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Sometimes I get antsy and bored with my playlist (not that anything is wrong with my music, just to let you know), and I like to take the time to explore MySpace. It takes a lot sometimes for a band to jump out and smack me in the face and make me stop to listen. When I stumbled upon this MySpace I couldn't stop myself from delving in and seeing what they were all about. The music was catchy and fun and something I could see myself listening to over and over. This was when I found out about Culprit. I had a chance recently to talk to Travis about their music, name and where they see themselves going in the future. You might also learn how moustaches fit into his New Years plans.

"The LA scene is BRUTAL. But we've been fortunate to draw some attention to our band"
- Travis Powell: Culprit

First off, for our readers who don't know, can you tell us who you are and what you do for the band?

I'm Travis, I sing and play guitar, Mayauel plays lead guitar and sings too, Zach plays bass and Chris plays drums.

How did Culprit come about? And where did the name come from?

In the summer of '06, I (Travis) was on tour with my old band, doing a southwest run. We were on the road with some of our buddies, and they had a fill in drummer named Johnny that clicked really well with me. We decided to jam when we got home, and it just was working really well, we then added Mayauel and Zach after some time, and Johnny left. Zach, Mayo and I were looking for a drummer for a while, and we found Chris in August of '07, and he fit in right away. We've been a family ever since. We actually got the name from Underoath, and we all liked it and thought it had the right feel for the group of us.

Your songs are extremely catchy and really enjoyable; can you tell me what inspires your lyrics?

Our life experiences really do influence our message as a band. We have songs about loving someone, losing someone, songs about dreams, betrayal, and of course, we like to write songs that'll make you shake your ass.

Now you guys seem like four really fun guys, how do you think that comes across in your music?

I'm not sure how, but it just does! We have a lot of fun writing it and maybe that's why you can hear it. We're all very outgoing, so we write outgoing music too, if that makes any sense.

How did you decide to pursue a career in music? And is it the same thing that keeps you being creative?

Music is the only thing we love doing. We have a secret ingredient to our creativity that we like to keep a secret, ha-ha! But really, the 4 of us contribute to every song, and as long as we're all together, the ideas just flow.

I noticed on your MySpace that you guys are currently in the studio, what can we look forward to?

The new record will be a little more upbeat, more fun tunes to dance to defiantly. We've defiantly matured. We should actually have a new demo on our MySpace page VERY soon.

For anyone who hasn't seen one of your live shows, can you describe it for us?

HOT. We put a lot of energy and passion into our live show, so things get very sweaty. We like to dance to the music we make!

How does the music scene in Los Angeles treat you? Being in a band do you notice the difference in the scene in other cities? And the bands you come across from those cities

The LA scene is BRUTAL. But we've been fortunate to draw some attention to our band, which I feel, is a huge accomplishment. From being on tour, I've learned that the LA scene is way more broad a scene that in other cities I've visited, but I've been very impressed with some local talent out of Arizona, Texas and Florida lately. Great job!

The music industry is constantly changing, if you could be in charge of the music industry for one day, what would be the first thing you would change?

Wow, where do I start?! I would defiantly put more money into talent scouting. There are so many great bands just not getting discovered because of lack of coverage.

We are into a New Year now, what, besides some new (amazing) music can we look forward to from Culprit?

You can look forward to seeing us EVERYWHERE! 2009 will be a big year for us, with the release of our new record (yay!), and touring to support it will take up most of our year. So look for us in your town in '09, we're always down to

Now, us here at the Sound Faction are probably five of the most random people you will ever meet, with each interview we do we try to ask five of the most random questions you've ever been asked. So, without further ado, here we go.

If you could have lunch with any fictional character who would it be and why?

I would have lunch with Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He's hilarious and I love laughing at him!

Who would you want to win a date with?

I think Natalie Portman is real pretty...

What has been your most outrageous New Year's resolution?

This year, my new year’s resolution is to grow a bad ass moustache. So be on the lookout for the Travistache!

If you were a scented Candle what would you smell like?

Blueberry Muffin. I love blueberry muffins.

What is one piece of clothing that you can't live without, and why?

My American Apparel V necks. I feel like regular shirts are choking me, so the V necks really help me out.

Thank you again Travis for taking the time to talk to us here at The Sound Faction. Want to hear more about Culprit? Go check them out on their MySpace