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Honest Iago
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What are your names and what instruments do you play? Hunter: Hunter Knight, Hunter Knight. Bass, backing vocals, and if yelling at the sound guy is an instrument, I play that too. Craig: Craig Vermeyen, I drum and sing backup and some lead. I also play a bit of trumpet (thank you high school marching band). Nick: Nick Norton, I play guitar, keys, and a little sax and backing vocals, and do some other things. We all kind of switch roles when we need to for something.
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How did you come up with your band name?
Matt: I took a course on Shakespeare’s later works. And a play that we studied in depth was Othello. For some reason I really liked the character of Iago, not like he was a nice guy or anything but he was interesting. There really isn’t another character like him in any other Shakespeare play really, he is the only villain that you are never told why he is such a prick, for all the reader knows he was just born that way. Anyhow, Othello constantly calls Iago by his pet name “Honest Iago”, where ironically the whole play Iago is anything but Honest. I liked this whole being something you aren’t, and I wanted to start a punk band that wasn’t a punk band. I wanted the ethic, the angst, and the chords of a punk rock band but I wanted it to sound huge, almost soundtrack-esque sort of a punk band that would fit in the orchestra pit of some Broadway musical. I was listening to a lot of Say Anything and Alkaline Trio at the time so I thought having this dark storytelling grandiose sounding punk band would be a lot of fun. I mean like Honest Iago we are a punk band that doesn’t sound like a punk band a lot of the time.
Who or what band has the most influence on your song writing and why?
Matt: As for writing music wise I would have to say, Say Anything for me, being able to put seven songs into one is pretty fun, and lyrically I try to be as smart as Conor Oberst but that really isn’t possible, but I try.
Nick: I try to take inspiration from all kinds of stuff…not just music, but books, art, movies, people…really wherever it comes from. Musically my taste is all over the place, I grew up listening to a lot of punk and hardcore but over the last few years it’s been a lot of post rock, noise, and modern classical. Basically Matt writes really catchy songs and I take them and try to see where else we can take them, and whether that is something structural, or with instrumentation, or some changing harmony, or how it relates to other songs or whatever really depends on the song. So yeah, what influences the way any individual song develops for me could be from anywhere, it just depends on what will work best or add something substantial to it.
Hunter: I'm definitelty coming from the heavier end of the spectrum when it comes to influence and background. Before joining the band I was way into metalcore, along the lines of Norma Jean, As I Lay Dying, and All That Remains. Since then I've leveled off and tried to incorporate aspects of the music I listen to more nowadays, such as Minus the Bear and Silversun Pickups.
Craig: I’m usually only called on in the bottom of the ninth to bring a catchy lyrical pattern that jives well with the spirit of the song. I was recently amazed by the lyrical ingenuity expressed by Phoenix on their new album, and I’m starting to try and experiment a bit more with eclectic patterns that are still catchy and fun.
In the next 5 yrs where do you each see the band going?
Hunter: I can't imagine where would be 5 years from now, in terms of our sound, or our level of success. The band has evolved so much in terms of the kind of show we put on; even the songs themselves have evolved over time into near-unrecognizability. I hope that we can continue to build on and refine some of the unique things we do, both live and recorded, to the point where fans of all different genres can appreciate what we're about.
Matt: Honest Iago the Musical! But seriously a musical would be pretty great.
Nick: More music, more collaborations. It’s great to play a lot of shows and have a big fan base, but I just want to be able to keep writing together and coming up with interesting music to play. These guys are my best friends and I think they’d all say the same, so working on stuff together is great and while it’d be amazing to be able to make a career out of it, if we don’t manage to but still play together and enjoy it and write music we believe in then I’ll be happy.
Craig: Yeah, I just hope we all have time for music in our lives in five years. I’ll always be writing so it would be great to have an outlet to perform it through.
If you could open up for any band right now, which would it be?
Craig: It doesn’t really make sense musically but I’d love to open for Radiohead in hopes of convincing Thom Yorke (and/or the Greenwoods) to collaborate with us on a song or two. I think that would go interesting places…
Nick: I second that.
Matt: Bright Eyes or Say Anything.
Nick: Those two would be rad. I think if we opened up for Alkaline Trio people would dig it. Too bad Refused is kind of out of the question. And we should really do something with Misc. Ailments again, those guys are awesome.
Hunter: Ever since I saw Boy Sets Fire play live, I've wanted to emulate that level of on-stage energy, because that performance turned me from a luke-warm fan to a big fan. I think playing on the same stage as them would get me amped like nothing else.
How do you describe your sound?
Matt: If Matt Skiba and Max Bemis had punk rock babies.
Nick: …and those babies traveled the west in a station wagon made to look futuristic…this one is always tough. Someone on a blog somewhere said it was like Rise Against with better instrumentation…I’m totally happy with that for our first record.
Hunter: Punk-influenced Indie rock.
Craig: A post-modern apocalyptic transcendental expedition across time and space.
Is there anything that you would like to change about the local San Diego music scene?
Craig: More eclectic shows. I know I find I like a new genre of music every time I see a show with different kinds of bands playing.
Hunter: I think my complaints would be similar in a lot of cities; it's really upsetting to see very generic bands that aren't even trying to do something different, and in fact are trying hard to do the opposite, have more success than ones that are genuinely trying to do something interesting. I also can't stand when a local radio host has their "homeboys" that they like to bring on the radio all the time just to kick it in the studio. I know it sounds like a bit of sour grapes, because I wouldn't be so mad if we were in that position, but I do feel like the San Diego music scene would be better served by helping people get to know more bands that are pushing their music in interesting directions.
Matt: It is very inbred, which makes for awesome side projects of bands, but for smaller bands to break into the casbah scene it can be difficult if you don’t know whose hands you have to shake.
Nick: There are some great people and bands here doing great music, but a lot of people seem to care more about being in the scene and running in that crowd than actually listening to anything new. Not us in particular, but it’d be awesome if people would go see bands they’ve never heard of, come early enough to watch openers, stuff like that. That’s what makes a great scene, not showing up five minutes before a headliner and leaving immediately afterwards, but actually being open to new bands and new music and being honest about what you like.
Any big news items that are on the horizon?
Nick: Well we released our first full length, Straight On ‘Til Morning, on itunes and amazon and all those pretty recently, so that’s big news for us. It got a review on PunkNews.org, and we’re supposed to be in the next issue of AMP Magazine, so that’s cool. Someday we’ll press physical copies too. And we’re writing some new stuff already, which is always really exciting.
What is the biggest thing about the band that you want to improve?
Matt: A more organized recording method.
Nick: Scheduling in general. This would probably go with what Matt said. Two of us are in school, one has one of those “real job” things, and I’m a three hour drive away and working on moving back to SD, so having a regular practice schedule and booking shows is tough right now. It’ll get better.
Hunter: Definitely how often we get to meet-up. The shows are soooo much better when we've had an abundance of time to improve chemistry and experiment with interesting variations that will make that show special.
Any last words?
Matt: We have not yet begun to fight.
Nick: And it’s been nearly five years! And come see us with Nothington and Breaker Breaker One Niner on January 22!
Craig: …at the Radio Room.
Hunter: Thanks for having us!
Make sure to check out Honest Iago's newest record here:http://www.honestiago.com/?page_id=278
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