Nerve are a driving rock three piece based in Chatham (general direction of Windsor). Chris Wright heads up vox and guitar, Ki Larsen is behind the kit, and Jay Anderson is on bass. They all did an email interview with me in June/06.
What do you think it is about this lineup that makes it work?
Jason: I think what makes this line up work so well is the fact that we've all known each other for years. We get along well, we’re open to new song ideas, we’re very tight as a group and while we take our music seriously we also know when to lighten up and just have fun with it.
Ki: Good music, good friends, good fun. Enough said.
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Chris: Definitely! Ki and I had gone through numerous bass players over the years and we had some good material and demos before Jay joined the band. But once Jay added his flavour to some of the newer songs, they took on a whole new life and NERVE was reborn. It’s like the ideas I had in my head came to the surface better with Jay on bass, because he was “in the pocket” so to speak, in the groove and it felt like the way the bass should sound in NERVE. This lineup gels together perfectly and the new songs we’ve written with Jay “The Way U Feel” (our first single off “ReArrangeD”) & “SDM” have become two of our favorites. As a unit, we have chemistry and we feel it. The new songs we’re writing for the next album are killer and I can’t wait to start recording them! Plus, our live show is intense and slamming and I know people appreciate seeing us live – they’re usually a bunch of fans saying “You guys rock!” after a show. We give it our all no matter if there’s 5 people or 500.
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What was the recording process like for ReArrangeD? Where / with who was it recorded?
Chris: We recorded the album at BY Studios in Cedar Springs ON. Shawn Mariano (producer) is an old friend and a veteran in the music community here and has done sound for us in the past. He wanted to show us that he could capture the live intensity of NERVE and he did! Him and Nathan Bond, who is a wiz kid with Pro-Tools, had some great ideas and we’re extremely helpful during the recording process. The two of them worked they’re asses off to capture the feeling and sound we have live and they did a amazing job! But, I guess the fans will have to be the judge of that! LOL
Jason: The recording process was very relaxed, comfortable, and was a breeze to do. I recorded my bass parts in a couple of hours.
Chris: Oh yeah, Jay just pounded those phat strings in the studio, straight to the point! Haha Ki’s drums are huge, I think he’s one of the better drummers out there, a lot of originality to his style.
Tell me about the three CD release parties you had for this disc?
Jason: Hmm… what can I say the release parties have been a blast! We’ve sold a few cd's and other Nerve merch and the fans are great to hang with. I have no complaints, I'm really enjoying all the shows we play!
Chris: What we love best is playing live and we love to party with our fans! NERVE friends rawk!!! LOL Plus, we’ve had some great bands play with us at our releases, good friends and just great bands. It’s nice to have support like that when you’re releasing a new album. We’ve been fortunate in having other great indie acts from around Ontario play with us at our CD Release Parties and we look forward to playing with more! We’ve hooked up some great bands for our video release parties and they’re going to be a blast!
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Jason on being based in Chatham
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'The biggest challenge living here is getting heard. There are so many good bands around here that no one has ever heard of. Plus, there's not a lot of venues for indie acts to play at around here. The biggest advantage I'd say is it's a small place so it's easier to get the word out for upcoming shows which is nice.'
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Promo plans for the new disc?
Jason:
Chris you can field this one.
Chris: Haha. Yeah I guess that’s my department. We’re in the works of obtaining a distribution deal and hopefully a record deal. We want as many people as possible to hear this album! We’re in the middle of creating a promotional DVD consisting of video, audio and everything you can think of to promote NERVE. One big media kit to send to labels, radio stations and anyone else influential in the business. We may even sell it as a limited-edition DVD to fans! Our songs have been added countless internet radio station playlists and it’s doing great for us, we even won some online “Battle of the Bands”! We’re also creating our brand new website, with the help of Greg Carron of FrostedFX (Toronto) who shot our video and is creating the DVD. And obviously, we plan on continuing to use the MYSpace vehicle to consistently grow our fan base.
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MySpace is an essential networking tool to get your music heard. It’s done wonders for us and gives us the chance to talk to fans on a regular basis, which we all feel is so important because without fans you’re nothing in this business, not matter how good you are.
What stage are you at with the video? How did you hook up with Frosted FX?
Chris: Well as you know we just finished shooting the video and the footage is great! FrostedFX has done an amazing job! Greg, the producer and owner of FrostedFX, hung out with us when he lived in Chatham when we were like 19-21 yrs old. I ran into him at a local stag & doe for some mutual friends last year and he informed me that he was working in the multimedia business and asked if me and Ki still had a band because he was looking for indie bands to shoot videos for, to build his portfolio, and that he always thought we had some serious talent. I was like “Hell ya!”! LOL We planned everything for months and, and after shooting it June 17th, it’ll be ready for release July 30th. We’re holding our Video Release Party at Twisters Nightclub, the shoot location actually, that night and it’s going to be one helluva show! We have Pitch Union (Windsor) and Uneven Ground (Toronto) playing with us and we’re hoping to get a great band from Chatham as well, just waiting on the confirmation. There will be a screening of the video on a big projector screen, meet & greet sessions and all kinds of surprises!
Are you looking for label support?
Jason: Hell yes, we are looking for label support! It'd be nice to have our instruments insured, have backing and all that jazz. What we’re looking for in a label is total creative freedom and we will not back down from that. I don't want some record exec telling us how Nerve should sound. We already have our sound. I don't want to end up sounding like everything else is on the radio... I want us to be able to play what we want to play not what a label thinks we should play. Also I'd want the band to own the rights to the music we write. We wrote the music so there's no reason why a label should own it.
Chris: Of course, label backing is important. But, we won’t comprise our integrity for any label. But when that right label does come around, we will sign that dotted line and make them some money! LOL And a little for us too I guess… haha.
How important is it to you to be hands on about all the non musical aspects of Nerve? (fliers, cd artwork, web design)
Jason: I think it's important to be very hands on, who knows us better than us? I like that with our band, we discuss everything from cd artwork to how we want our fliers to look. It's a group effort and we all go out of our way for each other to find something we all like.
Do you feel that you have any specific challenges or advantages being from/based in Chatham, Ontario?
Ki: Except for our local fans and a small group of supporters, I feel there are no advantages to being from/based in Chatham. Although, perhaps it makes us work harder.
Jason: The biggest challenge living here is getting heard. There are so many good bands around here that no one has ever heard of. Plus, there's not a lot of venues for indie acts to play at around here. The biggest advantage I'd say is it's a small place so it's easier to get the word out for upcoming shows which is nice.
Chris: That’s why the internet is so important. We have fans in the UK, US and all over the world! They may not be in numbers but they spread the word, which is important. It seems like wherever we play, there’s a small group of fans who love us, and that’s great! I think the biggest advantage of being from a small city is that our egos are in check. We know we’re appreciated for what we do rather than from where we are from.
Who are some of your favorite local bands to play shows with?
Jason: Damn! We’ve played with so many good bands. But some of my favourites to play with are Abandoned Souls, Pitch Union, MTR… man I could go on and on but these bands are the ones that stick out at the top of my head at the moment. There's so many more but it'd probably take up a full page!
Chris: I love playing with Pitch Union – they’re cool guys & Abandoned Souls kick ass, they’re good friends and we’re on a mini-tour with them right now with another cool band My Terminal Ritual. I also really liked playing with All The Brightness at our London Cd Release, we’re hoping to hook up with them again soon. And a band we’re playing with soon called Lodown kick ass too, we played with them a couple time like 4 years ago before Jay was in the band. I’m also looking forward to playing with Sounds of Static, a local band that has caught my attention. They’re good friends and fellow veterans/great musicians of the Chatham indie scene.
What do you hope to achieve with Nerve?
Ki: A successful career sounds good to me! LOL I’d like to be able to make a living with our music and live comfortably rather than have to punch the clock at 6am every morning!
Chris: I just want people to give us a listen and come to the conclusion that we are a very original band and that we have something different to offer rather than the same old cookie cutter bands on the radio. But most of all, I want people to come see us live and say, “Damn! Those guys rock!!!” LOL. That’s what makes all the hard work gratifying, the live shows, knowing that there are fans of your music out there! I’d like to be doing what I love most, playing music we believe in, music we work hard at and if possible, in the end, earning a comfortable living at it for me and my family. Those are my hopes and dreams.
Jason: I'd like to see Nerve get a recording contract, tour the world, it'd be nice to play every day for a living I never tire of it and I get off on playing live for the fans. It's the most amazing feeling in the world. I'd like to see all our hard work pay off one day. But even if it never happens I can at least say I'm happy with the quality of the songs we write and record. I'm happy with this band and how tight of a unit we are. That’s what matters most.
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The Playlists
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Chris' Playlist (Albums)
1. Tool -Aenima
2. Jesus Lizard -Down
3. NoMeansNo - The Worldhood of the World..as such
4. Fugazi - In on the Killtaker
& of course..
5. The Refused 0The Shape of Punk To Come
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The Playlists
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Jay's Playlist
1. MUdvayne - Death Blooms
2. Pantera - Mouth for War
3. *Daglo Abortions - Proud to be Canadian
4. Parliment Funkadelic - Flash Light
5. Damage Plan -Breathing New Life
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The Playlists
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Ki's Playlist
1. Slayer - Reigh in Blood
2. Metallic - Master of Puppets
3. Helmet - Meantime
4. Beastie Boys (Check Your Head)
5. Failure - Magnified
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