Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Anthony Zichella - Vocals
Jonathan Farrar - Guitar/Vocals

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Capital North? How long has the band been around?

(J) Tony and I were both a part of Lights In The Sky prior to Capital North. We rebranded to Capital North back in 2016 so a little over 2 years ago, and have been working on “Sea To Sky” since the formation, cannot wait to get it out :)! 

(T) What Jon said! We decided to change the band name due to many different facts, mostly member changes and the time passing - we agreed it was smart to let go of the past so we decided to go with Capital North to refresh our vision. Jon was in A Midnight White and Death Punch and I was in a band called ZDM and DC Ten.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

(J) The name originates from when I was on a year of solo backpacking and I traveled to a town in Iceland called Akureyri, or “The Capital of the North”. I felt something overwhelmingly welcoming, powerful, and wondrous in this place and it filled me with the inspiration I needed to get back to music. To us, “Capital” means an important place, person, or thing, and “North” is the direction to get there, so the name essentially means “getting back to what is important”, which for us, is music.

(T) Previously the band was called Lights In The Sky. We were throwing names back and forth for a few weeks when LITS came to me. My Grandmother used to tell me a story of her favorite childhood memory which was the northern lights and i was looking at pictures of the aurora online and it just popped into my head. We all agreed at the time and it stuck.

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?

(J) We write our songs collectively, but usually an idea starts out with me creating a guitar riff or piano line, and then bringing it to Tony with whatever ideas I have. Sometimes I come to him with melodies or certain lyrics, and other times just a bare guitar riff. We write about a ton of different themes and topics, all of which relate to current or past experiences, thoughts, and struggles. These topics will absolutely inevitably change as we change as people and attain new life experiences. I tend to gain a lot of inspiration from reflecting or spending time alone or with friends in nature.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

(J) Oh man, so many because we have such an eclectic taste haha! To name a few that we are listening to currently: Periphery, The Dangerous Summer, Sigur Rós, Circa Survive, The Midnight, FM-84, Thrice, RX Bandits, This Will Destroy you, Polyphia, Chon, Saxon Shore, Portugal. The Man, The 1975, Krishna Das, Dance Gavin Dance, Fickle Friends, Post Malone, Drake, HUNNY… we could go on for days haha! Lots of Mongolian Throat Singing more recently actually :).

(T) Exactly what Jon said. The list goes on and on. Honestly, recently I’ve been listening to almost exclusively EDM and Hip Hop. I only discover new rock because Jon shows it to me. After being in the scene for so long it all kind of sounds the same to me. I think that’s why I like our music so much - because it’s music made with the musician in mind. It has solid hooks and it’s catchy. In my opinion, it’s not in the cookie-cutter pop structure.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

(J) I think for me it was seeing Portugal. The Man at The Glasshouse and really being in awe of how incredible it would feel to be on tour/stage. Will forever be grateful for that, thank you guys! Other than that, I was inspired to play music after I saw my Brother get a drumset for his birthday.. I had to get an instrument too, so I chose guitar!

(T) My Aunt and Uncle were A&Rs for Slash and SST records when i was super young and i was always around bands as a kid. I think thats where i caught the bug.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

(J) I like to do as much as I can to ensure that I’m warmed up for a show, so definitely - a lot of stretching (for the beating my body is about to endure), vocals warmups, drinking tea with honey, breathing exercises/meditation, and maybe a few bicep flexes just for good measure, haha jk, or maybe not ;).

(T) Honestly Jon is much better at this than I am. I usually just take a shot of Whiskey (Dustin Kensrue (Thrice) gave me that pro-tip once to dilate blood cells or something. I honestly don’t know if this even works but a shots a shot) and do some scales. Jon, on the other hand, does lots of stretching, tongue trills, yoga positions and scales.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

(J) I think for Capital North, the biggest highlight is yet to come, however, we are extremely proud of completing “Sea To Sky” and really think it has a lot to offer to our fans as well as new listeners. I think the biggest highlight for Lights In The Sky was following Warped Tour 2014 in my Prius around the country and selling our old EP, good times! I still reminisce on the days of touring with Lights In The Sky and the countless hilarious, scary, and incredible experiences we had along the way - I really miss those days a lot but I know there are more memories to be made in the near future!

(T) My favorite moments have honestly been off the stage just exploring the country with my friends. Musically, I would say probably the time we almost got to open for Coolio. He unfortunately had a medical emergency and cancelled on the show. We drove to Texas from CA in one day for that one.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why? 

(J) I think my top one would have to be Fleetwood Mac, but more reasonably, Portugal. The Man or Circa Survive. It would be unreal to be on the road with any of our heroes or really any of the bands that inspire us! Get at us ;)

(T) I would love to tour with all of my favorite bands - RX Bandits, Thrice, Circa Survive would all be awesome. For me it’s more for the free backstage pass every night to watch some of my favorite bands :).
 
Is there anything else you would like to add?

(J) Thank you so much for this opportunity, and thank you to each and every one of you who supports us, especially to those who have stuck by our side through this rebrand! We love you and cannot wait to see you on the road very soon! Please check out “Sea To Sky” out March 2nd, 2018!

(T) Be excellent to each other.