Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Audio Impulse is:
Barry Phillips – Lead Vocals/Guitar
Nate Blithe – Guitar/Backing Vocals
Patrick Duffy – Bass Guitar
Joe Freeman – Drums
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to (insert band/artist name here)? How long has the band been around?
I (Barry) was in a band Called Broken Down Sunset and Nate was in Revenant Tone. Audio Impulse has been around about 4 years now. Nate and I originally met because Pat was a mutual friend of ours when we were in college. Eventually I lived down the street from Nate and we began writing after both of our respective bands broke up. Once we started writing we got Pat involved and eventually Freeman joined the ranks.
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
The origin of the name is actually a throwback to our younger days of playing video games. We are all avid gamers and are a fan of the game Chrono Trigger. It is rated as the best RPG of all time and we couldn’t agree more with that. There is a move in the game called “Arc Impulse” and we wanted to name the band after that. The name was already taken so after brainstorming for a while we came up with Audio Impulse!
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
We collectively write the songs together. Usually one of us will come to practice with an idea and we just jam on it until we find something we like and can work with. In other situations one of us will come with a song almost completely written and the rest of the band will fill in their parts. After we practice it a couple times we will usually do a live recording and save it for later when we begin bringing material into the studio.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
We have a ton of inspirations for the music we write and our individual music selection is expansive. Naming all of our influences would take a while, so I will only name the main ones for the entire band. We are all fans of Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Wonder years, Incubus, Blink 182, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, and many more.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
I can remember the exact day I decided I wanted to play guitar. I was riding in my dad’s work van and listening to “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath while playing air guitar. I had a realization that I could be doing this for real, so I asked my dad if I could learn guitar. The next Christmas I was given my first guitar and the rest just fell into place. I caught the bug for playing relatively quickly and have been going full force since. That was about the age of 12 and I spent the next five years taking lessons. Then I was introduced to the Led Zeppelin DVD “How the West was Won” and realized that I wanted to put on a live show just like that. I watched that DVD more times than I care to admit. After that I began watching as many live concerts as I could get my hands on and began going to concerts with my dad and friends.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …
We generally practice a few days before with the entire set list planned out. We run through the show and rehearse until we feel ready. The day of the show we are so busy just trying to get to the venue that we really don’t have any pre-show prep the day of. When we get to the venue we are just as excited to watch the other bands play as we are to play. We usually spend our time rocking out to the other bands and getting hype for our set.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
We’ve gotten a few but our biggest accomplishments have been four things. First we opened for Alien Ant Farm and Hed PE and sold out the bill! Then we won the greatest Alternative Hard Rock album in the country in November 2015 by the Akademia Music Awards. Third we recently accomplished selling out our EP release show in March at Connie’s Ric Rac in South Philly! Last but not least, we have been accepted onto the Extreme Tour for the month of September this year. It’s an international tour that plays festivals in skate parks and combines extreme sports with live music!
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Honestly I would love to tour with the greats such as Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zeppelin, and Pearl Jam. We have a lot of friends in the local scene as well and would love to tour with them. Alright Junior, Palaceburn, Midnight Mob, Revel 9, A Better Class of Criminal, In the Presence of Wolves, the good Mess, Resilient, and Dead:Stop to name a few. I suggest you check them all out!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Be on the lookout for a bunch of announcements on our websites www.audioimpulsemusic.com, www.facebook.com/audioimpulsemusic, www.reverbnation.com/audioimpulse, and you can find us on Spotify, iTunes, and Google Play. Also, please check out our first single “Straight Shot” on YouTube.