Junior’s Cave Golden Isles Online Magazine had a wonderful time interviewing the Indie band The August Infinity. What our publication loves about the band’s music is the highly emotional energy that the band showcases throughout their music. When you add the super charged vocals of Joshua Hawksley, the dynamic combination of bassist Chris Moss and guitarist Peter Strzelecki, and insanely entertaining drums of Ian Pierce, you have a band that symbolizes what ROCK means. If you want to hear more about this fantastic band, read on in this super cool spotlight.

Isaac: It’s an amazing time to be a DIY artist/performer/band/musician. What do you enjoy the most about being an indie performer?

TAI: At this early stage in our career, we have a fantastic opportunity to build a lasting, intimate relationship with our fans. As an indie band, we are on the streets doing our own promotion which means that when people see us on stage, they already feel like they know a lot about us. We really love that.

Isaac: Would you be up to signing to a Major or Indie Record Label? Why or why not?

TAI: We would be open to having talks with any form of record label. There's no use in blocking off an entire limb of our industry for pride's sake. Major labels seem to struggle with marketing or profiting from anything other than pop acts these days though; they've definitely lost their choke hold on the music business, which is refreshing. Ultimately, anyone who has the ideas, passion and financial backing to grow this band is welcome to step up to the plate and join our team.

Isaac: What do you feel is the one aspect of making music that excites you the most right now?

TAI: It's as simple as coming up with an idea, recording it at a home studio (or even on a smart phone), posting it to Sound Cloud, Facebook, etc. and getting instantaneous reactions from fans and peers. Anticipation is an entity whose time period has shrunk from years to mere moments. Music fans everywhere can see their idols developing in real time, and that is very special. We plan to embrace and use this tactic more and more going forward.

Isaac: What do you feel is the one aspect of making music that gets you the most discouraged?

TAI: Egos. They're poisonous. Whether it be our own interpersonal egos that cause us to miss out on incredible ideas from our peers, or other musicians having too much pride to support and work together in their musical community. It takes that sense of community to really swell up and be seen in these over-saturated times. Luckily, we have a group of guys who have completely abandoned the "too cool for school" attitude of yesteryear, and more and more we see other bands and musicians around us willing to reach out and support each other.

Isaac: Do you feel that Indie music gets the respect it deserves? Why or why not?

TAI: This is a tough question because indie music is so immense and broad, that it's very difficult to expose every artist who is deserving. It goes far beyond over-saturation from the gazillions of artists out there too. There are just as many blogs, websites, podcasts, web radio stations, etc. as there are artists to fill them with content. As a consumer, one has an alarming amount of options. It really is in the hands of the consumer now to either have the curiosity necessary to reach out and find something new, or to settle with the same top-40 music that is unlikely to ever really step outside of its own box. There are definitely a lot of people putting a lot of work into bringing great indie music into the light of day.

Isaac: In your opinion, what are your thoughts on how the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording impact the qualities of the show/recording?

TAI: It's all about cool experiences. How can we take the same old formula of performing in public and throw it into a new shell? We've played at a sold out Irving Plaza, and we've jammed with our acoustic guitars on the corner of the street. In many ways, the corner of the street is the most special because we have a chance to catch people off guard and very suddenly change their day for the better. The August Infinity is all about maximizing an experience. If we can play a sold out show at Roseland Ballroom or Croc-Rock but set up in the middle of the floor rather than on-stage, then by God, that's what we're going to do. The same goes for recording. We recorded our entire EP To Whom It May Concern in a loft that we all lived in together. We spent a year wrapped up in each other's lives and experiences and what we got from it was some really touching music.

Isaac: I am interested in knowing if in what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived); affect the music you create, or your taste in music?

TAI: Our surroundings are of course influential on our output as artists, but nothing is as potent as curiosity. There is no denying that living in Brazil for a period of time gave our guitarist Peter an invaluable perspective on music in that culture, but anyone with enough curiosity can dive in and learn how people make music anywhere in the world and add that knowledge to his list of influences.

Isaac: What can you tell our publication about the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us about the whole process?

TAI: Yesterday we worked on three different songs. Peter woke up with inspiration and recorded what we call a "sketch pad" or a rough demo for that song, while our singer Joshua was in his room testing and layering ideas for another song that had previously been recorded instrumentally. Chris, our bassist, noodled on an acoustic guitar and knocked out a sketch of his own. Later in the evening, after we had all uploaded our ideas to a unified server, we sat around and critiqued each other's work. Each person is free to remove, affect or add parts to anything on the table. We've been fully immersed in each other's world for long enough that there are no reservations about honest feedback. So yesterday we all spent our time as lone musicians in our own heads. Most days we all sit together and just play until something sticks. Joshua likes to record voice memos on his phone of everything we do because you just never know when something is really going to click. We try to create as many opportunities as possible for that click to take place.

Isaac: If you knew that you would never gain fame and fortune with what you are doing now, would you continue to make music? Explain.