The Courage: One of Centralia's formerly best kept secrets moves into our backyard.
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From solo artist to Noah Gundersen & The Courage to settle on THE COURAGE, one of seattle's most exciting emerging bands releases their first full length album on September 11th 2010!
Interview with Noah Gundersen
Interview by Jacquee
August 12th 2010
CD release show 09.11 at The Crocodile Seattle ALL-AGES BUY TIX
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When did you start playing guitar?
I started playing guitar when I was 13, because I really liked it and I wanted to have friends. So I started writing songs after that. And I took piano before that.
Your motivation for playing guitar was because you wanted friends?
No, but that helped.
When did you start writing songs? What was the first song you wrote?
I remember the first song that I wrote but I don’t remember what it was called. It was probably about not having friends. I actually started writing songs before I started playing guitar and then I started writing them with guitar when I was like 13.
At what point did Abby start playing shows with you?
The first show we played together was when I was almost 16 at a Starbucks in Centralia. That was the first show I played and she played that show with me. (Abby was 12 years old) Over time we started playing together more and more and now she plays with me all the time.
How would you describe the musical chemistry between you and your sister Abby?
I think we’re very connected, for multiple reasons, first of all because we’re siblings and because we’ve played together for so long. We can read each other; it’s really hard to explain. I think we know where the other is going with a song. It’s kind of this unsaid, unspoken connectedness.
When and why did you begin to play with a backing band?
I always liked playing with a band. I like the space of it. And the amount of headroom you get with a band and the fact that your options are limitless. You can just make a lot more noise with a band. I like that, that puts me more in the space a lot of times. Sometimes just playing by myself can be really cool and spiritual too but I just love playing with a band. I love the energy with that and I love how transcendent that can be on a good night. And I like the shared experience. That’s one of the most powerful things about the band; on a good night when we’re all in it- it’s four people sharing this incredibly intimate experience. It’s amazing. Sharing that with four people, having this connectedness through music without any words involved- it’s totally transcendent communication. It’s like four people together transcending to this spiritual plain. It’s pretty amazing.
How did it feel when the final line-up of your backing band, The Courage was assembled?
Great. There were a lot of different members over time and no one was really able to commit. It took a while. But then it finally clicked. It was a lot of work and still is work. We’ve been together for almost a year now. It just felt really good. It’s never going to be perfect, we’re always going to be striving for something better and working to be better and learning how to work together. It’s a lot of work, being a band is a lot of work and I didn’t really realize it would be that much work. But it’s very rewarding on the times when it clicks. And having three other people that are as committed to this as I am is a dream come true.
How did the band decide to become ‘The Courage’ instead of ‘Noah Gundersen and the Courage’?
I kind of decided that because I didn’t want it to be about me anymore. It’s not really a band when it’s ‘so and so and the so and so’s’. For me, my whole vision for the band was to be a band. There’s no ‘I’ in team.
What is it like writing as a band instead of writing songs mostly by yourself?
There’s still a lot of me writing by myself and then bringing stuff to the band. It’s a cool process; some of it is starting over for me because it’s very different. When you’re writing by yourself you are in control of everything. I guess if you’re in a band who are leaders of the band decide to be in control of everything. Obviously there are things that I kind of say ‘I really don’t feel like that’s working’. But Abby, Travis and Ivan are learning how to be that way too. I feel like we’re just beginning to write as a band so I don’t really know what its like and I’m beginning to feel what its like. I think this album is really the first baby steps to us writing as a band. It’s kind of all over the place and it shows that were just beginning to write as a band. But we’ve learned a lot through that process. And now the stuff that we’re writing together is becoming more cohesive and it was kind of just like trying things out and seeing what worked and didn’t work as a band. It’s becoming more and more collaborative which is awesome. Having four people's input as opposed to one makes it a really full experience. It’s just really fun, when it’s working.
How does the band feel –as a whole- about its first full length album?
I think everybody is really excited. We’ve all gone through our ups and downs in our feelings about it. I know I have especially. But we’re all at a place where we’re excited about what it is and where we were when we recorded it and where we’re going. And from my understanding we’re all really excited about it. We all have a really big part in it. Abby did a ton in this album, Ivan’s drumming is really featured in it, Travis being the backbone with the bass and he wrote one of the songs. I think everyone is equally excited about it.
Is there a core message or theme The Courage is trying to get across as a band or through this album?
The album is definitely relationship based. There’s nothing about religion or anything on this album. There’s always a message. As a band we want to stand for good music. We want to create an experience for people; we want to be humble and not pretentious. I think we just really want to make something that’s spiritual for people- in reflective and joyous ways.
What would you say to someone who is considering buying The Courage’s first full-length album?
I’d tell them to listen to it. If they liked it and got something from it then they should buy it. If they connected in some way… I’m totally jaded on the whole thing because it’s my music and it’s my experience. And so much of this album was created in a really special space for us. As a new band, being together for two weeks in a very secluded place in this beautiful space, it was a special, special time for us that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I think because of that, this album shows that. Our hearts and souls are 100% invested in this album. It might not be what we’re like in a year or two from now, the sound of it or the songs. It’s definitely not perfect and is just a stepping-stone to where we want to go. How we recorded it and where we recorded it, in a barn in the middle of Oregon in the middle of a tiny town for two weeks and the time that we spent there and the energy, emotions and heart that was poured into this album really comes through. I hope that people connect with that and be able put themselves in that space. I really feel like there’s very much a vibe and there’s a space that the album resides within. If you can put yourself in that and listen to it all the way, I think people will get something out of it. There’s a lot of heart in this album.
Thank you to Noah for taking the time to do this interview. It was interesting and enlightening for me. And you're welcome for the enchiladas.
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