Q&A with Rorie, Chris and Shawn of INVERTA

Rorie, Chris & Shawn, the trio of professional musicians who have come together to form their dream group, answer questions about standing alone as a 3 piece, auditions for that possible 4th member, and their plans for licensing the unnamed songs.

Inverta has reviewed over 600 digital resumes from potential singers and auditioned 100. Has anyone ever had their feelings hurt or felt dissed by not being asked to join the group?

Going though this process for the last two years, overall, has been a very positive experience for us.  The guys and I have met a lot of cool people, spent time with them, and come to know them really well.  In some cases, we’ve become good friends and still keep in touch regularly.  We’ve had the chance to hear from all around the world which has allowed us more insight to different cultures and beliefs in regard to music.  Even though we’ve spend a lot of time and haven’t found the right person yet, we’ve still come out ahead with new relationships and feedback that has helped us to streamline the process.  Most of the time, the auditioners have been very respectful and have thanked us for our serious consideration.

That’s not to say that we haven’t had our bad days.  Though few, there have been times when a singer has taken this audition process too seriously and has reacted inappropriately.  We’ve had people who contacted us that initially came across as cool, normal and genuine, to then, after we heard their demo and having to tell them ‘Good job but, it’s not what we are looking for’, go completely nuts and tell us we’re assholes and our music sucks.  They’ve taken our music (with thier vocals on it) and started to shop it around their area, making deals and promoting as if they were already part of the band.  We’ve had to stomp on the brakes a few times.

We’re very fortunate to have the internet and technology to meet these people out there, but in some cases, there is a physical distance that we’re sensitive to.  We understand that this opportunity means a lot for artists.  For some of them, it means a new life or a change of pace and venue, putting a lot of pressure on themselves.  For us, it’s just about what sounds good.  We’ve had to find a balance between being truthful to the auditioners and having respect for their art which may or may not fit in with ours, understanding that they might take it personally.  We’ve found ways to prevent this by finding positives in their singing choices or giving them feedback to help them with their future endeavors.

Until the right person for the front person position is brought on, how do you stand as a band?

We consider ourselves a power-trio band of instrumentalists seeking a vocalist as another instrument.  The songs have been written in a way to accommodate vocals with slight adjustment, but they can also stand by themselves.  We’ll continue to audition potential singers, write and record new material, and perform live as a three-piece.

Is it just about skill and talent?

This is a very difficult task and probably the most important decision we’re ever going to have to make as a band.  At this stage of the game, we’d love to tell you it’s more important that the singer be good-looking or have great stage presence.  Yes, it’s about skill, talent and most of all… style.  Everyone always comes in looking great, speaking well and there’s no reason to believe you won’t get along.  It doesn’t mean anything if the vocals don’t fit with the music.  It’s just that simple.  To us, vocals that fit at least show skill and ability. They also exhibit talent which comes from training and experience.  The road block usually happens with style.  Being a progressive band, we’re not concerned with going backwards.  We want the vocals to sound modern and unique.  All of the demo tape we have with Jim Morrison, Scott Stap, Chris Cornell and Amy Lee on them, have been reused as Christmas gift-wrapping.

Have you always been in full accord over if someone might be ‘the one’, or has there been a day when one or more of you has been like ‘this is it!’ and the other(s) said ‘what are you thinking? He is NOT the one.’?

There really hasn’t been a time when we’ve strongly disagreed individually about any aspect of the band.  I know that sounds uncommon, but we have a great relationship and good communication with each other.  We voice our opinions about everything and we’ve been lucky that we respect each other enough to listen, knowing that it’s important and comes with the best of intentions.  Vocalist decisions have been unanimous.  If we had some doubt, we usually brought the vocalist in for a second or third time.  That gives everyone more than enough time to feel confident in their decision.

The band truly has no preference between a male and female singer?

We don’t want to limit ourselves with the notion the right vocalist has to be male.  Its possible the right vocalist could be female but most likely, it will be a dude.  We’ve listened to male and female singers and been impressed by both.  A while back, there was a female singer who did very well with the first track we sent her.  She had something unique and knew how to record herself well,  which made it very easy for us to hear what she had to offer.  We sent her other tracks and she sounded good on those as well.  She even flew out from Miami to meet us, hang out, play and spend some time in Los Angeles.  Based on those recordings, we decided that if the music was going to have a female voice, this was the best example.  It was enough for us to confidently decide that the female voice has a place in our music, but not as the main focus.  It didn’t seem right.  It seems to us that the music’s preference feels aggressive.  It would be nice to hear from more aggressive female singers, but we haven’t yet.

What percentage of the vocalists who have applied have been female?

On average, for every ten male vocalists who contact us, we hear from one or two female singers.  When we’ve gone out and searched for singers, the people who had more grit and aggression happened to be guys.

Your standards for becoming the final member of INVERTA are extremely high. Why do you feel it’s so important to have the perfect union?

We know that our basic requirements can seem intimidating.  It comes from years of playing in bands, having close relationships with people and being a professional in the music business.  If you break it down, it’s simple.  If you want to participate, you have to bring the goods.  The music is challenging and it’s going to take a lot of commitment and concentration.  Show up on time, contribute, be dependable and have fun.  You’d be surprised how often those principles get lost.  A more perfect union is something we strive for and work hard to accomplish.  We know what it takes to be successful and requiring those fundamentals, we feel, isn’t too much to ask.  It’s important because it produces results we can be proud of.

Each of you have been in groups before. Tell us a little about those and how they effect the musicians you are today.

INVERTA is really a reflection of the best  aspects from our previous careers in bands.  For us, it’s a place to bring all those experiences and grow as musicians.  We all wanted to do more musically and became unhappy as to the direction those other bands were going.  We felt restricted.  What was frowned upon before, now has a place to be considered or strengthened.   We make it a place of happiness by exploring new ideas.  It’s the band we all wished we were in, when we were with those other groups for so long.  For many musicians, becoming more confident and getting to that place within their existing band is difficult.  They usually break up and stop playing.  We kept going.

Who would be on your dream tour?

We would be excited to play with or open for any band on tour.  For us, playing and providing an experience to an audience is the dream.  We’re lucky enough to just be able to do it and have a platform to make a statement musically.  If the music can make a connection to a listener, providing them a better day, a place to get lost or something to associate a memory to, we think that’s great.  If it can inspire them to do great things, help them solve problems or come up with new ideas, we think that’s a good day’s work and find it very rewarding.

Who do you share fans with? Whose fans love INVERTA and vice versa?

The fans of INVERTA are very diverse.  We’ve heard from people who love pop rock and hip-hop to listeners of metal and classic rock.  In general, they typically like heavier rock or metal music that they find intelligent and may require more attention to detail.  These fans usually like Tool, Meshuggah or Opeth.  We also hear from those who like more hard rock acts such as Karnivool, Deftones and Mudvayne.  We’re fans of those bands too.  Obviously, it’s incredibly important for musicians to listen to a wide range of music.  We’re no strangers to that concept.  We love all kinds of music and try to get our hands on whatever’s new and fresh.  We love watching other bands play at shows and festivals nearby and getting the chance to see our friends (locally), really inspire us to play.

Where did the name INVERTA come from?

The idea of INVERTA, what it means, and why we give it that name, is something we just keep inside the confines of the band.  Not for any specific reason(s) other than wanting the listener to derive their own meaning, allowing them a personal connection to the music.  What they come up with, we’re sure, is much more interesting.

Your songs currently have no titles, just ‘call signs’? Why is this?

We apologize for sounding so mysterious.  It’s a long story, but we assure you, there’s a good reason for the song titles as they are.  Again, it’s best for the audience to come up with their own conclusion.

Your myspace says that you are turning away offers to license your material for now. Why are you choosing to do this when so many of the licensing opportunities are for instrumental only anyway?

We had to post that in reference to an issue that we had with a few singers who auditioned for us.  They were taking steps to license the songs with their vocals on them to major motion pictures and television without our permission.  It’s a great idea and we’re not opposed to that kind of exposure except the individuals’ demos were an embarrassment.  Since then, we’ve been giving samples (instead of the whole song) to potential vocalists, to prevent further infringements.  Currently, we are taking steps to license our songs as instrumentals in various media outfits.