Interview with the Band exPorter
By Mick Michaels
The Cosmick View: Hello, and welcome to The Cosmick View/MBM Ten Pounder! Thanks for taking some time to chat with us!
exPorter: Thanks Mick for reaching out! Excited to chat with ya!
CV:
Describe your definition of the band’s
sound and style and how does that definition uniquely describe the music?
Destin Cavazos (Bass/Vocals): exPorter is
straight up 90’s pop-punk meets emo meets alt rock…I think it’s a pretty good
definition of what you get when you listen to us. Alec and I grew up going to Warped Tour every
summer, and I’ve said in other interviews that we need that tour to come back
because we’d fit right in. If you know the type of bands that would have been
playing those shows I think that influence is really clear on a lot of our music;
that sort of rough-edged radio rock is really the core of our sound. All
together I think we have songs with some good melodies, maybe clever lyrics
that maybe aren’t too clever and guitars, bass and drums with just enough angst
to keep people pissed off.
CV:
Today, everyone talks about artist and audience connection. Is such a level of
connection actually achievable for an artist and if so, how have you made the
connection to your fans?
Alec Cavazos (Guitar/Vocals): I think it’s definitely
something you can have, especially for us where we’re not playing these huge
stadium shows. I mean we want to get there but right now we’re playing smaller
venues and you’re right there with the people listening to us. It’s awesome. We
love playing live, but it’s always better when there’s someone there listening.
It just kind of makes it real, what we’re doing.
I will never forget the first time we had a show where someone was singing our songs back to us. It was a trip and we were blown away. Like we like writing songs and playing them and then all of a sudden someone is singing them?
Destin: You also get a sense of energy from the audience that in turn drives us to rock a little harder to show our appreciation. Which then hopefully makes them appreciate the show more, they get more hyped, we get more hyped, etc. and then by then end we’re all tired from having a pretty good time.
Alec: I know we really try to let them know how appreciative we are for sure. They don’t have to come out so if they do we want them to know what it means to us. It’s a very humbling thing and we’re totally grateful.
CV:
Is fan interaction an important part of the
band’s inner culture?
Destin: I don’t know if it’s key to our inner culture
cause we’re just 2 brothers and their friend writing and playing songs that we
like and want to play. We never really built a band to be anything in
particular whether it was to get fans or play into a certain genre, we just
kinda do what we feel is right. Hopefully that makes a more deeper connection to
the listener cause it's not this manufactured thing to try and make them feel a
certain way…if that makes sense?
CV:
Can a band truly interact with its fans and still maintain a level of personal
privacy without crossing the line and giving up their “personal space” in your
opinion?
Destin: Yeah, I think so. Like Alec mentioned, we are
so grateful to have anyone listening to us or following us on social, but we’re
connecting to them from a space we created. We love being in exPorter and it’s
this real band so when we do connect, you’re getting a lot of the real us.
Obviously, we have to guard some things and we don’t get too personal all of
the time, but yeah, what you see is pretty much what you get.
Alec: I think it’s easier when you’re just starting out. I think the bigger you get, the harder it might be to keep the boundaries set. But right now, we’re pretty much able to be who we our with our fans which is great.
CV:
Is music, and its value, viewed differently around the world in your
opinion? If so, what do you see as the biggest difference in such
multiple views among various cultures?
Destin: Well we haven’t really traveled a lot around
the world but I think music is definitely viewed differently outside of the US
at least. In the states I think there are a lot more trends with music and what
people listen to and you have to wonder if that’s really a good thing. I
remember when we first started playing and people were saying hey, you guys
should do this…or play in that genre and it never really made sense why we
would do that. We play the music we like because it’s what we listened to and
who we feel exPorter is as a band, not because of trends or anything like that.
I always got a sense that outside the US, bands could just sort of be a band
that they want to be and it’s more accepted.
CV:
Do you feel that a band that has an international appeal, will tend to connect
more so to American audiences? Would they be more enticed or intrigued to see
the band over indigenous acts because of the foreign flavor?
Destin: I think it goes back to what I was saying about
trends…if it’s trendy enough I think people in the US might follow it. Maybe? I
know when we were asked to open for Hinds (out of Spain), we were super stoked
because we were fans already. I think people are just finding out about them
here and it was so weird to me that more people didn’t know them. They fricken' shred. They played a festival right after our show with them and I was there in
the audience and people were blown away by them and I was like, “duh, Hinds
fricken' shreds…”
I
don’t know if people were thinking all their music would be in Spanish or if it
would just be this trendy all girl thing, but they’re just a band that loves to
play and it shows. I think other people outside of the states are more willing
to see a band regardless of who or what they are.
CV: Has modern-day digital technology made everyone an artist on some level in
your opinion? Have the actual lines of what really is an artist been blurred?
Alec: I don’t know if having access to our technology
makes you an artist but I definitely think it makes it easier to be one. At the
end of the day you have to have something to contribute to be an actual artist
if you ask me. Just cause you can record something in garage band then upload
it for anyone to hear doesn’t make you an artist.
It's kind of frustrating to have someone record some crap or do this stupid Tik Tok and it goes viral when you have so many actual artists just trying to make it. I’m not saying we’re an artist or that we or any other artist deserves a break, but I know what we go through to write and record and play and then you get some idiot that’s all the rage. They may be famous or whatever but does that make them an artist?
CV: How would you describe the difference between an artist who follows trends and one who sets them?
Destin: I think the difference for me would be in the level of passion for what you’re doing. I think the trend setters are always just doing what they want to do because they’re passionate about it. Whether it’s a song or a film or whatever, I think the artist just wants to be doing that thing. The followers I think are just that I think, following, whatever it is because it makes them money or brings them fame…but you can always see a lack of passion in the followers. Their souls are empty and you can see it in their eyes.
CV:
Has music overall been splintered into too many sub-genres in an effort to
appease fan tastes in your opinion? And has such fan appeasements, in
actuality, weakened music’s impact as a whole by dividing audiences?
Alec: Yes! 100%. When we first started out we felt like
we were way more pop-punk but then we started mixing in some other stuff so we
felt we had to expand to include emo or maybe alternative and that’s what we
have kept our definition to just make it easier when people ask. But we’ve had
some bedroom pop, we’ve done maybe more just rock songs. But like we’ve said,
we just kind of play what we want to play and then hope people like it.
Destin: I know some people have asked and when we say we’re pop punk they might turn away cause they’re not into that music. You wonder though if they would like our stuff though if you just sat around to listen. I bet there are a lot of great songs out there that people won’t connect with just because the band isn’t in the “right genre” for them.
CV:
What can fans expect to see coming next from you?
Destin: We’re still promoting our
debut album NoBrakes which only came out it in May so we have a bit of work to
keep promoting it. We put out “Your Boyfriend” as the feature single and it got
to #24 on the specialty charts so now we’re trying to figure out the next one.
Alec: We’re also setting up some Winter shows near home since we’ll be there for the Holidays….if you’re in SoCal come see us. Then we just want to keep playing and putting stuff out. I know ultimately we’d love to get signed to a label so we can get some support and hopefully make a real living at this.
CV: Thanks again for taking some time and talking. It is greatly appreciated.
Check out exPorter at:
Apple music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/exporter/1460540045
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/3jfTdDZQ7SrLeQD9t9z8IZ?si=le51HThVRaGuS4mpt_SMCQ
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvx6hOKk578Wzau8PSNWkew/featured
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/exporter.band/
Official – https://exporter.band/
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