On October 29th, I did a phone interview with Tim Catz, the guitarist for the Boston-based band Antler. (Read my review of their album here.)
ON THE BAND'S NAME
ZM: Where did the name "Antler" come from?
TC: You know, a deer has antlers. . .
ZM: Well, yeah, but--
TC: It's something that, opposed to the Southern Rock aspect, this is like the Northern version of it--the Yankee redneck version of it--and, you know, the bikers up at Hampton Beach with the eagles and deer heads on their shirts, it's sort of like that. It's one of those things, too, where "Antler" sounds like an organic kind of working name.
ZM: Yeah, it has a lot of good, sharp points to it, too. It sounds sharp but natural at the same time.
TC: There you go. The imagery was suited to what we were doing. It fits. And, you know, we were kind of surprised that no one had used it yet. So many of the good words are already taken.
ON SONGCRAFT
ZM: Do you feel lyrics are as important as sound? I know some people say, "I don't care what the lyrics are as long as it sounds good." Or do you feel like the lyrics really need to mean something?
TC: Lyrically, me and Craig [Riggs--the lead vocalist] split the duties. And his songs tend to be a little bit more "nonsensical" and mine tend to be more like a story, or really graphic imagery.
ZM: That's cool. I listened to your album, and I remember thinking, "I wonder who writes?" Because it doesn't necessarily sound like it's written by different people; it's cohesive, which is a good thing for an album, I think.
TC: Sure, absolutely.
ZM: I used to listen to the Eagles, and I could tell who wrote which song--It's a real feat for a band to be able to sound cohesive.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
very interesting, fine job, thanks ZM and Tim!
2 - Temple Stark
Methos, Z,
This interview is now up at Advance.net.
Click here.
Let the artist / record company know, perhaps?
- Temple