in our car so we also pulled from everything they were playing like Social Distortion, Death Cab For Cutie, bands like Panic at the Disco. For me, I also know I was really influenced by the Riot Girl acts like Charly Bliss...gotta have Blondie in there too.
Alec: I think all of that shaped our songs. If you listen to early exPorter you will get the big pop-punk thing but if you listed to songs off our debut album (NoBrakesNoBrakesNoBrakes) you will get some Cure in there.
Destin: I keep telling Alec that I want to do more synth stuff for sure.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
Alec: It's kind of the cliche answer but it's the truth, we really want people to just sort of make the songs their own. It's a really humbling thing to have someone come up and tell us they loved this one song or, that song was a banger...if they can take away good feeling riding a wave of nostalgia and excitement, I'm stoked.
Destin: I know when we're writing or recording something, Alec and I definitely have an idea of what the song is about but when someone takes that song and it means whatever it means to them, it's just a cool feeling to have something your wrote resonate with someone.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
HAlec: We did a show up in San Francisco and afterward this guy came up and told us he loved the band. He said he was up there when Green Day was just starting out and that we reminded him of that. Pretty cool cause we tell people if Blink and Green Day had a baby you would have exPorter.
Destin: Obviously that plus mixing in all the other alt rock bands. Alt rock with a pop-punk vibe.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Alec: I’d have to go with Blink and Joyce Manor right off the bat, and then heck when or if Title Fight gets back together, that’d be awesome!
Destin: Joyce, Yellowcard, and Charly Bliss
5. What's your thoughts on AI generated music?
Destin: Ai is really weird right now. Side note, I once lost a job because of stupid Ai. But in terms of music there are pluses and minuses. Like recording, there's Ai in the software to help with the editing process, there's things like auto-tuning...all bands are probably using stuff like that. The lame part is when you start talking about songs being built purely on Ai. Not even real bands, just some robot spitting out lyrics and music. I think if we don't start celebrating actual human tunes you're just gonna end up robot driven shit out there.
Alec: Unless you’re using it to write you an entire final essay in the middle of your college lecture (something I’ve witnessed), AI has little place in the world.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Alternative Rock?
Alec: I actually think alt rock is pretty solid. I’ve seen it grow increasingly towards our world of emo and pop punk which I love to see and it's awesome to see for us! I mean Blink is huge again and Green Day just played the SuperBowl! Van's Warped tour has come back to life, it’s like we haven’t moved out of the early 2000s yet.
7. What’s the current local music scene like there in California?
Destin: So Cal for sure has always had a pretty solid music scene and I think you're always going to see good local acts there. We've played with some really fun bands and we're getting hit up by bands and local promoters to do shows. Alec is crazy cause he'll drive 2 hours two see someone like Joyce Manor.
Alec: We live in Santa Barbara and it's a pretty cool scene. For a while you had a lot of bands messing around up here so that was pretty cool. A lot of those bands have either broken up and the local scene has more cover band type stuff which is sad. It's a college town though so hopefully more original acts will come around.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
Destin: It's sort of like the Ai thing where there is good and bad to it. It's great in that we can put out our music and have it everywhere. We know it sucks and we've had friends that have actually pulled their stuff off of Spotify. We're keeping our tunes out there but we really hope the money starts to work out better for up and coming bands. We need people to stream them like a million times for us to make real dough. If you're checking out this interview then please go play every exPorter song a million times please.
Alec: They could definitely give us a little more credit for getting them so much money. Even just a few cents more would be great, $0.15 per song would be lovely.
9. What’s next for exPorter?
Alec: We're actually working on our second full length album. We put out an EP last year and promoted that, got some radio play...did a bunch of shows. As that was winding down I had a bunch of things in my head. Destin had some ideas. Even our drummer and new guitarist have brought in their own ideas that we have been working on. So we have a bunch of new stuff that we're getting through and hope to be back in the studio soon.
10. Any shoutouts?
Alec: Thanks to Tom DeLonge for making want to play guitar. Thanks to all of the radio stations that have played our music, especially 92.9 KJEE....those guys are still supporting our band and I think they've had almost every exPorter tune on the air.
Destin: I'll throw a shout out to the other local bands like Loc Dawgs, or Melon Collar and of course Trout Club. All these guys are still working on new music so make sure you support all local bands....and again, stream exPorter 1 million times!
