The Jackson Tennessee based – Cris Brown — has released five albums independently since their inception in 2003, cumulatively exceeding impressive digital sales totaling over 450,000, all while burning up stages alongside everyone from Shinedown and Seether to OneRepublic and Fuel. Faces & Four Letter Words was released independently in August 2010 debuting at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Lead singer Brown reveals that there’s a memory behind every riff, chorus, bass groove, and guitar solo. “One Less Reason songs are more lyrically heavy than musically heavy, and there’s always a message. It’s all based around those four letter words – love, hate, pain, hope. I want people to feel the record more so than just hear it.”
One Less Reason Interview
1). What’s new in the world of One Less Reason?
It’s a busy time – We’re basking in the afterglow of a successful record launch and getting ready for a tour with Sick Puppies.
2). How was it recording your album The Memories Uninvited and the time spent into making it?
It was great, it was a relaxed time frame and we had no deadlines to adhere to or anyone to answer to… So we were free to record as we please and just hang out when we didn’t want to. It was a really great atmosphere to record an album in.
3). When writing a song, is there such a thing as investing too much time?
Yes. There comes a time that you start overthinking and over analyzing everything and it becomes counter- productive and you’re just not going to achieve anything.
4). Do you consider album artwork as important now that music is mostly downloaded?
I personally do… I remember how much I loved the artwork and the liner notes and would hang on every single word written in the cover, and how the art would flow from page to page. But those times were different and there wasn’t social media and instant gratification of every single thing that you could ever want of any artist at any time. There was something to be said about print and how special it was. I don’t think that the new generation feels that way, nor care about it very much, honestly.
5). Do you have any tours coming up in the near future?
We are out with Sick Puppies Mid-September through late October and then we go out with someone else in November – tour dates are being booked now and we will post as soon as they are confirmed.
6).What would be some of your main musical influences today?
I really don’t listen to much rock… I listen to a lot of soul singers like Amos Lee and love the Butch Walker records. As far as rock, one of my favorite records is Brand New – The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me and I’m really into this new letlive record called If I’m The Devil… It’s vocally phenomenal.
7). Is the band fans of Spotify and similar streaming services? What are your thoughts on this?
Sure – what’s not to like about making $0.03 per every 100k plays of music you spent years of your life working on? :) (Sarcasm). But seriously – We know things have changed and that the streaming services are valuable in reaching a new generation of fans, so we will work with them. We’d just like to see the per stream rate be higher to reflect the value of the music.
8). What would we be surprised to find in your music collection at home?
I’m really into old Christian rock, LOL! I love bands like Bride and The Crucified, Seven Day Jesus…. I like Skillets new stuff, but I also like they’re really old stuff like “Hey You, I Love Your Soul”.
9). How important are music videos in the industry today? How do they compare to videos from 20 years ago?
Videos are great visuals for content and give you another platform to reach a fanbase… Its different because 20 years ago if VH1 “Insomniac Music Theatre” picked up your video, you were a star and were going to sell records and tickets. Now it’s an audience that is a glutton for videos, with anything they want at any time at the click of a mouse and with that comes a lot of disinterest. It’s harder to gain and keep their attention.
10).Where do you see music in general going in 100 years from now?
Pop culture music will probably be at that point nothing but a beat created on your phone with Morse Code bleeps talking in code about even bigger butts!!! Like butts carried behind you in a dump truck, LOL!!