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Sometimes in life you come across a band that just affects you on a level that you never thought would happen to you. Well I got introduced to this band called 24E from Southwest California, whose lyrics and music impacted me not just on a professional level but on a whole other personal level. I had a chance to sit down and talk to Chad (better known as CBlime) to talk about the music, the lyrics and the passion behind what drives the band to continue to do what they do. Please take the time to read this amazing interview and get to kno 24E on a more personal level.

"Sometimes you are so close to it as the artist that you lose the perspective of somebody from the outside because you lived with it from the beginning, writing it to the end." - Cblime (Chad Fergerstrom): 24E

Alright, so first of all for our readers who don’t know, can you tell us who you are and what you do for the band?

Well I’m the guitar player, primary song writer and lead singer for 24E.

Ok, now how did 24E form?

Actually my drummer and I, Bryan, we played in several musical circles together and we decided to form a band with the original music that I’ve been writing, he’s been working with me on, and so we brought in a base player. At the beginning actually for the first CD we were just a three piece, and then in 2003 we realized that it would be much better to be a four piece and much easier on me. I was carrying, and so [???], to the band is right now, we all got together and we’ve been a four piece since about 2003 and in 2005 we really honed in our sound that you hear now which is the 24E sound.

Ok, now I was reading that the name 24E basically means a constant state of music, how did you decide on such a unique name for your band?

Well actually, it’s a prophetic term actually. It talks about singing and music for eternity and we kind of hit it out and coined the phrase ‘constant state of music’, and we just liked it.

It’s very different.

The funny thing is, when we were first looking to choose a name for the band, I only had one stipulation on choosing the name, and that it wasn’t a name with the number in it..haha

Ok, haha

I don’t know, I guess it just had a weird stigma to me at the time. But you know when we came across that name it was the one that rang for us.

And it works.

And it worked!

Now, usually when I get a new album I just put it on my computer and let it play so that I can get a feel for it. Now I got your most recent release that you did, Stagger to the Wind, and I’ve put it in and I have to say I had to stop everything I was doing and just sit down and listen to it because every song on that album just moved me.

Oh, awesome.

Ya, now what inspires the amazing lyrics that you write?

A lot of things inspire them. I’m a big sucker for love and figuring everything out and what love is. I think there are a lot of aspects to it, there’s the emotional aspect to it, there’s the choosing to love somebody which would be the kind of what marriage is supposed to be. You chose to love somebody no matter what happens and no matter how you feel about it, you chose to love that person. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out enough times. But then there is that one aspect of love that everybody just craves, and that’s the love that just destroys your insides and consumes you into the other person, and even though that doesn’t last, that really deep feeling doesn’t always last I think that everybody deep inside longs for it.

That's what everybody wants.

Yes.

Ok, now you were recently selected as one of the top five finalists at the songwriter’s universe for one of the songs you wrote, how does that feel to know that something you wrote is getting such amazing recognition?

Well it feels great because for me it really is all about the song writing first. Obviously I’m a musician and everybody in my band, I would say for them music is primary to them you know, like Travis our guitar player, he is a student of the guitar, he’s an excellent guitar player. Bryan, student of the drums, Steven the student of the base. That’s the thing they are passionate about. I’m a guitar player, I’m a piano player, I’m a singer but I would say I am more passionate about song writing than all those things. And so it means a lot to me when its recognized, when people connect to it, and you know if it’s a critic or you know somebody that makes decisions in a contest like that, I mean that is great, you know industry stamp of approval if you will. You know I’ve gotten that in a few different circles of people that we have worked with, but really just when it connects with anybody, even if it’s just anybody who is in to the music or is touched by the music, it means a lot in that sense as well.

Well also the same could be said for your song Love Is which actually the charts to number ten, how did it feel for that song to get that level of success?

It just feels awesome, it’s almost like a validation. We make music because we love music and we feel like what we do, you know at least over the last four years we’ve been very satisfied with the music that we’ve been putting out and feeling like we’re reaching a high potential and putting out music that is on par with the industry standard, in the top percent, and I think those kind of things, they just validate that. Sometimes you are so close to it as the artist that you lose the perspective of somebody from the outside because you lived with it from the beginning, writing it to the end. You know then you get the validation from somebody, it took years to finish the part, and it reminds you that, ya, this is good music.

It reminds you that you did something great.

Absolutely.

Ok, now one of the songs on the album that really struck me was I Don’t Know What You Want From Me, because I actually read the lyrics before I listened to the song because the title intrigued me and that song just spoke to me on so many levels, there’s a lot of things that I’ve been going through in my own life, is there anything you can tell me about that song, like what inspired it and where the idea came from?

Well sure, is it gonna mess you up though? haha

No, haha, it shouldn’t.

You know sometimes people identify with the song and they pull something out of the song themselves. My songs have specific meanings to them but I like to leave them, I guess just vague enough to allow people to connect with it.

So they can have their own interpretations?

Ya, and so sometimes when I get a little deeper into my own explanation I’m fearful that I’ll ruin it for other people.

Oh trust me, you will not ruin it, haha

Haha, ok, well my inspiration on that actually is just, it’s got a feel level to it. It was a time actually where, it was actually one of those times I was kind of doubting what was going on in my career musically, and just music is such a big part, it kind of makes you look at a lot of things. And so it was just kind of a cry, I was driving in my vehicle and it was kind of like a cry out to God if you will, I was just you know, why is this happening, what do I need to do so that the goals I am shooting for and the life that I want to live hasn’t happened the way that I am striving for. It’s kind of like that cry you know, if I’m not doing it right than what is it you want from me? How can I be right?

Ok, that's exactly how I felt about the song actually.

Oh, good.

Sorry, I'm probably picking apart your songs here, but they're all amazing.

Well do it, go right ahead!

Ok, now the song, I’ll Wait For Never basically to me, and correct me if I’m wrong, it’s about losing something close to you, and that was very inspiring because I lost someone recently that was very close to me, can you tell me something about that song and how it came to you?

That song is actually, you know we all have people come into our life like you just said, you lost somebody that was close to you, and you know sometimes maybe that person that comes into your life doesn’t fit the rest of your life at that time, but there’s really no time that you can see that it would ever fit. But it’s something that’s so close and something that you so desire that you’ll wait a lifetime for it but you know that you can never have it. That was what it was for me, I had a very close friend and collaborator in song writing and you know, our partnership in music, it just couldn’t go any further, it just didn’t work with the rest of what was going on in my life and relationships, and it meant a lot to me but it had to pop.

You just had to let it go.

Yep.

Ok, now is there one specific song on the album that you could say means the most to you?

Can't Let Go.

Can't Let Go?

Ya, that’s kind of actually very similar to the same situation, you know you’re looking at something that you need to let go of like we were just talking about. You know you feel in your emotion that in the depth of you that you know you can’t do it or you don’t see how you can do it. So that’s where that song was born from and you know, I stole a line in there from the saying ‘better to love and lose than to never loved at all’, and you know, I believe that. There’s a lot of things even though you can’t stay with the experience forever, you are better to have experienced it.

Ya, then to not have at all. Ok, now you’ve worked with Rob Hoffman on your latest release and he’s worked with some pretty big names, what was that experience like?

That was an awesome experience, Rob Hoffman is an absolutely great human being, he’s so level headed and super talented. You know, we took some time out to really focus on the record rather than trying to do a bunch of shows and touring, trying to just kind of fit it in. We literally just carved up some time so we could just focus on that, we went up and stayed closer to his Los Angeles studio. So we literally just lived the experience in the studio until the inspiration ran out or it was one or two in the morning. You know, got a few hours sleep and did it again. It’s not just the experience of working with him and knowing the great individual but you know it’s back to that validation of somebody who has really made a mark in the industry and worked with some great people, really believing in us and really being into the music that we were doing.

Awesome. Now I was reading that you are currently working on a new album called Monks, Monsters and The Suffering.

That is correct.

What is the reason behind that name? It's a very interesting title for an album.

It is, actually we came up with the name when we were in the studio or you know, with Rob Hoffman. We were just throwing around different names and so on and so forth, and that was one of the ones that really stood out and it kind of talks about or, to me it says here’s these different perspectives in life or in the things that you do. You know you’ve got, now I don’t want to over analyze it too much, but a monk’s perspective, and this is over analyzing it, but I’m just trying to answer the question, haha. A monk’s perspective you know would be, kind of a level follow them kind of perspective on anything that would be happening. Then the monster is kind of like you know, those demons that plague your mind and kind of twist you around and your thoughts, and then the suffering is kind of just that other part of either you or people in general. When you’re suffering you definitely have a different perspective on things. It makes things that you thought were super important not as important and things that you maybe have been neglecting or ignoring or becoming indifferent to, all of a sudden come into the forefront of what is being important.

Ok, do you have an expectant release date for that album?

We're shooting for June, I'm thinking that's pretty doable.

Now are there any other artists that you are inspired by and is there anything you take from that inspiration that you apply to your music?

I think I take almost everything I hear and apply it in some way. You know most of the time its subliminal, it’s not like I’m trying to rip something off specifically but I listen to so much music and I’m so inspired by so many talented artists out there that I think a little bit from everybody kind of registers in my mind and then it becomes this big melting pot in my mind, and then what comes out is kind of the result from all those things. There are specific artists that have inspired me, John Lennon would probably be the biggest. But I’m inspired by U2, you know I love the lyrics of Bono. Obviously they have put it together in a package where the music really moves you and its almost more of an experience than just listening, so I’m inspired by U2. You know, any band that does it good I think.

Anyone that crosses your path and just hits you.

Ya.

Ok, you mentioned that you liked the whole aspect of love, is there any intended message that you try and get across with your music?

You know I don’t know. Again I think that love kind of goes back and forth and between the emotional and the choice, I guess I don’t want to answer the question of love for everybody, I more want to ask more questions so that people will come to their conclusion about it. And do things, write things, say things that will make them think more about it.

Ok, that’s fair. Now I was actually hitting up YouTube and watching the live videos that were posted of you guys and just watching the reaction from the crowd, how does it feel to be able to feed off the energy that they give to you?

Well that’s the best feeling of all the feelings we talked about before. Like I said I love being song writer and I love seeing the song be created, you know in its infancy and then I love bringing it to the band and seeing their reactions and then seeing what kind of music they bring to the table as we arrange it. I love to see it get recorded, but definitely the highlight is seeing people connect to it, get out to a show and watch people sing the lyrics back to you. There’s nothing better than that.

When I go to shows I’m usually in the first row. It’s amazing just to look around and see all the people singing back the lyrics. It’s astounding sometimes because I’m obviously on the other side so I’m standing in the audience and you can feel the energy that’s going towards the stage from all these fans, so I can imagine what it feels like to be standing on the stage.

It's every bit as awesome as you imagine.

Ok, well that’s good to know. Now the last question I have for you is a little bit of a loaded question.

OH!

Yes, I save the best for last. Now if you could be in charge of the music industry what would be the first thing you would change?

The first thing. Um, well I think like a business man and I don’t want to answer like that. I think the thing that needs to change which probably several things would have to happen for it to get there, I think the thing that needs to change is that the music industry needs to be more about music and less about money. I think that what drives the labels and what drives the people who can get the music in front of the masses is gone way too far to the money side, and there needs to be more passionate people that are willing to take chances and put money behind more music people. Not just creating artists with low overhead and,

So, appeal to the masses.

Right, you know they kind of bottle up the artists these days and make it so that they can control almost everything they are doing and put them in their machine and spit out a big marketing plan, and that’s how it happens. It’s not really about talent or song writing as much, I mean you need to have that so it’s not totally gone from there but it seems more like it’s about paying the bills and the hype.

Making sure you are number one.

Ya, and you know artists like us and many others who play music truly because we love playing music, a lot of times if we don’t fit into these moulds that the industry have made then our music doesn’t get the opportunity to be heard by the masses.

hat was one of the main reasons for actually creating the web scene we have. We wanted to get music out there that normally people would not listen to, to get it out there, to get talented artists so that people will actually stop and listen.

That’s awesome.

That was our main goal behind what we did because even ourselves as fans of music we listened to lots of bands we did like, they weren’t getting the recognition they deserved so we in a way, wanted to kind of give them a little push just to help out as much as we could basically, being five random people.

So there's five of you running the whole deal?

There's five of us, ya.

Cool.

And that leads to my next little set of questions I have, because the five of us are probably the most random people you are ever going to meet, and every interview we just try and end it on a light note with some five random questions.

Ok. I'm up for it.

They have nothing to do with anything. Ok, first one, if you were a scented candle what would you smell like?

A Cigar.

A cigar?

Haha, ya.

Haha. Now if you had to be an inanimate object what would you be?

Um, I'm thinking a mountain.

A mountain? Any particular reason?

I just think that the mountain has an awesome perspective, an awesome view.

Indeed. If you could be stuck in any 80s movie what one would it be and why?

Stuck in the 80s, I love that question, I`ve got to think. Um, gosh, there’s millions of them just running through my head. You want like a feature film right?

It doesn't have to be.

Well then I'm going to say Rattle and Hum.

I've never heard of that one.

Rattle and Hum is the U2 movie that they put out in theatres in `86, Joshua Tree tour.

Oh, ok. I have to admit I am a fan of U2, but I don't know everything so, I'm going to have to look into that.

You need to, mark my words, just in talking to you, you need to watch that.

Ok, I'll definitely have to find it. Now what would you say is your favourite dance craze?

My favourite dance craze? Well it’s got to be disco right?

Disco?

Ya, it’s just so preposterous that its comical but it’s fun. I mean there is nobody, I challenge anybody to be in a club and have a disco baseline come over the speakers and not move.

That’s true. Ok, now my last question, what fashion trend, male or female, absolutely confuses you?

Haha. You know, I don`t know if I`m confused by it by I don`t get the wearing your pants down by your ankles kind of thing. I mean I guess I understand the genre type deal, it’s just so unattractive I don`t see why anybody sees it any other way.

I have to agree with you on that one. Ok, well that’s basically it!

It was a pleasure talking to you.

It was a pleasure talking to you and I`m very looking forward to the new album and hopefully we`ll get to see you in Canada.

Thanks to Chad Fergerstrom (Cblime) for taking time out to chat with us! Check out 24E on their MYSPACE page or HOMEPAGE

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