interview: Solarcade

this Las Vegas based band is composed of Paul Van (vox) and Tony Pomilla (guitars)

they have 2 full albums and a new EP coming out on Feb 24th.

influences range from Johnny Cash to Muse to U2, their latest single (RISE) would strike any Keane fan's fancy.

they aren't exactly my cup of tea, but Tony assured me they have a rockin' live show.

for fans of U2, Depeche Mode

Solarcade- How Do You Remember [mp3]

visit them on MYSPACE

if you like what you hear, read an exclusive interview with him below.

When did the band form?
I met my singer Paul way back in 2001 and we starting playing and writing and released a demo EP in 2003

Where? We met in Los Angeles. I moved there from Houston and Paul is from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Were you guys friends before? We had never met before. Paul came down to see me and hear some stuff I was doing with a bassist and drummer and we hit it off from there.

Are you friends now? It’s kinda like I look up to him like a big brother and the guy that plays drums with us I look at him like a little brother. The drummer Adam Holt and I used to play in our first band and our recent new bassist Adam Chamberlain is a dear friend from England. We just talk about Little Britain all day. It feels pretty brotherly...

I know some bands despise each other. Wasn't it Noel Gallagher who said that his marriage to Liam was a disaster but they stick it out for the "kids" (the band)? I am probably one of the few musicians that loves and respects when Liam talks crap on other bands. Most of the time it needs to be said. I was a bit offended when he didn’t like one of my favorite bands but he is entitled to his opinion.

Do you guys hang out when you're not making music? Oh Yeah. We get along great. We have been doing this for years so some girlfriends have come and gone, the good ones stayed and we have actually like hanging out and having a good time together. We all love just talking about movies and trying to predict the new Tarantino dialogue of Inglorious Basterds thats coming out

At what moment did music become an all-defining aspect of your life?
Pretty much as a kid watching Mtv when it was ACTUALLY music. As a young kid I got turned on to the whole Seattle scene and I just knew I couldn’t be more interested in anything else.

What inspired you to go from a listener to a creator? I guess just playing guitar until I was satisfied in learning how to play along with albums and that exposed me into creating my own compositions. It is a very fun time when I can show my singer things I have written and he really hears a melody to put to it. That is why we do it. It’s why your favorite band [insert here] was doing it too!

Top lyric of all time?
“I'll swallow poison, until I grow immune/I will scream my lungs out till it fills this room” -Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam's "Indifference"
The guy just writes masterful and illustrative words that seem like a cinematic scene in a Martin Scorsese film.

Your band has a very varied sound, dabbling in many different genres. Is this deliberate? I think our 3 releases each as a full piece have specific sounds. Your sound can drastically change when you work with different producers and we are ok with that. Some bands stick to one genre because they may only know how to write or sing in a particular fashion and some like to forge into new musical territory. Wow, there was this one indie band that did that and it worked for them, I think they were called....The Beatles

If you could describe Solarcade in one word, what would it be?
Enduring

What was the first rock concert you ever went to? Metallica
The best? Depeche Mode
The worst? Aerosmith

Would you rather make good music and not be heard by many people or make really shitty music and sell millions of records?
Solarcade would rather be an indie band and make music that is deemed great by their fans than sell millions of records because some producer "glossed it over into bubblegum pre-fabricated pop icon" bullshit.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?</span> Recently by force and not choice fans giving me Grey Goose shots but my only ritual is making sure my guitars are in tune...

Do drugs or alcohol help with the song writing? No pretty much we don’t touch the stuff. It may help with some other artist but that rule never applies to all
What about when performing? For me 2 shots can make you a little more loosey goosey but either way it’s a fun time!

What is your stance on groupies? Never had groupies but we have some hardcore Solarcade fans.

What is your favourite song? I run a lot and marathon train so I love heavy stuff but there are some gut wrenching love ballads that can be just as potent. Me personally, songs that make me pick up the pace are "You Can Do Better Than Me"-Death Cab For Cutie, "I Feel You"-Depeche Mode, "Moneymaker"-Rilo Kiley

Which song of Solarcade's do you think is the best. Not necessarily the one that's gotten the best reception, but, from a musician's standpoint, the one truest to the band. My singer and I both really think that our 2nd single follow up "Oceans to Oceans" sums up the band nicely. It as a cool message and interpretation which is to me Eddie Vedder like.

Who writes the songs? Paul and I work out chords and melodies and then work out riffs over those chords and then drop the chords. I rarely strum guitar and I play in 3 different tunings. I hate standard E tuning. So predictable and boring.

Do you guys collaborate or perhaps each write songs separately? Paul lives in Las Vegas and we wrote the whole album thru Mp3s and emails until we would then get together to flesh out the song. Another band I really like called The Kills did the same thing when they were living in New York and London. I can practice and write my parts instead of the pressure of my bandmates waiting....

What has been the best combined effort between you and Paul? Making Solarcade a reality and successful band. When you are standing in a circle of friends Brandon Flowers and Martin Gore and between them 90 million records have been sold and they compliment you on your live show and songwriting you know you are doing something meaningful in your life.

People say the music industry is dying. What are you doing to keep it alive? It is not dying. I know because I’m in it. It is evolving. Darwinism at its best!!! You must learn to adapt to the new technologies and adjust or watch the parade go by. You can be a performer or a spectator. Either way there are people lined up to do both.....