Rock n' rollers SPLIT PERSONA have a debut EP, as well as all new music expected real soon. The band talks of this, their start and what the future holds.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Zander: I’ve been playing music for about 6 years now, starting sometime in 2015 with guitar after my face was melted by Eddie Van Halen’s 13 minute solo from “Van Halen: Live Without a Net”. From that point forward, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to shred the guitar and play lead guitar in a Van Halen tribute band! But that’s not what ended up happening for me, I started teaching myself guitar opening doors to bands like Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and Pantera. The day came that my Dad bought us tickets to our first Foo Fighters concert without me really knowing anything about them other than hearing a few snippets of songs in the past. After that show however I was sold on writing my OWN music and fronting a rock band. Years would pass as I grew as a musician and a songwriter when I moved from the small town of Truckee, CA to the “Biggest Little City'' Reno, NV. By that time I had about 5-6 songs I considered to be complete and pretty decent, when my friend Cooper would introduce me to Darren Menning, a bass player he was ansty that I work with. I started by emailing him some of my demo’s (which would eventually become the first EP), which he loved, but was tied into another ska-punk “Sublime” influenced band “Sell the Sun”. I declined his offer to play guitar for them at first, but once I had picked up photography for a few shows and got to know him and Mike Patterson (drums), I was in. The band didn’t last long, only a few months of playing before the tensions grew and the project was halted. Not long after, I had Darren mix an early demo of “Stay Away” and it seemed to grow on him, and he suggested we finally put some of my music to use and start a new band, which is all I’ve wanted to do since I had started writing. So Darren recruited Brogan Kelley for lead guitar and I brought in Connor Kremsner, another drummer that ended up splitting with us which opened the seat for Mike to play with us again.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
I came up with the name when I was around 13 workshopping potential band names like: “10-15, Social Disturbance, and Split Persona”. I actually ended up using 10-15 for a cover band I played in for around a year when I was 14, but Split Persona was only used for a show at a small coffee shop in Truckee called “Dark Horse”, which I kinda threw together in a week with some other musician friends of mine and in the knick of time I remembered “Split Persona” so we used it for that one show. However when the Split Persona you see today started, we originally tried the name “Subluminal” which was already taken by a number of bands. Darren drove over to my house one day to talk about the name change, Brogan later joining us getting absolutely nothing other than busting out some Foo Fighters covers with me on drums and playing video games. It wasn’t until Darren was leaving my room when he noticed the “Dark Horse” show poster I made when he said “I think the name has been staring us in the face the entire time…” and the rest is history!
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We’re based out of Reno, Nevada which isn’t a well known city for musicians emerging out of it like Nashville, Los Angeles, and San Fran, but we definitely plan on being the first. Everyone is welcomed in the music scene here, it’s almost inviting and definitely inspiring. There's one venue here that I would recommend visiting if you’re here called “The Holland Project”. It was one of the only venues here to survive the pandemic due to its involvement with the music community and the community in general. I do argue that without playing there and immersing into the culture, that this band would either be very different, or just not exist in general. Some bands that we’ve become fans of and made friends out of would include: Summer Cannibals, Anapathic, Mess of Wires, and Carpool Tunnel.
4. How would you describe your style?
I would say our style is very diverse whilst still sticking to that rock and roll sound. It seems like at this point while I’m writing or when I’m writing with the band, we don’t even have to try to make things interesting and appeal to all of our fans and listeners. With all of our separate influences, it just comes naturally at this point!
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
So far we have released a self-titled EP giving a warm introduction to early songwriting in the band, but our upcoming album (which we have yet to announce formally! but will soon…) is really where we make a name for ourselves and our sound.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
Yes! Stay tuned! We just finished our recording process recently so now we are in the process of mixing and mastering it, but expect an announcement or single approaching in July.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
With all the COVID-19 stuff looking like it’s going to subside soon, we have started reaching out to venues and planning one off shows and a potential tour we never got due to the pandemic catching the band and the rest of the world by surprise early 2020.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
The plan is to never stop. We want as many people to hear our music as possible and make a living touring and recording. Our mission as a band is to bring Rock and Roll back into the mainstream media as we feel it’s been lost or rather blocked by other genres. I personally listen to everything from Dr. Dre to Slayer, but I think it’s time Rock and Roll bands had a chance in the spotlight it once had, and Split Persona’s goal is to lead that movement.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can listen to us on ANY streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, but we do sell merchandise and physical copies of our first EP on our website: Splitpersona.com
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
I want the listeners listening to our EP to know I started alone. We all did. I wrote those songs alone in my room and played all the instruments because I didn’t have anyone that could play my kind of music. I was 16 when I recorded this album with Darren who was 17, and we we’re just kids when we started. It CAN be done. If you have a dream and enjoy something and want to make a living out of it you can. I just want listeners of our music to know that.
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