Interview — Courage of a Pawn

Skratch Magazine

Besides the fact that they are a progressive meat post-hardcore band, there is juts one othe thing you should know about Courage of a Pawn. “No one , NO ONE is allowed to touch Ivy - Doug (Muller)’s guitar- after her daily rub-down.” It a rule Mark Schumann (drums), Neal Schumann (vocals), Thomas Standing (guitar) and Jim Wickstead (bass) know and respect. Check out what these Austin, TX natives had to say to Skratch Magazine about their music- and rituals.

Skratch: Describe your sound:
COP: melodic nature varying from driving riffs to mellow ballads.

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?
COP: Music has always been a heavy influence in all of our daily lifestyles.

Skratch: What is your song writing process like?
COP: The majority of our songwriting originates from the root of one riff puzzled together with other riffs and ideas we can collaborate on.

Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?
COP: Poison the well, deftones, tool, hopesfall, born of osiris, job for a cowboy, chimair, etc.

Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.
COP: We take our musical inspirations from our daily lifestyles. We are affected by what we experience, then route it into musical creation.

Skratch: What is your musical background?
COP: It varies anywhere from formal training; music theory courses, being self-taught, and listening and appreciating music.
Skratch: Tell us about how you got started as a band. Neal, Mark, and Doug have played together in various bands during and after high school, later taking a momentary break before reforming and recruiting members Tom, and Jim.

Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?
COP: The satisfaction of being able to express our thoughts and words, and seeing the effect it can have on others; starting with something so minuscule and nurturing it into something significant enough to present to others.

Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians?
COP: Getting the highest round on nazi zombies. It tends to cut into rehearsals.

Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?
COP:The Beef. One of our newer songs; currently not recorded. It's a driving song from start to finish, and we always get the largest response from crowds when we play it.

Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever bought? What was it?
COP: The death of our brain cells prevents us from remembering this; lest we date ourselves.

Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?
COP: Hopefully not in jail. Playing as musicians for a living and enjoying it.

Skratch; Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.
COP: Our goals as a band are long-term. We all hope to be able to not have a typical 9-5 job to cover our finances. And to basically do what we love day in and day out.

Skratch: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?
COP: From more of a progressive rock style to post-hardcore.

Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?
COP: At least three times a week; varying between an hour to two hours. Sometimes longer if we're on to something when working out new material.

Skratch: What would you say is your band’s motto? Explain.
COP: Beer me. Enough said.

Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.
COP: We're planning on recording a seven-track EP within the next year, playing as many shows as humanly possible. We play in Austin regularly, making occasional visits to San Antonio and Houston, and aspire to venture further out.

Skratch: Where have your performed? Tell us about the experience.
COP: Crazy Frogs in Houston, Red Eyed Fly, Red Seven, Headhunters-all in Austin many times, Bond's 007 in San Antonio. We just go out and enjoy ourselves, and have as much fun as we can.

Skratch: What sets your stage show apart from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?
COP:Based off of what we've done, we've not met anybody else we've played with that quite has our sound, generating a contrasting style of stage presence and reaction from the crowd.

Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?
COP: Mark is suspect to being an alcoholic, however the jury is still out, Jim is banned from wearing his cowboy boots on-stage, Tom throws up before and after every show and Neal was the only one crazy enough to get married, negotiations are still being made for joint-custody.

For more on Courage of a Pawn visit myspace.com/courageofapawn.

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