Flickerstick News
Corey Kreig of Flickerstick: The GrayHaven Interview
EC - So how did you guys get on the show?
CK - We were on a Billboard Magazine compilation CD, it was called a talent net CD and basically VH-1 got a hold of that CD. It�s sent it out to industry types all over the country and VH-1 got a hold of it and contacted our manager.
EC - So they contacted you. You didn�t have to do a cattle call or anything
CK- No, they contacted us and said, hey we�d like to get you guys to audition for this show and so we sent in some materials and stuff and there were a couple of different processes as far as interviewing and we did that and we were part of a showcase of about 7 or 8 bands and they narrowed that down to the bands on the show.
EC -So how has the show changed things for the band? How were things before and how are things now?
CK - Well, the main thing is just exposure on a national level. We are now able to tour in markets that if we had gone into those markets a year ago people wouldn�t have really known us. Now without ever having been to markets are able to go and play shows to capacity crowds.
EC - Before you were mostly known around the Dallas area?
CK - Yeah, before we drew really well in Dallas, Austin, and Houston but even in Texas places are so far away it�s hard to tour regionally because your at least 3 or 4 hours away from the closest places to you.
EC - Did you guys try to tour regionally before outside of Texas?
CK - Only like Oklahoma and a little bit in Arkansas but we never even considered doing an east coast tour because there really wasn�t an opportunity to make any money doing that.
EC - Do you worry about not being taken seriously because of the show. To be known more for being on Bands On The Run than for your music?
CK - I used to, before the show came out and in the early stages of the show but now that we�re out on the road� I think that once people come to see us live they realize that we are a legitimate rock & roll band and were not just some group of guys that got picked to be on a TV show. We were a band for years before we were on the show and were going to be a band for years after the show.
EC - How much of an influence were the cameras, did they push you to play things up? Does what�s portrayed on screen relate to how you really are or did they push you to be more wild, more crazy?
CK - I think to a degree the cameras obviously influence your actions. You�re aware they�re there and I think at times we hammed it up but I think that if someone just hangs around us for thirty minutes they�ll find that the way we were portrayed on that show is how we really are, that�s just the way we are naturally.
EC - They are trying to push you guys as the party band on the show. Do you guys really party that hard or was that part of hamming it up for the cameras?
CK - Well we used to tell them when they�d interview us and be like, dude you guys are crazy and we�d say y�all should come back and hang out with us in Dallas for a couple days. (laughter) This isn�t anything. We�re calm right now. We just like to have a good time. We certainly don�t want to be considered a party band like Motley Crue but we like to have fun. One of the reasons we all joined the band � music and the love of music and a love of the lifestyle. I think all of us were always very intrigued and interested by the rock & roll lifestyle and all of our heroes of rock & roll, the Rolling Stones, the Who and all these bands we admired they kinda lived on the edge and that�s our deal that�s what we enjoy.
EC - What�s it like to watch the show now with your friends and family? Have there been any repercussions?
CK - My family pretty much accepts me for who I am and the way I want to be and I think most of the guys in the band fit that profile. Nobody�s had family members call and say, � I can�t believe you did that�. There�s been some relationship issues for everybody and it was definitely difficult to come home and try to maintain relationships after things happened on the show,
EC - So have things settled back down to normal now?
CK - um, to a degree I guess, I think everybody now knows to kind of take everything that happened on the show with a grain of salt and understand that even though we did do those things it was under kind of weird and strange parameters.
EC - It was kind of unreal
CK - yeah, it was as real as they want to make you think it is, it still isn�t really real because that�s not what it�s really like when you�re out on the road.
EC - How did you get along with the other bands? I know that there was competitive rivalry because of the game but did you get along with them? Did you like their music?
CK - I wouldn�t say I liked their music necessarily. I�m not really into the styles and genres of the other bands. I like, for the most part, most of them as people. We made some really good friends with some of the other bands, especially Harlow and we�re really good friends with a couple of the guys from the Josh Dodes Band. But we really didn�t get a chance to forge friendships because it was a competitive atmosphere. I think that Harlow and I and our band kind of struck a chord with one another because�
EC - Us against them?
CK - Yeah, we were like the bands that were not supposed to do good on the show and there�s Soulcracker who�s like the Boy Scouts of America who are going to go out and win this thing, so we were like screw y�all, screw VH1 you know?
EC - I�ve only watched for the last three weeks but it seems Soulcracker have made it their mission to win and you guys don�t care. You�re along for the ride.
CK - Right from the get go the day we left we were like we�re going to get kicked off first. We accept it, it�s fine. Everyday after we didn�t get kicked off first we were like were still here so�.
EC - We�ll just ride it for as long as it will take us.
CK - Exactly, we�re not going to go out and bust our asses and try to make people buy CDs. We�re just gonna have fun and enjoy it Why go out and work when we are on the best vacation we ever�were gonna stay in free hotels in cities we�ve never been to so let�s go out and have a good time and have fun. Screw whether we win or lose we�re still gonna be on TV, were still gonna get exposure to people we never would have gotten before.
EC - So have you gotten major label interest from your exposure on the show? I know part of the prize was a major label showcase but I�m sure all the bands got attention just from the high profile that came with being on the show.
CK - I don�t necessarily know about the other bands, if they�ve been contacted, we played a showcase in New York a couple weeks ago that was just our own set up by our management. I know that the last I heard there was 12 different labels there and 50 different A&R reps. We�ve had calls of interest, we�ve had a couple of different offers. Right now things are going really well for us, the touring has been really good, so at this point we want to be offered something we can�t refuse before we�d really even consider it.
EC - You don�t want to sign the first one.
CK - Exactly
EC - Before you mentioned the Who and the Stones, what groups are an influence on the band and your sound?
CK - We�re definitely influenced by old school rock. We all grew up with The Beatles, The Who, The Stones, Yardbirds and we�ve been going to The Stooges and bands like that. I was really influenced by a lot of 80�s bands U2, The Church, The Cure. Rex and I on guitar I think that really shines through. I think you can really tell that we�re influence by that in our music.
EC - Listening to your album the band has done a good job of internalizing those influences. Some bands the influences are blatantly obvious but you guys have taken your influences and forged your own sound out them.
CK - That�s something that took us�actually when Rex joined our band which was about a year ago that�s when we started to pinpoint and hone in on what our sound really was. Before we were moving in that direction but I think his guitar work and style when he came in brought us to where we wanted to be.
EC -Who are the main songwriters and how do new songs come together?
CK - Basically Brandon, the singer, and I write 99% of the songs. Usually he�ll come in with an idea or I�ll come in with an idea and we�ll bounce things off each other. It�s rare that he�ll write an entire song himself or I�ll write and entire song myself. We usually collaborate and then we�ll bring in the other guys and say why don�t you try this or we give them ideas and let them play off of that. For the most part it�s Brandon and I building the foundation and then letting the other guys chisel their own little niche into it.
EC - For your CD �Welcoming Home The Astronauts� you worked with producer Todd Pipes and mixer Dave McNair who have worked with Deep Blue Something and Stevie Ray Vaughn respectively. How did you hook up with those guys?
CK - Todd and Toby have a studio right down the street, they�re from the Dallas area. We were out studio shopping and they said come by and check out our studio. Immediately when we walked in we got a really good vibe. We really like the room and the guys were really cool. We were not big fans of them necessarily before we got to know them and talk to them and found out what their musical influences were and once we did that we knew that it would be a really good fit. Dave McNair, our manager knew him, he�s from down in Austin and had been a friend of our manager. The Deep Blue guys didn�t really know him but they drove down to Austin and spent a week mixing with him and it was really cool. I think that as far as a self produced, self released CD, and considering the amount of money we spent I think that sonically we really love our record.
EC - What was it like recording that album? Did you have recording experience before that?
CK - We had recorded demos in different studios but this was the first time we went in and recorded a full album so we were really excited and we just had fun with it. We went in and we experimented, we tried different things and those guys were really open to letting try new things so it made for a fun time. We spent about a month there everyday and basically we just hung out and different friends of ours would come in and play or sing a backup here and there. We didn�t want to take it to seriously and make it seem like work.
EC - How many new songs do you have and how much has your sound progressed since the first album?
CK - Right now we�ve probably written about fifteen new songs and we�ve play three of them live here and there. There are few that we think will work out for us and we�ll hang on to. We�ve been so busy, we left and did the VH1 thing shortly after we released the first CD so we haven�t really had a lot of time to write.
EC - You didn�t really write on the road, to distracting?
CK - Yeah, you can�t really write when you have some guy sitting in your face.
EC - So what�s next for the band, you�re gonna tour�
CK - Yeah, pretty much it�s going to be not stop touring for the rest of the year. We are thinking about maybe re-recording a couple of songs and doing an EP. But, we don�t have a lot of time we are pretty much booked solid for the next month, month and a half.
EC - So you�re just riding the wave?
CK - Pretty much, the response has been so good out on the road that we don�t want to put a halt on that. We want to strike while the iron�s hot.
EC - So are you going to wait until after you get signed to record? Do you think it�s pretty much a given that you�re going to get signed?
CK - I think it�s a given that we will be afforded the opportunity to get signed but at this point we�re honestly thinking that it might not be in our best interests to get signed for awhile. Keep touring on our own and selling the records ourselves. There�s a big difference when you owe a label a million dollars and you only make one dollar on every record you sell. We�re like why do we want to put ourselves in a million dollars debt when we�re debt free now and we can tour and make money ourselves? Very few bands are in a position were they can do that so why mess that up.
EC - So the CD�s doing really well since the show came on?
CK - The CD�s selling online and things have really spiked, but now when we go into towns we�re selling a hundred CDs a night. It�s outrageous the amount of CDs we�re selling so our thought process is were selling all these CDs and people are going to come back and we�re going to be able to tour and build a fan base so why do we want to put that on hold for a label? There�s a big difference between making $12 for every CD you sell and owing a label a million dollars. We just don�t know if were ready to give that up yet. Like I said, I�m sure somebody�s going to offer us something at some point were we go, fine we gotta do it but until that happens were gonna kinda chill and keep touring. We love to play live that�s always what we�ve loved to do.