The Inquisition: 072.Ranges

R A N G E S - The Inquisition

C.J. - Guitar 

Joey - Guitar 

Wilson - Guitar 

Ethan - Bass 

Mark - Drums 

1. How did you came up with the name of the band? 

We live in an area where we have mountain ranges in every direction. Our initial goal as a band was to write music worthy of being a soundtrack to anyone’s adventure through the area we call home and therefore the name Ranges was fitting. 

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it? 

C.J. usually begins the writing process with a general skeleton of guitar parts or chord progressions. We have the luxury of having C.J.'s recording studio as both our writing home base and our practice spot. Once C.J. has song skeletons put together he and Mark get together to add drums and demo out ideas that the rest of the guys can take home and write their parts to. A lot of our writing process occurs while we are actually recording. Once again the advantage of having our own recording studio gives us as much time as we need to try new parts, cut out parts, and rebuild songs however we see fit. 

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home? 

C.J.: I grew up in the era of 90s alternative radio rock and I think the subtle influences of this time in music carries through in my playing. However, bands like Thursday in the early 2000s really began to shape my writing style. If I had to name bands that have stuck with me since the beginning I'd have to say Thursday, Brand New, Saves The Day, Deftones, and Sigur Ros. Lately I've been getting a lot of inspiration from bands like This Patch of Sky, Rhone, and I/O. 

Wilson: All bands that see the larger picture and strive to create a cohesive and immersive entity under the banner of their band name. 

Ethan: Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Black Sabbath, Les Claypool, Led Zeppelin, and Waylon Jennings. I listen to a lot of folk like The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Old Crow Medicine Show and The Devil Makes Three. 

Mark: The mountains. All genres. 

Joey: I listen to a lot of different stuff. Currently I've been listening to a lot of Foxing's new record Dealer, Restorations' LP3, Caspian's Dust And Disquiet, and the new Saddest Landscape record, Darkness Forgives is incredible. 

4. Which is the one album you can't live without? 

C.J.: I think Brand New's The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me is one of the most important albums in my catalog. The spiritual struggle in Jesse Lacey's lyrics on this album moved me like nothing I've ever experienced. I even bought a copy of this album for every person in my family for Christmas. 

Wilson: Panopticon by ISIS 

Ethan: Brown Album by Primus 

Mark: Disintegration by The Cure 

Joey: Moon Is Down by Further Seems Forever 

5. What's the first record you've ever bought?

C.J.: Dookie by Green Day 

Wilson: This Time by Dwight Yoakam 

Ethan: Countdown to Extinction by Megadeth 

Mark: Destroyer by Kiss 

Joey: I actually bought Grateful Dead's self titled record on tape when I was like 6 or 7. Just because the art was awesome. They have some cool artwork. The skeleton on the front won me over, but the music was not what I expected it to be. 

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?

C.J.: Sigur Ros is one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to a band’s live show and a band’s overall presentation. From live shows to video footage they are always impressive. Sharing the stage with them and being witness to how they orchestrate things would be incredible. 

Wilson: Dwight Yoakam. 

Ethan: Tool. 

Mark: Pelican. 

Joey: Caspian or This Will Destroy You. 

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to? 

Music blogs have been an incredible tool for us in getting our music spread out across the globe. Especially the smaller, lesser known blogs where it's just one person running the whole show. These are the guys who love music enough to put in the hard work of writing for bands without getting much, if anything, in return. We've had the pleasure of working with a couple of great blogs that have really helped us get the Ranges name out. Seeing hits on our Bandcamp from Japan and South Africa thanks to a couple of blogs was pretty cool the first time. We have a lot of respect and admiration for music bloggers. 

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify?

Absolutely. At this stage in the game, getting our music out to as many people as possible is the ultimate goal. If giving our work to people for free helps us garner a fan who will turn around and buy our next album or a t-shirt then the initial investment was totally worth it. We're not at the stage yet where we can complain about the amount of money we are losing from file sharing or download sites. Honestly, we don't ever want to be one of those bands caught up in squeezing out as many tenths of a penny as they can from their fanbase. 

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

Still doing exactly what we are doing now. Hopefully still eager to write the next album and push our concepts a little further and deeper. And, if we play our cards right, opening for Dwight Yoakam. 

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era? 

We think so. All of our music is written and released around a concept. The album artwork is a vital part of this process, especially in an instrumental band where your artwork and song titles are the only visual indicators of what you are trying to portray in your music. We still believe strongly in the physical release as well. Growing up, Tuesdays were the best day of the week because it meant going down to the local record store, buying a new release, digging through the booklet and actually feeling the physical pages. These were, and still are, important aspects to the music. We all enjoyed this and want to keep releasing our music on physical mediums where applicable and will always need artwork. 

11. What is you favorite album cover? 

C.J.: In Reverie by Saves The Day.

Wilson: Whipped Cream & Other Delights by Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass.

Ethan: Lateralus by Tool.

Mark: Black Sabbath’s self titled debut.

Joey: This is a hard question and I had to think really hard about it. I'm going to have to say Pianos Become The Teeth’s Old Pride. All their albums have awesome art. 

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format? 

With how quickly technology is evolving the nostalgia and necessary time and care needed to play a record can be pretty comforting. Perhaps there is something to be said about the lack of authenticity with current digital mediums and therefore an “archaic” format, like vinyl, creates a more tactile experience for listeners. For awhile it seemed like it was cool to be the kid who listened to vinyl but now a lot of bands are turning back to it and vinyl pressing facilities are backed up for months. It's good for the music industry, to slow down and center itself for a minute or two. Cassettes are back too, which is cool. Every medium has it's advantages and disadvantages and your music sounds different on each of them which makes planning your musical approach for your desired medium a fun exploration. 

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band? 

Our first show is definitely our most memorable moment as a band. It was really important to us to have our first show be as high of caliber as possible. We played our 24 minute piece Night & Day in a Masonic Temple here in Bozeman, MT, and had a visual experience projected behind us. This required us to play to a click in order for all the visual changes of the video to line up with all the dynamics of our music. It was one of those things where if we get off by one beat in one spot, the entire show would be jeopardized. Thankfully everything went flawlessly and getting the chance to watch back through video footage captured of the evening was pretty surreal. The reception we received from those in attendance of the music and the visual aspects of the night were pretty remarkable.

Ranges recently released their incredible single "If I Were The Devil".

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