Interviews: The Undertaking

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Hardcore band, The Undertaking from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

Funny enough, The Undertaking! is a name we came up with in 2004/5. We were a high school jam band that did As I Lay Dying and Killswitch covers. The name came about because we wanted something serious *THE UNDERTAKING* (said in a very serious voice) but then mix it with a little bit of character, so we added the ! and now it's THE UNDERTAKING!

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

We started playing music again in 2018 - it was an intentional decision to write music inspired by the 2003-2006 hardcore we grew up with. It was music we wanted to listen to that we felt wasn't getting made. Hopefully, we filled that void a little bit!

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Absolutely - Brent and I (Austin) have known each other since we were young kids. We grew up at the same church and school. Keith went to middle school with Brent and me. I met Johnny at the church we were both working at. Johnny and I had talked about writing some music together and all the pieces came into place in 2018 when we got together.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Oh boy - I'm going to do my best - we all draw inspiration from different corners of the music industry, BUT some of our favorite bands are The Chariot, Underoath, Every Time I Die, As Cities Burn, Norma Jean, The Dillenger Escape Plan... we actually put together a playlist a while back with our inspirations: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0y1hnOkSjYxrNeFyt1GnRs?si=69a54942378143bd

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

What inspires us to write? Our collective desire to create and make something unique and fun! Personally, I got out of writing music and creating for a long time. When the band started up in 2018, I felt like I had found a piece of myself that had been missing. I took a bunch of inspiration from the struggles we go through each day - struggles with anxiety and depression, processing and expressing trauma, and not being the person you want to be. I mix those concepts with a bunch of pop culture references to create some tension.

6. Where was your last gig?

Our last gig was at Brick by Brick in San Diego. We have a little east run coming up so we hopped on a show to get our wheels spinning again. We absolutely LOVE Brick... one of the best metal venues in our area.

7. Where would you like to act?

We have two bucket list items left - we wanted to play the east coast which we're doing April 12 through 19. There's some spots we aren't hitting on this run that we'd still like to cross off. And the last BIG one for us would be the UK/Europe. After that, we can quit the band.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Any of the artists that we grew up with would be a dream. I would love to have Sherri from Eisley or someone like Sufjan Stevens feature on a track just to throw people off. With features, I'd want someone with a very different vocal tone and style so anyone with a different approach to our sound would be sick.

9. Whom not?

Definitely not Cove from Dead American... cause we did one with him already.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Nah - The Undertaking! is all about having fun when we play so anytime we've had a gig, we just grip it and rip it... pretend like we're just playing for ourselves in our garage but in this instance, there just happens to be 10 people watching us.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Going back to the question above, we mixed a lot of the bands we listened to in high school together and ended up with our sound. Vocally, I take a lot of queues from Josh from The Chariot and Keith from Every Time I Die.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

We don't really have a lot of fans and the ones we do have to seem pretty normal. I'll get back to you on this one when someone asks for a toenail clipping or something.

13. What do you think of your fans?

We absolutely adore the people who listen to our music. We couldn't do what we do without them. Our goal is to be very intentional with the people engaging in our music and hopefully, they feel appreciated.

14. What do you think of our site?

Man! We love people like you who support our music and go out of your way to share what we created with other people. It means the world to us, to be honest. 

15. Something to add?

Come see us play the east coast coming up April 12 - 19. We're on the road with Empty and Meadows, They rock. We're playing Knoxville, Birmingham, Savannah, Boone, NC, Fredericksburg, VA, Philadelphia, Youngstown, and Cincinnati, OH! Come hang out. Oh, and listen to our music, please!