5/27/2005

MP3 Download: Placebo


Samuel Aaron: Hey guys, and welcome to ALLALOM!

Corbin Peterson: It’s a pleasure being here.

SA: Your album has been out for almost a year now, how has the response been?

Jason Poe: We’ve had a pretty good response to the album. Everyone we seem to talk to says it’s a solid debut, so that’s comforting.

CP: We’ve received nothing but support from our friends and fans. It’s really encouraging to see that songs we consider to be old still have an impact on people.

James Hafner: My mom still loves it.

SA: Any label interest yet?

JP: Kinda…We’ve had a lot of response from labels but a lot of them are just hanging around to see what we do next. A lot of the labels still feel like we’re a young band so they don’t want to jump too early.

CP: We’ve had several labels looking our way over the years, but we’ve never felt like we were to the place we need to be before taking that kind of step. We’re a lot closer now, though.

SA: I am sure you guys will find the perfect home. So how has the Internet helped Pro Am?

JP: The Internet is a great tool for independent musicians. We’re still trying to figure out the best ways to promote, distribute, etc… It’s much easier to build a fan base online.

CP: Probably in more ways than we know. It’s an awesome avenue to get your music out where it would be impossible, or highly improbable, to do otherwise. We’ve actually sold a CD or two internationally because of our internet presence. Crazy.

JH: It has tightened the community of our fans. We’ve developed much better communication with them and have been able to foster better communication between them as well. It has also given our fans a chance to get to know who we are when we’re off the stage.

SA: What was the recording process like?

JP: I don’t know really. We basically just took the songs to Oran and he would give a suggestion here or there. We did learn a lot about our recording process as a band and learned how we need to go about it next time. Everything is a learning experience.

CP: A lot of learning and a lot of fun, especially working with our friend Oran Thornton. He’s not only an amazingly talented musician and producer, but he’s also a good friend, and that made things go really smoothly

JH: A blast, boring, hilarious, and educational.

SA: Did you enjoy working with Oran Thorton (of the late, great, band Flick) as producer?

JP: Oh yeah. Oran is the man. He is extremely talented. Our situation was a little different than the normal producer/artist relationship just because of our friendship with him prior to recording. He was a lot more hands-off than I thought he would be, but I’m extremely happy with the final product.

CP: Yeah, like I said before, he’s not only talented, but a really fun guy. You haven’t laughed until you’ve heard Oran adlib lyrics to one of your songs in the most cliché ways possible in the middle of a recording session. Oh, and his stories of past shows and bands he’s worked with are priceless too. Really awesome guy.

JH: Definitely. He has a subtle way w/ music.

SA: What kind of bands have influenced your sound?

JP: For me, Billy Corgan is at the top of my list. Anything he’s ever put his hands to has influenced me a lot. Lately though I’ve been trying to study a lot of what I consider to be great songwriters like The Beatles, Beach Boys, and then more modern stuff like Weezer and Rooney.

CP: Pretty much every band we consider talented, from Smashing Pumpkins to The Beach Boys to The Beatles to The Cars. It was said someplace that we sound like a mix between Jimmy Eat World and Coldplay, and such a comparison is definitely flattering since we love both bands.

JH: Those willing to push the envelope in new ways while still being accessible to the greatest majority of people.

SA: Do you guys plan on doing any national tours this year?

JP: We’d love to do some national touring if we can find the finances or can get on some tours. We’ve had a lot of touring opportunities in the past but they always seem to fall through a week or so before they were going to happen.

CP: If God leads us to do that, I’m more than willing. We’re not making a point to attempt that just yet, but again, ultimately its up to God and His timing for us. We’ll see, I guess.

JH: No, but we’ll be doing a one-way tour to TX this summer.

SA: Which brings me to my next question - Your website recently mentioned the band will be moving to Austin (TX) – why the change?

CP: Wow. That’s definitely a long story, and I’m sure Jason’s more than willing to elaborate on it! Ultimately, we know that’s where God wants us, so we’re going to do what it takes to get us there

JP: It sounds funny but God told me. It’s a long story, but I know it’s God’s will for us to be going there. I have no idea why. I just know we are supposed to go.

JH: Aside from the fact that God is leading us there, I think it will be the ‘radical’ move ProAm needs to take what we’re doing to the next level. Springfield fans are great, but Springfield isn’t.

SA: What was the weirdest concert experience that Pro Am has been involved in?

JP: I guess the weirdest experience was when we opened for Hot Action Cop. They are a big party band and we came out with our preppy looking clothes, and there where nothing but bikers in the crowd. They were yelling at us to get off the stage, and wouldn’t really clap after the first couple songs. By the end of the show we had won them over. They were cheering for an encore and stuff. That was really fun. If we hadn’t of played well, we might have gotten beaten up.

CP: That’s hard to say, really. There was this one venue we played at in St. Louis that had an underground S&M “hangout” a floor below us. We had to walk through it to get to the venue manager’s office…and talk about creepy: wet floors, chains with collars and handcuffs, tables with restraints…yikes.

JH: Driving all the way to Nashville to play a show in an empty bar for free.

SA: Would you consider the band a ‘Christian’ band, and why?

JP: Oh gosh, the “Christian” band question. I don’t really care whether people label us a “Christian” band or not. A lot of the so-called “Christian” bands have members that I would in no way consider to be born-again. I get a little nervous when someone wants to call us a Christian band because I don’t want to be grouped into all these other bands who are posing as Christians but don’t live it. All we have to do as a band is to chase after God. If we do that, he will take care of the rest.

CP: That’s a discussion on semantics that’s been driven into the ground, in my opinion. Yes, we are all Christians who love God more than anything, and that’s going to come out in everything we do, be it through our songs, our conversations, our lifestyle…whatever. Do we want to pigeonhole ourselves into the “Christian Music” section of your local music store? By no means. We don’t feel the Christian music industry is where we belong. We play songs about life, love, frustration, submission; all while letting people know that there is an answer out there if they’re willing to look for it

JH: No. Frankly, we don’t want to be pigeonholed into a genre plagued by being one step behind the rest of the music industry.

SA: Your website mentioned a DVD, care to explain a bit about it?

JP: Yeah, we are still organizing the contents of the DVD, but so far it’s turning out pretty cool. We have a lot of footage, so it takes some time to sift through it all.

CP: Well, what started out as a senior project for James turned into a full-fledged documentary and music video. We’re really excited about it, because we feel it truly captures our personalities, and gives people a glimpse into the life of The Professional Americans. What’s really exciting is we may be able to have not one, but TWO music videos on this DVD…but we’ll see how that works out as it nears completion.

JH: The majority of it was a senior project of mine I have been working on since Aug. ’04 with partner and director Jennifer Jones. It includes a pretty cool documentary and a bunch of random stuff taken from a few hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage we have of ProAm. We’re working on polishing it up for the general public and checking some options for adding some additional features/footage.

SA: Is there any record label that you guys want to be on? Any labels you admire?

JP: Hmmm…I’m not really sure. I just want to be on a label that makes us a priority. I don’t want a record deal just for the sake of being able to say “We’re Signed!!!” A lot of good bands have failed because they were too eager to have a contract.

CP: I don’t think there’s any one label we’re looking at or leaning towards. Ultimately, we’d like to sign to a label that’s going to back us and our music 100%. We’ve heard too many horror stories of labels that sign a band, then forget about them altogether, or just treat them horribly. Ultimately, we just want to be able to play music for a living.

JH: Want to be on: Epic. It would be nice to be label-mates w/ Coldplay. Admire: Saddle Creek and The Militia Group. Their fans are crazy-loyal.

SA: Where do you want to be, as a band, in ten years?

JP: That’s a tough question. I guess I would like to see us as a band who has inspired a lot of other artists. I’d like to be a band that breaks down the self-inflicted divisions between the church and secular society. Maybe we can be the ones who bring a new awareness into the church and Christian artists in general.

CP: Hopefully celebrating our 13 th year as a band! I want to be able to look back at the previous 10 years and see God’s hand in everything we’ve done

JH: It would be nice to be a household name in ten years, but I would rather be perfectly content with what God has us doing, whatever that would be.

SA: Is there any band, in any decade, that you guys would want to tour with?

JP: Of course I’m going to say The Smashing Pumpkins. It would also have been cool to be with The Beatles during the time they exploded into the US.

CP: Personally, I’d love to tour with Jimmy Eat World, because they’ve been one of my biggest influences, and because they seem to be guys who like to have wholesome fun. I would also love to tour with U2 for similar reasons, and because we’d learn so much from them.

JH: I think it would be a blast to tour with Jimmy Eat World; not because everyone likes them but because it seems like they know how to have a good time on the road.

SA: What about the decades, do you guys have any favorite time period for music?

JP: My favorite time period would be the mid-90’s through 2000. After the whole alternative thing took over radio. There were a lot of great albums during that time: Weezer’s “Blue Album”, The Smashing Pumpkins “MCIS” and “Adore”, and the Verve’s “Urban Hymns.” There was also a lot of great pop songs at the time too. Like Robbie Williams “Millenium” and some so other stuff that was really good for pop radio.

CP: Honestly, I think right now is one of the best times for music, since the present is always a melting pot of previous decades’ styles and influences.

JH: ‘70s all the way. There’s nothing like a good Disco beat.

SA: Is there any band you think should have made it big, but didn’t?

JP: Flick. The music industry really stinks when a band as talented as Flick gets completely lost in the mix. Stuff like that shouldn’t happen but it happens all too often. Trevor Thornton has a new band called Rabbit Fighter that you can check out at rabbitfightermusic.com.

CP: I know where you’re going with this, and I agree whole-heartedly. Flick was one of the most talented bands I know of, and yet, they didn’t get the label support they deserved, ultimately stalling their career, and causing burnout for several members. But on the flip side, Trevor Thornton’s new band, Rabbit Fighter, is musically on par with Flick, though has a healthy understanding of the inner workings of the music industry. I hope they make it to places Flick wasn’t able to.

JH: I’m not enough of an indie snob to know.

SA: Do you think the music industry is improving or deteriorating?

JP: I think the ability to be independent and survive is improving with the internet and internet distribution. The corporate industry is deteriorating with all the mergers. The majors just keep getting bigger and bigger, and their contracts just keep becoming crazier and crazier. What other industry makes billions of dollars each year but has a 97% failure rate?

CP: I guess that really depends on your perspective. Independent music is more accessible today than it ever has been, thanks to the internet, quality home studios, and lower CD duplication and distribution costs. However, major labels haven’t really changed. Whether that’s good or bad, we’ll see I guess. All in all, I think we’ll be seeing more improvements than deteriorations because of independent music’s growing pull.

JH: I think the established music industry we’ve been used to for decades is deteriorating quickly. I think the music culture overall in this country is changing for the better though. People are realizing that they don’t need a radio to get access to good music.

SA: Is there anything else you guys might want to add?

JP: Check us out at online! Thanks for the interview. Eat your vegetables.

CP: I love my mom, and Jason’s got a girlfriend. That’s all.

SA: Thank you so much for your time.


To learn more about this awesome band, be sure to visit theprofessionalamericans.com, they have a very pretty site, and the music is not bad either.