Forming in 2013, Amberstein has started their own version of Rock & Roll. In 2014, they released their first EP, which helped them gain a festival slot at Summerfest in Milwaukee. Enjoy this interview with Amberstein, only at RockRevolt Magazine!
Who are you and what is your role in the band?
I am Andrew Farrar and I play Drums and do vocals.
I am Jake Warne and I do lead vocals and play bass.
I am Jason Paulsen and I play guitar and also do vocals.
How did the band get started?
ANDREW: Jake started a project with Ross Machurick, the band’s former guitarist. Andrew met Jake through a mutual friend in Waukesha and the group started to write music together. Meanwhile, Jason, Andrew’s best friend growing up, was serving in the US Navy stationed in Guam. After completing his term of duty, Jason returned stateside and immediately fit in as the band’s fourth and final member. After Ross took a job in Minneapolis, the band returned to its original trio glory… and the rest is history.
JAKE: I started the band in my senior year of college with a friend from my hometown (Ross Machurick, guitar). My partner at my summer job (grounds keeping on campus) went to High School and played on drumline with both Andrew and Jason. He introduced me to Andrew, who joined on drums, and when Jason came home from the Navy he got close to the band right away, playing guitar as our fourth member. Eventually the Ross moved away and Jason took over as our lead guitarist. Both Andrew and Jason are strong singers, so everything worked out perfectly to be best trio we could be, complete with 3 part harmonies.
JASON: Jake and Andrew had a blind date, and history was made.
Who are your influences and how do they play a role in your sound?
ANDREW: I am a huge fan of technical drummers like Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater and Morgan Rose of Sevendust. In addition to my background in orchestral and marching percussion, listening to these drummers play deliberate notes on their kits inspired me to make drumming as musical and emotive an art as possible.
JAKE: As a singer my biggest influences have to be Alter Bridge and Shinedown with both of their singers, Myles Kennedy and Brent Smith, having similar styles and vocal ranges to mine. I also think both of them are great songwriters with strong melodies and well written lyrics. Other favorites include Bob Dylan, Foo Fighters, Thirty Seconds To Mars, U2, and Ozzy Osbourne.
JASON: SRV, Dimebag Darrell, Doug Aldrich, Frank Hannon, so many more. They all inspired me to pick up the guitar and just keep getting better. I remember the first album I was able to play all the way through with was Tesla’s Time’s Makin’ Changes album, I was hooked at a young age. Also loved to watch videos of SRV play, and then play back to them.
What has been your most meaningful experience being in this band so far?
ANDREW: We played a show in the Dells and went out to a bar afterwards. At the bar, a fan who saw us at a previous show recognized us and approached us asking, “are you guys in that killer-trio band, Amberstein?” My heart melted…
JAKE: I think the most meaningful thing for me is seeing people sing along. Whether we’re at a tiny show with ten people, playing at the world’s largest music festival, or opening for a national headliner, nothing beats seeing people sing along with our lyrics.
JASON: Road trips in the summer of 2016, quality time with my mates.
Favorite memory from a show you’ve played or a place you’ve travelled?
ANDREW: We played a show in Green Bay Wisconsin at an awesome venue called Big and Rich. The fans there were incredible, and they really connected with our music. We played outside on probably the hottest day of the summer, and right before we went on stage, the sun set below the nearby tree-line, saving us all from having heat stroke and third-degree sunburn.
JAKE: The first time we played Maybash (Summer Music Festival in Rio, WI). As soon as our set ended, a very strong thunderstorm rolled through and everything shut down while people weathered the storm in their campsites. Instead of packing everything up and waiting it out inside of our vehicles, we lowered our merch tent as short as it goes and tied everything down the best we could. We huddled under the tent with some of our closest fans, and played card (drinking) games until the storm passed over. I don’t think any of us have ever been outside during such a strong storm in our lives, but it definitely made for a great memory.
JASON: St. Louis, MO. Playing with our friends in the band Discrepancies at Cicero’s, then the party afterwards. It was one of the best nights of my life, and I got to hang out with my best friends.
What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
ANDREW: I want to write and share songs that truly embody who I am as a person. The message of our music is one of perseverance and realizing your potential, things that I think everyone runs the risk of looking back on and feeling unfulfilled or unaccomplished.
JAKE: I want to inspire people. I want to write & sing the songs that people build memories with. I want someone to hear a song of ours and feel something. I think of the bands that I listened to growing up, and every time I hear one of their songs I’m instantly transported back to that time of my life. I want our music to do that for someone else.
JASON: I hope our music reaches out to people. I hope that it does to people what music has done for me all of my life. I don’t know where I’d be mentally without music. Scary to think about.
Something about you that no one knows?
ANDREW: I can’t tell you because then you would know.
JAKE: I don’t drive a mini-van. I drive a large vehicle that can comfortably seat up to 8.
JASON: I have really bad anxiety when changing my guitar strings/ tuning my guitars, what if it snaps and goes into my eyeball or something?
What is next for the band?
ANDREW: We are finishing up the writing process for a full length, then we plan to record the whole doggone thing.
JAKE: Right now we are obsessed with writing and planning for a full length album. Lots of other things are happening, and we’ve got a ton to look forward to, but the full length album is #1.
JASON: Writing music, and planning for a full length album in 2017
Anything else you want to add?
ANDREW: Life is too short to allow conventional measures of success to deter you from pursuing your dreams. Jump when you get the chance.
JAKE: #OccupyALocalVenue
JASON: Caffeine is the lifeblood of Amberstein
