by Jason

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First, introduce yourselves to our readers.  Who plays what instrument and what roles do you play in the band?  How did the band form and where are you from?

Hi! my name is Kimberly Carafano, and I play piano and sing, as well as write most of the vocal melodies.  I’m Davy Arnold and I play drums, control the website, and rub Kimmie’s neck.  I’m Vincent Carafano, and I play guitar, and write almost all the music, and all the lyrics.  I’m also the pushy one about practicing and shows.  All of us are from El Paso, Tx.,  though Davy grew up in Northern California.

V-Avendesora formed in 2001 when Kimmie and I wanted to try playing music together.  I’d always been awed by her voice, and was wanting to try something new after just quitting a hardcore band I’d been in for 3 years. Softer, more intimate music was my goal, and I knew that Kimmie’s voice and  sense of melody would be an outstanding contribution to my  new project.  I originally played drums, and we had another guitar player, Phillip Tubbs, who has now gone on to be on Velvet Blue and Plastiq music comps.  After Phillip left, I moved to guitar, and we  shortly thereafter recruited Davy  to play drums.

K-When Vincent asked me to play with him during those long, boring days sitting around in Connecticut, I was quick to say yes. I’d never really been in a band before, so Jimmy had to push me quite a lot to practice, but I’m grateful that he did. I’d always wanted to sing in a band, so this opportunity was like a dream come true for me. Still, three years after being in this band, when I’m singing at a show and someone in the crowd is singing along with me, or compliments me, it’s like the dream is fulfilled all over again.

Tell us about the name of your band.

V-Avendesora is taken from Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” series, which he better freakin finish before he dies!  It means the Tree of Life.  I originally wanted to save the name for a Black Metal band I was hoping to start, but God had different plans.

How did you get started in music?  Who do you consider to be your greatest influences?

V-I got started in music by my Dad giving me a couple lessons on guitar. I learned a couple chords, which I have now almost completely forgotten. In all honesty, I am a completely unschooled musician.  I only learned the string names about a year and a half ago, and now have about 5 chords in my repertoire.  My biggest influences musically speaking would have to be some old stuff, Petra, Keith Green, classics like that.  Heavy melody with real meaningful lyrics.

K-I started taking piano lessons when I was six years old. My grandma gave us an old piano and I would sit there and bang around on it and imagine myself playing extremely hard pieces. Finally my mom suggested lessons, which I took for eleven years. I’d never made up any of the music I played, so doing that in Avendesora is a big challenge to me. The stuff I do in our songs isn’t the level that I hope to eventually achieve, but I’m working on it.

I started singing with a band at my church and a performing arts group when I was about 10. Since then, I’ve sung in many performances all over the world. I love to sing, so anytime I’m faced with the opportunity, I jump at it.

You have very mature lyrics for such a young band.  Tell us about the making of your demo.  I am particularly interested in what inspired “Some People are Born In Tragedy.”

V-I try not to sugarcoat the lyrics that I write, so oftentimes they are graphic.  Some People are Born with Tragedy in Their Blood, is specifically written about a close friend who was suicidal, and was almost successful.  As for the rest of the lyrics, they often deal with issues that I am struggling with, or sometimes just that of someone around me.  All of them are based on circumstances however.  I’ve yet to write a fictional song.

What do you see coming in the band’s future?  Are you planning to sign with a label?  Do you plan on producing a full length of some sort?

V- The full length is in the works soon, so that should be around in the near future.  As far as signing, we are currently discussing where our future lies in that area.  We’d all really like too, but we want what God wants most of all, so we are still waiting.

You toured the west this summer, right?  What was the tour like?  Do you have any good tour stories?

V- Our tour this summer was amazing, but not in the traditional way a tour would be.  We had a lot of trouble with shows falling through, and our van having problems, but through all that, we were just so blessed.  God really took care of us, and we made some incredible friends.  I will never tour for 6 weeks again though!  That was simply too long!

K- Tour in CA and OR was a lot of fun. Like Vincent said, 6 weeks was a little difficult, but it had its highlights as well. One of my favorite stories about tour was in Anaheim, CA. We were scheduled to play at a vintage clothing store/coffee shop called The Attic, which is directly next door to a huge club. When we got there, there were hundreds of people waiting outside to see Eve 6 and Jonah’s Onelinedrawing next door, and no one at The Attic. When we found out that no one had promoted our show, the other band, The KiloWattHours, and ourselves decided to make flyers for our  show and wait to play until next door was finished. So finally around midnight, they finished and some kids from next door lingered into The Attic for a free show. We started our set but only about 10 people came in, while the rest sat outside in a huge group. We couldn’t figure out why until this guy with a guitar comes in and walks right up to my brother. “I hope you don’t think I’m being pretentious or rude,” he said, “but my name is Jonah and I’m from Jonah’s Onelinedrawing. I’m playing some acoustic songs outside, but it’s hard to hear with you all playing. You sound really good, and some of the people are even commenting that they like you guys, so let me propose a trade. I’ll come in and play two acoustic songs and bring in all the kids, and then you can resume your set.” So he did just that, except on the third song, he asked us to back him up and play our instruments while he just sang. It ended up being a lot of fun, and most of the people stayed afterward. Jonah was a really nice guy too, which made it even more enjoyable.

What are you listening to right now?

V-  I’ve been listening to a lot of this band I just heard of recently named The Stars.  Also, Bright Eyes, Keith Green’s greatest hits, Jawbreaker, The Locust, the new Shins, Mogwai, Belle and Sebastian, Tom Waits, Modest Mouse, and Speakerboxxx from Andre.

I have heard great things about your live show.  Can you describe the difference between what I am hearing on your demo and what you think you generate live?

V-Well, the cd is really poor quality compared to our live show, mainly because Kimmie was really sick that day and was throwing up.  I think live, we have a lot more of an intimate presence and connection with the audience, which is a really important aspect for me.  We have had people cry when Kimmie started singing.  While being sad, it is also very honoring to us to know that our music has been able to touch someone in that way.

Do you find it hard to be an independent artist?  How do you see yourself fitting into the independent scene?

V- I think we have a niche at least in our hometown because the diversity of music here really gives people a more broad and accepting viewpoint about other styles.  I’ve yet to find a band that sounds like us, so in that respect, I think that we can have a place in the national indie scene, if that’s what God wants to do with our music.  I would love to get picked up by a label though!  Just the money for recording would be such a huge blessing.

Any other comments such as contact information, etc?

V- We just want to give all the glory for everything to God!  He is such a fundamental part of our music that it would be unfair to not give Him that credit.  Other than that, please visit us at our website!  we have a forum on there to sign, and should have our merch section up soon as well as news about the full length.  Our home address is on the website in case you want to write us snail mail!  Thanks for reading!

www.avendesoramusic.com