Interview With Trigger Point
Posted: 20 October 2005
Contributed By: Jay

Just before Trigger Point's major-label debut was out in September, I telephoned Taylor Wallace to talk about the album, the band, and the music in general. Unfortunately, certain circumstances prevented me from typing it up in a timely manner, and for that I apologize to Taylor and Trigger Point, and the label and publicist. At any rate, it looks like Trigger Point is definitely a band to check out live, and there's a great future ahead for the band.

TuneLab Music: How did Trigger Point get together?

Taylor Wallace : We've been together just about four years. We all met when we were going to music school in L.A. and I was jamming in a band with some guys, nothing serious, just jamming out, and the drummer of the band told me about a drummer friend he knew who's in the band now and he was jamming with our guitar player. I decided to go see what they were up to and what they were writing, which was really good, so I jammed with them for a while and it clicked immediately, and we wrote the first song we ever wrote which was "Away," which is on the album. We had another bass player who was with us a couple years until we got Paul Kelly, who is our current bass player. And we've been playing our asses off ever since.

TL: What inspired you to get into music in the first place and go out to L.A. and go to music school?

TW: [Music's] pretty much the only thing that's really fascinated me and driven me to accomplish things. I've never had anything else in my life set a fire under my ass like my determination to become good at music and wrap myself in every facet that music has to offer. I've never been so overwhelmed by anything else in my life. I can't see myself doing anything else, whether I'm broke and living on people's floors or living in a mansion, I would want to play music. It's just what I want to do. I want to produce it, I want to write it, I want to work in the music business, I want to tour the world. It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do since I was 8 or 9 years old. I think everything else in the band is pretty much the same way. We all put in 110%.

TL: What was the process of you getting signed to Corporate Punishment? Were you approached by them or did you send demos to them or what?

TW: It actually happened kind of in two days. We'd just gotten done recording the record. We had it pretty much mixed and were ready to go to master it, and our producer Logan [Mader] (Machine Head, Soulfly) asked if he could show it to some friends who were starting up a label and to a couple other places. I said sure and we talked to a couple different people and Thom from Corporate Punishment said "I have this idea, I'm starting a label, and I have some stuff set up, and it's gonna take a while to get things off the ground, but if you guys wanna do something with me I can guarantee I can do this, this, and that." We kinda liked it because it was a more intimate situation for us and we weren't getting in over our heads in debt and we liked the idea for what they were doing with their label once it got up on its feet. And we were kinda intrigued by being the first front-runner of a long line of bands to come. So we kinda just decided to do it within about a week of meeting with them. It's taken a year to get it in stores, but we all knew it was gonna take a while. And the label's starting to turn into a cool little indie that a lot of people know about in only a year's time. It's more than most labels do in 10 years, so I can't wait to see where Corporate Punishment is in 10 years.

TL: The album was actually released in some facet before, wasn't it?

TW: We actually released it last year online, and we did everything ourselves. We had the artwork and everything done before Corporate Punishment came in. We had already booked a CD release show before they stepped in, and they just jumped in and helped us out with that as much as possible. We knew we were gonna release it in stores at some point. We thought it would be last February-ish, but it took us a while to find the right distribution company. Once we had everything done, the album had been out for eight months online. We never did anything marketing or anything for it, we just put it out for anybody that wanted it. We decided to change the artwork so that it is befitting of a nationally released record. And we just kinda decided to put it out there and make it a brand new record. I think we sold 1,000 copies online, so to the rest of the world, this is a brand new record.

TL: If you guys were just four musicians, not signed or anything, how did you get Logan to produce and mix your album?

TW: We were showcasing for another indie label, and we were over at Jane's Addiction's rehearsal studio for three days and Logan had a room next door. He was just listening to us through the walls and he came in and helped us set up our P.A. and stuff like that. He just seemed really into the music and I talked to him a couple times when we where hanging out in the lobby and he seemed like a really cool guys. He told me he was producing and gave me a demo reel of some of the bands he had done. I told him if things don't work out and we don't sign with these people, we'll give him a call and do a record in the summer. He was excited to do it, and we just started pre-production.

TL: How long did it take to record the album?

TW: We did drums in three days, guitars in two, bass in one, and then we mixed it and did vocals for a month. We had the material really well rehearsed. We also came in with the songs and we asked... at the time we had a booking deal we were signing, so we were going on the road for a year, so we wanted to get the record done and pressed so that it was available to sell on the road. That's the main reason we did it so quick. When we went into the studio, I sat down with Logan and said we didn't have the luxury and time to do a lot of production on the record. Basically, we went in and recorded the songs as is, and Logan was ok with that. The only things we really changed was me and him going over some different vocal structures and harmonies. We changed some verses and choruses, but all of the music was exactly the way we play it on stage. We were really solid and tight on the material. Our drummer's a machine. He was in there in the studio and banged out eight songs in two days. We spent the third day doing two more songs and then recorded piano and violin and stuff like that. Our guitar player, in actual hours, he spent two five-hour days, which isn't even a full studio day. Really, we recorded guitar in a day.

TL: Can you describe the album in your own words?

TW: The album itself doesn't have a certain platform or feel as a whole, because of the way we recorded it and the way most of the songs on it were written over a four year period. It's kinda all over the place and in different directions, which is something where if we knew we were recording an album that was going to be released nationally, we would've gone the different route and written some new songs and overhauled the old songs. We're our biggest critics and most of the songs are really old to us.

TL: So now the songs are four years old to you, but when you go out on the road you'll have to play those same songs because you want the songs from that album stick in people's heads. Do you play new stuff on tour, just the album, or mix it up?

TW: Exactly. Currently we're playing two new songs on tour that are the most amazing things I've ever been a part of. Our next record... I can't even wait to record it. It's insane. But we're playing two new songs, and we're playing the newer songs on the record and a couple favorites. The newest songs on the record, the ones more like what we're currently sounding like are "A Silent Protest," "Seven," "Picking Up The Pieces," "The Color of Real," and "Cycle." The other songs "Nowhere To Be" and "Away" are four years old. "The Last Laugh" is three years old, you know, stuff like that. Those songs are really dated to us. It's hard for us to play them because we've been playing for so long. From a musicianship standpoint, we're so much better than those songs. It's like playing the songs you played in high school when you're 30 years old, saying "I don't play like that anymore." It's still awesome that we can feel that way about songs and at the same time people are really into it. We really have no doubt in our minds that our next record is going to be a really big deal. We've already talked to a lot of people about it, and it's gonna be really good, and I can't wait to do it. It's awesome that we get to tour with this record, but at the same time it sucks because we can't get started recording the next one. We'll have to wait until next summer.

TL: So far you've been touring with Shenoah, Alllele, and Rikets... label mates. Are you looking forward to playing with the really big bands that have been around a while?

TW: Yeah, we really look forward to touring with other national acts. We enjoy meeting other bands, especially ones we admire. We're really anxious to get out on the road with bands we consider peers, but that don't know that much about us. We're looking forward to being part of the community.

TL: So what would be like a dream tour for you guys?

TW: We're really kicking ourselves that we're not on the Thrice/The Bled tour right now. I'm a huge Thrice fan and everybody in the band is a really big The Bled fan. We were almost on Warped Tour this year, hopefully we can get that going next year, at least for a little stint. There's tons of artists I'd love to tour with. Just because I've met a bunch of them and they're really cool guys. Just sharing and infiltrating their fan base, stealing their fans, that would be cool. (laughs)

TL: What do you guys like to do on tour?

TW: We definitely hang out with any friends or family we have in any town that they're in. We're not really crazy party guys. We party pretty hard sometimes, but it's not an everyday kinda thing. We usually just chill, we don't have much time to sight-see and all because of early sound checks and late show times. In Chicago, we were playing at the Double Door right next to the train station. I went and hung out downtown for a while. It was a lot of fun doing that. We try to see as much as we can. Everybody in the band's really into travelling and checking things out. We like finding out as much as possible about cities. My hobby is picking up real estate magazines in different cities and seeing what neighborhoods are like and the price of living there and such. I'm not sure exactly why though. I like to compare what a set amount of money will get you compared to California.

TL: Besides the album, what's in the future for Trigger Point?

TW: Just touring. We're really looking forward to being on the road and bigger tours, or more comfortable tours, or making more money so it's not such a struggle. Right now, we're in a van and it breaks down a lot. We don't really have a whole lot of money to get hotel rooms, and we go days without showering and don't eat really well. We're looking forward to tours that we can get paid more for, so we can shower and get hotels and eat right. Possibly getting a better vehicle so that we don't have to stress about it. And also playing in front of as many people as possible and seeing the world. Our band has always been a live band and it always will be a live band. That's pretty much what we live for, is playing the shows. It's really where we stand out. Even though it's the same songs it's really night and day seeing us live and hearing the records. I think it's cool to be a band like that. Some of our favorite bands are like that. Tool and Rage were like that, Soundgarden and White Zombie were. Different things like that, we really want to be known as one of those bands that you haven't seen until you see them live. That kind of thing.