Exit Plan Interview
-Who are all of the band members? And what do they do in the band?
Nick Anderson - Lead Vocals/Guitar/Keytar
Tyler Cornell - Guitar/Vocals
Jessy McKee - Drums
Jimmy Dixon - Bass
-What's the origin of your band name, Exit Plan? Have you changed the band's name before?
Nick Anderson - The name "Exit Plan" came directly from the idea of finding your own outlet in life. It surrounds the the fact that we all have things in our lives that we're dealing with, and we all need to develop an 'exit plan', or something that helps us get away from it all. Our 'exit plan' is playing music. We've learned to use being in this band as a way of getting away from our own personal troubles. So, that's kind of our vision. To help other people find their own 'exit plans'. And we've been able to do that show by show.
-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
Nick Anderson - I'd say we're somewhere between punk and indie rock. We don't really like to put any restrictions on the style of music we make, because of how widely influenced the entire band is. Personally, I've always been ridiculously inspired by Mayday Parade. Every song they release seems to connect with me instantly. Most of the inspiration for my song-writing is from artists such as Joel Faviere, The Maine, and All Time Low.
Jessy McKee - Blink-182 and Green Day have been a huge inspiration. A major reason for my style and the influence for drumming was because of Tre` Cool (Green Day).
Tyler Cornell – Personally my music influences have always been rather acoustic artists like John Mayer, and Jason Mraz. I came into the band being a fan of greenday, blink182, sum41, and other “punk” style bands, but starting out I don't think any of us knew what style of music we would play. But the most unique thing about our band I would have to say is we have 4 people with the widest tastes and variations of music. I think we find a little of everything in the songs we play.
-How old were you when you started this band?
Nick Anderson - 17
Tyler Cornell - 20
Jessy McKee- 17
Jimmy Dixon - 15
-How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
Nick Anderson - I met Jesse and Tyler when I entered high school. Jesse was in my grade, and Tyler was a senior at the time. We didn't even actually know each other that well until we started this band.
Jessy- i knew Jimmy from marching band in 2010 and began playing music together occasionally.
Tyler Cornell – I was always somewhat acquainted with Nick and always thought he was talented, I messaged him asking if he wanted to start a band (Simple as that), he said he knew a drummer (Jesse) and Jesse knew a bassist. I did not know anyone besides Nick. We've all become the closest friends, though.
-When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
Nick Anderson - We formed this band in the summer of 2012. Tyler and I had become friends through other friends over the summer, and we randomly messaged me in July and literally just said, "let's start a band." I had always wanted to be in a band, ever since I started playing solo music in 2009, so I was really excited. We immediately went on a search for a drummer, and bassist.
Jessy McKee - recently after i played at our high school talent show with Jimmy, Nick asked me if i was interested to play with him. Later, he asked if i knew any guitar or bass players, so i volunteered Jimmy for bass.
-Do you have a record label? If so, what is it?
Nick Anderson - We aren't currently signed by anyone. We've had some offers from a couple small labels, but we're not interesting in signing until we self-release our first EP.
-What can you tell me about your instruments? (i.e., Are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available? What made you choose the instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a style/model/brand/color preference?
Nick Anderson - My main instrument is my voice. My guitar is a white gio ibanez, and my keytar is the Alesis Vortex. The inspiration for the keytar came directly from the band Twenty One Pilots. Their singer, Tyler Joseph, plays one and it adds an awesome twist to their set. We've since implemented some synths into our original songs that we're currently recording in our home studio.
Jessy McKee - I've always had a preference to what i use. my drum set is a black 5-piece Yamaha Gigmaker, i use Vic Firth SD-1 General drumsticks, Zildjian cymbals, and Evans drum heads. I've always loved the sound and tone of Zildjians and the Evans. My preference was probably inspired from my time in marching band where we only used Vic Firth, Evans, Zildjians, and Yamaha drums, but i have a greater appreciation for their products and tone quality now that i better understand them with the experience i got from this band.
Tyler Cornell – Being huge a huge fan of artists like John Mayer, Mark Knopfler, and Eric Clapton, I've always been a Fender Strat guy, I bought my Stratocaster of the summer and I love it. It's a beautiful guitar. My amp is a Marshall half stack, I do love marshalls, but I'm not too picky on amps, as long as they have the sound I'm looking for.
-Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
Nick Anderson - We have performed at a lot of local venues including Rock'n Rick's, Generations, and local legions. My favorite venues are usually bars, or legions. I like these shows best because of how personal they are. When you're on a stage, you're seen as more important that those watching you. I enjoy playing on the floor. I enjoy letting the fans feel like we're no better than them, and that we're all just people having fun with good music.
Jessy McKee - my favorite venues are definitely bars, i enjoy the energy from the crowd and as drummer in a way I feed off it. Thats my favorite thing about being a drummer because i can change my parts to go with the mood of the crowd. Rock'n Ricks in Limestone definitely shows this because of the drumming platform and large sound system where i can been seen and can see better
-Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list for your shows?
Nick Anderson - Our band plays a lot of covers. We love playing songs by Blink 182, Simple Plan, Jimmy Eat World, etc., and playing them live is always really fun and gets new fans involved with songs they already know. We have a pretty good balance in our set between originals and covers.
Jessy McKee- Generally we scramble to pull a set list together about five minutes before our show. Once we actually wrote a set list on a coffee filter. But even if we do make a set list, we rarely go by it and just pick songs at random for what fits the mood best. but we have to pray to the punk gods before every show, with or without a set list.
-Who writes your songs? Is it a group effort?
Nick Anderson - I generally write all of our songs. I write them all on my acoustic guitar, and then present them to the band, and we go on from there. I like to keep the songs open for creative changes from the band. Tyler always writes awesome guitar riffs to add to the song, and Jessy always comes up with really cool drum parts. Jimmy has been breaking out of his shell a bit lately, and has written some really cool bass lines for the record we're working on.
-What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
Nick Anderson - I like to leave most of our songs open for interpretation, as our songs don't really follow a trend with each other. Some of our songs are about girls, others are about finding yourself, others are about starting your life over, etc. I want people to be able to find at least one song of ours to connect with. Whether that song be about sex, depression, or love, we want everyone to find some kind of inspiration in our music.
-Could you briefly describe your music-making process?
Nick Anderson - See my answer from two questions ago.
-What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
Nick Anderson - We practice once or twice a week in a good week. Lately, we've been very busy, but soon we'll be practicing 6 days a week. Once we finish recording this EP, we will get back to practicing a lot and being ready for our upcoming shows. We don't have a set time that we practice. Our rehearsals are always very spontaneous.
-How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Nick Anderson - When we first started playing music together, we just wanted to write catchy punk music that was just fun to play. Since then, we've evolved to writing songs that mean a lot to us, and actually hold importance. Funny thing though, our music now is much catchier and mush more well-written than the songs we wrote to be just that.
-What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Nick Anderson - Our biggest challenge, I think, was finding our sound. For awhile, we had no idea what we wanted to sound like, and we had no idea how to take all of our difference musical influences and incorporate them into our music. But luckily, we have figured that out. We have found a sound that we're really content with, and can't wait for everyone to hear it.
-What's your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune?
Nick Anderson - I just want as many people as I possibly can reach to hear and be touched by our music. I want to inspire people the way artists have inspired me, and I think this band can do that. If in turn we gather a large fan base, my goal will have been reached. It has always been a dream of mine to tour, and meet new people, and I can't wait to do that in the future.
Tyler Cornell – Starting out, I don't think any of us knew what to really expect from this band. We just kind of went with it. But as we started growing around the area, we starting having a lot of fun. While music has always been something fun and a hobby for me, it quickly became a passion. Starting out we didn't know if we'd amount to anything more than a bar band, but this summer we do plan to head to california where Jesse and Nick will attend school, and hopefully our music will reach more people.
-What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Just do it. Don't' make any excuses. Because once you go out, and find some talented musicians, and start playing music, you'll realize that it was one of the best decisions you've ever made.
-How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard your music before?
Fast, fun, and energetic. We can't wait to finish this EP so we can show that off.
-How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Jimmy Dixon - we have a youtube link on our facebook page for our first song entitled "Sloots" and are currently recording songs for our first EP
-Website links in which other people can find your music, or more information for your band?
www.facebook.com/TheExitPlan
www.youtube.com/ExitPlanOfficialTwitter: @ExitPlan_Music
-Would you ever do an interview like this with us again?
Definitely!
-Would you like to do more fun/funny questions in another interview?
Funny questions would be awesome! We don't usually take things too seriously, so a fun interview would be awesome.
-Any last words?
We have t-shirts and wristbands available as merch, and thank you so much for your support!