No gimmicks or tricks to be found with the North Carolina based band known as A Course of Action. What you will find with this group is straight forward kick tail rock and roll being created in the highest quality of musicianship. If you like your rock in the vein of AlterBridge, Chevelle, Tool and Alice in Chains to name a few, yet every bit original in its own right, then this quartet could be your “next find”. A Course of Action is currently supporting its full-length album entitled Dark Before The Dawn which is chock full of memorable hard rocking tunes, catchy choruses, and is well worth your effort to check out. While this rock outfit has every right to be proud of their current project, the band isn’t about to rest on its laurels and is already actively tracking new songs for another project with plenty of touring on the horizon for the remainder of 2013.
Interview with vocalist/guitarist John Culberson:
John, thank you for joining us today. It’s great to have you on RockRevolt™!
Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here.
For fans new to A Course of Action, give us the 5,000 foot overview of the band.
A Course of Action is a collection of musicians from all over the south, which have a ton of experience in music and genuinely share a love for playing. We are truly a group of regular guys that love nothing more than writing and playing music. Our sound is pretty straight ahead rock music. We’re being called “pure rock” a good bit these days.
You are currently supporting a solid full-length album entitled Dark Before The Dawn. The songs you’ve crafted here excel in all things “melodic active hard rock” meets the cool elements of the progressive sound and style. The musicianship and production is of the highest quality as well.
I think the key to the production aspect is the ability to really be your own critic. We are not afraid to be brutally honest with each other when writing and recording. It is our policy to make decisions based on what is best for the song and not the individual. We don’t get caught up in labels and genres. Too many bands pigeon hole themselves in a corner worrying about those things. Also, our guitar player, Jonathan Byrd, has done a magnificent job engineering our music.
As a fan listens to Dark Before The Dawn, what do you as an artist hope their reaction to the songs found here to be?
My hope is that they truly get something out of it. Not to sound, corny but I hope it touches their soul in some way. I don’t write lyrics in an obtuse way. I write about everyday life, and I hope they can relate to that.
One song from the album in particular, “Never There,” has done extremely well charting on Untapped Radio’s Top 10 for several months, hitting a peak of #2 recently – an up-tempo rocker the fans have taken a liking to.
Yes. This is definitely one of my favorites to play live.
The lyrics are also top notch in this song in what appears to be a back handed shout out to those who are “conveniently” absent when they are needed by others the most. Talk about where the band is coming from here and is this directed to someone in particular?
Wow. I love it when somebody hits the nail on the head. This song is directed straight at the people in your life who claim undying loyalty to you, yet somehow seem to disappear at the times you need them most.
Another standout song found on Dark Before The Dawn and a particular favorite of mine is “One Step From Down.” It’s just a great track with strong vocals and a killer vibe that seems to straddle the fence between Stone Sour’s more melodic moments and the technical feel of Tool.
This song is really talking about the conflict between two people who, in spite of truly loving each other, can’t seem to make it work. Sometimes we just can’t seem to do the right thing in relationships and we drag one another down instead of building each other up.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2znD00wRDY]
You also created your first video for this song. The line-up has changed since this was shot. Do you have any plans to do another video for the album with the most recent members?
Yeah, that seems like forever ago. We actually have plans to work on a new video for a song called “Who We Are.” It is a song we have not released yet on the album we are currently working on. We are seven songs into the writing process and I can tell you it is going to be awesome – very excited about the material and the energy we have going right now.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juwhPR5d8JM&feature=youtu.be]
The band has a couple of highlights on the live calendar coming up over the next few months. First, let’s talk about the Wounded Warrior Project Benefit Show you are a part of.
We are going to host a show with a few other local bands and raise money for this very important cause. This is just an opportunity for us to do something to give a little back to those who have given us so much. We had an opportunity in 2007 to go overseas to Indonesia and the Indian Ocean and play for the troops, and this is just another way for us to help. It’s amazing how many active service men and women actively support this band around the world. In fact, we’ve been asked twice to come to Afghanistan by troops in the desert, but that hasn’t materialized yet.
You are also gearing up for a showcase gig in March at the SXSW in Austin, Texas. Talk about the details here and how this came about.
Not sure how it all came about actually. These days, everything seems to be happening pretty fast. We are always excited to get to a showcase, but SXSW is a huge deal. You never know who might be around to listen. It’ll be a long trip for us, but such a great opportunity.
Do you have any plans for a more extended tour in the near future?
I sure hope so. We have a lot of things in the works right now. If things go our way we will be out there nationwide full time in 2013.
How about for you as a vocalist and guitarist. Who is on your shortlist of inspiration musicians you would list as the reason you got the rock itch and joined a band?
My musical tastes have always run wild. I’m the guy that will throw in a Slayer cd right as I’m popping out Phil Collin’s greatest hits. I was a child of hair metal. I must confess that I never missed an episode of Headbanger’s Ball. As I got older I was really in to Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pantera, Souls at Zero, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots and Tool to name a few.
What bands do you enjoy listening to today?
Chevelle, Sevendust, Clutch, Avenged Sevenfold, Alter Bridge, Foo Fighters and anything else that sounds good to me regardless of what genre it is in.
John, thank you for rocking out with us today. Where is the best place for fans to pick up your music and get in touch with you?
Thank you very much for having me. It has been a pleasure. Our website is the best way to find us, of course, but we are also very active on Facebook, Twitter and Reverb Nation. We are on just about every site, so you can find us in lots of places. Also, you can buy the album on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon and right on Reverbnation. And if you join the pages, we are running contests all the time for free downloads and stuff.
Visit A Course of Action on any of the links above, or below:
http://www.acourseofaction.com
http://www.reverbnation.com/acourseofaction
http://www.twitter.com/acourseofaction
http://www.myspace.com/acourseofactionmusic
