Straight Up Random

Featured Band: Jason Zerbin

JASON ZERBIN is a singer/songwriter based out of Edmonton, Alberta Canada. At the age of 22, Zerbin has already managed to master the art of music, writing music that is thought-provoking and timeless. With the help of his bandmates - guitarist Jon Greig, bassist Jeremy Dehek, drummer Peter Mol, and guitarist Ryan Wegner - Zerbin is spreading his music and hoping to make an impact in everyone’s lives through his songs.

LINKS: Official Site | MySpace | Facebook

INTERVIEW:

How did you get your start in music?

I grew up in a family of six kids and music was always a big part of our lives. My mom would constantly have CD’s playing and from a young age my siblings and I were in various types of lessons. At 13 or 14 my church let me play along with the band though I was never plugged in. This was a great opportunity to hone my skills and grew me up quickly when it came to learning how to play with a band.

From there I grew up playing in youth groups and various garage bands. It wasn’t until midway through college that I started writing songs that I loved and wanted to share with people. It turned out that people loved the songs as much as I did and that fuelled the production of our first EP and the shows to follow.

What has been your biggest accomplishment thus far?

I would have to say the production of our first record which will be released in January of 2010. I had no idea the blood, sweat and tears that go into recording and producing an album. There were times when it was difficult to see the end product but we pushed through. It is so great to come to the end of it all and have an Album that we are all very proud of and one that I feel represents me as an artist as well as us as a band.

How does the writing process take place for you?

Most of my writing is something that happens spontaneously. I have learnt that the most important thing is to be able to capture what comes naturally. I got myself a mac and do all of my writing into garage band because it is easy to open up my computer and use the built in microphone to record without getting into all the trappings of a big recording program. Usually I’ll throw down an idea and if nothing more comes than I’ll leave it and revisit it on a later date. Most times either a melody will come first or a melody and chords and I’ll just kinda jumble through words. Then I’ll go back and flesh out the lyrics and poetry and see where the song wants to go. On very rare occasions I’ll write lyrics first and then put music to them.

Who are your musical influences?

As a band our influences are very diverse and I think that really brings the fullness of sound that comes when we are working on things together. Personally song writers like Jon Foreman, John Mark Mcmillan, and Chris Martin are big inspirations. Other artists such as Jason Upton have heavily influenced the spiritual aspects of my music while still others such as Sufjan Stevens , U2 and Switchfoot have all impacted the composition.

How did the recording process for your album differ from that of your EP?

For the EP I came with the couple of songs to my Co-Producer Derek Steinbrenner and it was a quick process where he did most of the mixing and engineering work himself. It was kinda just to get the ball rolling on the whole music making venture. At that point Jeremy wasn’t a part of the band (although he played on the tracks) and I hadn’t met Peter yet so there were two different drummers that we used.

The process for the full length has been very different. By this time we had a more solid picture of the band with Jeremy, Peter, Ryan, and Jon all committed and giving their input. For the Ep most of the engineering, producing and mixing was done by Derek where as for the full length I took a primary role in engineering and Derek and I worked together on the producing and even split the mixing on a couple tracks. This allowed me to really form the record creatively and bring out the sound and dynamic that I wanted.

The whole process of the full length developed me not only as an artist but also as a producer and engineer. Often times I was faced with the challenge of sitting for hours trying to get the song to sound “just right”. It was exciting to discover various musical and production tricks, as well as to have moments where a different band member would come in after work and just play one part that would be the magic that was needed.

How would you describe your music for people who have never heard it before?

This is always difficult for me as words are often cheap and overused / overhyped when it comes to describing music. But I will make an attempt!

To me it is rock music, thick with melody and almost symphonic layering of instruments. There are pop melodies that will stick in your head long after the song is over, yet lyrically and musically there are moments of deep emotion and spiritual expression. I think listeners will not only love the music for what it is musically but will also appreciate a sort of “experience” that the lyrics and melodies invite you into. We have been compared to many different well known known artist but I think (at least this is my hope) that we have been able to achieve a truly unique sound. The only way for you to tell whether or not that is true is to give the music a listen!

What are some of your future goals for you/your band?

Change the world with beautiful rock and roll! In all seriousness we would love for this to grow into a world wide thing and believe that music has a great ability to effect peoples lives. It provokes change in people and whether it’s a melody or rhythm or lyric, music can go as deep as bringing healing into someones life or simply bring the sunshine to a dark day. Also songs like “Hear Me” deal with the frustration and broken places of life and I think people are looking for songs that can express the stuff that there feeling. I hope to be writing songs that do all this for a very long time.

What’s something that you want your fans to take away from your songs?

Well I kinda went into it in the last questions but at the end of the day, beyond them just having a great time rocking out, I would love for our fans to really have an experience with each song. We want them to know that there is Love and hope. It’s our hope that some way our songs would be able to really enrich their lives and bring them even into a spiritual experience. It may sound whimsical but I think a song can take us to some really cool places and I’d love for our stuff to do that for people!

Can you give me one straight up random fact about each member of the band?

Jeremy - Is left handed but plays bass and guitar right handed

Jon - Grew up in Africa

Ryan - Wife is 4 years older than him

Peter - Is an amazing chef

Jason - Has four sisters and a brother and when they are all together there are frequent random outbursts of songs from “The Sound of Music”

The Band - all love to where deep v’neck T-shirts

Any last words for the readers of Straight Up Random?

Check out our stuff and tell us what you think and…. If you like it….. Tell the whole world!!!!