Apologetix: Interview with Karl Messner of Apologetix

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1 : systematic argumentative discourse in defense (as of a doctrine) 2 : a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity

What does the symbol mean?

We sat down with Karl Messner of Apologetix, ate some chocolate chip cookies, checked out his sweet Mac PowerBook, and talked about the band and their music ...

MQ: How do you see technology affecting music creation and distribution? What do you see as the positives and negatives?

KM: It's revolutionary. I really believe - and I guess I shouldn't say this too loud or I might get shot - but I really believe the biggest fear of the record business is not only kids will be downloading music for free and putting them out of business but that small bands that are highly talented will develop a very professional presence on the Web with their own iTunes download service. If you give me a CD, within fifteen minutes I can have a web site up where you can download the song for ninety-nine cents - and I don't need that great label anymore, you know? If we ever got to a place where we were doing more digital distributions ... I tell you what, CDs are a drag. Our lead singer, Jay Jackson, is a music nut. Before he was saved, he had a thousand plus albums. Every song that was number one - ever, he had it on album, cassette, and 8 track and CD when they came out. He just loved to buy music. As much as he loves to buy music, as soon as iTunes.com came out - when Apple put that out, it took him a while to warm up to it. He was a little bit afraid of it and would poke it with a stick. The first time he downloaded a song and saw how easy it was - how you can get it right now, preview other songs, and only buy the ones you want - he has spent hundreds of dollars buying only the songs he wants and he hasn't walked into a music store in a year!

MQ: Do you think that's going to be more positive for artists not only because they'll have a more immediate connection with their fans but also raise the bar on the craftmanship of the songs?

KM: Absolutely. I think if we have more music out there, a bigger competition pool for quality and style and a larger market of free ideas, I think that is just great for everybody. There is more of something for everybody. Back in the fifties and sixties when we first started talking about hit radio, there would be a song that would come out and it would be the song for the summer! The 'Twist' came out and it was the song of the summer. And what did we do the following year? Let's twist again like we did last summer! (laughing) Two years - two songs. Now, we used to do 3 or 7 CD record deals. The 3 CD record deal was the birth place of the live album. People would do 2 albums and then they'd hate their label, but they'd have to do one more album to get out of it. They would bang out a live album off their next concert and say, 'There is your third album, run with it!' Very often it happened that way. However, nowadays, we're seeing one album deals and one single deals. So we're seeing a whole different shift. There is going to be a shakeout. Once an industry starts to grow and bloat like the music industry - soon as there is this big revolutionary upheaval like this internet stuff and downloading - it's a shakeout and all of these 'fat cats' have got to go find something else to do. In balance, it's dynamite for artists to get their work out. So many people take their music to their grave because there's no way to get it out. In the old days you'd need thousands of dollars just to go to the recording studio to get a half decent recording of it. You couldn't press your own records. When cassettes came out, you could make your own tapes and that was really revolutionary for bands. Now there's a recording studio that comes with your computer. So you buy a Mac, you're a garage band, you crank out a song, you burn a CD, you put it on the internet, and two days later you're a recording artist and you've got a web presence and selling CD's online. Then it's just a matter of getting the word out and kids can work the net and get the word out. Nowadays, kids have friends all over the world.

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