An interview with Nathan Powers
By: Gregory Morris
To the people who haven’t heard any of your music, how would you describe it, and can you compare it to any other bands?
Our music is more rock than anything else. It does cover other elements such as alternative, pop, metal, and punk. We have been compared in write ups to such bands as The Police, Pink Floyd, and Sparta.
When and how did you decide to come together as a band? In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?
It all started in 1999, freshman year of high school. We were all in the same grade, and I (Nate) played in a band on drums while Chris and Seth were in a band together. Jay had just moved into town the year before. I quit my band and picked up the guitar and started writing songs immediately. I really don’t recall how it fully happened but I remember jamming a lot with Seth and our friend Andy. For some reason we ended with the line up we still have today: Jay on bass, Seth singing and playing guitar, Chris on the drums and I sing and play the guitar. I wouldn’t have changed a thing except I would have made jay sing.
Was there a special influence that made any of you want to play a certain instrument?
For me I was inspired to play the guitar because of green day and Jimi Hendrix. This was in 1998. After that good riddance song came out, I wanted to play guitar. Took me about a month and then I was strumming chords on an acoustic and singing. Before then I had been playing drums for a few years and of course I was a band kid and played trumpet too.
Have you found an easy and straightforward way of reaching new listeners?
Be outgoing at shows and in the city. Wherever there is music being played we try to relate to the listeners and connect with them. Now, the internet is a helpful tool however everyone is on the internet trying to exploit themselves so that makes that difficult to stand out from the heard. All I can say is become creative!
You released a CD a few months ago. What are your favorite tracks and can you describe the meaning of them?
Ninety-Seven, Slowly Turnaround, Pangaea and Bottom of the Ocean are my favorite songs. I like the CD as a whole. Ninety seven is about being at college remembering all the past good times with my buddies and how as we get older things change in our lives. Slowly Turnaround Seth came up with the idea and it was about a girl who was severely beaten by an adult which happened in his neighborhood. It’s all in the perspective of the culprit. Pangaea is about how our society needs to come together in order to get by these times in which our country is at ends with other countries rather than resorting to war. It is a song of hope. Bottom of the Ocean is about a soldier going over to fight for ones country and trying to make it out alive. We had a lot of friends who went off and fought in the war at Iraq and this was inspired by them.
Are all of you happy with the outcome of your new CD?
Yes and no. Yes because I enjoy it, especially the secret song. No because musicians are never fully satisfied with their work.
Was the making of this CD fun and exciting, or was it a process that you just wanted to get over and done with?
The album was a blast to record. I absolutely loved dubbing the solos and singing. It’s really amazing making an album because a lot of the stuff that happens on tape is off the cuff and if it was a good take, hopefully the record button was on. On the other hand when it came time to mix the album that was a whole different story compared to recording it. We had to listen to 20 seconds of a part of a song for about a few hours and decide what things we like better than others, a very lengthy process, but rewarding in the end.
“Slik Willy” was the name of your band before “Arcadia Landing”. Why the name change, and does this new name have a particular significance to you?
The name changed because the name Slik Willy wasn’t helping us expand our name nationally. It’s actually the name of a jelly dildo, Google Slik Willy. The new name Jay thought of. Arcadia because it’s close to us, (I like it because it means a place of peace) and landing because of Roswell alien landing in the 40s. Word has it extra terrestrials landed in Arcadia in Rhode Island!
What is the most memorable moment that you have of being on stage together? What makes this memory stand out in your mind more so than others?
One of the most memorable moments was being on stage at a show, I believe it was a high school because we used to play a lot of shows at schools, and seeing about ten to fifteen people singing the lyrics right back at me as if we were all a gang. That was a memorable moment. I was younger at the time and I had never seen any response from fans before and it was quite the moment. When I see people singing along it really gets me excited for the show.
Can you describe a time when everything seemed to be going wrong on-stage, and you just wanted to be done for the night?
For me, maybe some chords breaking during a set, but I always found a way to keep playing. Things do go wrong a lot on stage, but that’s when you have to be witty and ‘roll with the punches’. Only other musicians can really tell when things go wrong. Actually there was this one time when jay was rocking out at a gig and had a short chord plugged from his amp into his bass. He went out a little too far and his whole bass head, mind you it weighs at least 70 pounds, crashed on the floor. We all didn’t know what happened, I look over and Jay had this horrible look on his face. We then tossed the amp back on his cab and it worked, so we finished the set!
If you could travel back in time to meet any band, who would it be and why?
The Beatles, or The Who and ask them how their lives had been affected by being in a band.
What is one major goal you want to accomplish, as a group, within the next 3-5 years?
Get a record deal that is feasible that funds us for what we love to do; rock out, play and write music!
Where are some of the venues that you are playing this summer?
Lupos, Providence Piers, The Living Room, and Basements.
What is the website that anyone can reach you at?
www.arcadialanding.com or www.myspace.com/arcadialanding
Are there any last words you can leave us with?
Check out Arcadialanding.com and check out our new CD, “Bottom of the Ocean” available on iTunes and at Newbury comics!
Arcadia Landing is a band I’ve known for three years and seen how much they have grown & developed as a band & couldn’t be prouder of them! Great interview & everyone keep tabs on these guys cuz they are going places!!