The Wild ones Magazine

September 2011 Issue 2

COVER IMAGE COURTESY OF ELIZABETH WEST PHOTOGRAPHY

www.elizabeth-west.com

The Band:

Shannon Haffa: Vox (Lyrics and Melodies)

Viktur: Lead Guitarist

Elliott: Rhythm Guitar

Jonny: Drummer

When did you guys first get together?

Shannon: We started back in February so about

6 months now. Elliott, Danny (former member),

and I got together at Elliott’s house and jammed.

On the acoustic demos you can hear Danny

playing the bongos.

What inspired you guys to start a band?

Viktur/Elliott: We basically started it all. We

just wanted to Jam and look for a new and

unique sound. (Shannon: Basically trying to

break the mold and create a brand new

prototype.)

Shannon: Elliott contacted me and said he was

looking for a new singer and had heard my voice

and told me to swing by and jam. The first initial

practice went really well and we’ve been doing

it ever since.

Jonny: I just wanted to try something with a

more chill and calm sound much more different

then my other band’s sound. (jonny is also a

member of the band throughout the end)

GETTING TO KNOW THE BAND ON THE COVER

THE RESTLESS

Continued on next page

How did you guys come up with the name, The

Restless?

Shannon: Basically Elliott threw that name out

there. We are all workaholics, partygoers, and

barely sleep. Young and ambitious gotta hustle,

baby hustle…

What kind of music do you play?

Shannon: We like to classify ourselves as

Indierock/ Indie pop rock. Some bands that

influence our sound is garbage, Rilo Kiley, Cold

play, and black keys.

What message are you hoping to send with your

music?

Shannon: I try writing songs that are as

emotionally honest as possible sort of trying to

tell a story with each new song. Hopefully one

that anyone listening to it can relate to.

What inspired you to get into music and what

drives it?

Elliott: For me I’ve been playing since I was six,

so it started with a violin.

Jonny: I started playing four years ago. I was 16

when i started playing drums, but I started with a

guitar at the age of 13.

Viktur: Well what inspired me really was the

ability and freedom to express yourself…

(Shannon: Pussy!) *laughs* through music. I

started at the age of eleven and have done

mariachi, punk rock, hardcore, and even some

musical scores.

Shannon: I started singing at the age of 12 for

choir Chamber ensemble. I have been on a

relentless pursuit of collecting music listening to

as many artists and bands that I can. My lyrics

are based on personal experiences its not pretty

its raw and honest. The songs I write are about

my friends, hometown, and Ex-lovers. I just

want to tell as many stories as I can in a song.

What is your dream Venue?

Shannon: The Viper room, The Roxy, Whiskey

a-go-go, oh all the big rock venues in L.A.

Viktur/Elliott: Hollywood Bowl!

Jonny: Chain reaction in L.A.

If you could open for anyone who would it be?

Shannon: I would love, love, love, love to open

for Halestorm. Their sound is more aggressive

and heavier, but they are fucking amazing!

Viktur: Coldplay

Elliott: Modest mouse or Coldplay

Jonny: Temper trap

As an individual what bands influence the sound

you bring to the band?

Elliott: Coldplay

Shannon: R&B, lauryn hill, Amy Winehouse,

Chrissy hynde of the pretenders.

Jonny: As tall as lions, Anberlin, And End of

coast

Viktur: Maroon 5 and…yeah definitely just

Maroon 5

Will you be releasing an EP any time soon?

Shannon: Our Drummer Jonny will be going

into the studio soon to start laying down tracks

and we have about 8 songs written so far.

Any shows in the near future?

Shannon: No shows yet, but once I come back

from my vacation to Houston hopefully we will

start booking shows.

Continued on next page

Anything else you’d like to add?

Jonny: We are here for the love of the music and

to travel.

Viktur: Sex, Drugs, and rock and roll!

YOU’VE READ THE INTERVIEW NOW BE

SURE TO GO CHECK THEM OUT ON

FACEBOOK:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-

Restless/190662144329892

AND REVERBNATION:

http://www.reverbnation.com/therestlesslv

All Images Courtesy of Elizabeth West: www.elizabeth-west.com

Kat Rethi

Location: Arizona

My Name Is Kat, I have been in love with taking pictures since high school. I wanted to remember

everything! the best way for me to do that was taking pictures. I was the one who always had the camera

ready to shoot anything! Then a couple years ago I learned how emotional pictures can be by capturing

the beauty of the body and by just looking at someone in a picture and you know exactly how they feel.

So I wanted to try it I started getting my best friend to pose for me to take portrait photography pictures.

THEN! I learned about editing pictures, it took my love for pictures to a whole new level! I self-taught

myself everything, from exposure to textures. This collections here is called the 'Envy' collection, has a

little bit of everything I do. The Guitar is 'Envy's' safe haven, she can take all her anger and stress out on

it, as she writes and plays her songs.

To Check out more of Kat’s photography please go check out her facebook page:

Zombie Kat photography

Certain Envy

Kat Rethi

Passionate Envy

Kat Rethi

Born Envy

Kat Rethi

Envy You

GETTING TO KNOW THE BAND AND MUSIC

IN THE TRENCH

This band is based from Austin, TX

The Band:

Steven Harding - Vox

Jarrod Cook – Guitar

Michael Giroux - Guitar

Bryan "Deno" Koestens – Bass

Mark McBride - Drums

When and how was the band formed?

Mike: Early 2008. Steve and I were together

for the longest. Then we started playing with

Mark a little then Jarrod opted in afterwards.

Jarrod: We have all been playing at the same

shows and places for even longer but we were

in our first bands.

How did you come up with the name? What

is the significance?

Mike: Me and Steve were on our way to

practice one day and we were just throwing

names back and forth. It just so happened to

be “In The Trench” because were fed up with

being stuck in this hell hole that we’ve all

grown up in.

Continued on next page

Continued on the next page

Who or what has been the most inspirational

drive to your career?

Mark: Working with In The Trench over the

past few years. We were originally playing

together and I took some time off to catch up

on some school. After I graduated, we started

working on some new material. I’m really

digging the new sound! I’ve never really lost

touch with these guys and now I’m just

picking up where I left off.

Mike: I would definitely say these guys. We

have been together through thick and thin.

Me and Steve have been jamming together

now for many years.

Jarrod: I would say a big motivation is kind

of a personal thing, I don’t want to get caught

up doing the same old rat race that every one

else is doing, ya know. Get up in the morning,

go to work, come home, find somewhere to

spend your money, have wife and kids, that

whole thing and then you die. I want to do

something more and I’ve been into music

since I was a kid.

Steven: Personal fulfillment, artistic

endeavors, and just motivation in general to

be the best I can be and not get caught in the

daily grind.

How do the new songs differ from your older

material? What is the message behind the

songs on this album?

Mike: It’s more refined. The music has gotten

more aggressive versus progressive. The

rhythm...it just jams!

Jarrod: After we took a little time off and

regrouped to write this album, we were more

focused and determined. Musically and

technically we matured. Then we all got down

and dirty and practiced several times a week

even though we haven’t played in a long time.

Mike: I hate the click track.

Jarrod: Yeah, the metronome is like our

religion. We also learned how to do vocals as

a group more. Now, we’re splitting up the

vocal loads. Just more exciting new music.

We got a lot of help and great ideas in the

studio from David Adam Monroe. Much

credited to that guy.

Steven: Lyrically, its different. The first

record was an angry political record, more

focused on frustration on being disrespected

by authority. A lot of which comes from

personal experience. For exampled when the

cops pull you over for some bullshit and you

pay money for that stuff, it’s really hard to

fight it. Without going into details and

specifics its really frustrating, and that’s what

the first record was about. Second record was

an emotional record more of a chronicle of

personal struggle and how we feel about the

daily grind we are going through and the

struggle of being musicians and people in

general. Hopefully this record is more

genuine and sincere than our first record.

How was your experience in Boston recording

this new album? The whole recording

experience?

Jarrod: Well, first word that comes to mind

is, brutally long....well I guess that’s two

words. We were there for 5 weeks and it was

a roller coaster ride. We had to battle so

Continued on next page

many obstacles. Besides music and doing the

actual recording stuff, we spent two days in

airports before we finally got to the studio.

There was a massive snow storm that hit just

before we got there. So many things tried to

get in our way and slow us down. We worked

through all of that. Product of the struggle

seems like an adequate name.

Mike: It was a continuance of the struggle.

We were in a different place but still going

through those every day drama-Esq bullshit

that was going on. I cried, he cried, everyone

cried. Grown men crying their asses off.

Jarrod: Oh you really get to know each other

a lot better after living in the same little box

in the same little neighborhood for 5 weeks. It

was very surreal. It was an honor to work

with David. He is a really talented guy and

deserves a lot of credit.

Steven: If you don’t know who David is,

David Adam Monroe out of Time Bomb

Studios was our producer on the second

record. He really knows how to push an artist

and develop them to their potential, not just

to perform once in their studio but to take

tools with them and progress them through

their career and be able to use those tools.

Jarrod: He is really thoughtful about the

bands needs. Sincerity is important to him.

He just has really good character. His whole

staff was really helpful and easy to get along

with. They helped us out with getting

arrangements on places to stay and getting us

rides here and there since we did not have a

car. They really took care of us! Even the

engineers and interns underneath him were

very helpful. They are all really talented

people.

Steven: Yea, we kind of went and made a

bunch of friends in Boston. We really got

along with everybody. Hardest part about it

was seeing those same friends every day for

30 days. Not necessarily, more so just

different people and having to deal with

different people every day for 30 days. That’s

a challenge when you consider two totally

different cultures. Not just the differences

between the north and the south but the

different philosophies and how they view life,

and religion. All that stuff just kind of came

to a head and luckily we got out of it without

any deep scars or personal problems. It was

all good.

Do you have any idea when your next show is

going to be?

Mike: A couple of months from now.

Jarrod: Well before the end of the year we’ll

be playing live shows.

Steven: So everyone in Las Vegas will

unfortunately not get to attend the next show.

However, if you’re looking on Facebook you

can purchase the single. It will be released

within the next few months so be on the look

out for that.

What was your worst show experience on

stage that you pulled through and still were

able to rock the house?

Mike: I would say that one time I first got

back and we had a show at The Music Vault.

I tried to hop up on the drum ride and I

didn’t quite make it. My foot slipped and I

crashed into John’s drums knocking them

over. I tried to play it off. Then I started

shoving John and knocking over more shit.

We kept rocking like nothing happened.

Jarrod: I think it happened the following

night at our next gig.

Continued on the next

page

Do you remember your first mosh pit at one

of your shows? How it it feel to get the crowd

so pumped up?

Steven: I think the first most memorable

mosh pit that I’ve seen was when we played

with Devil Driver at Red Seven in Austin TX.

That mosh pit was SICK. That was an epic

mosh pit in a very small area. The energy was

going crazy. We were all completely

dehydrated and sweating our asses off in a

club that was 100+ degrees. I can only

imagine what it looked like from the floor!

The crowd loved it! They were feeling the

music.

Biggest crowd you have ever performed in

front of?

Steven: Palm Beach International Raceway.

There were more than 2000 people there.

Jarrod: It was an outdoor event so you could

see us from across the whole venue. There

were probably more people there than any

other show we’ve played at.

YOU’VE READ THE ARTCLE NOW GO

LISTEN TO THEM:

www.facebook.com/inthetrench

INTERVIEW AND PICTURES BY CAITLIN MATTHEWS