Illinois Entertainer March 2019 | Page 44

The Way Down Wanderers continued from page 26 CK: Schubas definitely was important for us. It’s such a fun, famous room to play. IE: What can fans expect from your upcoming Lincoln Hall show specifically? CK: We’re going to be playing our new album for the first time that night live. There’s a bunch of songs that we’ve never played before on stage, so hopefully, that will be a surprise for some people who haven’t had a chance to hear the new album when it comes out. We’re so excited for that show. AK-T: We also have another release show on March 9 at The Castle Theatre in Bloomington, Illinois. Become a Master of the Guitar Kevin M Buck is accepting students for a limited time! All ages, all styles, all skill levels – studio in Lockport, Illinois. IE: Tell us a bit about the following you’ve gained along the way and the community you strive to create around your music. AK-T: I’m a huge Trevor Hall fan, who’s more of an acoustic reggae/rock artist. He’s someone who I think has a great com- munity of followers that’s like a family in a sense. We try to create that environment in live shows and on social media, just a real- ly inclusive and open community that’s all friendly. We’ve definitely seen some peo- ple become friends through our fan page, stuff like that, but just a really energetic and positive vibe is what we’re going for. IE: What do people usually say when they come up to you after the show? Any fre- quently heard reactions or emotions? CK: Well our drummer John plays the spoons, so he gets a lot of people coming up to him after the show just wanting to learn how to play the spoons. It’s pretty funny. That’s probably one of the main things we hear from fans after the shows (laughter). IE: What’s on the horizon after you release this record? CK: Well, we keep writing, so we’re gonna try and put out another album, hopefully in 2020, and then we’re going just to keep the hitting the road until then. IE: What are your hopes for the long haul? AK-T: Just to stay consistent, keep being able to tour, expand our live shows and have our music reach more and more peo- ple, whether it’s in a concert hall or on iTunes or wherever. We just really hope to bring more people into our Wanderers crew and just keep the ball rolling. I wouldn’t say we have any aspirations of being like a huge stadium band. I don’t think any of us would complain if we were to go that route, but I don’t think any of us would complain if we never made it that far either. The Way Down Wanderers appear at Lincoln Hall on Saturday, March 2, and at The Castle Theatre in Bloomington, IL on Saturday, March 9. Continued from page 34 www.kevinmbuck.com [email protected] (708) 655-3882 of each record, which now works as a connect- ing tissue between them. You’ll probably hear the fourth part, and then that will be it because we will have run through all of the seasons. The “Terrestria” series is probably going to be put to rest after the fourth installment. We have a plan of what we want each one to do. It’s part of my pre-scripted idea of what we want these season- al concepts to do, but it always comes out a lit- tle differently than planned. Mosh: You play the six string bass. Does it give you more bottom end? What does it allow you to do in these songs? AB: I’ve been playing the six-string bass way before River of Nihil. In previous bands that I was in, I used to really focus on using every string in every song and really show that I’m worth playing this instrument. And that’s even evident on earlier Rivers of Nihil stuff. It’s become less so that way, especially on Where Owls Know My Name. It’s being more about servicing exactly what the song needs at any given time. A lot of other times in other songs it’s been like there’s a higher register to the bass as well as the lower one and the lower one matches the seven-string tuning that the gui- tarists use. kering with the mix. It’s all there for the casual listener. Carson (Slovak) and Grant (McFarland) at Audio Visual, they understand that, and they’ve worked with us a bunch of times now. They are really good at making sure that’s a reality at the end of the day. Mosh: The band’s been around for a decade now, do you feel this is where you should be with three albums under your belt? AB: If you would’ve said that this is where we would be in 2016 or 2017, I would have thought that it’s pretty much going nowhere. It was a big inspiration for how and why we did the record that we did now, and the fact that it’s clicked with people is encouraging and also kind of confusing in a way. It was sort of a creed of we don’t really care what people think of us any- more. But to see it pay off in the way that it has is just very interesting to me. See Rivers Of Nihil, Entheos, Conjurer, Wolf King, and Cannibal Abortion at Reggie's Rock Club on March 5. MOSH-WORTHY RELEASES: Children Of Bodom Hexed (Nuclear Blast); Mark Morton Anesthetic (Spinefarm); Brick by Brick Hive Mentality (Upstate).