10 Questions with ARANDA

I had the opportunity to interview the brothers Dameon and Gabe of Aranda via email. Here's how it went:

1. Who's older? By how much?

• Dameon is 16 months older than me.

2. At what point did you realize you could work creatively together?

• We just grew up doing everything together really so when music became a serious interest to one, it became serious to the other too ya know. We started rewriting songs kinda like Weird Al would do when we were kids hahahah!!! I can remember.....Cindi Laupers "Girls just wanna have fun" was "Girls just wanna have lunch". Stupid stuff like that ya know and then without knowing how to play intruments yet.....we would record whole albums using a small cassette tape deck of original material. One would sing and the other would play mouth guitar lol!!! We were around 8 and 9 at the time i think. Still have those tapes in a secret underground bunker : )

3. You're influences are wide and varied, would you say that gave you an edge and a different way of looking at music creation?

• I think variety is a good thing obviously. I dont know if it gives us an edge over anyone else really. I thank my parents for exposing us to alot of great artists growing up like Zeppellin, Hendrix,The Beatles and Elvis. Thats a pretty good foundation there. As far as creating music.....all you can do is use your influences as a guide and do what comes natural.

4. Did you ever take any formal music lessons?

• Our dad plays guitar and he started us off with a few chords. Dameon got good so quickly that i decided to sing haha. From that point it was just hours in our room so no nothing formal.

5. How do you feel about the impact of the internet on the music business?

• Its changed the game for sure. I think its good because it lets artists get back some control of there art and really reward those who work hard at getting themselves seen online. As far as the business goes i think its turned the whole thing upside down and caused the majors to adapt and figure out different ways to continue to make money. We are just trying to navigate between the two trying to find our place in this crazy thing.

6. What bands have you enjoyed touring with the most?

• All have been fun really. I think Puddle of Mudd is up there, great response from their fans night in and night out, and just cool guys all around. Hoobastank were great too, really good band. We're out with Saliva now and having a great time with them.

7. What cities have had the best reception for your music outside of your home state?

• Little Rock AR, Manchester N.H., The whole state of Texas!!!! and Wichita KS.

8. Where do you see Aranda in 5 years? 10 years?

• Little Rock AR, Manchester N.H., The whole state of Texas!!!! and Wichita KS......hahahaha. Who knows man. Life doesnt afford us the luxury of looking that far ahead unfortunatly. Hopefully healthy and touring still!!!

9. Which of you guys get more groupies?

• We're tied at one a piece

10. Any words of wisdom for those with hopes of breaking into music?

• Make the music good before worrying about the guy-liner and leather pants. If your music is good, record it and hit the road hard and often and the people that can make a difference for you will come to you. Remember those guys wanna discover something great...thats their job. Put yourself in a position to be that great thing.

11. Do you play covers on stage? Who do you like to play?

• We grew up playing covers for food but have since left that glorious stage in life behind. We do still like to pull some out though. we get alot of attention for our Zeppellin cover of "Dazed and Confused"

12. What was the strangest thing to have happen while performing on stage?

• Not sure you can print that stuff but one G rated strange thing had to do with a bar fight that ended with a guy holding a gun to Dameons head and using him as a shield to get out of the place. Good times. (I wonder what the less G-Rated one might've been? I would've posted it! ~Bob)

13. What's the best part of touring to you?

• Connecting with people that really get what we do and watching them realize it right in front of you. Its a cool gig.

Okay, well it was really 13 questions, not 10, but I wrote extras in case they rejected some. They were really cool and answered them all. Thanks a lot for your time, guys!

If you would like to learn more about Aranda, have a look at these sites:

• http://www.myspace.com/aranda
• http://www.youtube.com/user/Aranda
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aranda/12702254836
• http://www.purevolume.com/aranda
• http://www.astonishstore.com/browse/Aranda
• http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=276126164&s=143441