RSS
Leaving the rolling hills of the great state of Kentucky (C’mon, you knew it was too good to last up there…) we find ourselves headed for Dallas Tx., the home of cowboys, trucks and some great rock in the form of Kessler. This quintet of Mike, Steven, Jonathan, Chris and Devin, have all been full time musicians for over two years now.
Jonathan and Stephen grew up together in Roswell NM, played in bands in high school, chased a few aliens, and then drifted apart. They met up again in Dallas helping out in a youth group worship team at church. Soon, a singer was acquired (Mike) and then Chris (Mike’s Brother, for those of you keeping score on the whole sibling thing), who’d never touched a bass guitar in his life and decided that he’d give it a shot. Devin was added a bit later and rounds out the group.
Combine that lineup with being signed to YMA records with Jim Wirt (The Rocket Summer, Jacks Mannequin, Hoobastank, Incubus…) producing and you get the whole Kessler experience. Their label debut, I Know Your Voice is in stores on July 8th.
I had a chance to catch up with Jonathan and it went something like this…
ST.NET: Who’s checking in with StereoTruth. net?
Jonathan: Yep this is Jonathan Ogle, drummer of Kessler…
ST.NET: Describe the Kessler sound.
Jonathan: Today we are outside of Phoenix Arizona setting up for our show tonight… it’s really hot… too hot for riding our scooters.
ST.NET: So, how is the Christian Music scene in Dallas?
Jonathan: Incredible… we are home to The Door, which any touring Christian band knows of… we love playing there and do all of our big home shows there… Plus we have a lot of friends in bands that we play with in Dallas that makes for a “family reunion” kind of feel when we get to go home and play.
ST.NET: What’s your favorite thing about playing music?
Jonathan: That question is like asking ‘what do you like about having fun?’… everything would be the answer… haha. We feel very passionate about leaving a mark on people. It’s cool that music got to be the tool for us to do that.
ST.NET: Does anyone in the band get to play music for a living, or do you you all have day jobs as well?
Jonathan: Everyone now plays music for a living; going on almost two years…
ST.NET: And your worst day job was:
Jonathan: Devin used to work at a vet’s office, which could be fun for animal lovers but the things he had to do to cure a dog from rubbing their butts on the carpet… their anal glands get full and it causes them to itch… (no joke!) EDITORS NOTE: I have mercifully deleted the text relating to Devin’s poor job of treating dogs that needed their anal glands… serviced. Trust me, you don’t want to know. If you really do want to know, Google is your friend.
ST.NET: What one artist had the biggest impact on you?
Jonathan: Collectively Jimmy Eat World, more recently The Almost album really made us think, I love the way he uses his lyrics to make a point but still is very light hearted and relevant.
ST.NET: What are you listening to these days?
Jonathan: Children 18:3 who we just got off tour with, FTSK from Dallas’s debut album is great, The new Rocket Summer, the Bidwell EP is great check them out on myspace for sure… Relient K, the new Jimmy Eat World… This American Life podcast haha i love it…
ST.NET: If you could go to any other artist’s show, Christian or mainstream, who would it be and why?
Jonathan: Elvis, U2, Johnny Cash or Nirvana… all of these made a huge mark on music as we know it and it would be cool to be a part of that.
ST.NET: What’s the best thing about being an independent artist?
Jonathan: Our label is indie but really cool, we feel like we are their priority and that is a great asset to have; knowing that they aren’t putting all their time into another band and making you feel like the stepchild.
ST.NET: What’s the worst thing about it?
Jonathan: Not having the connections that major labels have can be tough, but we don’t mind making ourselves known by our personalities and just being the funnest, and most competitive guys in the world.
ST.NET: Are you guys happy with being indie or are you looking for that big break and a contract with a label?
Jonathan: Any big break is a great thing, be we are ambitiously content… haha…
ST.NET: Are you on the road much?
Jonathan: Only always… we live in our van… and it smells.
ST.NET: What’s the one thing you “Must Have” on the road?
Jonathan: Probably our computers and cell phones… but the computer is everything you need these days.
ST.NET: What’s the coolest or most interesting thing that’s happened to you on the road?
Jonathan: We were on a NYC subway and it was really late but really full and three or four ‘thug’ looking young guys came on and after the doors had closed they stood up and screamed “Can I have everyone’s attention please?” and right then sweat pours down our armpits, our saliva turns warm and our fists clenched and we looked at each other because we knew we were about to get robbed or shot and then one of the guys slowly pulls his hands out of his hoodie with his fist cupped around a bag of peanut M&M’s and said “Me and my boys here are selling M&M’s to stay off of the streets, and if you’s people could kindly help us out and buy some we would greatly appreciate your kindness” We were like ‘Thank You Jesus!’… just goes to show, don’t judge an M&M by its wrapper… or something like that…
ST.NET: What has God shown you in the last few weeks?
Jonathan: To be ready for anything at all times. A promoter just asked our band (of the four on this tour) to make sure to give a message every night of the tour and while I was glad to do it, it reminded me what Paul says, ‘to be ready in and out of season.’
ST.NET: Any new releases or tours coming up we should tell people about?
Jonathan: July 8th- I Know Your Voice in mainstream major stores and Christian retailers. plus we will be at alot of festivals this summer like Spirit West Coast, Cornerstone, Ampfest, LifeLight and others.
ST.NET: Some other questions, just for fun:
ST.NET: Redbull or Rockstar?
Jonathan: Rockstar!
ST.NET: Bus or Van?
Jonathan: Van
ST.NET: Cats or Dogs?
Jonathan: Dogs
ST.NET: MySpace or Facebook?
Jonathan: MySpace
ST.NET: Text or Talk?
Jonathan: Text
ST.NET: Sonic or In -n- Out Burger?
Jonathan: Chic-Fil-A!!!
ST.NET: Cracker Barrel or Denny’s?
Jonathan: Cracker Barrel
ST.NET: Say hi to Robin at SWC this weekend…
That’s all for today. Be sure to look for their disc I Know Your Voice in July.
Sick and tired of obtaining low numbers of useless visitors for your website? Well i want to inform you of a fresh underground tactic which makes myself $900 per day on 100% AUTOPILOT. I could truthfully be here all day and going into detail but why dont you merely check their website out? There is a excellent video that explains everything. So if your serious about producing easy hard cash this is the website for you. Auto Traffic Avalanche