INTERCONTINEN7AL are rewriting the foundations of music collaboration with their formidable EP, World Over, assembled throughout all seven continents. On the core is Matt Smith, whose resourcefulness in discovering like-minded contributors on BandLab allowed the challenge to flourish, even in distant areas similar to Antarctica. On this unique interview, the band talk about how they united guitar riffs, percussion, and vocals from each nook of the globe, constructing a strong testomony to collective creativity. Additionally they reveal the private passions that impressed them, the logistical complications they overcame, and the way they stored every monitor targeted regardless of numerous geographical obstacles.
INTERCONTINEN7AL, welcome to A&R Manufacturing facility! Firstly, we’d like to congratulate you on being the primary and solely band to file unique music throughout all seven continents along with your EP, World Over! What impressed the daring intercontinental challenge?
Hi there A&R Manufacturing facility, that is Matt Smith, founding father of INTERCONTINEN7AL. First off, thanks a lot for taking the time to interview us about our challenge! The seeds of the group had been planted again in 2020, out of sheer necessity concerning sustaining music collaboration and creativity throughout the onset of COVID. Members of the native Columbia, MD band Toast, comprised of myself, Jamie Miller, Ben Gaither, Emily Betz and visitor singer Becca Drayer, searched for tactics to proceed working collectively throughout the pandemic.
After some on-line looking out, I discovered the app BandLab, and began testing out importing guitar concepts and riffs, whereas Jamie tried out recording some drum tracks. Afterward, the band acknowledged the potential of BandLab’s public neighborhood and determined to publish inner track concepts – making them “forkable” and labeling them with hashtags (ex. #needsbass) in order that any BandLab person can then add their concepts in the event that they so want. I posted an Alice in Chains Unplugged impressed acoustic track concept of mine, and inside days, a number of lead/concord vocal submissions had been acquired, together with North America’s Hope Grey’s backing vocals and South America’s Gustavo Prida’s lead vocals (sung in Spanish), remodeling my track concept referred to as Aslin into No Somos De Este Lugar – which ended up on our self-titled debut album. The band continued this course of, the place I posted a blues concept between myself and Jamie for exterior contributors, and this quickly developed into the track After I’m Gone, with Robert James Shoveller from Australia on lead guitar. Issues rapidly developed from there…
Your EP is irrefutable proof that geographical borders have gotten more and more irrelevant within the music business. How did you place the challenge into movement?
As I discussed above, we started to by chance create these musical connections by the app, and it was a really thrilling second for us. Within the late summer season of 2020, I vividly recall being in my yard in Columbia, MD when a lightning bolt of an concept hit me: how about our band borrows the methodology of the Sonic Highways file that Foo Fighters launched (creating music with native artists from cities throughout the US), and taking it to the following degree by inviting much more worldwide musicians and attempting to incorporate each continent. I made a decision to name it INTERCONTINEN7AL, stealing the 7 within the identify after the band Software’s track “7empest”. I began hitting the pavement, so to talk, and tried to fill within the blanks when it got here to what continents weren’t already represented in our present songs.
How did the method of assembling musicians from totally different continents come collectively? Did you have already got connections worldwide, or was it a matter of searching for out the correct collaborators?
For the remaining members, I messaged buddies, former bandmates and household who had been fellow USA musicians (i.e. bassists Devin Heritage, Alex Burke), and leveraged BandLab’s Discover and Creator Join options to focus on by location in addition to instrument kind to attempt to discover new potential collaborators for our challenge (i.e. guitarist Josh Pearlson of Africa). I acquired form of nerdy and researched musicians’ profiles that our bandmates had been following to see who these people had been collaborating with, to increase our community. One noteworthy addition to the group was once I acquired a notification in BandLab that Marcin Nawrocki from Poland favored one in all my unique track concepts, Albatross Flight. I reached out to him after getting that discover, and over 4 years later we’re speaking each week and he has contributed an unlimited quantity to the group, each by way of music concepts in addition to manufacturing, mixing, and mastering. However there have been so many implausible musicians that we have now added to the group through the years, each has a singular “origin story” as to how they had been launched or referred to our band.
How did you make sure the authenticity of every continent’s contribution whereas sustaining a cohesive sound?
Wonderful query – I feel the important thing ingredient right here is constructive dialogue in regards to the course of, and what the targets are for the ultimate product. For instance, if I’m importing an alternate rock riff, after which share it with the group, I’ll counsel some melody or lyric concepts in addition to what normal path I feel we could need to take the track. That being stated, probably the most thrilling issues about this band is seeing bandmates hear an concept and interpret it in a completely totally different and surprising gentle, after which contribute one thing completely magical and in contrast to something I used to be anticipating. Permitting your self to be open to new concepts and artistic journeys is a pivotal side of this complete course of.
How had been the tracks composed and recorded nearly?
BandLab was the core platform utilized to create the tracks. Principally, each track concept would begin as a challenge in our band’s library. Anybody within the group can add an concept – which could possibly be recorded on their laptop computer and even their telephone – utilizing a DAW or house studio software program utility. For me personally, I all the time would use BandLab’s Studio to import concepts or file them immediately from my telephone. As soon as an concept is uploaded, it’s obtainable to anybody within the group so as to add their concepts…so mainly opening up the “studio” on their machine of selection, after which including a brand new instrument or audio recording monitor. As soon as a brand new monitor is added and saved, a brand new revision is created within the track challenge. This permits for unimaginable model management, and for limitless artistic freedom as a result of no earlier concept is ever erased or written over. The truth that BandLab provides a multi-track digital studio that may be accessed by a bunch of individuals nonetheless blows my thoughts to today!
Incorporating instrumentation from Antarctica is groundbreaking. Are you able to share the way you managed to incorporate sounds from such a distant surroundings?
To seek out these two musicians from Antarctica, I researched Wikipedia and different on-line instruments to find out near 25 lively analysis stations, after which in September 2020, I emailed each one in all them to see if there have been any researchers on website that occurred to be musicians. After some exhaustive efforts, I really heard again from two analysis stations that stated they’d musicians who can be inquisitive about collaborating, and my buddies Aymar de Lichervelde and Stijn Thoolen entered the fold.
Each of those proficient artists had been in a position to file their percussion or guitar components utilizing microphones or their telephones whereas on the station, after which despatched their recordings to me by way of WhatsApp. I used to be then in a position to add them into the BandLab Studio, together with the opposite present tracks for the track “Manor Hill” that we had been engaged on for the debut album. Since 2020, each Stijn and/or Aymar have contributed to the opposite 4 songs on this World Over EP, to proceed the purpose of getting 7 continents represented.
What had been the primary challenges when recording the EP?
I must say the primary problem can be delays in communication between members, however that is anticipated as a result of duties outdoors of the group. We’re doing this primarily as a pastime; this band will not be our full-time gig, and since all proceeds are donated to charity, we don’t earn any earnings from the challenge. Because of this, we have now to carve out the time to make our recordings. It might take fairly a little bit of forwards and backwards to finalize a track – for instance, “Butterflies” took virtually 12 months to finalize – however I personally really feel the outcomes converse for themselves.
What do you imagine the intercontinental strategy delivered to the EP?
I feel that our strategy was capable of finding the blissful medium between combining an enormous quantity of various influences and concepts, with out songs sounding chaotic. I’ve to chuckle as a result of one reviewer from our first album listened to “Manor Hill”, and acknowledged that they “anticipated an instrumental mess, fairly truthfully”, however had been “pleasantly stunned” after they listened. Statements like this make me ecstatic, realizing that we have now made the seemingly not possible potential – a cohesive composition that may spotlight all members’ efforts whereas sustaining a united message.
Do the songs on the EP draw from cultural or environmental themes of the continents represented? If that’s the case, how did these influences form the artistic path?
In my humble opinion, I imagine that a variety of these lyrics are of a extra private nature (or maybe making a fictional story based mostly on actual occasions), versus any normal commentary on cultural or environmental themes. I personally wished the music to really feel real and natural, and never compelled in any specific matter or theme when it got here to lyric writing.
After making historical past with World Over, what’s subsequent for INTERCONTINEN7AL?
We’re already engaged on concepts for Quantity 7, and have additionally simply uploaded a playlist on varied digital platforms referred to as The Better of INTERCONTINEN7AL, which options the cream of the crop on the subject of our music – fairly a various array of genres which might be lined there. A terrific approach to develop into ingrained with the group when you have simply listened to World Over and need to take a look at extra of our catalogue.
Discover your most well-liked approach to take heed to the World Over LP by way of INTERCONTINEN7AL’s official web site.
Interview by Amelia Vandergast
