Overcasters Interview

Denver band Overcasters should be on your radar–  they were recently picked by Westward as its #1 SXSW pick.  They are moody and mellow, somewhat reminiscent of Interpol, except with an arguably better vocalist and sense of atmosphere. 

Check out http://www.sonicbids.com 

Overcasters used sonicbids to submit their material to SXSW, and it worked for them– so if you’re a musician, why not give it a try?  

Drummer Erin Tidwell humors me by answering some of my questions…

Ashlie: Your Myspace page categorizes your music as hip hop and experimental, and while I definitely get the experimental part, I have to say that I don’t get the hip-hop vibe… Do you have a side project, were these genres from a previous band, or are you intentionally trying to throw the listener off track?

Overcasters: It’s not hip-hop, it’s R&B Soul and we probably don’t sound too much like either one of those things.  That tributary of our influence is based more on Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce and their collaborations with experimental R&B.

Ashlie: Was there a specific moment, or time in your life, when you just knew you had to play music?

Overcasters: Many moments, but the ones that stand out were at times of threatening trauma, injury or accidents that drove the thought home that we should do it now or never.

Ashlie: As artists, does the act of creating or performing music provide a release from all the stress and chaos of your world, or does it add to it? What is it about your art that drives you forward?

Overcasters: It’s absolutely an escape.  There is enough reality every minute of the day to remind us that we are mortal and earthbound.  Why not disappear into idealism, work, expression, projection and color?

Ashlie: I’ve seen your music compared to photgraphs of thunderstorms; is this to avoid comparisons to other bands, or is it simply the best way to describe your music?

Overcasters: We like storms, we like electricity, we like crackles of lightening and drums that feel like thunder in a cloudburst.

Ashlie: If your music was a thunderstorm, would you rather it evoked a safe and cozy feeling, like being curled up in an armchair– listening to the storm roll outside?  Or are you looking to inspire a more intense, foreboding feeling– like being stuck outside in the midst of all the turmoil… or a little of both?

Overcasters: Being struck by lightening and becoming electrical current.

Ashlie: As a Denver band, how does this region effect you?  Feel free to interpret this in the broadest sense– I’m talking culturally, historically, geographically, stylistically, etc.

Overcasters: We live and work here in Denver.  Most of us always have.  It’s an easy place to try out ideas.  Our influences are just collective personal tastes that we feel have very little to do with our demographic.

Ashlie: Does this location limit or inspire you?

Overcasters: The location, although a beautiful one, is always going to be much less significant than one’s imagination and what we create.

Ashlie: Anything you want to add?

Overcasters: Thank you for the thought-provoking questions.  It’s obvious when someone takes the time to think about what they’re asking and we appreciate it.  We believe that emotions and experience get lost too often these days and we encourage everyone to come see us in the flesh.

http://www.myspace.com/theovercasters