FEATURED INTERVIEWS                          

Cinder Road

It's a long way to the top if you want to Rock N' Roll but Cinder Road does not mind, they're on the right path to get there.
By: Gian Erguiza - - January 28th, 2008 - 10:04 am PST



Cinder Road is on a tear. They have toured and shared stages with some great bands such as Puddle of Mudd, Candlebox, Daughtry and they're showing no signs of slowing down. We got to talk to the enigmatic and passionate frontman of Cinder Road, Mike, about the band and their fans.

Gentlemen, can you guys please give our readers a quick history lesson about Cinder Road and where it all began and how it shaped up to become the band that it is now?

Chris, Mac and myself all grew up in Timonium, MD and went to the same middle school called Ridgely Middle. This is where we put the band together and started cutting our teeth. At the time the band was called "Plunge" and there were a number of different members involved but the core remained the three of us. We started by playing locally and then moved further and further out of town, playing more and more shows and eventually built a name for ourselves. In 2004 we signed with Union Entertainment Group (Nickelback’s management company) and began showcasing for all of the major labels. EMI stepped up and we recorded SuperHuman. Just around the time the record was to be released, we had to change the name of the band because we did not own the trademark. So we looked back to our Baltimore roots and settle on "Cinder Road," the street where the band began and where Chris and I grew up.

"Superhuman" is doing extremely well in the charts and there is no doubt in my mind as to why it's doing so well, it's pretty obvious. Did you guys have your work cut out for you and how much work went into making this album?

Anytime you are writing and recording an album it’s work, but for us this was a special task. I really wanted to create an "album," not just a record with one catchy song. I wanted something you could listen to from front to back and I think we did that. In the process, we wrote well over 100 songs to get the 11 we released on the album. It really came down to self criticism. In the end, I believe we chose the right group of songs.

Now you guys are rightfully getting a lot of love from radio stations all over the U.S., which is totally cool. Are you guys at all surprised at how well the album is doing and what do you guys hope to accomplish with "Superhuman?"

All of us are very happy the album is getting radio airplay. To say that we expected it would be a bit pompous but we certainly felt we had strong material and really hoped radio would support it. Our goal is to hopefully sell quite a few copies of the album and build the fan foundation to be able to tour and make music for years to come.

You guys' video for "Get in Get out" is just oozing with cool. Who came up with the concept and the idea for the video and where did you guys learn or get those sweet rock moves from?

The video concept came from the Director, Kevin Estrada and the Producer, Paul Bock. The song itself had a certain vibe and we wanted to follow that in the video. Take the band and throw in a chick with a lot of attitude and see what happens. As far as the moves... I guess all those years of jamming in the mirror with a tennis racket finally paid off!

You guys have been out on the road quite a few times now with some big name bands and you guys don't seem to be slowing down for anything. How has the road been treating you guys and what is you guys' form of amusement when traveling? Any weird, out of the blue crazy memorable stories you guys would like to share?

We love to tour. It’s pretty simple, you are either built for life on the road or you are not. Fortunately everyone in our group loves to be out on the road. Anytime you throw a group of friends on a bus and line up a ton of big shows to play, it’s gonna be fun.

Our goal is to hopefully sell quite a few copies of the album and build the fan foundation to be able to tour and make music for years to come.

As far as crazy stories, there are a bunch, but most of them I can't tell... Although I do have to say, being on the road and opening for bands like Candlebox, Puddle of Mudd and Daughtry has been awesome. Not only have we gotten some great touring experience but the bands have become our close friends. Shit, we used to cover Candlebox and Puddle songs and now we are drinking beer together!

Speaking of the road, how excited are you guys to be part of the Armed Forces Entertainment Tour and then heading off with Tesla, who in part is probably one of the most talented and best bands to ever make music?

Armed Forces Entertainment is a great organization to be a part of. Not only do we get to give back a little bit to the troops, we also get to see the world. The Tesla tour is going to be awesome. Not only are we fans of Tesla, we get to share the stage with them every night for 5 weeks. I think this is definitely going to be one of the highlights of our touring experience.

Alright let's get down to real talk here….Which one of you guys is the MySpace whore that answers all of the fan messages and who is the party animal in the band and what is his poison? Just in case I run into you guys soon and feel like buying a few rounds……

As far as the MySpace is concerned, Chris writes back to all of the comments and Nat and I answer all of the emails. It’s a multi-member task! The party animal award will definitely go to Chris and his poison is alcohol. In other words he drinks just about anything.

Digital downloading is now in full swing and album sales are dropping like flies. What are you guys' thoughts on the current war between digital downloading vs. physical purchase?

Downloading is great as long as you pay for it. The days of record labels making millions of dollars off of little Johnny’s allowance are over. The reality is that this is a business and in order for bands to keep making music, we need people to buy the album. Now, if you can’t afford to buy the record, we can make you a deal... If you like our music and don’t have any money, go ahead and download it because we want everyone to have the music. Then, next time we are in your town, come out to the show. That’s a whole other way of supporting bands. The bottom line is that bands need support from the people, whether it’s the purchase of an album, coming to a concert or buying a tee-shirt.

The music industry is really shaping up to be something different these days and proof is Trent Reznor releasing Saul Williams album to be priced by their fans or free download as well as the pioneer of this whole phenomenon, Radiohead, releasing their album to be priced by their fans. How do you guys feel about this and what are your thoughts on this subject?

When you have already sold 50 million albums you can afford to let the fans pick their own price. We are not millionaires. Shit, we are not anything-aires. These bands are doing something cool to get their music to their fans but we simply cannot do that. We still have to build more of a base before we can start giving away the farm.

Cinder road loves:

TOURING and the fans.

This one's for your fans. How much do you guys owe to your fans and how do you guys deal with nasty messages or negative comments or messages, in other words, do you guys take it personally?

We owe the world to our fans because without them we cannot continue to make music for a living. As far as the nasty messages, we do our best to let things roll off but from time to time things get to you. We are only human.

Now I read on your myspace that you guys want to bring back the fun in Rock with the full blown lights, huge stage, pyro, the whole nine. I completely agree! Especially about the depressed kid in a dirty shirt, that's right on the money. What are you guys proposing to do about it and is this something that we can expect from your live shows, sometime in the near future?

Our show right now is about energy and fun. If you are down with that, you will have a good time at our concerts. As far as the pyro and the huge stage, those are in the works we just can’t quite afford them yet...

Sex, Drugs or Rock N' Roll? Pick one.

Rock & Roll all the way!

Aside from tearing it up on the road, what else can we expect from Cinder Road in 2008?

We are all hoping that CR becomes a household name in the next year or so, fingers crossed...

Any additional comments?

Please check out our website www.CinderRoadMusic.com or myspace.com/CinderRoad

Thank you for the interview!

Thanks Mike!



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