Prog Punk Meets Rap - Process of Fusion Interview

The band Process of Fusion caught my eyes and ears while travelling through the world of Twitter.  I checked out their page and we set up an interview right away.  I wanted to know a little more about how the band got together, why, what they're all about and much more.  We went from talking about social media to talking about band relationships/health.  I 'sat down' with Justin Sarachik of the band.  Hope you enjoy the interview below:

Chasing Sound - When and why did you start Process of Fusion?

Process of Fusion - The band got ball rolling in late 2008, and we officially became established summer 2009. As far as why... Me and the other vocalist, Pat, have always made music together and have been in bands together since 2005. By 2008 we wanted to get serious and start playing some shows. We love music, and wanted people to finally hear our message and see what we are capable of doing.

CS - What made Process of Fusion fall into the style of prog/rap, and who are some of your influences?

POF - Well Pat and I started as a punky post hardcore band in vein of Taking Back Sunday. Then I started listening to a lot of hip-hop so I began experimenting with rap.  I was originally the drummer, but as we added the other guitarists and band's influences grew, the music became more complex and musically challenging, so I stepped out behind the drums in favor of a better drummer, and went to vocals.  

CS - Sometimes that's what's best for the band, and the band gets stronger because of it.

POF - As far as influences, we garner our sounds from: Coheed and Cambria, Dream Theater, Chronic Future, Linkin Park, Underoath, and more.

CS - That's a pretty wide range of influences.  Lately i'm seeing more and more bands that are really embracing the prog/punk mentality. Bands like Four Year Strong, Bayside, etc. who really bring crazy musical talent to a punk rock band.

CS - When did you guys record your last CD, and how did you feel about the studio experience?

POF - We recorded the Connections EP in January of 2011. It was our second time recording, and mentally we were more prepared, experienced, and ready to know exactly what we wanted. It's a ton of fun, just creating and sometimes sparking off something new while in the studio.

CS - What are your plans for the band, and even better, where do you want to be next year?

POF - Well, we recently lost our drummer of almost 3 years, but already have a replacement. So for the immediate future, we'll be teaching our new drummer the songs and working on some brand new ones with him. We are looking to maybe do a little tour in August, and shopping our album all along the way.

CS - Band health is always an issue. You have to try and keep everyone happy, having mini relationships with everyone in the band.  Anything crazy ever happen at shows, etc.?

POF - Anything crazy as far as what, our relationships on stage?

CS - Basically that's what i'm asking.  How does everyone get along?  That's one of the most important things to keeping a band alive.

POF - Well as far as on stage, we all have good chemistry and presence together. We work off each other and the crowd. Off stage, we are all good friends. I've known Pat since I'm 5, and him and Dylan are best friends. Pat also dates the other guitarist, Rose. So we have to like each other lol. Jomar is the drummer, and he fits in like he's one of us.

CS - How are you guys using social media like Twitter and Facebook to promote the band?

POF - Well I'm the social media guru of the band...so I'm constantly posting things everywhere. I tweet people, blog, send out emails, etc. We just try to stay active in our down time so we can always give the fans something to see that says, "Hey we're still here!"

CS - That's really important to keep interacting with fans.  It's a delicate balance between annoying people, and people really engaging with you.  I think first and foremost you have to develop real relationships with your fans, and then naturally they'll listen to your music, come to shows, etc. At least hopefully!

POF - Yes, I agree 100% We live in the media age, so you have to take advantage, although it would have been cool to plaster posters and stickers everywhere while selling cds out our trunks...

CS - You know, it still can be a bit of old media and new media combined. Sometimes that's the best bet. On a different note, where do your songs come from..when your'e writing...how does a Process of Fusion song start?

POF - Pat or Dylan usually come to practice with the skeleton of a song. From there we jam on it a bit. If everyone is ok with it, we think of a concept or theme to write on. Sometimes the songs are more rap with a little bit of singing, sometimes it's the opposite, but regardless it is whatever fits best. It is up to Pat and I to decide what we want to do lyrically. From there we write our individual parts, and then test it out at our next show and make revisions accordingly.

CS - Always nice to audition songs and see how people feel about them, especially before recording. As far as the prog side, how do you guys avoid overwriting, and letting the song breathe?

POF - Well when we get to work on writing a song we take it through different stages before we really crack down on it as a full band. We may need to shave some time off because it just drags or may not have the best flowing parts, but there are sometimes where we do like to have some fun and just rip and show off the talent of the band.

CS - It's definitely fun to try and show off the technical side of the band, especially when the songs flow well with tech. parts in them.  I really want to thank you for doing this interview, is there anything else readers should know?

POF - Yes! Stay tuned for brand new Process of Fusion, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, we will be posting quite frequently. Also, new music in the works, and we may be recording an unreleased song soon!

Check out Process of Fusion all over the web - 

Web - http://pofband.com/       

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ProcessOfFusion

Reverb Nation - http://www.reverbnation.com/processoffusion 

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/processoffusion 

Twitter - http://twitter.com/POF_Band

Don't Be An Island

On this wonderful Easter Sunday, I write to you about something that is very important to me.  It has to do with what this blog is all about, and that's why I had to sit down and write a post about it while dinner gets made, my son sleeps, and candy is being put into baskets.  

Earlier yesterday I put a comment on another recording/mixing blog.  For whatever reason, it was taken down. It most definitely added to the conversation, and pertained to the topic.  I don't know the reasoning behind it, but I hope it's not that it's because I write for another audio blog.  Either way, this transitions into a bigger topic at hand.

Engineers who don't share their information.  I thought in this day and age, with Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and more that people would've gotten away from the old 'I keep my secrets close' mentality about recording and mixing.  While there are certainly great people who share out there : Pensado's Place, Gearslutz, The Womb, and more to name a few, I definitely think every once in a while, people think that it's a competition.  

The whole point behind this blog is to share my life's knowledge of what I have learned from doing it on my own, going to school, and being part of multiple studios, ending up in my own facility.  I feel like there is a lot to say, and I'm not afraid to share it with those who will listen.  Engineers who think they have to keep secrets should think about where they first came from.  Not everyone started as a pro, and we all assisted, or worked hard to get where we are today.

Let's further our field, and help spread info wherever possible.  The result?  You'll hear more music that is better produced, recorded, and mixed.  If you write a blog, and someone adds a comment that adds to your readers' knowledge, then leave it there!  If it's spam, then go ahead and delete it.  The comment should add to the overall effect of the post.  

On that note, rather than just write about talking about sharing knowledge, here's a tip for the day.  Learn as much as you possibly can.  What I mean is, go out and immerse yourself in this field as much as possible if you love it.  Don't cut tape?  Maybe you should go out and buy a reel, and practice.  While a lot of us dwell in a DAW, you never know if that big project you might get next requires you to go into a studio with a reel-to-reel.  On that note, do you know how to thread and align a reel-to-reel?  Sometimes these things will net you a job, over the other guy.  Practice as much as possible.  There are so many multi-tracks out there for you to play around with.  Open your DAW and learn each day what something does.  Practice EQ, practice compression, practice what reverbs you like best.  After a while, your ear will go to what you've been practicing.  

I hope you agree with me, that we work in a field, where you can't even really call it 'work'.  Most of us would be doing this for free if we could.  With that, let's keep on sharing tips, tricks and more.  Let's collaborate, and help each other.

Here's to better mixes!

In other news, I'm getting ready to review Propellerhead's Figure in a few days.  Have you played with the app yet?  What do you like or dislike about it?  Let me know in the comments below!

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My son is born!!

Myles Matthew Sutich was born yesterday at 9:26 p.m.

He is 8.8 lbs. and 19.5 in.

Mother and baby kickin butt!

The Best of Both Worlds

Happiness

I think one of the main reasons I've neglected the site a little bit, is because in addition to wanting to just write posts about music, recording, and mixing, I also have such a huge interest in social.  I really enjoy downloading the latest apps.  Whether that be music apps or social or more.  

I always try to be the first person on social networks, at least to try them out.  I want to get my message out there, no matter what the tool is.  I joined Pinterest a while ago, I started on Twitter when people literally laughed at me for it, but the funny thing is that now people really are enjoying these tools, and utilizing them more and more.

I know the blogosphere is flooded with great tech sites.  The Verge, Pando Daily, Mashable, and more.  Like this site though, I want to include tech and social news, sometimes when it doesn't even have to deal with music.  I want to talk about the things that matter to me, and that's what I plan to do.

A lot of these social tools today CAN in fact help you with your music and your engineering and mixing, etc.  For instance, twitter can help your band grow and gain followers and even shows.  YouTube can help you learn important information about mixing (Pensado's Place) and production.

That's why i'm going to spotlight these tools, and talk music, recording, tech, social and more.  If you're down, i'd love you to stick along and let me know what you think.  Let's have some fun.

It's Been Some Time...A Call To Action

Well, it surely has been some time since i've had a chance to post.  Having a baby will do that to ya.  Well, i'm not having the baby, my wife is.  We're about a month away from when the little guy will be born.  Pretty exciting times!  With that, and switching to a new amazing job, time has been limited a bit for engineering, blogging, and other fun things.

That being said, Chasing Sound has been in the back of my mind, and i am constantly thinking of how to make it better.  Some ideas on my brain have been to do a weekly podcast, to start doing screencasts, and more.  I want to share my knowledge.  I am not and have never been the type of guy to keep secrets as to how I engineer or mix.  

I want to help you achieve better, more interesting recordings and mixes.  If you're still with me, first I appreciate it, and secondly give me some idea of what you'd love to learn in the future.  I have a creative bunch of ideas held up, and I will be posting a lot lately, so keep your eyes on ChasingSound.CO  Tell your friends and spread the word.

The most important thing about Chasing Sound and most companies, is the community, and the culture.  If you're not reading, or letting people know, the website will surely suffer.  Let's get everyone we know to tune in, and watch or read, so they can produce more music.  I would love to hear more and more tracks, that sound great from numbers of people.  Back some years ago, when I was setting studios up and selling to customers, they always had a load of questions.  Are you one of those people?  I'm here to help!

Here's how you know i'm for real.  One, you can contact me on the Chasing Sound twitter, which is @ChasingSound, or my personal twitter account, which is @BSutich.  In addition, you can email me, which i check multiple times a day - ChasingSoundNET [at] gmail.com  

Thanks for sticking along for the ride, it's going to be epic!