***Questions for the band***
#1 What's with the band name?
It's top secret! But in all seriousness, Zach and I use to always make these strange "songs" about some person named "John" unrelated to anyone we knew. So when we were coming up with names for our band we had the idea of naming our band after this John character and after a few variations came up with the worst band name ever "John, If You're Out There"
#2 Who’s in the band and what instruments do they play?
The current line up is Simon Rofe on guitar and lead vocals, Karl Rogers on lead guitar, Max Beauchamp on Bass and backing vocals and Matthew Landmark on drums
#3 What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
We call ourselves progressive rock, but I feel like that can give the wrong impression as we are maybe a bit more "straight forward" in structure than your classic prog bands and sometimes a little heavier. Major influences are Pink Floyd, Steven Wilson, Opeth, Mastodon and Alice In Chains.
#4 How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
Originally the band consisted of Simon, Brendon Rofe, Zach Furlan and a rolling cast of bassists. Zach left to study in Auckland so Brendon and I continued on playing together when he mentioned his new flatmate Karl Rogers played guitar, so we invited him around for a jam and he gelled with us well. Not long after we answered a post from a bassist looking for a band that sounded like Mastodon, though we sounded nothing like Mastodon (we wish), Max Beauchamp joined the fold. Then when we finally felt like we had a solid line up Brendon decided to move to Melbourne which opened up the drum stool to Karl's friend Matt.
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www.facebook.com/JIYOTBANDNZ/