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The best thing about Music is the fact that you can find it anywhere these days. However, the best part for me is when one of my favorite bands introduces me to something new. If anyone knows, I'm a huge metal and rock fan (along with everything in between), and when I got listening to Temperedcast I realized that they were going to be on my listening radar for years to come. The band hails from Seattle and recently released a brand new album in October titled Reach. They have toured with some of the biggest names in the music industry and still realize that their fans are what makes them. I had a chance to talk to Nick Sundesten recently and ask him a few questions about their music and what exactly would make him go to the dark side. So, sit back and enjoy the ride.

"We like to consider our fans our friends."
- Nick Sundesten, Temperedcast

Roll Call. For our readers who don't know who are you and what do you do for the band?

Nick Sundesten, and i'm the bass player for Temperedcast

How did Temperedcast come about?

Temperedcast, well its kinda a long story, but the two original members are me and Kelly the drummer. Basically we kinda started this mission, of being somebody in the music industry as little kids, because we knew each other growing up. Next thing you know, we kept banging away, and we ran into Kristen, the guitar player, and pieced it together piece by piece. Then we found Calvin (lead vox) somewhere in 2004 I believe, and to finalize our line up we found Josh in 2006. We basically started calling our self Temperedcast in 2006, because we found our niche in writing and kind of found an identity to our music.

How does your first EP release proximity fuse differ from your full length Reach that came out on October 10?

Well I would say the big difference is, that we grew so much as writers. When we started writing Proximity Fuse we were kinda young and stubborn with our writing and we didn't care what other people wanted to hear as much. We were stubborn artists and wanted to do what we felt was right. Once we started to play with 'a list' bands like Puddle of Mudd and Three Days Grace or Drowning pool, we were like okay we really need to sit back and analyze our music to be able to stay playing with these bands and get our music to a broader audience. So, we kinda commercialized ourselves a bit. With this album Reach, we kinda just broke all the music down, with all the stuff that was already written we broke it down and took it piece by piece to build it to something else. Something that was radio friendly and people can identify with lyrically and emotionally. We wanted something that everyone can listen to, not just somebody that listened to a certain type of music. There is something for everybody on this album. There is a lot of great stuff on Proximity Fuse but I guess right now we're really really excited about Reach because we've worked really hard on this album more so then any other album or any other song in a whole. There was a lot of work by a lot of guys to break it down and get it where it is.

Who writes your lyrics and where does the inspiration come from?

Most of our lyrics are done by Calvin, our singer. We're a really hands on group writing band, most of it is usually done together. Someone will come in with an idea, whether it's a lyric or melody or a guitar rift or some sort of drum beat and it will build from there. We'll get to a certain point where it seems like a whole song, but then like lyric wise, Calvin will get all the lyrics but will get like writers block or something like that. A lot of times when it came to Reach, we wanted everyone to identify with this music. So, we all sat down and we went lyric by lyric al the way through everything, whether it be grammatically correct or the words were right for the song. We really feel that you have to cuss every word, you don't really have much to say. Like on this album, there is only one cuss word and it fit for the song, and we really didn't want an album full of cuss words. We wanted something that if the kid was five years old your Mom was okay with you listening to it.

I've been listening to lot of your guys stuff recently, and I have to say its 'eclectic' in the sense that it keeps me wanting to move, and honestly just stand there and rock out on my own.

It does the same thing to me, so your not the only one.

How does the music affect you personally?

I guess personally, being a part of writing it. When we wrote this thing it was like if we died tomorrow we left something that would leave a mark on the music world itself. But it means so much personally, because we put so much blood, sweat and tears into it and we knew that this album at this time was the best we could do because we worked so hard. When we got done writing it and recording it and siting back when it was all mixed and mastered we felt that if nothing really happened with it we wouldn't know what to do because we put our heart and soul into it, it's kinda like our baby really, that's how we all look at it. We're really proud of it and we'll show it to anybody and we want everyone to hear it and this is what this year is about to get it out there with a big push. Even if I wasn't a musician and I didn't write it I would still buy this album, its just something I feel that for todays music anyone can identify to it, everything about it is good, not even being biased as being one of the writers.

A few of the songs that I have heard are prety amazing.

Thank you very much! That means a lot.

Are there any bands out there that are a huge influence on you? That you look up to and maybe someday aspire to be at that level?

This whole band kinda came together because its like a melting pot, each member is into such different stuff. Me and Kelly the drummer are kinda into really rhythmic driven music, like Sevendust or like Bullet For My valentine or Killswitch Engage, like the harder stuff but rhythmic oriented stuff. Josh our guitar player is really bluesy like stuff, if I was to compare his guitar playing style, I would compare it to Slash, he's like hard rock with a lot of blues in his solos and stuff like that. Chris, our other guitar player, is like a technician, he's really into the old school stuff, he's a really hardcore Metallica fan, he just loves like intricate solos and he's a phenomenal guitar player who likes to challenge himself. If there is guitar stuff out there thats challenging thats what he's about. Calvin, he's into everything. He loves acoustic stuff, he loves hard rock and country, he likes old school stuff like THe Allman Brothers, stuff like that. I guess he kinda takes from all over the place. When we found Calvin, we never really found him because of his style, his voice was just so unique and his writing just fit with what we were doing and it kinda is what separates us from other bands. What makes us a whole package, if you ever get a chance to see us, we're a lot of energy and we're all over the stage, we're really outgoing guys who want to meet every person. We just got off stage playing with Puddle of Mudd, and we hucked out gear into the trailer and there out shaking hands and meeting people. The greatest thing is that we are on tour with Puddle of Mudd and they are a band we looked up to and we owned their cds before we ever met any of them. Now we work with them everyday and we get to hang out with them and have beers on our days off and stuff like that is kinda cool. Guys that we look up to and take inspiration from, so its pretty neat. It's a pretty fun time for us right now.

I've heard that your stage shows are really thrilling/stimulating and you put a lot of energy out there. What does it feel like night after night to get out there on stage and just play with everything you have for all the fans?

Before every show we always meet up and we're on the side of the stage, like 10-15 minutes before the show ever starts and we're stretching out and giving each other pep talks, it's almost like pre-game warm ups for us. I guess we give a lot of energy, because the window in the music industry is only open for so long you never know how long you're going to get to do this. Everything right now is clicking on all cylinders, it's really exciting we're getting a lot of media and radio help and our album is doing really well and we're getting to tour with a lot of these big bands. I guess we give so much energy because everything is going right. A lot of these big bands are out here and they've been doing it for a long time and it seems like work, but to us work is like going home and digging a ditch at our day jobs. We want to be able to do this for our career, so we just basically come out everyday like its our last day and we come out rocking as hard as we can, and we hope people enjoy it and we can do it for as long as we can.

You are currently touring with Puddle of Mudd, like you said previously, and have shared the stage with some of my favorite bands like Helmet and Drowning pool. What do you take from each touring experience that helps you become a better band?

You always got to figure out what works and what doesn't, there are so many variables in each region, each city, each state. I mean some cities are not all about hard rock, or they are more like moderate rock. You gotta be strategic with your sets and the more we get out and tour with more bands you get to see what works for them, like merch sales or their stage show or sets up. Whether they go out and get big signs or certain lights. I guess it's kinda like robbing ideas but you see what works for other bands and try it out on your own and see it if works. We've gotten a jump start on a lot of bands being able to play with a lot of big bands and learn what got them their sucess. THe more time you spend with them on the road you get to know them better and hear their war stories and it makes you feel goot to hear that you are not the only one struggling to get your name out there and working really hard. Once they reach the top they have people working for them and they don't have to do all the leg work but right now its all us. Thank god right now we have a great manager and a lot of street teamers that do a lot of great work for us and a lot of people back at home that really believe and support in us. We couldn't do without and its really neat that a lot of people believe in our music right now.

I noticed on your myspace that you guys put up blogs about touring, is this something you do to keep yourselfs closer to the fans?

Yeah we actually, like I said, you never know how long the window is open, and we really love meeting people. If anyone that writes us or talks to us on myspace, you are actually talking to us. We're running a fully operational company on the road, we have all our laptops rolling and our wireless cards. So, if you are not driving or in the cockpit you are on myspace talking to the fans. For us, we just love our fans and meeting them and getting them to know them. We have people who actually work for us, one of the girls that we met through touring actually runs our street team and fan page. We like to consider our fans our friends.

If you were in charge of the music industry for a day, what would be the first thing that you would change?

Wow, I don't even know. The music industry has changed so much. I mean I never got to experience playing music in the 80's when they were like giving away record contracts and stuff, and now because of the internet it's almost bittersweet because the internet has become like the best tool of all times for a small band to get their stuff out there but then also its the worst thing to ever happen once you turn that corner to make sure you are making money because so many people are pirating. God, changing the music industry, I don't even know, man thats a really hard question i'm really trying to think about it. I've only experienced what we've been through as a band. I guess I would change us from not having a record deal to getting a record deal, because we really want one and we're working really hard at it.

I'm sure you guys wil get one because you have a lot of talent.

Well, thank you very much. We work really hard and we're really blessed to get our music out there. Having bands like Puddle of Mudd believing in us and taking a chance on us and letting us come out here and play for new people, and people you look up to giving you a shot and more then just your mom, dad and girlfriend back home believing in you. When you get out there and find out that a lot of people out there want the kinda music that we're writing, its exciting, we don't want to stop, we want to get our music out there and travel and meet new people.

The Sound Faction is made up of five girls who are random at best, love to laugh and make others laugh. We try with each interview to ask five of the most random questions that you will ever experience in an interview. Are you ready for that?

Let's go.

If you could be president for a day, what would be the first law you would abolish?

Laws are there for a really good reason. Parents are probably going to hate me for this one, but I would allow smoking in the bar.

If you could be any old school rock god, who would it be and why?

I would want to be Jimi Hendrix, because he was from Seattle and one of the most influential guys on rock today. He pretty much almost broke the mould and kicked off what rock is today. Anybody thats anybody who plays rock music, and they say that Jimi Hendrix was not an influence or didn't directly influence them, I would say they were a liar.

If you were offered a cookie, would you go to the dark side, and if not cookies what would make you go to the dark side?

Oh man, I would say the greatest record deal ever (would make me go to the dark side), which would mean I never had to worry about money again and I got to play music that we got to write whenever and wherever and play for as many people as we wanted all the time. I would pretty much sell my soul for that one.

What female fashion trend absolutely confuses you?

I don't get these spandex, like you are supposed to wear under skirts, but those neopren pants or whatever they are wearing again. They look fine on certain people, but its like when fat dudes wear skinny jeans, it just doesn't make no damn sense. I just don't get why its coming back. It's funny now are kids are wearing what we use to wear as kids in the 80's and now kids are paying like 90 bucks for it. I should have kept all my stuff, I would have made a fortune off it.

Which reality tv show is your guilty pleasure?

I hate reality tv, but there is one reality tv show that I watched one season because of a couple characters. I don't remeber what season but it was big brother because of Evil Dick, and i Just like him because he was a rocker and a pain in the ass. He reminded me of Nikki sixx but older.

Thank you again Nick for taking the time to talk to us here at The Sound Faction, if you want to catch up on your Temperedcase trivia, go check out their myspace here.