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UNDER THE
SUN
This Month's
interview brings you art rock band Under
The Sun. Featuring an in-depth interview with bassist Kurt Barabas and
Keyboardist Matt Evidon.
Prog4you
- This interview was conducted with 13
year old Anthony Roldan and a little help from George Roldan and his
partner Thomas Connolly.
P4Y George: Hi Kurt hi Matt.
Kurt: By the way I was in your site this morning, excellent
site. Cutting edge.
P4Y George:
Thank
you, we wanted to do something different. We wanted to give prog fans a visual
experience when they visited our site.
Kurt: It looks like an old Yes record back in
the day, great to look at.
P4Y George: We want to introduce ourselves; my name is George
Roldan, my partner Thomas Connolly and my son Anthony Roldan.
Kurt:
Our names are Kurt Barabas, the bass player and Matt
Evidon, the keyboardist.
P4Y Anthony: Pleased to meet you guys.
P4Y Thomas: Ditto.
P4Y George: You know Anthony had a knot in his stomach last night
because he knew he was going to talk with you guys today. I said to Anthony these
guys put their pants on just like we do.
Kurt: What, wait, maybe?
Matt: Kurt's next to me we have our pants on trust me.
Kurt:
My son is on the record as well. He is the one who
announces now and forever. He was three when we recorded the album. He is Five now.
So I'm a dad too.
P4Y George: Wow. That is great. We didn't know that. What is your
son's name?
Kurt: His name is Jake.
P4Y George: To be honest, you guys are our second interview. Our
first interview was IQ.
Kurt: Excellent interview, I have been a fan of IQ for a long
time. It's hard to find good interviews on them.
P4Y :
Thanks.
P4Y Anthony: Matt, and Kurt, who are your earlier
musical influences?
Kurt: That varies. The whole reason I first got involved in
music was the Beatles, They were before my time.
Matt: You never told me that Kurt.
Kurt: I got my first Beatles album and I collected them all.
They were records back then. I got into Elton John, early Elton John, Then I
discovered Yes.
P4Y Thomas: Yeah everybody gets into Yes.
Kurt:
That's probably three of my strongest influences. But
there's also a group I like, which is probably absolutely one of my favorite groups.
A band called Weather Report. That group to me, and their contribution to music are
unlike anything I ever heard. That's the band that continues to blow me away. I tell
you there are a couple of bands that I just started getting into the past couple of
years. It's great because they’re like a brand new band to me. But they were 20
years ago. "Super Tramp".
P4Y Thomas: Oh Yeah! Great band.
Kurt: I really have been getting into them and the backlog of
Kansas records.
P4Y Thomas: Oh I love Kansas. Another great band.
Kurt: Really the last couple of years I have really been
getting into them. They are just amazing players - amazing guys.
Matt:
Let's see, I started taking piano lessons when I was
seven. My parents got me into that between the ages of seven and ten, and then I
didn't listen to anything but Beethoven and Chopin, a little Mozart. But Beethoven
and Chopin are my two Favorites.
P4Y Anthony: I can play Beethoven right now.
Matt: Can you? What can you play, which Beethoven?
P4Y Anthony: Fur Elise.
Matt:
Yeah there you go. That's one of the things that I learned
in my first few years. I got into the sonatas later. I love Beethoven symphonies and
then I started to listen to Musicals like Hair, and a Chorus Line and I learned most
of the Chorus Line songs. I started learning how to play a lot of Billy Joel songs
on the piano.
Matt:
I started learning a lot of Barry Manilow
songs. Hey you wanted to know my influences. I started to listen to the AM
radio my sister turned on. Then I heard a Styx song, Come Sail Away on the radio.
This is after playing classical recitals for 4 years. I sat down and played
Come Sail Away without ever trying to play it ever on the first try. So I knew that
OH WOW! This rock stuff is kind of easy.
P4Y Anthony: Right now I can play some IQ songs.
Matt: Awesome. I don't know much of their stuff. But if you can
play IQ you’re kicking butt. I've heard some of their stuff rip.
P4Y Anthony: This Question is for Kurt, how old were
you when you first started to play the bass?
Kurt:
I was ten years old when I played guitar and when I was
fifteen I started playing the bass. Then for about a year I kind of fell away from
it. I don't think I had the right teacher at the time. So when I was fifteen we
began playing bass.
P4Y Anthony: C00l.
Kurt: And at that time I started taking lessons. Took lessons
for about eight months. I was trying to learn Yes songs and Rush songs and the
Rush songs came pretty quickly. I could play most of the stuff within the first year
I was playing. Yes took a while longer and they were a big influence in my life.
P4Y Thomas: Chris Squire!
P4Y Anthony: He's cool. Kurt your cool too.
Kurt: Thanks. Right back at you.
P4Y Anthony: This is for both of you, Who are your
favorite progressive bands?
Kurt: Under The Sun.
P4Y Thomas: There you go!
Matt:
I'm afraid to say but I would have to say Yes. I'm always
afraid to answer questions like this but I figure honesty is the best policy because
I don't know how much of my influences is filtered into the music we made.
P4Y George: Right.
Matt: So it's a sticky issue and there are times to tell little
white lies and there are times when I don't think it's as important and I might as
well be honest. I don't know how much of an influence filter through, I don't think
we sound too much like Barry Manilow.
P4Y George: You know touching base on that. When I first picked up
the album I was trying to classify your album. You know how people compare with
other prog albums.
Kurt: Oh absolutely.
P4Y George: Well I personally thought that it was very original. I
thought it was a good sounding album with a lot of your own ideas. But you could
notice resemblance to some music, and the one that comes to mind is Yes.
P4Y Thomas: A little Peter Gabriel thrown in there too.
Matt: Good because I love him, but I would not have named him,
because I have not exposed myself to a lot of his music. But I'm glad you named him
because that means that their are influences that show up in our music that I would
not think of naming. So that's refreshing.
Kurt:
We do work really hard at checking each other in the music
we're writing. We make sure because I mean it is very easy to cop someone else's
style or riffs accidentally.
Matt:
I love it.
Kurt: Exactly, and back to my favorite progressive rock thing.
I love so much music that it's really hard to say and I think that by saying Under
The Sun, I wasn't trying to be cocky or anything.
P4Y Anthony: Right.
Kurt: That's pretty much my heart and soul. Going back to your
earlier question about playing bass. I stopped playing in cover bands when I was
seventeen because I was afraid of not developing my own sound. That's something that
I strive to do, of course all of my influences probably show at some time. But that
was one of the things I tried to do not to sound like anyone else.
P4Y Anthony: How would you classify your style of
music?
Kurt: Almost all of the above.
P4Y Tom: Yeah I don't think you fit any particular category I just
think you guys are just great music.
Kurt:
Thank you.
Matt: My favorite term is art rock.
P4Y Tom: That's a very broad brush.
Matt: Which is why that's my favorite classification.
P4Y Tom:
But you guy’s sound almost like a throw back to an earlier
time in progressive music.
Matt: That we don't mind.
Kurt: Actually that is the best kind of complement we can get
because at that time people were forging their own sound.
P4Y Tom: Exactly, your sound is very refreshing. I think it's
great.
Kurt:
And I tell you I think I mentioned this earlier, I don't
know how to classify it as cutting edge. But sort of what you said about us is
Spock's Beard. I just been getting into those guys and I think they're great.
Matt: I want to finish answering a question from before. I
don't want every one to think that my heaviest influences are
Barry Manilow.
P4Y Tom: We wouldn't do that to you.
Matt: I didn't think so, because that's when I was about 12
years old. If I could quickly run through.
P4Y Tom:
The rest of your life here.
Kurt: Matt, I know that I'm your biggest influence.
Matt:
I can't leave this as a loose end. I started hanging out
with my friends when I was fifteen and listening to Kiss, Aero smith, and Led
Zeppelin. Then I got into Boston for a time. I remember buying Kansas Left Overture
and listening to Carry On but never listening to the rest of the record. Then I
hooked up with Kurt when I was 22 and I started getting into Genesis and listening
to Tales From The Topographical Ocean. I didn't like it at first, but when I heard
it through a good stereo it floored me.
You know the way that thing goes, you have to listen to something three
times and then you fall in love with it. That's the way this kind of music is.
I thought Awaken was just a piece of crap when I first heard it.
But now I think it could be arguably the most brilliant song ever written. That's
the way Yes's music affects me. The first time I saw Yes I didn't know what
the hell I was listening to. I saw them in concert and I thought it was a bunch of
noise. Now they are my favorite. I think Relayer is my favorite record of all time.
Has been for 5 years. I've been a Rush fan, a Pink Floyd fan, and a Jethro Tull
fan for a good 5 or 6 years now.
P4Y Anthony: Were you nervous on your first concert?
Kurt:
The first time we played live as Under The Sun. Personally
I was not
Matt:
Don't lie.
Kurt:
When I was younger and I played in front of
people, I used to get really nervous. Once I got into my twenties it was
more spending so many hours practicing and in rehearsals I was finally prepared to
play live. Not that I didn't find it extremely exciting every time I played. I don't
think nervousness is exactly the same way I feel.
Matt:
I think he still gets nervous. I'm always nervous but the thing is, I learned a long
time ago how to turn it into positive energy. I actually play well anyway. A little
nervousness, I kind of enjoy that thrill anyway. My nervousness comes from making
sure I don't forget the little programming details on stage. There's a lot of
programming stuff I have to do live. But the playing comes pretty naturally.
P4Y George:
I have to tell you guys, when you play Nearfest this summer your going to be playing
in front of the hard core of all prog fans. I mean your going to get the Republican
Guard. This is going to be great.
Kurt:
I can't wait.
P4Y Tom:
You’re going to make a lot of new fans.
Kurt:
You know that's the whole thing. The biggest joy is playing music for people that
enjoy it. The way that when I see a concert that I love it just affects me. I mean
that’s the gift right there.
P4Y Tom:
Definitely yeah.
P4Y George:
We just need more women to attend the concerts.
Kurt:
Why do you say that?
P4Y George:
The last couple of years attending prog concerts there are a lot of men.
Kurt:
Funny you say that because our core audience has always been masculine. It's like
going to a prog concert.
Matt:
It's a man thing.
Kurt:
Yeah girls would be a nice addition.
P4Y Anthony:
What is your favorite song off your own
album?
P4y Tom: Tough question from a 13 year old.
Matt: My favorite song to listen to or to play? I will answer
both.
P4Y Anthony: Ok.
Matt: Kurt you answer first.
Kurt:
For me there are two songs; I mean I love them all. One
song that I think did something pretty magical when we recorded it. In my opinion
was Dream Catcher. Its one of those songs that when we get together to rehearse we
could be in a bad mood collectively. We play that song it sets us right.
Matt:
I've never been in a bad mood, speak for you self-Kurt.
Kurt: We don't talk about Barry Manilow over your way. But my
favorite song on the record is "Reflection".
P4Y Anthony: That's great.
Kurt: A couple of reasons for that it goes somewhere the other
songs don't. Not that it’s technical or anything. Just something about that song,
and I know the guitarist Chris feels the same way.
Matt:
The answer to your question changes, but currently I would
say that most of the time my favorite song to listen to is Dream Catcher- My
favorite song to play is Golden Voyage. It took more work than any of the other
stuff. So to play it, is always a huge challenge every time.
Kurt: I have a question for you guys. What's your favorite
song?
P4Y Anthony:
Seeing Eye God.
Matt: Were going to play that, five times at Nearfest.
P4Y George: For me personally Seeing Eye God is an excellent song. It
has infectious grooves in it. Sometimes I just can't get it out of my head.
Kurt: Wow!
P4Y George: That's the first song I turned Tom on to off the album.
The bass playing on that song is great.
Kurt: Oh wow, thanks.
P4Y Tom: Yeah I love a good bass line.
P4Y George:
What kind of basses do you play?
Kurt:
Through out the recording I used a Musicman Sterling. I played a
Musicman Sterling on This Golden Voyage, Breakwater, Reflections, Tracer, Dream
Catcher and Now and Forever (except the solo). I made my own bass called a
Bearabass Jazz bass. I bought all the parts and assembled it myself. I played
"The Bearabass" on the solo on Now and Forever, Perfect World and Gardens. I played
a Fender P-Bass Elite (1982) on the Time Being. All the effects were tracked
(nothing added in the mix).
I like to have control over my sound. To me the Musicman is pretty much
the bass I play live. Recently, I started getting into a bass called Lakeland Joe
Osborne. I think that is the best bass I have ever played. I will probably be
switching over to that live maybe after Nearfest. But it also depends because the
Musicman is kind of part of the Under The Sun Sound.
P4Y George: Great equipment. We're not going to be critics at
Nearfest. But were going to be watching you play the bass.
P4Y Tom: Are we going to hear some new music at Nearfest ?
Kurt: Most likely one or two.
P4Y Tom: Working on a new album?
Kurt:
We think so, but no guarantees.
Matt: Don't listen to him, were doing everything we can.
P4Y Anthony: How did you guys meet the rest of the
band?
Matt: Well let’s see Matt and I were in a group called Silent
Son.
Kurt:
Back in 87.
Matt: No 84.
Kurt: No it was 87.
Matt: Matt no it wasn't that late. He's wrong.
Kurt: Ok! We were in grade school. We met back then and played
in an original progressive group that ended falling apart and then a couple of years
later I met Chris Shryack. I placed an ad in all the trade magazines in LA saying
that I was a progressive bassist looking for an original group and I honestly
checked out 30 different groups or people. Then Chris called me and he had Under The
Sun before that. They were a high school band that played covers. We talked on the
phone; he was my counter part as a bass player - guitar player. We had almost
parallel lines, and our music taste was identical. We had an instant chemistry. I
worked on Matt for 5 years. Ok Matt you can take it from here.
Matt: Yeah I was with Kurt on Silent Son and I eventually left
the group. I went through a phase where I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.
P4Y George: Not Barry Manilow I hope.
P4Y Tom:
Finding yourself.
Matt: I went back to learning Barry Manilow that's a joke. So
five years goes by occasionally going to the shows that Kurt and his band members
use to play and they got this violinist up there and they were good. I liked them -
But you know they had a band that I wasn’t really into. I wasn't really into being
in a band. I was into a couple of bands after that, but I was really with the wrong
guys. I wasn't really inspired by what I was doing. It was December 1992 and Kurt
calls me on the phone and says Eric left the band. I said I guess I have a decision
to make, don't I? That was the conversation and I called about a week later and
joined the band. I didn't even own any gear at the time. I was completely detached
from music. I borrowed a keyboard and said where are you playing next? Kurt told me
that the next rehearsal was on New Years day 1993.
P4Y Tom:
That's brutal.
Matt: Yeah and I went and borrowed a F50 keyboard which I still
use in my rig and played. That was it; I mean I decided to join that day.
P4Y Tom: The rest is history.
Matt: At the time they had a drummer named Bob and a
singer named Gary eventually they both departed, we went through another singer
named Ian and then he departed. That's right he wanted to go for a six-month
vacation and wondered why we didn't want to work with him again when he came back.
Kurt: Yeah he wanted to take a six-month vacation.
P4Y George: Now he's on a permanent vacation.
Kurt: Yeah cya!
Matt: We worked with a couple of different drummers since then.
We went to record a demo for the record a couple of year’s prior. We had a
production deal with another small company and we were auditioning drummers and went
through several top-notch drummers. But Paul walked in and I played with him for
about ten minutes and he was the best drummer I have ever played with.
Kurt:
That was chemistry.
Matt:
Now I would say that when Paul walked in that day and we asked him to join, he
accepted. To me that is when Under The Sun truly started. That's when everything
changed.
P4Y George:
For me that is the kind of stuff a fan
loves to hear.
Kurt: Oh great.
Matt:
You don't like the Barry Manilow thing?
P4Y Tom: No really those are gems.
Matt: I love Barry Manilow! Just kidding.
P4Y George:
So now your group is together.
P4Y George: So then you recorded the album.
Kurt:
I think the beauty of this record, the nuances that show through the record is
because we recorded it ourselves. A friend of ours helped engineer the record Gordon
Suffield. We did all the bass tones, all the guitar tones, and all the keyboard
tones. We had it completely recorded in track when we brought it to Terry Brown. So
we really were able to translate what we heard in our heads, so to speak.
P4Y Anthony:
Was it hard to get a record label?
Kurt: Well that we can thank our wonderful friend Terry Brown
for. After we came back from the mix in Toronto Magna Carta contacted us. We didn't
even shop. Is that correct Matt?
Matt: Yeah it is.
Kurt: We looked at each other and said well - Yeah this happens
everyday.
Matt:
It was hard to get a record deal before we recorded a
record.
Kurt: Yeah we couldn't get one. The nature of our music I feel
is exactly where we all want to be. But it’s not huge. It was huge in the seventies;
we would love to see it come back.
Matt:
Kurt's convinced that it will make a comeback.
Kurt: Obviously compared to other markets it's not huge and we
live an LA. This is the worst place for that kind of music. If your trying to make
it as a band that does it.
P4Y George: You need to move to the east coast.
Kurt: No doubt about it. There is more sensibility to this kind
of music. People in the east receive it so much better.
Matt: The word your looking for is cooler.
Kurt: But once we recorded the thing with a producer who had a
name Terry Brown we didn't have to work at all. The deal fell in our laps.
P4Y Tom:
That's great.
Kurt: It was the very first time where I walked in a studio
where we went to mix and sat down and looked at Terry Brown and was just like ok, we
were in the presence of a master.
Matt: Are you talking about Terry or me?
Kurt:
I can't say enough about him.
P4Y George: Are you going to work with him again?
Matt: We're already talking to him about it.
Kurt: Oh absolutely I would like to work with him again. I
think he has the magic. He's such a likable guy.
Matt: Are you talking about Terry or me?
P4Y Tom: Yeah the production comes through on the album.
P4Y George: I think you made the right choice.
Kurt: Yeah we were really lucky.
P4Y George: Now is there any pressure from Magna Carta to produce
another album during a certain period of time?
Kurt:
They are great. We are working on one now. It's not
completed yet. They give us complete freedom. Which is unbelievable. I was joking
with Peter Morticelli president of Magna Carta records and Mike Varney his partner,
months back. We were talking about the next record and Mike said so what do you
think about it, what's going on? Just you know I think I'm kind of funny - I
said to him it's going to be great. This album is going to be one song, because I
was trying to get a rise out of them, and they both looked at me and said great,
that's okay. Talk about complete artistic freedom. I mean you can't ask for more
then that.
P4Y George: Yeah that's great.
P4Y Anthony: Do you think your music should get
airplay in the USA?
Kurt: It's a matter of what's on the radio most people think oh
if it's on the radio it must be good. In the old days it was. Not to bring up
Neil Morse, but his solo work has plenty of songs on there that should be on the
radio. I'm not sure if you’re familiar with Kevin Gilbert (Toy Matinee). Another
great talent, he's not with us anymore. But could have been on the radio.
P4Y Tom:
The DJ's had more control back then.
P4Y George:
Sooner or later progressive music will
start to filter back in the mainstream again.
P4Y Tom: Over here in the east coast it seems to be.
Kurt:
I have to agree with that.
P4Y Anthony: Do you guys like bands like Arena,
Spocks Beard, and Transatlantic?
Kurt: That's funny you say Transatlantic. I'm looking at the CD
right now. If I could go back when Paul joined our group and we started our
chemistry. I'm attracted by chemistry in groups it may not necessarily be the band
itself. But this band Transatlantic with the different members who are all very
accomplished. For me it's one of the best progressive bands I have ever heard.
Something about that CD, the chemistry just kicks on it.
P4Y Tom: Yeah that is really a special CD.
Kurt: Excellent. I ran into Pete Trawavas from Marillion I
never met him before being a fellow bass player I basically told him what I thought
about Transatlantic. Very nice guy. Great bass player.
P4Y George:
Absolutely. Marillion is one of my
favorite bands especially from back in the day.
Kurt: We had a chance to see Marillion at the Roxy playing
Misplaced Childhood. That was one of the most incredible shows I have ever seen. The
sound was perfect.
Matt:
It was such a brilliant album. One of the most beautiful
albums.
Kurt: Wasn't Barry Manilow good?
P4Y Tom: Misplaced Manilow.
Matt: Yeah well you were the one that said Terry Brown it's
like magic.
Kurt: That's what made me think about Barry Manilow songs.
P4Y Anthony: How would you rate your songs on a
scale of one to ten?
Kurt: Our music is the best music ever written in the millions
of years.
P4Y Tom: Much better then Barry Manilow.
Kurt: Its impossible to rate this music. To me I feel very
fortunate to play. I'm able to play music and write it and I couldn't rate it.
To be honest that's a double edge question.
We are our own worst critics. You know we can still hear things in our own
music that we wish we did differently. Because that's just the nature of the beast.
When your creating stuff.
Matt: More bass solo's is what he's trying to say.
Kurt: I didn't say that.
Matt: I do know this; the reason I personally compose is
because no matter how much music I listen too, no matter how good it is. I hear
stuff in my head that hasn't been done yet. I don't know if I achieve that or will
achieve that. But I know I'm not sick of listening to our CD yet.
Kurt: Hey Anthony, I decided I couldn’t play in a band with a
guy who dig's Barry Manilow.
P4Y George: You guys know were printing that.
Kurt: Go ahead.
P4Y Anthony: Last question guys. Would you ever
consider playing at my school?
Kurt: I would love too.
Matt:
Yes.
Kurt:
Have your people meet our people for lunch.
P4Y Gang:
Great Interview guys loved it.
Interviewers: George
Roldan & Thomas Connolly
Visit The bands official web site at
http://www.uts-underthesun.com/
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