AMPLEDEED est un jeune trio californien qui nous présente leur second album « Byob ». Le premier intitulé « A is for Ampledeed » est paru en 2013, la critique a très reçu ce premier album. AMPLEDEED est constitué de Max TAYLOR, Aaron GOLDICH et Luis FLORES et ils sont accompagnés sur leurs albums de plusieurs invités. Peut-être que le nom d’Aaron GOLDICH vous rappelle quelque chose, il fait partie de la formation The SOURCE qui a produit deux albums « All Along this Land » en 2006 et « Prickly Pear » en 2009. Nous avons demandé aux musiciens d’AMPLEDEED de répondre à nos questions afin de mieux les connaitre.

PROFIL - First of all, thank you for agreeing to this interview with Profil.

AMPLEDEED- It is our absolute pleasure!  Thanks so much for the opportunity!

PR - After The Source that has happened to you between 2009 and the creation of Ampledeed? The Source is it still active?

AARON GOLDICH - The Source has slowed down a bit since 2009...it has been somewhat difficult while Harrison, The Source's guitar player, has been living in London while the rest of the group have resided in Los Angeles.  However, The Source is currently in the process of recording our third album.  Hopefully it will be released this year!

PR - Who had the idea to create Ampledeed? Does that name have a special meaning for you?

AMPLEDEED - We kind of all came together to create Ampledeed after playing together in another group, a large instrumental collective of musicians called Grapes and Nuts.  This group played shows frequently and was largely based on improvisation - we played the songs very differently every time and never really had any concrete plans to record them in a studio setting.  The three of us eventually wanted to go in a direction that would allow us to create studio albums. As far as the name "Ampledeed" goes, we just said it one day and thought it was funny.  :)

PR - Basically you are three, however on both your albums using various other musicians as needed, why this choice?

AMPLEDEED - We have always loved collaborating with other musicians.  Although the three of us (Aaron Goldich, Max Taylor and Luis Flores) do all the composing, recording and engineering, part of what makes Ampledeed so special to us is that it gives us a platform on which to work with whatever musicians we want to.

PR - Your music is strongly influenced by the 70s, why this attraction to this style?

AMPLEDEED - We have quite a lot of influences as a band.  Collectively, we love pop, rock, metal, jazz, prog, country, Latin, classical, etc.... There are good and bad things to find in every genre, good music is good music.  Ampledeed has often been labeled "eclectic prog," and we think our eclecticism sometimes comes together to form what a lot of people associate with music from the 60s and 70s.

PR - You want to present your latest "BYOB" album? What is the significance of the title?

AMPLEDEED - Our goal is to do an album for every letter of the alphabet.  Our first album was called "A is for Ampledeed," and "BYOB" is kind of meant to stand for "Bring your own ____."  It is left up to the listeners what can fill this "blank."  The album cover artwork, done by our friend and fantastic artist Carmen Monoxide, is a collage of things that begin with the letter B.

PR - You are relatively young, where did you like doing this kind of music?

AMPLEDEED - We'd like to think that we just make music that we think is cool, regardless of genre.  Progressive rock just happens to be a genre that we thought would have a fan base that would be interested in hearing the music we play.

PR - What are your main musical influences? Several reviews of "BYOB" speak of Canterbury as a major influence, they reason?

AMPLEDEED - Actually none of us had even heard the term "Canterbury" until we were labelled as being so by several reviewers.  As far as our individual influences go:

MAX TAYLOR- When writing for Ampledeed, I take a lot of my influences from: King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Kneebody, Mats/Morgan, They Might Be Giants, and Snarky Puppy. There are so many more but these are the first that come to mind. A lot of that comes from my Jazz and Classical background as well.

AARON GOLDICH-   Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Between The Buried and Me, Gentle Giant... honestly just way to many to name.  The Beatles. 

LUIS FLORES-    Right now, prog metal band Between the Buried and Me, and Antonio Lauro (classical composer) but it's always changing!

PR - I also noticed some that are more current as Thieve's Kitchen and Thinking Plague to name a few. You know these groups? Do you agree with my comment?

AMPLEDEED - We have actually never heard of these groups until now, but we will be sure to check them out!

PR - Do you follow what is happening on the progressive scene? Do you have any favorite bands or artists?

AMPLEDEED - We follow the scene a little bit, but compared to some of the really serious prog fans, we have barely scratched the tip of the iceberg.

PR - We all know that making progressive music is not easy, have you ever had the idea to drop everything and do something other than music?

AMPLEDEED - Music will always be a big part of our lives no matter what we end up doing.  Even as it is, Ampledeed is far from a full-time gig.  We all have many other things going on, music related and otherwise.  We'd like to think that Ampledeed will be a project that we will always continue- at least until the alphabet is finished. :)

PR - There are more and more groups are moving towards progressive music, do you believe that the market for this style of music is saturated or that on the contrary it is good for all?

AMPLEDEED - It is great that bands are gravitating towards making progressive rock music, as long as it is GOOD music.  That goes for any genre.  It would be nice, however, if progressive music was able to become something that you could hear on the Top 40 radio stations here in the US.  So much of the music you hear on the main radio stations these days is very dulled down and meant for the lowest common denominator. 

PR - What are your short-term plans?

AMPLEDEED - We currently are living in Studio City, California, and we have been working on recording our third album.  The album is already written and we have been recently tracking bass guitar.  Actually, Paul Long - the bass player for The Source - is the bass player we are working with on this next album.  We hope to turn this next CD around quicker than the last two, but it's impossible to say when it might be finished.

We hope to get a live act together soon- playing shows as a band would be quite fun - for now we are studio-only group.

PR - You have the last word ...

AMPLEDEED - We want to thank Profil Radio very much for the interview and for all the great music you play...and of course we would like to thank the listenners. You guys are what make creating music mean something.

And...please buy our albums :)    You can get them at Ampledeed.com, as well as many other distributors.