13 Day Mission

BeAtlanta interviewed us and here is what they got:

From http://www.beatlanta.com:

“CHECK OUT 13 DAY MISSION – this video is a 10 minute monster of a song. 13DM is a 3 piece sometimes 4 piece prog, experimental space rock band. Check out the vid….

We were able to get with the guys and ask them a few questions. We saw 13DM at the Masquerade and only caught the last two songs but I was blown away. They are Bret Phillips on Bass, Steven on Drums, Marty Eason on Guitar and sometimes David Carter on keys. Not only are they a great band but they are a great interview. I love these guys. Here is the interiview…

Can you tell us about 13 Day Mission? When did ya’ll form? How do
you know each other? Who plays what instrument? Are you all from
Atlanta? What is the 13 Day Mission?

BP-
That’s a lot of questions for just one question but here goes:

As far as I can remember, them members of 13DM formed at conception.

Steven and I had the same home room in high school. Both of us were
already musicians in some capacity, as well open minded to one others
musical tastes, so naturally we started a band.

At the moment, I (Bret Phillips) am on bass for 13DM, Steven on drums, Marty Eason is
shredding guitar with us, and David Carter of the band Miles from
Pangaea coming and going on keys.

13DM reside in Atlanta, 13DM comes from an energy far far from here.

What is the 13 Day Mission? The 13 Day Mission is taking that one
extra leap to reach that next level. When the 12 day trip has
finished and the rest are ready to call it quits, who will continue
on? Some people say the number 13 is unlucky. Some buildings do not
have a 13th floor. Some people will not go outside on any Friday the
13th. Then there are those who embrace 13 for what it is, those who
believe, those who know the truth.

2. How do you feel about the Atlanta music scene? Do you find it
treats you well? Do you find it easy to find like minded bands to play
with? How do you find the math rock scene in Atlanta?

SM-
On the whole I do enjoy the music played around the Atlanta area. We
have been working on Hijacking Music for a year or so now that is
focused on searching for like minded artists and musicians and begin
an artistic community for support. That has gone very well and we
have found many artists that would like to be involved with Hijacking
Music. I am not one for throwing out genres or labels upon bands or
music as I see it as just music and nothing else. With anything in
life you have to take the good with the bad, and Atlanta has both
involved in it’s music scene.

BP-
I think Atlanta is a great place for music. There are a ton of good
venues and a overwhelming amount of bands. I can definitely say I
have sat through some amazing bands sets here, but I have also been at
some terrible shows too. I think the scene has been treating us well,
we haven’t been hit in the faces with beer bottles and tomatoes yet.
But as with anywhere you go, there is a certain route you can take,
and play the same songs that everyone else is writing and lots of
people will come to shows, sing your songs, and feel comfortable
listening to your music. Then there is another route, one where you
create any kind of music you want. It will definitely make your life a
little harder trying to build a public face for your band, but when
that actually starts working out, and people are coming to your shows
to hear something different, the payoff is much greater.

As for like minded bands, that has not really been a problem for us at
all. We have met a ton of amazing musicians over the last couple of
years and have been working with several of them very closely to build
up what we are calling the Hijacking Music Collective. When you start
playing out people always tells you to make friends with the other
local bands and put on shows, so we have been.

Talking about the math rock scene, more than anything, I have seen
bands with a more metal approach to it than a rock approach. And I
enjoy that.

3. Have you played outside of Atlanta? If so, where? What is your
favorite venue to play in Atlanta? Was that your first time at the
Masquerade?

Yes we have played outside of Atlanta. Our last trip took us from
here all the way to Grand Rapids including stops in Chicago and Ohio
that were amazing. In Grand Rapids we played as a 2 piece bass/drums
for a 2 man band festival called Fes2val, we played on a bridge going
over a river…probably my favorite venue to date. As for a favorite
Atlanta venue to play, I am going to say Drunken Unicorn. The spot is
great, the sound system dominates, and the people that work for the DU
are great.

This was our second Masquerade show. The first time we headlined,
finishing the show with Steven kicking his drums off the stage like a
rock star. It was awesome.

4. We’ve heard from a few bands that the Masquerade is the best at
treating bands well? Was that your experience there?

We have never had a bad experience with anyone associated with the
Masquerade. We’ve all gone played and gone to tons of shows there,
always a good time.

5. How do you feel about file sharing? Do you feel its detrimental to
the industry or do you find it a good thing – to help more people hear
more music?

SM -
Share away mother fuckers. I think the industry is the evil thing
that needs to be brought to it’s knees, not file sharing. Recording
companies and the music industry have had a strangle hold on musicians
and artists for a very long time now, at least those that decide to be
associated with them. Musicians need to realize that true wealth lies
in the creativity and artistic level of your piece of art.

BP -
I started really getting into indie music, math rock, post rock, bands
like Don Cab, Tortoise, Trans Am back when finding an mp3 online
somewhere was starting to become a thing. In my research I was very
pleased to find albums from those bands, but I was even more pleased
to find music by the bands that influenced them. At the time it
seemed that no matter how deep I dug, I was able to find the music and
most importantly…listen to it. I can tell you that being a musician
and meeting and playing with lots of bands, there is typically an
exchange of each others music early on no fee attached.

In that regard, I am for file sharing. We offer all of our music
online for free now, as you said, to help more people hear it. I
would much rather give someone our music and them listen to it and
enjoy it, have it be a part of their lives and influence them, than
for the person to never hear it because we charge for CDs that they
might not be able to get a hold of.

If people like it and support you, they pay to come to your shows and
see you play, buy your merch, tell their friends, etc etc etc. The
goal for us when we have a show is not so much to just showcase a few
bands at some venue with a stage, but more to have a big time and
bring together people who enjoy doing that as well.

6. How do you feel about the future of the music industry?

BP -
Music has been around since man has been around. The music industry
is whatever people make it, it will always be there. Its just that,
like the rest of our economy recently, some people with lots of power
and lots of pull, had grown very greedy and stopped caring about
people as people, and saw them only as numbers. Now that the artists
are able to take matters into their own hands with the instant
communication that the internet allows, these people who had power and
pull, are losing it. The internet is allowing us to have what we
should have had anyway, a Free Market, and I am OK with that.

SM -
Just another form of control for us “free” Americans.

7. Do you have any CDs out or any planned? If so what are their names.

We have two albums available right now. The first, Ex Incendia
Libertas, was recorded a couple years ago by Steven and Myself. Its 45
minutes of instrumental space rock music that will take you on a
journey from start to finish. I played guitar on that and did most of
the bass tracks. Our bass player at the time did some as well.
Shortly after recording that I moved to bass full time.

The other available album is titled Ozone Lair Restoration. It is a
collection of mostly live jams recorded here at our house/home
recording studio the Ozone Lair. It features quite a few other ATL
musicians as well the kind of stuff we had been working on during
2008.

We do have our next album in the works. This will be a full length
release, our most cohesive yet. We have not decided on a title yet
but we will be shaking things up a bit, adding some sparse vocals,
going real heavy with the rhythms, and hopefully bringing something
fresh to the table. Stay posted!

8. Tell us about one of your favorite songs?

SM -
Don Cab – Repeat Defender

This is a ten minute piece by one of my favorite bands of all time.
Though it starts off slow and melow the musicians build up the
intensity very slowly until the song is in complete control of your
auditory senses. I have always enjoyed Damon Che’s drumming, and this
is a great example of how he fuses his rock style with some jazz and
funk influence. By the 4:30 mark the band is really starting to pick
up the strength of the song and testing your attentiveness as a
listener. Most average listeners would give up on the song at this
point and call it “just a bunch of noise”. Fortunately I am not the
average listener and I really enjoy a lot of noise, I mean music. The
ensuing minutes greet you with more in your face and intense drumming
and guitar playing from all angles as the rhythm slowly builds and
explodes. One of the great things about this piece I enjoy is that
every time I give it a listen I hear something new that I had not
noticed previously. The song slows it’s pace and intensity once again
and is slowly drowning out, only to be brought right back into action
by a slam of the ride bell by Damon Che. In the end, to me, there is
nothing that can compare to the creativity and skill displayed
throughout this entire song by the entire band.

BP -
Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall. First song on the second disk,
Eleven Four. He says “Its written in 11/4 time, the writing is very
difficult but that’s not the problem, the problem is to improvise in
eleven". One of the smoothest jams in 11 ever. I saw Brubeck at Emory
a few years ago and all 4 guys on stage were over 80 wearing a tux,
and it was THE MOST SPACED OUT music I’ve ever experienced live. They
rocked it.”