Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/137824
No Excuses, Just Good Music by STEPHANIE CRIDER Up & Coming Weekly recently had a chat with My Excuse. Here is a peek at what they bring to the Fayetteville music scene. UCW: Who are your members and what instruments do they play? ME: Steven does vocals, acoustic and electric guitars; Markus plays the electric guitar; Baha plays the drums; Teo is our bass player and Tasos plays keys. UCW: Give us a brief history My Excuse lesson on the band. When and where did you get started? ME: We were born and raised in Thessaloniki, a small town in northern Greece. My father is Greek and my mom is from Beaumont, Texas, so I grew up in Greece, but with Southern family traditions, and listening to rock-n-roll. I found the guys about eight years ago. We immediately hit it off and started playing music in tiny venues. We play mostly Greek traditional and pop music. We struggled for years trying to introduce people o our kind of rockn-roll and were forced to compromise and play well known rock covers to get people to see that we were actually good. In Greece rock n' roll isn't their music, so people aren't accustomed to listening to new bands playing original material. We did this for seven years, becoming tighter as a band, and saving money to record an album and hopefully come to the U.S. We didn't know if we would make it or if people would even like our music. Then, our manager at the time went to London to the office of Safta Jaffery (MUSE, Radiohead) and insisted on seeing him. Evidently his persistence made an impression on the founder of Taste Media, got him to listen to our demo, and explained the situation we were in. Safta loved the band, and along with producer Ron St. Germain, (Tool, Soundgarden, 311, Creed) flew to Greece to see us live. Two years later, we have recorded our album with Ron in New York, successfully funded a kickstarter project and along with the money we saved all these years, we are now touring the U.S. The first band from Greece to ever do so. UCW: How did the band get its name? ME: Everybody has an excuse for who they are, for what they do, for what they choose not to do throughout life. This defines who we become. Our excuse is music. The reason we are who we are and we live life like we do is this band. UCW: How would you define your music? ME: Just good old-fashioned heartfelt rock n' roll. UCW: Who are your favorite bands/influences on your music? ME: Because of our completely diverse background its hard to pinpoint specific influences. I am the songwriter and I have been exposed to American pop culture throughout my life so even though my main influences are artists like Pearl Jam and the whole '90s scene, I can't ignore the influence of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson. But I am also influenced by the '80s glam-rock era. The rest of the band is compiled of a funk/jazz keyboard player, a blues guitarist, a bass player whose tastes include Brit pop, electronica and bands like Tool, and a drummer that has played everything from metal to Greek traditional Middle Eastern music. Add to that the fact that for years we have covered rock, house and hip-hop music, its hard to say what it is that gives us our sound. UCW: Do you write your own music and where does that inspiration come from? ME: I write the songs and take them to the band, the rest just unfolds in the studio. My inspiration comes mainly from social interaction and mechanisms that lead us to behave in ways we do not ethically approve of, to ignore injustice and pain in society and to fear that we might have to get off our couches and protest at some point. UCW: If you only had two words to describe your band what would they be? ME: My Excuse UCW: Where do you see the band five years, 10 years from now? ME: I feel really good about this tour, we all do. We finally know for a fact that we have not been screwing around playing rock star and chasing a ghost our whole life. People are really feeling our music at our shows.It has made us stronger. I think its going to happen for us, we just might be able to do this for a few more years without having to go back to our real jobs! My hope is that in the next ten years we will have made albums that have expressed who we were along the journey, and that have managed to touch people in a positive way. UCW: Where can Fayetteville music lovers check you in the near future? ME: Fayetteville music lovers can check us on facebook.com/my excuse, myexcuseband. STEPHANIE CRIDER, Editor COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom, and myexcuse tv on youtube. JUNE 22 • 1ST ANNUAL SAFE HAVENS RIVERFEST MOTORCYCLE SHOW at Campbellton Landing. 2-9 p.m. $25 to enter. Call 484 2936 or email www.9339mc.com for more information. JUNE 22 • 3RD ANNUAL HOME GROWN HEROES FALLEN OFFICER MEMORIAL RIDE at the Cumberland County Courthouse. Reg 8 a.m., ride 9:45 a.m., $25/rider $15/pass. Benefits NC C.O.P.S. and other local charities. Sponsored by Blue Knights NC XIII of Fayetteville. Find out more ar www. fayettevillencblueknightsXIII.org. JULY 19 • KICK START PARTY FOR CHRISTMAS IN JULY at Legends Pub. Call 867-2364 for more information. JULY 20 • CHRISTMAS IN JULY TOY RUN at Victory of Fayetteville. Reg 8 a.m. depart at 10 a.m. $15/rider $10 pass. Lunch provided by Texas Roadhouse. Contest, prizes and raffles, food, and Live Entertainment. Call 910-426-5082 or 910261-4601 for more information. JULY 20 • REVERSE RAFFLE NIGHT RIDE at Legends Pub. Call 867-2364 for more information. SEPTEMBER 15 • CAPE FEAR VALLEY HEALTH FOUNDATION FRIENDS OF THE CANCER CENTER RIBBON WALK & RIDE at the Medical Arts Center in downtown Fayetteville. 8 a.m. registration. 9:45 a.m. Ride Begins. 10 a.m. Walk Begins. For more information, visit www. ribbonwalkforcancer.org. PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse group of patriots from every state that come together to honor fallen soldiers at funeral services across the country. Visit www. patriotguard.org for more information about the group. • SAVE THESE DATES • June 22 Bob Marlow and Gypsywomen Golf Tournament July 29 • Cabana Day Thirsty Thursdays $1 off all drinks! 4624 BRAGG BLVD. Who will be crowned? Winners announced ed September er 18th! comingweekly.com. 22 UCW JUNE 19-25, 2013 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM