CENTER LANE ROCKS FROZEN..... THE GRINDER INTERVIEW

1.Thanks for your time.

Tell us about your band and what you do for your band.

“Center Lane is Jesse Lee Keeffe on guitar, Michael Buerstner on bass, Michael West on drums and I, Jessica Roth on vocals. We released our first full album Blurry in November 2017.”

2.When did you decide you wanted to be in a band?

“We all pretty much decided as young teenagers to play in our own band after having seen local artists enjoying themselves on stage and having great fun playing at school events or other local venues. We looked up to them and just wanted to be like them. Later on we just wanted to be like our big idols we knew from radio, tv and magazines.”

3. What is different about being a musician than you imagined?

“I guess we all had the same picture in mind of being a musician – to be glorious and invincible – now after all these years we can say that being a musician is hard and calculated work with lots of ups and downs – but we still love doing it after so many years.”

4.What gear do you use and why?

“We do use lots of gear of all different brands – to put it in a nutshell, we use established brands and reliable gear – we have to, since we play up to ten shows a month. We can’t afford gear malfunctions…and no, we do not have brand endorsements.”

5. What music do you listen to that would surprise people?

“We all listen to a wide range of music – difficult to narrow it down, but I know people are usually surprised to hear that we like a lot of the new upcoming pop and rock artists that are currently in the charts. We do believe that there is lots of great new music out there.”

6. How do we find your music and merch to buy?

“All our music is available on pretty much every digital online platform world-wide. Our EP “Zoo” and album “Blurry” can be purchased or heard on ITunes, Spotify, Amazon etc. Merchandise can be purchased at live shows.”

7. How did you get a record deal?

Or do you want a record deal or are you DIY?

“Back in the days we would have loved to sign a record deal with a solid label – today we are in a position to finance, produce, publish and distribute our music ourselves – technology and the music market have changed tremendously to every musicians advantage.”

8. What bands do people compare your music to?

“Someone told us we sound like a mix of Evanescence, Night Ranger, Lady Gaga and Heart – we definitely take it as a compliment.”

9. Are you pro Spotify / streaming services? Or do you think it hurts sales?

It is great – let’s face it, Youtube, Spotify or ITunes Music are wonderful platforms to spread your art and music. Does it hurt sales? Sure, maybe, but we definitely reach a lot more people through these streaming services – without them, we’d be worse off – that’s a fact.

10. What’s the ultimate goal for the band?

“The ultimate goal is to enjoy ourselves – we want to play our own music in front of a live audience – sharing the stage with other musicians and bands that night and reaching out to people who have not heard us before. The ultimate goal is to perform a great show that night and to go home happy.”

11. Will we see you tour?

“Hopefully we can get one together for 2019 – we’ll keep you posted.”

12. Who would you love to tour with?

“We would love to tour with other female fronted bands. There are lots of great ones out there that need to be heard.”

13.what is your favorite song of yours and why?

“Definitely Blurry – we love the energy of the song, but also the message and struggle depicted in the lyrics. Dirty Money is a great one, too.”

14. Why should people take the time to listen to your band over the thousands of other bands?

“People should give us the time to listen because we do have good messages in our songs dealing with day to day issues in the lives of young adults – paired with great music of course….”

15.what are your favorite music websites labels podcast etc?

“We have lots of favorite websites – we are in constant contact with other local, regional and even national bands – lots of great supporting web-radio stations in Germany, Canada and the US that have been supporting us since the release of our album Blurry – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and of course Reverbnation.”

16. Is imagery important to you? Do you judge albums by the cover?

“We do believe that imagery is important – good imagery will always underline and support quality work of bands in general.”

17.if you could choose a cover song your band mates would hate what would it be?

“Frozen’s Let it Go – and yes, we’ve played it…..”

18.Is the record or live show more important?

“Both are of equal importance – one doesn’t exclude the other.”

19. Name 3 people dead or alive you would want to play your music for.

“Three teenagers out there and somewhere, who have never had the opportunity to go out and see a live band before.”

20. Lemmy Ozzy Dio and Rob Halford in a cage match who wins?

“I win, I get to see them all four together!”