Jeff Carlson Band - Interview - PETE'S ROCK NEWS AND VIEWS.COM

Jeff Carlson Band – Interview

Interview with Jeff Carlson of the Jeff Carlson Band and Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)

PD: What type of artist are you?

JC: I’m a rock artist that has passion for the music I make as well as having passion for connecting with people in my audience musically and visually.

PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.

JC: I started out wanting to be a rock singer/guitarist/songwriter originally when I was 4 years old when my mom took me to see Kiss, and Black Oak Arkansas. I got to meed Jim “Dandy” Mangrum at age 4 and it made a HUGE impression on me. I then went to see REO Speedwagon in Memphis, Tennessee at the Liberty Bowl Stadium and it changed my life! Fast forward to when I got to see Bon-Jovi on their 7800* Fahrenheit tour opening for Ratt and got to meet Bon-Jovi and once again, changed my life! I started out at age 14 sitting in with my friend’s band in West Plains, Missouri playing guitar to “Rock Of Ages,” “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” and “New Girl Now”-(Def Leppard, Night Ranger, and Honeymoon Suite) in bars when my dad would take me to them to sit in with them. I then began singing that same year, and through several bands, it has made me what I am today. Thanks Dad, and Mike Carroll for your belief in me! Lol!

PD: Who are your musical and non musical influences?

JC: Musical would be Elvis Presley, Kiss, (early..lol Bon-Jovi), Journey, REO Speedwagon-(the Gary Richrath years…lol), Tesla, Lillian Axe, Foreigner, Rick Springfield, Led Zepplin, Styx, Ozzy-(Randy Rhoads period), Frank Hannon, Randy Rhoads, Gary Richrath, Tommy Shaw, Steve Perry, Lou Gramm, Ron Taylor-(first Lillian Axe singer), Jeff Keith, Paul Stanley-(before 2010…lol), Dokken, Warrant-(Jani Lane especially),Frank Hannon, Mark Slaughter, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora-(pre 2008).// Non musical influences are:Jesus Christ, Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, Sam Kinison, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell, John C. Riley, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappell, Elvis Presley-(as an actor, and just when he was being himself away from the public eye, due to his generosity, and who he was as a person).

PD: What are your dreams and goals?

JC: I would love to be able to sell enough records/streams to comfortably make a living by touring and royalties, eventually it would be a dream of mine to sell enough to attain a Gold or Platinum record. My goal is to write, record and perform music that not only people like, but are exited about, and makes them happy. Myself and my band are about doing the best quality possible of not only writing and saying something positive, but performing passionately, and giving the audience 110% their moneys’ worth, so they can leave their life issues at the door, and really enjoy the time that we are on stage to give them an amazing performance. Our next goal is finishing the writing on the new record, recording it and shooting the new video, so my record label will release it in January of 2021.

PD: Who writes your songs and what are they about?

JC: Myself, and Robbie Wolfe are the actual songwriters, and lyricists. Once Robbie and I sit down and figure out our vocal melody parts-(ie. verses, pre-choruses, choruses, bridge), and have the outline of the song, we then bring it in to Cory and Todd to finish putting together the bass and drums, along with making the structure tight in order to finalize it. As far as our lyrics are concerned, I write 98% of all the lyrics, Robbie also collaborates with me to finish or rewrite parts of some of the songs. The topics we write about are different, they can range anywhere from love songs to how we feel we can contribute positively in the current state of the world to offer hope, rather than focusing on negativity. There is way too much negativity in the world today that is being focused on as far as the media goes, so anything we do when it comes to writing or contributing goes, we want our vision and and our contribution to be a positive thing and give hope to kids out there today who might be struggling or looking for guidance. We are not about being “preachy” in any way, but we are about being a bright positive light in a world so full of dark negativity in today’s world.

PD: How do you promote your band and shows?

JC: Well, depending on the show, we usually will promote our next show or series of shows on Facebook, Instagram, as well as the venue promotes the show. I also have a publicist who when there are shows available along with either a new single or record will get me interviews promoting our next show along with playing our music on the interview to promote the shows. Our website promotes our shows, along with Bandsintown, Pollstar, Eventbrite, also promote our shows. Our band is promoted by our label RFL Records, along with our publicist getting us coverage to promote us.

PD: What do you think about downloading music online?

JC: I think it’s good and bad. Good in that you are more exposed to a larger amount of people to download your music and videos, but that also means that because of the internet, it has allowed more bands more exposure, so it makes it a lot harder to make any money to make a living at it because it takes so many more streams to download to receive any royalties. Also, it makes it a lot harder for anyone to create a buzz or create a brand for yourself that is different then everyone else.

PD: What song do you wish you would have recorded and why?

JC: I wish I had recorded Runaway from Bon-Jovi because that kick started Jon’s career. Hopefully it would’ve done the same for me-lol!

PD: What are some of your pet peeves?

JC: Seeing people drive around wearing their face masks in the car! Lol! Also, I think the whole “pay to play” thing has ruined the financial side of music, and taken away from having to have any actual talent to present to the ticket buying public. It made it more about money then talent. I’m not saying that there aren’t any great bands on some of these shows, but what I am saying is that instead of helping struggling bands who maybe don’t have as much money to get a direct support slot on a show, because if they can’t pay the higher dollar amount that the promoter wants for direct support, they get slighted to play for less people on a worse time slot, and that’s not fair. It’s a racket now, and it really gets old paying to play to 10 people verses 100 people, just because of the “pay to play” system that really only benefits the club or promoter, while the band struggles financially to even get on the show.

PD: What is your proudest moment in music?

JC: My personal proudest moment in music was when I got up to sing “Modern Day Cowboy” with my bro Frank Hannon! It was an amazing thing! I’ve had a lot, other moments include singing the beginning to “Heaven’s On Fire” with Kiss on Gene Simmons’ mic at the 1995 Kiss convention in St. Louis, and playing the House Of Blues with my current band last August here in Vegas. Sorry it’s not just 1 moment….lol!

PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?

JC: We are working on finishing the writing for the brand new full length record that is going to be released in January on RFL Records!

PD: What music have you made available online and where can we buy it from?

JC: Right at this very moment, the only thing you can get from us is our “Juke Box Hero” release on all major music outlets, as well as “Screamin” Inside” that also is available on all major music outlets, and you can also purchase a cd hardcopy of “Juke Box Hero” from our record label at: Home | RFL Records & Entertainment

Our first releases- “Never Be Another You,” “So Long,” and our first E.P. “Second Chance” are currently being repackaged and will be released on RFL Records very soon, so look out for those releases, along with our brand new record which will also be released in January on RFL Records! Thanks so much Pete for your time and thank you to your listeners who are interested in us! We are so looking forward to getting out there again next year and rockin’ your asses off! Cheers! Jeff Carlson