SkidMcSkidder: Hi Nate, Kevin good to finally hook up with you guys "in the flesh" so to speak!

Nate: Good to be here mark

SkidMcSkidder: It's a real buzz having Fractional Importance as August's FAOTM on SkidMark - you guys ROCK

Kevin: Hey thanks - we checked out the site -- pretty cool

Nate: Yeah, we're just happy that a few people in the UK can get hip to fractional.

SkidMcSkidder: So, first question I gotta ask is: Where did the enigmatic band name of "Fractional Importance" come from?

Nate: Well it's actually called fractional now. has been for about 6 months

SkidMcSkidder: Damn! I'm a little behind with the times then?! (Laughs Out Loud)

SkidMcSkidder: Does it relate to anything?

Nate: Fractional can mean different things to different people..kind of nebulous. if you will. but personally I feel that most of us, well, it is a human disposition to feel fractional, or sort of empty, and we have different things that

Nate: Make us feel whole. drugs, sex, whatever

SkidMcSkidder: I can dig that!

Nate: Yeah, I think a lot of people can relate

SkidMcSkidder: How long have you guys been together as a band?

Nate: 2 years

SkidMcSkidder: And how did you all meet?

Nate: They were holding auditions.. I tried out.

Nate: That's how I got in the band

Kevin: Douglas and myself tried out a few other guys

Kevin: We were getting frustrated, then we got together with Nate and everything clicked

SkidMcSkidder: Cool! where's Doug tonight?

Kevin: I think he's getting wasted on a bottle of jack

SkidMcSkidder: Sounds like a good night in! Doug's vocals are one of the many things that make the Fractional sound stand out from the masses - does he use any effects processors to achieve that awesome rawness or is it natural?

Nate: Well, yeah I mean there is some basic chorus and delay

Nate: But basically he just has that quality naturally

Nate: That's the sound of late nights, drugs, hookers and booze. you know mark, the usual

SkidMcSkidder: Wicked! It's a pedigree that's given him a distinctive vocal sound - in a music scene where every band sounds the same Fractional definitely sound different to the norm

SkidMcSkidder: You have two brand new awesome tracks (Tired Excuse & All In the Way) available to download from www.rockisback.com in MP3 format - are these a preview of a new album in the pipeline?

Nate: Yeah well that's good to hear. we'd like to think we stand out from the pack. yeah it's sort of a preview. we were just in the studio all weekend banging em out so there is definitely something coming very soon from fractional.

SkidMcSkidder: Will the album be in the same vein as the ultra cool "Visions"?

Nate: No. Kevin?

Kevin: We've got new songs that are totally raw sounding -- very much like our performance

Kevin: Yes, but probably a different theme -- it all depends on what we decide on

Nate: Yes raw, but I would say, utilizing more traditional song structures..

Nate: So mark, if we went and rocked it in the UK, would we get mad sluts or what dude?!

SkidMcSkidder: I'd say without a doubt mate! (Laughs Out Loud)

Kevin: I heard girls don't shave their pits over there? is that true?

SkidMcSkidder: No way! that's the Euro's dude

SkidMcSkidder: Euro girl's grow better pit hair than I can beard!! (Laughs Out Loud)

Nate: Whoah

Kevin: Dude that's fucking gross

SkidMcSkidder: What my beard??? (Laughs Out Loud)

SkidMcSkidder: Ever thought about bringing the Fractional scene across the pond to the UK?

Nate: We'd really like to Mark. sort of easier said than done at this point. if we could get on some dates over there, a festival or something, shit yeah we'd come over. we'd love to.

SkidMcSkidder: You'd go down like a fuckin' house on fire at the bikerfest I go to every year...

SkidMcSkidder: www.rockandblues.uk.com

Kevin: We already have a lot of people in Europe and Japan that are into us, from the Internet -- we'd love to be able to get over there

Nate: Kevin, say something interesting, ill be back in two seconds. dude that'd be bad. a bikerfest? Oh man, there would be so many raw sluts at that thing

SkidMcSkidder: Talking about the net - How much do you think having an internet presence has helped the Fractional cause?

Kevin: Iit's done a lot for us.

Kevin: We have people all over the world that we've never met who are totally into us.

SkidMcSkidder: Count me in bro

Kevin: That's' kind of been our goal, is to finally be able to let those people see us live.

Kevin: All they have is our recordings

Kevin: But they are really loyal fans

SkidMcSkidder: The live in Las Vegas video on the CD gives a preview of your electric stage presence - what gives you the biggest buzz: whipping the crowd into a frenzy or laying the finishing touches to a new album?

Kevin: Afrenzied crowd takes that one any day.

Nate: Oh for sure

Kevin: Recording is really cool, but it can be very mundane, even boring

SkidMcSkidder: I know that feelin'!

Kevin: When a show kicks ass, you feel like you're on top of the world

Nate: although, there is something about being in the studio that makes me feel like a mad scientist

Nate: Yeah, mark, seriously for me anyway it is that 20 minutes or so after a killer show, where you know you rocked it and everyone was moved in some way and that's a buzz to say the least

SkidMcSkidder: How many studio hours did it take to lay down "Visions"?

Kevin: We didn't really measure how long it took us to record each song -- we did the entire album in about 6 days

SkidMcSkidder: Cool - that's good going seeing the quality of the tracks on the CD

SkidMcSkidder: How did the viper rooms show go?

Kevin: The Viper room show kicked ass -- every show we play in L.A. seems to get bigger and bigger, so we're all really excited to see what happens at our next show in Los Angeles

Nate: Yeah, the fanbase is definitely growing

Nate: That show ruled

SkidMcSkidder: Going back to the net Kevin - as well as putting together the impressive www.rockisback.com Fractional website, you wrote all the multimedia features on the "Visions"CD - are you self taught?

Kevin: Yeah, I had to learn how to do it because we couldn't really afford to pay for advertising/promotion. it turned out to be a very time consuming venture, but it pays for itself in terms of getting the word out

Nate: True dat

SkidMcSkidder: On the subject of writing, Who writes the songs? Are the songs written individually or do each of you add something?

Kevin: For the most part, Douglas and Nate write the songs -- putting together some lyrics and a melody.

Kevin: We'll use those as the foundation for the music, and build parts into the songs as we practice them.

Kevin: After a few weeks of playing them, we polish the parts to exactly how we'd like them

SkidMcSkidder: So do you purposely write the unique song structures which are typical of Fractional, or are they a natural progression of the style in which you write?

Nate: Yeah. sometimes I will write a whole song or vise versa and then there are the songs where like, Doug will have the chords and a hook, and I'll have chorus and we help each other out

Nate: Well like I said, the new songs follow more traditional, verse chorus verse bridge chorus framework

Nate: Tried and true

SkidMcSkidder: Well it's a winning team - 'cause every Fractional track I've heard is fucking A1 - It's rare I'll receive a promo CD where I like EVERY track on the CD & Fractional's is one of the few

Nate: Good to hear

SkidMcSkidder: So I'm looking forward to the new album - any idea's when it'll be recorded?

Nate: Secret

SkidMcSkidder: Aha....keepin' us in suspense eh?

SkidMcSkidder: So guys, Any plans for a tour in the pipeline?

Kevin: We've been spending some time putting songs together -- We're planning a few small tours around the U.S. in a few months

Nate: Word

SkidMcSkidder: How about label interest? You guys must've had a handful of deals thrown atcha by now?

Nate: Yes there is a lot of interest right now and we are talking to a lot of people but we sort of let our manager(s), attorney etc. handle that crap. We'll just have to see about all of that...

SkidMcSkidder: What would be your ideal deal?

Kevin: A deal where the album gets released

Nate: I guess a deal where the label was actually going to market and promote the band and make it happen, tour support etc... so many bands get dropped or swept under the rug

Nate: We know so many bands that were signed last year who got dropped this year like a big box of damaged goods...

SkidMcSkidder: Ah, and there's me thinkin' it was plenty of dirty sluts, booze & drugs? (Laughs Out Loud)

Nate: Well that comes with it

Nate: Can't get enough of that though I'll tell ya

SkidMcSkidder: Heh heh

SkidMcSkidder: Hey..

Nate: Yeah

SkidMcSkidder: On your site you're giving away a signed guitar - great interest stirrer - how'd you get that idea?

Kevin: We wanted to get more people interested in the website - that's really our main drive - so we're giving away a signed guitar

Kevin: We've gotten a lot of people to hear us, who would never have heard of us before

SkidMcSkidder: Played by Doug?

Kevin: Yeah, it's not his actual guitar that he plays during shows, but he's gonna play it for a few songs before we pick the winner

SkidMcSkidder: I was gutted when I saw it was for US entrants only! (Laughs Out Loud)

Nate: And then he's gonna smash it into a thousand pieces

SkidMcSkidder: Heh heh

Kevin: Sorry, it costs a lot to send that stuff to the UK - you don't want a smashed guitar anyway, do you?

SkidMcSkidder: It would go well on my "SkidMark indie wall of fame"

SkidMcSkidder: Basically a wall dedicated to signed photo's of SkidMark listed acts - I couldn't play it - my guitars are all lefties

Kevin: Cool

SkidMcSkidder: I could pretend to be Jimmy I guess! (Laughs Out Loud)

Kevin: Ha

SkidMcSkidder: So what are the major goals of Fractional for the remainder of 2002?

Nate: Well ideally we are looking at getting a lot of the new songs out early 2003...whether that's in an indie fashion or via whatever label it'll be out there. In the meantime people can keep coming to www.rockisback.com for new songs and updates.

Nate: To do some small tours and just keep bringing it

SkidMcSkidder: Rock is back - does exactly what it sez on the label! 8-)

Kevin: Hey I have to take off to take care of some shit -- Nate should be able to answer everything pretty good.

SkidMcSkidder: No worries dude - I was running a little dry anyways -

SkidMcSkidder: Cheers Kevin - it's been cool talkin' to ya

SkidMcSkidder: Cheers to you too Nate

Nate: Cool, no prob, thanks for the interview.

SkidMcSkidder: No worries - it's been great Nate - thanks for takin' the time out - we'll hook again some time soon

Nate: You bet. take care mark!

SkidMcSkidder: See you around man

Nate: Alright. Later.

SkidMcSkidder: Later 8-)