It has been a month since the last post was published. There was some issues publishing the planned article. Apogies.

Today I am sharing music from one of the most exciting young American bands around at the moment, Note to Self. This week, Ernie Ball announced that Note to Self has been selected to play Vans Warped Tour 2015 Arizona on the 23rd of June. I am so thrilled!

I had a chance to interview Note to Self recently, just before the voting deadline for Vans Warped Tour, so we decided not to talk about it. You can find the interview below.

Following the release of their single “These Hollow Veins” in May 2014, Note to Self finally released their long awaited debut EP “Agony Complete” just over 2 months ago. They create a unique and very original sound, delivered with energy and confidence. I must say, the second track “Akrasia” is pretty special.
Note to Self is definitely the one to watch.

You can stream the EP via Spotify;

 

Or if you prefer, the full EP stream is on YouTube;

 

Here is the interview. I hope I asked everything everyone wanted to know.

MM: Hello, Note to Self! First of all, could you introduce yourselves?

NtS: What’s up! We are Note to Self and we consist of Albert Schweizer (Vocals), Brandon Krumbach (Rhythm Guitar), Ben Leon (Lead Guitar), Kolby Devery (Bass), and Jak Rinaldo (Drums).

MM: Thank you. How did you all meet up and become Note To Self?

NtS: Our guitarist Ben put out an ad online searching for musicians to start a band with. Albert sent Ben a few vocal covers to listen to. Ben knew Albert was the right man for the job. The two started practicing songs together and eventually met the bass player Kolby. Kolby was the third addition to the band and that’s when things started to really get going. All we needed was a drummer to complete the lineup. Our original drummer was found a few weeks later. Once the songs were learned, the band played it’s very first show under a different name. Due to certain circumstances, our first drummer had to leave the band. After trying out several new candidates for drummers, NTS found Jak. NTS played its first show with Jak which was a big success for the band. Shortly after, we began seeking a second guitarist to expand the songs a bit and add more to the rhythm section of the band. That was when we found Brandon. The five piece band was complete and the lineup has remained unchanged since then.

MM: Great! Also, tell me about the band name, how has Note To Self come up for the band?

NtS: We wanted a name that represented ourselves and the message we give. Most of the lyrics in our songs come from personal experiences and are a reminder of where we’ve come from. So in themselves they are a “Note to Self” reminding us to learn from the past and keep moving forward no matter the struggles ahead.

MM: That’s meaningful.
You are based in Phoenix, right? What is the music scene like there?

NtS: The music scene here is phenomenal! The bands, promoters, venues, and concert goers are unbelievably supportive of each other. We are proud to call Phoenix our hometown!

MM: Do you all live close together?

NtS: We do! We all live within 30 minutes of each other!

MM: That must be very convenient for the band practice!
Well, I believe the track “These Hollow Veins” is your debut single. How long did you take to write and complete the tune?

NtS: The track actually took about a month to write. Ben and Albert started writing the guitar and vocals for it before the band was fully formed. As the members fell into place so did the rest of parts. As for recording the song that took about two weeks due to scheduling restrictions with the producer.

MM: The single was released in May last year. Then recently your debut EP “Agony Complete” was released. How did you go about writing your songs for the EP, and is it still how you go about it now a days?

NtS: The writing of “Agony Complete” was a learning process for us. Since this was the first EP we have written together, we didn’t know the best way to go about writing it. It started with Ben recording the basic outlines of the songs on guitar at home and sending them to us. From there we messed around with the ideas separately and then brought what we’ve come up with to practice each week. This happened for months, ideas were being bounced back and forth between us until we were satisfied and proud of what we’ve written.
Nowadays we write in a similar manner. Ben still records the basic outlines of songs on guitar and sends them to toy with on our own. However, we tend to write as more of a group now than separately.

MM: Okay. Could you tell me about “Agony Complete”?

NtS: “Agony Complete” is Note to Self’s debut EP. It is made up of 5 songs, each telling a different story. We had the great privilege of working with Matt Good (From First to Last, D.R.U.G.S.), who produced the EP. We wanted to make a statement with this EP. One of the main things we wanted to do when writing is make sure that the EP was very diverse. We wanted each song to have a different feel and style to them. We feel that the EP covers many bases. Each song expresses different emotions. We wanted to write songs that everyone could identify with and enjoy. Each band member comes from different backgrounds and we all have different musical tastes. We think the shows in the variety of songs on the EP. Matt was able to bring our songs to life and make them sound amazing. We could not be happier with how the EP turned out. We have had great reception from our fans and have gained many new listeners and supporters since the release.

MM: I think that I am right to say you made a huge impact.
This is something I wanted to ask you for long time. On your facebook page, I see that every member contributes vocals. Albert, do you do clean vocals as well as unclean vocals?

NtS (Albert): I do all of the clean and most of the unclean vocals!

MM: How did you learn to scream?

NtS (Albert): This is a tough question that I get asked often. I usually tell people who ask me this that it sort of just happened. Before being in Note to Self I never really screamed unless singing along to songs. So upon forming this band I had to teach myself by trial and error. I would just scream until I found what sounded good and didn’t cause pain or built from there. I’m far from perfect at it and I am still learning everyday.

MM: I see.
Who are your influences?

NtS: We have way too many influences to be able to list them all! AFI, My Chemical Romance, Avenged Sevenfold, Parkway Drive, Coheed and Cambria, Atreyu, Motley Crue, Silverstein, Bullet for My Valentine, The Used, Asking Alexandria, We Came as Romans, and Slipknot just to name a few.

MM: Do you have any shows already planned for the near future?

NtS: We do! We have one June 20th at Pub Rock in Scottsdale, Arizona with Powerman5000, one June 30th at Club Red in Mesa, Arizona with The Dreaming, and hopefully June 23rd on the Arizona date of Warped Tour! We also hope to get out on the road to tour to meet all of our supporters across the U.S. as soon as possible!

MM: Awesome!  Finally, is there anything else you would like to say?

NtS: We want to thank Teri M and Music Matters for the interview and all they are doing for music! We also want to thank the Note to Self family for the continual support! We love you!

MM: Thank you very much, Note to Self!! Good luck!!

 

You can find out more about Note to Self via the links below;

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notetoselfofficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NotetoSelfBand @NotetoSelfBand
Instagram: https://instagram.com/notetoselfband/ @notetoselfband
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/agony-complete-ep/id975970933
Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/2Xjz1t17Rqsu5iKEj6MMeI
BandCamp: https://notetoselfofficial.bandcamp.com/track/these-hollow-veins
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ1UUrO25tJLQVaEY1i1_3A/videos