Temperedcast, a band from Seattle Washington is garnering a significant amount of press due to their no holds barred attitude, their kick ass, in your face brand of rock n roll, and their work ethic. They stayed at the Electric Factory and continued to push their record and merchandise while taking the time to meet every fan that wanted to talk to them. That is a rare attitude in this day and age of rock entitlement. Just because they are on tour with Puddle Of Mudd, doesn't mean Temperedcast isn't going to try and out work the headliner.

Temperedcast is Kelly Murphy (drums), Josh Perry (guitar), Nick Sundesten (bass), Kris Tonnessen (guitar/vocals), and Calvin Muma (vocals).

BnR: How have the fans received "Reach"?

Kelly: On this tour, it has been received real well. We are shoving it down their throats. Kind of force feeding a bunch of shit that no one has heard before. For the most part, they are eating it up. The CDs are flying off the shelf.

Calvin: We basically tried the songs out in Seattle for a couple of shows. We did a CD release and then hit the road immediately after that. Nobody has really heard them.

Nick: Definitely not around here. When it comes to CD sales when it comes to hard merch sales, we are blowing everyone out of the water. You can't beat the big bands because that is what people come for.

Calvin: We got people next to us [when selling merchandise] just packing up and leaving early. We stay here all night long.

Nick: We basically do it all guerrilla style. We walk around and try to find the people that want to buy something. They thought you were good, good enough to buy a cd. We are not marking them up to where it is a ridiculous price. For us, it means more to have our album in your hands. So as long as we cover our costs and make it worth our while. Or if you really really want it and you can tell it is not some cheese wiener that is sitting there "Oh my girlfriend really wants your cd." I am not going to give that guy a CD. But if there is some young kid who has like six or seven bucks and just thinks you are the cat's meow, I am going to give him that CD. I will come up with a couple of bucks just to make sure that kid has that CD. Because that is the fan that is going to come back and want more. After the shows, we go out and find more people. We will stand in front of this venue all night until there is not a single soul left.

Calvin: When we are on stage and we are talking about 'we want to meet you at our merch booth and want to shake everyone of your hands.' There is no bullshit about that. We are going to hang out here until the venue kicks us out. Then we are going to stand out on the sidewalk and continue selling cds. Our competition is insane. So if we want to make enough money to hang and do this again that is what we have to do.

Nick: But to be honest, it is the hard work that got us here in the first place. So if we sat here, in the greenroom, the whole time. Play the show and act like we are rockstars, then we wouldn't make a dollar. It would be meaningless to even make cds. We would just get out there and play.

Calvin: We are far from rockstars. As soon as this tour is over, we are going to go home and beg for our jobs back.

Nick: Until we get another opportunity like this. Puddle of Mudd blessed us and paid it forward a little bit. Some other band gave them a shot. We are just trying to take advantage of the opportunity we got. We just want to show every band out there that we work very hard.

Calvin: We also want to show the fans that we respect them. Especially when they scream and yell for Temperedcast and give respect to Seattle, Washington. That is huge to us.

Kris: So what they are saying is that the album has been received well.

BnR: What was the main inspiration behind the record "Reach"?

Calvin: To make a better record than the record before.

Kris: The album title basically describes the entire process. A big struggle to get...

Calvin: We wanted to get to hang with national touring bands. We knew the only way to do that was to make a record that was equal to a national touring band. So we basically got out there and searched for the producer that could give us the closest thing to a record that we could get out nationally and tour and sell.

Nick: And the whole album "Reach," the name and every song on it almost sums up the story. If you listen to the lyrics from every song, it builds. It is almost a storyline basically. Reach is how we would sum up us reaching our goals. It doesn't have to be reaching your goals. Reach might mean something different to everybody. We thought it best represented what we were trying to do at that time. Trying to be able to do a tour like this, get our CD out to 2,000 people in a certain amount of months, which would get us recognition. That would get us taken seriously.

Calvin: We are reaching for the next level. That is basically what the title of the record means. We want to be able to hang with any band you throw at us. We will open for anybody, but we are going to kick your ass...if we have our way. OR we are going to get your respect.

BnR: I love this quote from your MySpace site: "Most bands ask about the venue's sound system. We ask if we'll be playing on a re-enforced stage." I think that is indicative to the type of show you guys put on.

Calvin: Tonight, Nick was right next to me and I was getting ready to sing and I could feel the stage. It was like an earthquake. I didn't realize he was next to me. I thought the stage was going to break. I looked next to me and saw it was just Nick fucking killing it.

Nick: That is what gets us more amped up. The more the crowd gets into it, that makes our energy just go through the roof. Sometimes when the crowds are not into it we are still going to do it...

Kelly: It is a lot more fun when you can feed off each other.

Nick: We were having difficulties, but once the crowd kicked back in we knew we would be alright.

Calvin: Temperedcast's only hope on stage is to demand respect. It is all we have. If we can demand your respect and get your respect. We have a lot of really great bands coming up after us, so we want you to remember us.

Nick: That is the hardest part. When you play with this many good bands, the next band comes up a half hour later, you don't even remember who the last band was.

Calvin: I guarantee you Red is out there killing it right now. So we go out there and think about that so when Red is done this whole crowd still remembers our name.

Nick: Nobody knows our music. These guys [other bands] all have singles on the radio and you get to hear it eight times a day on the radio station. The only opportunity we have is a half hour of your time so you go off "Remember that band over at the Electric Factory. Those guys were going off. I don't even know what the hell they were singing, but all I know is that these guys were all over the place." Hopefully that was enough to get you to go back to the MySpace or buy a CD for ten bucks to help us out.

Calvin: And it is also guys like you who help us out by doing these interviews with us. This underground shit. Nobody else will do this shit for us. It actually helps. We check our MySpace every night.

Nick: You guys take this serious.

BnR: You obviously don't know us. We don't take anything serious.

Nick: I was only doing that because that thing was on. :points to the recorder:

BnR: How does the band write a song?

Nick: Mostly with a pen and paper.

Kelly: We usually come in with a guitar riff. Then we jam on something. Sometimes it is a full structure, then we just jam on it together. Calvin tries to lay down some vocals. We pick at it until it sounds like something...

Calvin: No we don't actually pick at it; we nit-pick at it. Sometimes it actually takes six months to nit-pick a song to where we are all happy with it. A lot of times there is bickering and arguing for months about 'I don't think that part is right. I think it is too long, too short.' But we always seem to come to an agreement.

Kelly: We try a lot of different things.

Nick: Any five person in this band comes up with some sort of idea, it makes...it is all democratic. We usually try to step back and think what is best for the song.

Calvin: Sometimes it comes down to a full on vote. With five guys in the band, it sometimes comes down to 3 vs. 2.

Nick: We are close enough and understand the business enough and understand the ultimate goal enough, that we don't take it too personal.

Calvin: Sometimes what will happen is I'll have three guys voting against me and Josh. Me and Josh have to deal with that and go "Well I am just going to make it great then."

Kelly: Some of the best advice we have ever gotten was not to get married to a part. I think a lot of young bands write something and you are always proud of it. You have to step back from it and realize there are a million parts that sound cool here. You mine as well try a bunch of shit.

Calvin: It is hard to take a painting that is perfect to you and your buddy comes over and goes "That is fucked up color right there. You should change that color." You are like "No, fuck you man that's perfect." You have to listen to everyone's opinion when you are in a band with five people. When you eventually do that, it ends up better than you imagine. You can look at your friends and go "Damn man, you were right."

BnR: So besides the Northwest are there any other places that you have really loved touring?

Band: Texas.

Calvin: Tennessee was great too.

Nick: we are still early in this tour, we don't even know yet. We will have to answer that question when we get back.

Calvin: We came to Philly and wanted to make them love us. We heard Philly was a tough town. We were determined.

Nick: Every town has something different to offer. No particular town stands out. No dicks or anything. Last night we actually thought we were kind of doomed in Asheville, North Carolina. We got there two days early. We were out there flyering and trying to recruit people to help ticket sales. It just kind of seemed like a doomed show. People were not into it. Then all of a sudden at the end of the night we sold 110 CDs. Everything worked out right.

Calvin: It also humbles you too. When you show up two days early to a city, it is really hard to approach someone and offer them a spot on the guest list for 10.00. Then are just like "Aw fuck you."

Nick: Or there Mom thinks it isn't legit.

Calvin: There were these 15 year old girls. We are just trying to get kids out to the shows.

Nick: If you buy a cd we can basically get you into the show for free. So you spend 10 bucks and you get a free ticket to the show. The mom was like 'No way.'

Calvin: The mom actually called us "Is this legit or bullshit?" No, they are on the guest list.

Nick: We are also pessimists too. We always think worse case scenario. We plan for the worst so we bust ass trying to sell stuff. Then at the end of the night when we are counting stuff (final cd count, money count) we are like "Holy crap." But that is the hard work paying off. If we take our career that way hopefully we can kick open some doors that wouldn't necessarily be open.

BnR: You have toured with Jerry Cantrell, 3 Days Grace, Drowning Pool, and now Puddle of Mudd. Who has been your favorite to tour with so far?

Calvin: Probably Puddle of Mudd first, Powerman 5000 second because every time they come to town we somehow get that gig. They have been great to us.

Nick: Puddle of Mudd has been really great just because they have been so nice. The first time we toured with them it was just our regional tour. It was almost sad that we only played those handful of shows because they were so nice and open to us. They made us feel welcomed. They could have just been "oh you are an opening band." So when we got back out here and they had the same attitude. They understand that this is a job, but you are working together for six weeks. So you mine as well be friends. On a down day, they are like 'you wanna grab a beer or hang out?' Whether or not it happens all the time it is still cool that they talk to you.

Calvin: And as hard as it is, we really try to stay out of the way. We don't want to be noticed except for the 30-35-40 minutes we are on stage. That is our time to be noticed. We are not in your way, we are not even here.

Nick: Basically when they see us it is us working on stage, slinging cds, or advertising the show. We want them to see that we are hungry and that we deserve to be here.

Calvin: We also have respect. We know where we stand. It is hard for us sometimes when we have to move out of the way constantly for these other bands. It gets hard sometimes because we are working just as hard, traveling just as far. But it is something we have to do.

BnR: Who is your least favorite?

Band: We are going to plead the fifth. Until we get to their level then we will drop names.

BnR: Who would you love to tour with?

Kris: Metallica

Kelly: Whoever is packing the place. Let's do Ozzfest.

Nick: There are so many cool bands, it doesn't even matter who we play with. I just enjoy listening to Red and Puddle of Mudd every night. You guys see the show once, but for us it is repetitious. Now after doing this for a couple of weeks, you know exactly what they are going to do. It is cool to see how they do it. I am getting to live a dream right now.

Kelly: Personally, I think I would want to play with Sevendust.

Calvin: There is a band that I think it would be a dream to tour with and these guys kind of turned me on to them. It is 36 Crazyfists. They are probably not much further than we are as far as their career and money. I am just huge into that band that if I got to play a show with 36 Crazyfists, I would be pretty stoked.

BnR: Who has been your major influence?

Nick: I think everyone is into different stuff.

Calvin: I didn't know how much I loved Puddle of Mudd until we did this tour with them. When I hear them play I am just so into them.

Kelly: I think Vinnie Paul was probably one of my first favorite drummers. Just a groove oriented sound.

Calvin: Vengeance, for instance, the last song we played was probably incredibly inspired by Pantera.

Nick: I think the first bass player I looked up was [Jason] Newstead from Metallica. He just beat the hell out of his guitar which is what I do.

BnR: What does the band name mean...Temperedcast?

Kelly: A combination of a couple of words that represent what we are about. Tempered as in turn to steel, make heavier, or an angry state of mind. Cast as in casted out, shoving it in people's faces. Cast as in a group of guys. We are a group of guys that are casting our music out in your face and we hope you like it.

BnR: How did the band come together?

Kelly: Nick and I actually grew up together. So we have been jamming in bands for 14 years.

Nick: Then we found Kris. I am sure every city has one "a stranger ad," which is basically a free local paper. So Kris was like a diamond in the rough. He is like a savant. We lucked out there.

Kelly: Then through the local scene people were recommending Calvin. He didn't want to play with us.

Calvin: I was going through tough times. I didn't feel like I was ready to be in a serious band. I had gone through a break up with a band that I was heartbroke over. I was doing a bunch of side projects. It seemed like everywhere I went, Nick and Kelly would show up and corner me. 'Dude I got some new shit come check it out.' It turned into a couple of jam sessions. Pretty soon we wrote the chorus for Vengeance. It just came out. I said inside "If I don't get to sing that chorus again, I am not going to be a happy person.' That was the moment when I said "I am in." I realized how tight they were and how focused they were. I needed that at the time.

Kelly: Then we decided we sounded like a bunch of pussies with one guitar player.

Nick: Josh's story is pretty cool. Once we recorded Proximity Fuse, we needed a second guitar player to make it true to what we recorded. Josh's name kept coming up with our producer. We jammed with Josh a few times and we went to Vegas for Calvin's wedding. We were there for a couple of days and had then had this mini tour deal on Eastern Washington. We called Josh. 'Dude are you ok to go out and play.' "oh yea" We played a couple of cool shows and we were pretty sure he had a good time. The third show was Kris' wedding anniversary. So he [Josh] had only jammed with us a few times, played two shows, and known us for a total of a week. We sit him down and say "Kris' wedding anniversary is tonight and he's not going to be able to play. So you are going to be lead guitar tonight." He freaked out.

Calvin: I was scared for this dude. Maybe we shouldn't do it.

Kris: It was that weekend in Spokane. I was like "Are you having fun?" You were on your phone with your other band and you said "Yea I just quit my other band."
 
Calvin tells a pretty funny story about Josh quitting, but you are going to have to listen to the podcast. It is around 25.28 minute mark.

BnR: If you could meet one dead person, who would it be?

Calvin: Layne Staley

Kris: Jimi Hendrix

Nick: Dimebag

Josh: Dimebag

Kelly: Dimebag

Thanks goes to the guys in Temperedcast for sitting down and talking with this "underground" website. We really appreciate it. Check these crazy motherfuckers out on tour with Puddle of Mudd. Go to their MySpace site for current tour dates, a taste of their music, and pictures of these guys. I am sure Calvin will make you ladies swoon.

You can listen to the podcast at the following location. Blogs N Roses Official Podcast page (Audio starts after 10 second commerical).