Interview

EP : How have things been recently in the Copeland camp? What have you been doing in the new year?
Aaron Marsh : We've been taking a nice little break from tour. I've been doing a bit of producing back at home. I have a little studio setup with a few friends of mine. Jon did some work on his house, bryan got married, and james stays pretty busy with video games. We've also started working on some new Copeland jams.

EP : How did you hook up with these bands for the “Screaming is for Babies” tour? Do you feel like this tour will be a chance to perhaps gain some new fans for people who might not have heard of you and might not have come across the band?
AM : Yeah. Well, that's the idea behind touring, to get the music out there. We're excited. This will definitely be a new audience for us.

EP : What is your favorite song to play live?
AM : Right now, "She Changes Your Mind". We hadn't played the song too much since we recorded it a few years ago. We just pulled it out and dusted it off and it feels real nice.

EP : On the other side of the coin, is there a Copeland song that will never be played live? Why?
AM : "Walking Downtown". I wrote the song when I was 18... I'm 25 now.

EP : The newest disc In Motion has a lot more of an organic feel to it. The songs seem to be much more stripped down and you explored new instruments and sounds. Was this inspired by anything or was it just all of you evolving as musicians?
AM : I think we're always learning stuff about what makes records sound really good. One thing that people try to do is put way too much stuff in a song. It's all about picking the best parts and getting rid of the stuff that keeps the great parts from being heard.

EP : Did the fans react well to the sound of “In Motion,” particularly a song like, “Kite?”
AM : Some did. Others didn't. That's pretty natural. "Kite" definitely got the most divided reaction.

EP : What will the direction of your next album be? Will it be as drastic of a change as from “Beneath the Medicine Tree” to “In Motion?”
AM : I'm not sure. We're still have a lot of writing to do... Right now I feel like it will be extremely different... but things don't always happen the way I think they will. I have more fun just letting a record develop as we record it. I'm not much of a planner. I'm much more interested in experimenting or being inspired in a moment and just tracking whatever comes to us.

EP : You play festivals like Cornerstone and Alive, which are Christian festivals and you get a lot of airplay on TVU, which might lead some listeners to believe you are a Christian band. How would you respond to that? And what is the band’s stance on this particular topic?
AM : We have no agenda in our band other than art. I'm a bit torn on the issue because the if the venue does have an agenda other than art, it seems like there should be a problem. But the thing that I always go back to, is the fact that these venues put us in front of kids. A way to share our art. We don't want to play where we are expected to share the agenda of the venue.

EP : What is the plan for 2006? Will you be writing, perhaps releasing a new album any time in the near future?
AM : Writing, touring, recording.

EP : A lot of people responded positively to the EP you guys put out of cover songs. Is there any chance you might put another one of those out? Or maybe cover a couple different ones live?
AM : Ya never know. Right now, we don't have any plans to do another covers record... but that was a lot of fun.

EP : Where do you see Copeland in the next five years?
AM : on the bottom of the hudson river wearing concrete shoes... or maybe building a giant treehouse.

EP : What are the four of you currently listening to?
AM : Aaron - The Dark Romantics, Fiona Apple, The Cardigans, Saint Etienne, Blur, Elbow, Feist, Aphex Twin.
Bryan - Elbow, Regina Spektor, The Cardigans, Paul McCartney, Kings Of Convenience, Death Cab.
James - Anathallo, Queen, HIM, cat power.
Jonathan - Feist, The Perishers, Kings Of Convenience, Magnet.

EP : Is there anything else you would like to say to the EmotionalPunk readers?
AM : Happy birthday.

Thanks to Paul Maziar and Andrew Martin for hooking this up. And of course Aaron Marsh for taking time out of his busy schedule.