District of Sound.com Q&A for The List

Is your name "The List" in reference to the band's origins on Craig's List?

Steve Wright: Yes it is…When I decided to start The List last December I had no clue what I was doing. I had no band experience and I had just started singing and songwriting. It made sense to find people who knew what they were doing and could help teach me. Craigslist turned out to be the best way to find what I was looking for. I got extremely lucky finding the people I did…we all have something different to bring to the band, and we’ve all become really close friends over the past few months.

When is your new album due out? What are some of the band's goals in releasing this collection?

Steve Wright:  Our album is due out by the end of the year.  We will be going up to finish recording at the end of August.

Our goal with this album is to sort of to establish our sound and make a record people can relate to.  There’s something comforting about turning on the radio listening to a song that portrays a life event that you have experienced or you are going through…it sorta makes the listener feel less alone in the world and it helps us connect to our audience on a different level.  I’ve had songs help me through tough times, and if we can do that for someone, than I think that’s the most rewarding thing we can do as musicians.

Your Web site, www.wearethelist.com makes great use of social media tools, including fan videos, blog postings, and a twitter feed. How do you think these tools have changed or will change the way music is consumed and experienced?

Steve Mead:   Mainly decentralization and control of music.  Essentially all music is free once it has been released, no longer completely controlled by a single source (i.e., Label).  You can record it directly from streaming audio, XM, internet, etc… and there is no loss of quality, and it’s as good as the originals.  Additionally, many people remix, change up, sample, and rework your music, again making it available to others.  So, in order for us to survive as musicians, we need to leverage as much current technology as possible to keep people interested in us as musicians as well as our music. The social networking sites give others a chance to connect with us, to see what we are like, and to have a chance to also be musicians through interacting with “The List” on many different levels… and who doesn’t want to be a rock star…heh.

Your song "In Time" did really well in the MTV Music Awards, Break Out Artist online competition - what do you think you've gained from participating in these types of platforms?

It is nice to know that others appreciate our music and that it appeals to people who are actively searching out music to listen to and review.  It is also great to have a platform online that exposes people to a constant stream of new music from artists they have never heard of before.

After reading the brief bios of each band member I think it's pretty accurate to say that you each bring a very diverse set of skills and experiences to the table—if you weren't in the band, what do you think you each would be doing?

Steve Wright:   I think it’s safe to say that everyone would still be working with music if they weren’t in The List. After seeing their level of dedication to music and how much my band members love what they do, I really can’t see them doing anything else.  My drummer did say, however, that if The List was not around he would be in Fiji working on a career in surfing…

Me personally…I would probably be on Craigslist still looking for a band.

To learn more about The List visit: www.wearethelist.com.