Interview — Digression

Skratch Magazine

Digression is a rock blues band with a tinge of funk out of Powder Springs, Georgia. Inspired by classic rockers like Led Zeppelin and Van Halen, Michael "Vito" Rebuelta (vocals), Dan Cotney (guitar), Ryan Hornback (bass) and Erik Aylesworth (drums), have been making music together since Dec. '08. They spoke to Skratch Magazine about how they got involved in music and a guitar pick from Eddie Van Halen himself that changed Vito’s life.

Skratch: Describe your sound:

Erik: Classic Rock, Blues, Funk and Prog.
Ryan: The kind of music that makes you wanna move.
Vito: Classic Rock 'n Roll, Funk, Blues and sick!-(opera voice)
Dan: We have a very bluesy sound, but can also push it to the next extreme with a lot of Progressive and true Classic Rock styles.

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?

Vito: I was three years old, went to my first Van Halen concert and, while on the shoulders of my pop, was handed a pick by Eddie himself in the middle of Eruption. Changed my fucking life.
Erik: When I was just a young lad, mother let me beat on pots and pans. A friend of the family bought me a set of drums when I was eight.
Dan: I was always interested in music, but I would say I really became interested when I was Introduced to the greatest band of all time; Led Zeppelin.
Ryan: In my family music is a part of everyday life. I grew up seeing everybody around me playing all kinds of music, so it's always been a part of me.

Skratch: What is your song writing process like?

Vito: Music to lyrics and feel that shit.
Erik: We Jam and whatever sounds cool we fucking play it and write lyrics to it.
Ryan: I get the basic concept down then feel the rest.
Dan: My song writing process is very emotional, I don't like anyone around me at all. I just pick up my acoustic guitar and whatever my body is feeling is what comes out and becomes future songs.

Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?

Vito: Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Rush and other good ass musicians.
Erik: John Henry "bonzo" Bonham, Neil Peart, Mike Portney, Gavin Harrison, and any cool funky drummers.
Dan: Well, the two bands that have really kept me going is Led Zeppelin and Rush (that's right, the Canadian trio), Jimmy Page has definitely inspired my guitar playing as far as feel, emotion and making things flow. And Alex Lifeson has influenced my originality and how to just make shit work.
Ryan: Cliff Burton influenced me the most when I started, but I can find something to take from most music I hear now.

Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.

Vito: Life, the good and the bad, I feed off both.
Dan: I take musical inspiration everywhere I'm at and everyone I meet, because there is always some type of music going on. If I hear the worst ever it's going to inspire me to be better.
Ryan: Environment is very important. Sometimes I get this heavy dark vibe and the music just wont stop coming out. The rest of the guys are probably the biggest musical inspiration I have, I think we all really build off each other.
Erik: Music inspires me, it's from the heart.

Skratch: What is your musical background?

Erik: Eight or nine years of drums
Vito: Picked up a guitar, started playin' as much as I could, found out I could sing, joined chorus and the rest just happened.
Dan: I started off playing drums, but since no one would play the style I wanted to I started playing guitar.
Ryan: I grew up on Classical from my mom and Jazz from my dad, then went to Oldies, Folk, Punk Rock, then Metal, Prog and everything in between.

Skratch: Tell us about how you got started as a band.

Dan: Erik and I jammed for a while then we recruited Ryan and Vito.
Erik: Me and Dan have been jammin' since like ninth grade. We put up an ad on Craigs List and found Ryan that same day. Then recruited my buddy Vito.
Vito: Heard about the band through Erik and went to a practice, sounded kick ass so just stuck with it.
Ryan: Luck, chance, probability...however you want to view it, but ambition and passion is what holds us together.

Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?

Erik: Playing live, writing funky shit.
Dan: Seeing your music have an impact on people.
Ryan: The rush of playing shows and seeing the crowd having a good time.
Vito: That fucking amazing feeling right after you finish a song live and the crowd's just goin' crazy screaming for more. It's one of the best feelings in the world.

Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians?

Vito: Mixed emotions and conflicts every once in a while, because everybody cares so much about the music and just wants it to be fucking awesome.
Dan: My biggest challenge was finding a full band and keeping it together.
Ryan: Finding the right band with the right motivation.
Erik: Same.

Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?

Dan: They are all our best songs in my eyes, but my personal favorite is Memories because of the connection and power everyone has in it.
Vito: One of my favorites is Just a Groovin' cause it's just blunt and to the point about livin' life, taking the good, leaving the bad and just goin' with the flow.
Ryan: Commandeer, it's just so beautiful and powerful all at once.
Erik: Just a Groovin' because it's so badass, everyone loves it.

Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever brought? What was it?

Vito: If I remember right, it was either Mariah Carey's X-mas CD or Spice Girls. Both are pretty bad.
Dan: Disco Years - Vol. 1
Erik: I think my Pops got me an Aerosmith album
Ryan: Diana Ross - Greatest Hits

Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?

Erik: On the road.
Ryan: I don't want to jinx us.
Vito: On the road touring where ever and fuckin' rockin' out as hard as we can.
Dan: I see us as successful, but most importantly happy and still writing beautiful and strong music.

Skratch: Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.

Erik: Long term. We wanna get signed be a major label and have millions of fans.

Ryan: Long term, definitely long term. I think we can help to bring back that feel good Rock 'n Roll you don't see much of today.
Dan: We are definitely a long term band and we hope to make it to the top.
Vito: Bring back the good old years when rock and roll ruled the world. When bands weren't afraid to take any risks, but most importantly send the world a message through the music and just fuckin' enjoy the years to come. We will change the world.

Skratch: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?

Ryan: We've definitely gotten a lot deeper and darker, but we'll always have light, feel good songs as well.
Dan: We have become more comfortable with each other in what we do in the music. The connection is amazing.
Erik: We've learned lots of new things man.
Vito: Fuckin' extremely! We thought we were great back then, but I look at ourselves today and I'm so amazed. It gets better day by day.

Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?

Dan: We practice about four times a week. We jam.
Vito: Fairly productive.
Ryan: Lots of "you're momma" jokes.
Erik: I try to practice every day. As a band, four times a week. Our rehearsals are pretty fucked up.

Skratch: What would you say is your band's motto? Explain.

Dan: "THEY PUT CHOCOLATE MILK IN MY TATER TOTS!"
Ryan: Whateva.
Vito: Go big or go home, never half ass anything, put all you got into everything you do.
Erik: Groove it.

Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.

Dan: Well, we have to get back in the studio to finish up 4:23 so it can be released.
Ryan: We just signed with A.P.Records and they'll be putting us in the studio for the singles first, then sending us down to Florida and other surrounding states on small tours to promote for our yet to be released debut album "4:23".
Vito: Um, yeah.
Erik: That's pretty much it.

Skratch: Where have you preformed? Tell us about the experience.

Erik: The Masq., The Local, Insomnia, Uptown Loft...we got free food at The Local :)
Vito: Local venues, bars and yeah. A while back we played Sweet Water North Festival.
Ryan: The Masquerade would have to be my favorite. Same night as Devil Wear's Prada so that was pretty cool. The sound system was sick!
Dan: Man, we've played a good bit around Marietta and Atlanta. Too many to count.

Skratch: What sets your stage show a part from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?

Vito: I don't know, we just go out there and get the crowd into it and just rock out.
Ryan: Most of the bands we've played with have been metal bands, so it's safe to say we stand out.
Dan: We have a very clean and classy stage set up and we have Mr. Potato Head, he set's us apart.
Erik: We have a lot of energy live. We're secretly magicians.

Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?

Vito: Just Listen, we're gonna do lots of work and change the music scene forever. I'm not tryin to be cocky, but just let the music speak for it's self.
Dan: We love anyone and everyone, so why not check out our music.
Erik: Vito is Mexican, Irish, Pourtorican, Black, Italian and Cuban and Ryan plays World of Warcraft religiously.
Ryan: Shut up Ewik! This band stands for living life the way you see fit, going away from what everyone else is doing and just being you're own person. That's why we're Digression.
For more on everything from music to merch visit www.myspace.com/digression32

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