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Bass player for Crash City, Nate Hall, was kind enough to be our second installment of Ten Questions. Crash City is playing at Punchline’s ‘Major Motion Picture’ 10th anniversary show tomorrow, July 1st, at Altar Bar in Pittsburgh, PA.

1. How did Crash City begin?
Crash City began around September of 2010. Andy, Jon, Jordan, and Jeremy had all gone to high school together and played in various local bands around the South-Western PA area. I came into the equation after the break-up of my previous band, More Like The Moon, based out of Philadelphia, PA in 2008. I had moved back to Western PA after MLTM’s break-up. Before September ‘10, Andy, whom I met by being the mentor for his girlfriend’s high school senior project, called me and said “Would you like to join my band and play bass?” After saying no at least 4 times I caved, and Crash City began working on our first EP “Set In Motion”.

2. What has been your favorite show you’ve played?
Personally, my favorite show we’ve played so far was the first round of Pittsburgh’s annual Joker Productions Rock-Off. Not only did we win the round and play an extremely fun show, we also made friends with two other awesome local Pittsburgh bands: Music From Another Room and Tuesday’s Too Late. Excellent bands and awesome guys!

3. Who are your favorite bands at the moment?
Currently I’ve been really enjoying Steve from Punchline’s new project Blue Of Colors. Other than that my iPod has been playing a lot of Saves The Day, Appleseed Cast, The Get Up Kids, and Whitney Houston (No shame).

4. What are your thoughts on the current state of the music industry?
I started playing in punk rock bands about 10 years ago when everyone had a really strong DIY mindset. The new phrase I’ve been hearing lately that I love is EIY. Earn It Yourself. As far as major music industry goes, it’s all about looks and rarely about content. I love that the underground EIY scene lately is all about the music and dedication of the bands themselves. There’s still a totally unrealistic side of me that wishes a major record label A&R rep would show up at a show and offer us a million dollar deal, but in the local indie music scene it’s all about making quality music with other quality bands and supporting each other regardless of genre.

5. What advice can you give to bands just starting out?
If you want to do it, do it. Take criticism and learn from it. Always know that in music there will always be someone more talented, but don’t let that stop you. Make music. Make YOUR music. Play in bands because you love it; not because you think you’re going to make it big, marry supermodels, and own 7 Ferraris.

6. What direction can we see Crash City go in for the last half of 2011?
Our goals for the rest of the year are to finish a new EP (or full length… if you’re lucky. haha.), duplicate it, and start touring to promote the release.

7. What is your favorite song of all-time? Why?
The one song I can never get sick of is “Jackie Wilson Said” by Van Morrison. I’ve been surrounded by Van Morrison’s music my whole life. His music is so straight forward, honest, and minimalistic. It’s such a struggle as a musician to avoid muddying up a song with too many tracks of unnecessary stuff. Van Morrison is timeless proof that at the end of the the day a good song is just that: a good song.

8. What bands/artist do you admire? Why?
I know the other guys in the band most likely don’t feel like this, but I love the whole roster of Arts & Crafts Productions based out of Toronto. I just love how all of the bands (Broken Social Scene, Stars, Feist, Kevin Drew, Apostle of Hustle) share members just in different configurations with, most of the time, totally different sounds. They also work with an amazing band called The Most Serene Republic. I guess in general I’m loving most of what’s coming out of Canada, haha.

9. How would you describe Crash City’s music to someone who hasn’t heard it?
We’re five guys with decently different musical tastes with the goal of making tasteful, driving pop music that isn’t afraid to throw in a hair metal guitar solo or a little bit of double bass on the drums. I would also very strongly recommend anyone to come see us live. We don’t leave the stage until it’s covered in sweat and/or blood. We go hard!

10. Any shout-outs? Final words?
I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to listen. We’re all so grateful for our fans and supporters. I know it’s cliche, but we truly wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for the love we receive from everyone that’s taken the time to give us a chance.

Find Crash City on Twitter and Facebook!

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