An Interview With The Rock Duo CAPITAL NORTH About Their Recently Released Debut EP ‘Sea To Sky’ and More!

The hard rock dynamic duo Capital North released their debut EP, Sea To Sky, on March 2nd. Recorded at The Pie Studios in Pasadena, CA, engineered by Nels Jensen (Sigur Rós, Jamie Foxx), and mixed/mastered by Bertrand and Eric Poncet (of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!) at Alias Studio, the six-track EP discusses relatable topics from personal struggles like health, love, and loss to the human condition. !

Comprised of ex-Lights In The Sky members Jonathan Farrar (Guitar/Vocals) and Anthony Zichella (Vocals), Capital North was formed after Farrar traveled the world for a year on a mission of soul searching while Zichella went on to graduate culinary school and pursue his passion as a chef, but both found their way back to music.

Get a taste of the EP with the band’s debut music video for “Glass Houses” and their newest single, “Sea/Broken Vessel.”

Learn more about Capital North in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time! So how has 2018 been treating you all so far? What is one musical goal that you have for this year?

Thanks for having us! This year has been awesome so far. The EP released and response has been pretty great. That being said our goal is kind of the same as always…Keep spreading the word! We have some adventures planned for the summer so stay on the lookout for that. The broader goal is to keep growing…and anything that results from that is just a byproduct of hard work.

Can you recall the moment when you all thought you could be in this band together? Was it hard to come up with a name that you all thought fit your sound and who you are? What was your runner-up band name?

Jon and I (Anthony) have been making music together for nearly a decade so the moment is lost in the ether. That being said we met our drummer Andrew “Broski” Rivas and the same day we all signed a contract for our lockout rehearsal space so that relationship/bond happened very fast. We had the name in our back pocket for years so no but in the beginning of this writing process the running name for the band was actually “Sea to Sky” which ended up being the title of the EP.

As far as the names fitting…I’m not even sure either name fits well and in fact i don’t think with any project I’ve ever been involved in I’ve ever considered how well the name fit the sound… I wouldn’t want to pigeon hole myself that way.

How do you think being from your hometown has influenced your sound and how you all carry yourselves in this group?

I don’t really know that it has, honestly. Being from Pasadena/LA in general I think we have a lot experience and street smarts and that probably helps on tour some but overall its not like we have 1 hometown hero that we look up to (although Van Halen is from Pasadena and that’s pretty rad) or that influences us so I’m not sure that it really matters much.

What did it feel like finally releasing your debut EP, “Sea To Sky”? How would you describe the overall process of putting this collection together? Did anything surprise you about the process?

Finally releasing the album was a huge relief. The process took nearly 2 years to complete from start to finish and was certainly no easy task. The whole process was a learning experience and although we already knew a lot about music and were no strangers to recording, all the other things that go hand in hand with it were nothing short of a challenge. We had a really clear vision of what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. I think the only thing that was surprising is how much all of it cost to do right lol.

What was it like shooting your music video for “Glass Houses”? How creatively involved were you all with the making of it? How do you think this song and your newer single “Sea/Broken Vessel” prepared listeners for the rest of the songs on the EP?

It was a lot of fun to make. We had our friend Jesse Lynch (Alistair Hennessey) film and edit the video so of course a lot of the scenes and shots as far as angles and editing choices were left in his hands or were a collaboration. That being said The story line was conceived and written by Jon and I on the drive home from the mountains that we shot the video for “Broken Vessel” in. We story boarded it and wrote an abstract before Jesse got to LA and then made tweaks accordingly. Halfway through the shoot we had an unforeseeable conflict with one of the actors and had to totally change the ending of the video BUT I will say that i like this version of the video MUCH MUCH more than the previously version. As far as prepping the listener for the other songs on the album, I think that it is a good introduction to what we sound like and foreshadows what to expect but our music is always changing and the music we are writing now wouldn’t necessarily fit so well with the music we just released…It’s certainly not a drastic change but it is evolving and as we have always said our music is a direct reflection of the happenings in our lives at the time of writing it. I would never want to be in a band who’s music was written to some template.

Do you have any upcoming shows this spring and summer? What do you think makes for an ideal show for this group?

We’re currently buttoning up the scheduling and booking of our summer tour right now (be on the lookout for that!). If you live on the west coast there will be an opportunity likely for you to come out and hang with us. Our live set is pretty heavily visually supported and that takes time and energy. So i guess an ideal show for us is an audience that’s interested and excited and ample time to set up our visuals. Lastly a solid sound guy is pivotal and because we’ve essentially lost faith in small clubs we TYPICALLY bring our own engineer to shows.

Where do you think you are all happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage performing or elsewhere?

Recording is fun but also very stressful so certainly i do enjoy it but it isn’t my happy place. If were speaking of happiness that correlates to music then preforming is tied with touring for me. When i say touring i mean the process of traveling with my friends and experiencing new places and people.

How do you think being a musician and in this band gives you all the most joy in life today?

Music is in our blood and veins…Making it is an expression of our feelings, hopes, dreams and needs. I think i speak for Jon and I when is say that we don’t make music because it brings us joy. It would be more accurate to say we make music because its who we are and if we didn’t we would feel a massive void.

With everything going on in the world today, how do you think your music is a reflection of it all? And if you don’t think it is at all, why is that? Do you find that the music being made today in general  is reflecting these politically and culturally charged times?

As we have always said, our music has a direct correlation to whats happening around us int our lives and world events. Its more of a reaction to our reaction of it all and less a direct response but it is very much influenced by the world around us in the moment that were writing. That being said if I’m being totally honest i think the majority of music that is int he mainstream today is garbage. Rock has mostly become a novelty and is dying due to the prevalence of hip hop and pop (Both of which i don’t hate but it is a fact) The biggest rock radio stations play the same thing they have been playing for the last 10 years and rarely anything new of any quality. Rock and metal in the mainstream is almost non existent and the small presence that it has is generally the same bands over and over again. That being said as far as it representing politics and culture i would say absolutely in no way at all. Everyone is so afraid of offending someone else or hurting someones feelings that the music is vapid and boring. Basically anything thats on the radio is generally trash or nostalgia at this point. There are a few rappers saying important things such as Logic and Macklemore who i believe are actually interested in the topics the speak on but for the most part any kind of political belief represented in pop music i consider disingenuous considering how much corporate involvement and ghost writing is involved with main stream pop.

How important do you think social media has been to this band? Do all you help to maintain all your sites or is one of you more into it all? Or do you rely on your PR/management team to handle it all?

I think any band who hopes to “make it” should consider social media extremely important. As far as managing it, it’s a collaborative effort between the band members and our marketing manager. Posts are thought out and planned and always have purpose.

Who would you love to work with in the future? Who are some of your favorite artists right now? What do you think would be a dream collaboration for this group?

I would love to work with/dream collab. is Rick Rubin. I think my favorite artist right now is probably Donavon Frankenreiter and Jack Johnson with summer afoot.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs? What do you hope they take away from one of your shows? 

I think if anything I want people to walk away form our shows or from listening to our music knowing that they aren’t alone in this world and that there are people who can also relate to the challenges that they face. Unity is the number one goal for our music and creating a sense of belonging and community.