 
Published: June 08, 2007 4:59 PM EST
By: Isaac Joseph Davis Junior
(Juniorscave.com)
Music Spotlight: The Alrights
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The Alrights is diverse in their sound. | |
When you think about The Alrights, the one thing that comes to mind pretty quickly is their diverse style. Their diversity is also one of their greatest appeals. In fact, at times, it becomes hard to decipher between the style when listening to their music on CD or live. And that is why I think the Alrights will mark their presence in the music industry in a giant way. Their lyrics are another major factor to their appeal which include topics dealing with love, death, and everything else in between.
One of my favorite tracks from the trio is "City Underground" which showcases their soulful side. When I first heard the song, it reminded me of a track from the popular 80's and 90's group UB40. Check it out for yourself and the other tracks on MySpace and don't forget to buy the CD. Show your support.
The members of the band includes:
Toby - Vocals, Guitar, Ivory
Danny - Bass and Vocals
Chavo - Drums and Stuff
Here is a quick Q & A that Toby and the gang took the time to complete for the magazine.
Q. Describe the origins of the Alrights for those of my readers who may not be familiar with the group: I know that the band formed in the summer of 2003. But, how did the name "The Alrights" came to play?
A. I meant it to be like "alright!" as in Alright I just found a $100 dollars. Or, alright, It hasn't metastasized. But mostly people take it to mean "so so"... What can you do.
Music Now: I get it although I must confess that I would have been one of those people who did not get at first neither. :-)
Q. Making a presence in the music business today is tough to say the least; What have been some challenges you have had to faced over the years?
A. One thing we've come to realize is we're one of those bands that would be pretty pleased to gain cult status. Fame looks pretty gross on TV. The business is hard no matter what angle you come at it from. But, I wouldn't know what to tell someone who wanted to be a pop star. I'm sure we'd have little in common in most cases.
Q. What role has the fans of Alrights played on your journey of craving your own niche in the music industry?
A. We do a lot of different styles. So the fans can become pretty mixed. People who dig more of the commercial sounding stuff, some who might prefer the weirder stuff. This has it's advantages and drawbacks.
It's best for those who barely notice the difference.
Q. You have stated that some of your musical influences include John Lennon, The White Stripes, James Brown, Weezer, Erykah Badu, Monty Python, and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Describe have your musical influences impacted the way your play and perform your own music:
A. Obviously, it's a big subject. And Danny and Chad have their takes. But, you notice we've mentioned some folks who aren't musicians. I think you take in all of this art over the course of your own artistic growth and what comes out on the other end is the by-product of your influences. Not to get too grand here but, Plato says something interesting about how there is a reason that certain art speaks to certain people, and you can't help but be drawn to it, and are in a sense, part of that way of art, you actually channel from them, who channeled it from those before, and so on. You are "possessed" by it.
Q. Music has come full circle especially with the growing amount of artists being discovered via the Internet. What role has the Internet play for The Alrights ?
A. We like the Internet.
Q. In today's society, our younger generation are faced with all types of temptations and negative influences----for The Alrights , how important is it to be a role model to your younger fans? It's important?
A. Yikes. We're still playing tours from our little van, Most of our fans are out way too late, and some must be up to no good. But, we're not one of the bands anybody's parents will need to worry about. Unless they're creationists. They might not dig the vibe then.
Q. You have stated that members of the group have known each other and played together for a long time. How important is the band's relationship to each other on your journey to your ultimate goals?
A. There are bands where there is some ego issue stuff, we just don't have that. We have our differences of course but, I don't know, yeah, the hope is that you're all friends right? what a nightmare it would be to be in a band with people you didn't like.
Q. Do you think that The Alrights would be a winning combination for members who barley knew each other? (why or why not?)--
A. I'm not sure I get it. Sounds like a good sitcom though. And by good, I mean terrible.
Q. One of the best tracks that I absolutely love is "City Underground" which I call your signature song in my book--which tracks have fans given you positive feedback on that validate what you are doing is the right choice?
A. Well, we do so much different sounding stuff from song to song. So it's hard for us with that sort of thing you're asking. We go with what we think is best at where ever we are. The fans who allow us to that are going to be the ones who stick around.
Q. Where can folks locate you on the Internet including any updates that you would like to share to our audience?
A. Just stay tuned to our sites. We'll have an EP in the fall, followed by a good amount of touring.
Toby: Thanks a lot--
Toby
Photo used in this story was provided by The Alrights.
The Alrights
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