Vertical Horizon – Interview

Some chit-chat with guitar and vocalist Keith Kane of Vertical Horizon!

What brings you to Chicago?

We did a little acoustic show at the House of Blues last night on their porch. Tonight we roll to Columbus.

The whole band?

Yep. The acoustic thing we did yesterday was for a radio show’s contest winners. We do a lot of those things. We just play acoustic and the drums are stripped down. We do six to eight songs. It mixes it up from the full on rock show that we normally do.

What is like to have such an intimate show and to play for people that really want to see you?

It’s great. I think that is why we choose to do it. Its easier doing it acoustic, but it’s also something special we give to these fans and make it a special event. For us it’s great because it does mix it up. People really like it.

For those people it’s something you remember forever.

Yeah, it’s not something you see everyday. Matt and I started as an acoustic duo and it takes us back to those days. It really does separate us from other rock bands.

What is it like going to that full on rock show?

It has been a natural development. We started out as an acoustic duo because I really only played acoustic guitar. But as we started touring we realized that we were playing for bigger crowds and it was harder to get people going rocking with two acoustics. That led to us playing as an acoustic band. Matt started growing tired of playing an acoustic and had grown up playing an electric guitar. His writing went that way and I decided I was going to try and play an electric guitar. Once I started doing it I enjoyed it and changed my writing. I think we naturally became the band we are today.

Last record you had to go out and sell the group, then it picks up momentum. What’s it like now looking over that?

It was great. Everything we dreamed of and wanted we got. We were very green for that record, even though we released three independent records. Our advice was welcome on that record and we needed help. We asked for it and we got it. W were able to make good advice. We had a great run and a once in a lifetime experience over the last three years. Now we know what to expect as far as the grueling schedule. We are more confident as people and musicians. We came out of it alive and now we really know what our musical style and image are. We know how to get our music out there in a way we are comfortable with.

Were you writing songs while touring?

We tend to focus on touring and take advantage to all the press opportunities and keep working. We do take advantage of sound checks. When we are done touring we take time off and to be away from the group and relax. We then sit down and write together. So when we get together we play songs we have and then decide what we all feel the best about. Then we add our own stuff to it. Then we record fifteen or so songs to make the best album.

Does it take pressure off because Matt writes?

Matt is really the most prolific writer. When we started to be more of a rock band we relied on his writing style more. During Everything You Want I was developing my rock style. On this record we found that our styles were very different. It’s hard today to put products out there that have two songwriters with differing styles. We thought it would be better off to focus on songs Matt came up with. Ultimately our goal is to make a great record. We want to have singles for radio, but I’d rather have a solid album than a hugely successful single and a shit record. We stuck with Matt’s tunes and we are proud of the record. It sounds like we wanted it to sound. We are siked.

You have to feel like you are in a great place.

You mentioned pressure before, and I think in this industry there is always pressure. It’s the “what have you done for me lately industry”. There is always pressure and we put expectations on ourselves to get better and stay fresh. We recognize the pressure, but we consider it a challenge more than pressure. We want to be proud of the work we did and if we are that is all we can hope for; whether it’s a commercial success or not.

What’s up with the bubble thing on the cover?

We liked the image of the bubble. Art work is another way a band can represent themselves. We know the art work isn’t the difference between selling a few records or a million, but at the same time it can differentiate your album and have a message. The album is called Go because the theme was taking your life and taking control of it. Being proactive and doing what you want to do and overcoming adversity. We felt that the image encapsulated that. We like to think of the boy as once being in the bubble and now he is out realizing there are more opportunities out there.

Glad I asked.

(We laugh) We like to encourage ambiguity. I like that people can take our band name and our songs and make them their own.

You know its funny because when I was thinking about the band name today it made me think of Go. Like you can take off and go.

It’s a very active term. I think the definition of it is, and we didn’t know this at the time, but it’s supposed to be what a pilot sees when he is inverted. We’ve heard the gamut from it was a cross, your grandmothers last dying wishes, or thought they saw when they were hung over and drunk. There are tons of interpretations, it’s great.

It reminded me of flying, but not really in a plane. No boundaries.

When I first started thinking about it I got the feeling of a vast state.

Did you have fifteen songs and boil it down for the record?

When it was just Matt and I it was easier because there were only two cooks in the kitchen. I really like how the rest of us come to the table with songs. There was something I liked about all of them. Usually we have twenty or twenty five songs and you feel like they are your babies so it’s hard to cut them. Never mind the politics involved with other writers and publishing, it’s hard. We recorded fifteen tunes and we do the extra songs for movie soundtracks or B-Sides. When we decided we were going to do eleven songs for the record we all had different ideas on the songs we wanted to cut. We are a big family and we had to have difficult conversations, but we laid it out and we met on common ground.

How has the singing and structure being going?

We have a history with this band where I and Matt do the singing. In the past it has been who ever wrote the songs did the singing, but Matt has really moved up and become our front man. He does a lot of the lead singing and I still do some of our older songs live. When recording Matt will sing the lead and we will both do different harmonies and when we mix we listen to whose sounds better. It’s about whose voice does best for the song.

What is the hope for the future?

We are grateful and ideally we want to keep growing. We want to keep doing this and become better songwriters. Right now the goal is to get this record out to as many ears as possible. We want to keep doing this and talking to you still in ten years.

+ Charlie Craine