What are your names?
Dino – Vocals & Guitar
Chris – Drums
Matt – Bass
Ryan – Guitar

What is the band’s name? 
Sages

How did you come up with the band’s name?
It was a word that was just floating around in my reality at the time. I [Dino] was studying a bunch of philosophy and history, spirituality, and things of that nature back then, and naturally the word “sage” or “sages” is going to come up in that world, whether it be in books or movies or whatever, but it came up from somewhere, I liked the word, thought it might be a cool band name, brought it up to the dudes, and they were down. That’s basically it. 

What is your genre of music?
Hard rock

Give us a little bio about you.
We all knew of each other for quite some time; at this point, I’d say decades, because we were all fans of each other’s bands from way back in the day when Matt was in Simon Says and Chris was in Far, but we all didn’t actually become friends until more recent years. In 2015, Ryan, Matt, and I wound up in Sages together, which was basically the beginning of the band, and that went on until 2018 when we decided to go on hiatus. When the three of us reconnected a couple years later in 2020, we asked Chris if he was down to drum with us, and the rest is history.

What made you go into music?
I think a big part of it, for all of us, was the influence or inspiration from family members and/or friends that were into it when we were kids. 

Who are your influences?
We’re each influenced by a pretty broad range of artists and genres, so, just to make sure I don’t miss anything on any of the other guys’ behalf, I’m just going to generalize it and say we’re all influenced by a lot of 90’s music and a lot of 80’s music. We all listen to stuff that spans numerous decades but I think that the influences from a lot of 90’s rock particularly is what comes through in our music. 

Are you signed?
No

You released your new single ‘Walk Away’, tell us more about the single and the meaning behind the song.
It’s about walking away from a situation you’re attached to and invested in, but know it just isn’t healthy for you. Nothing metaphorical or subliminal about it, just straight to the point.

Describe the track in two words.
I’d say they could all pretty much be summed up as “gross and greasy”, haha. No, I’m kidding…sort of, but there is a general approach in a lot of the songs where there’s spacey and ambient guitar parts that have heavy rhythm guitar riffs on top of them, and I’d describe a lot of those riffs as gross and greasy, but the songs also have a smoothness to them because of the drum grooves and the bass parts.

What was the writing and recording process like?
I’d usually just make a demo of a song at my home studio and send it to the guys. If they didn’t think it sucked we’d go to rehearsal and feel the song out, sometimes we’d change or add some things, and sometimes we’d just keep it as it was on the demo, but it would usually start with a demo. After we had a handful of songs down that were ready to be recorded, we went down to Southern CA and recorded all the drums, bass, and most of the guitars with our friend and producer, Beau Burchell. Then I took those instrumental tracks back home and tracked all the vocals at my home studio, along with some additional guitar parts, then I sent all the files back to Beau, he imported them all into the master session, and then he mixed it all together. That’s pretty much it. 

Who did you work with on the singles?
Beau Burchell. 

Will we see visuals for ‘ Walk Away’ and if so what can we expect from the creative process?
Eventually, yes. I have no idea what the result of that will be, if it’s going to be a full blown music video, a lyric video, a combination of the two, or what, but I’m sure we’ll eventually put out some kind of visual. 

Will we see an EP or Album and if so, what can we expect from the creative process?
I think we’re leaning more toward releasing a couple EP’s rather than a full length album. Since the majority of the songs have already been created and recorded, I can say that as far as the creative process went, it was exactly the way I described the writing and recording process a few Q&A’s back, however, there’s always a chance that we get to rehearsal next week and just kick out a new song together that we decide needs to be on the EP. Anything is possible. 

Do you have any live shows coming up?
We’re currently working on one with a pretty well-known guy on Tik Tok who’s throwing a massive shindig out in the middle of the desert in AZ. Should be an awesome time. I don’t have any official details just yet but we’ll definitely keep everyone posted via our social media.

What else can we expect in early 2023?
We’re definitely going to be putting out some more singles and other content for everyone. We may play some one-off shows, but no extensive touring or anything like that till at least the Fall. 

Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Hopefully on a beach in Santorini, or somewhere in the Amazon, drinking ayahuasca with some folks. 

What quote or saying do you always stick by?
The four agreements is a pretty solid place to start: 
1. Be impeccable with your word, 
2. Don’t take anything personally,
3. Don’t make assumptions,
4. Always do your best 

These are just four basic ways of being that I feel can change a person’s quality of life pretty drastically if understood and integrated. Being impeccable with your word is taking responsibility for what you say and being mindful of how words can affect people and therefore the world, and so it’s important to understand the power in speaking with integrity and the psychological freedom and possibilities that come with doing so. Plus I think it’s just a respectable quality for anyone to possess. Not taking anything personally is another great trait to develop and live by because not only does it require you to develop a strong sense of self, which is healthy and empowering, but it keeps predatory people from being able to poison you with their opinions. If you can be immune to the ways of these people, better mental and emotional health will most certainly result. Not making assumptions is another great trait to develop and live by because it’s easy to make an assumption and then right away believe it and feel it as if it’s the truth, when in reality, it may be false, and then the whole time we’re out acting and feeling as if it is true, and then we place blame on others, feelings get hurt, and we say things that aren’t exactly a reflection of being impeccable with our word, all for something that may not even be real in the first place. And last but not least, the fourth agreement is to always do your best. Always doing your best is one of my favorites, because as long as you do your best, you won’t have any regrets. No one can make you feel like you failed or you fell short, because at the end of the day, you did your best, and that’s all you can do.

When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
For me, personally, there’s two things that can’t be forgotten, and that’s batteries and tape. All of my guitars need batteries to work, so if the battery dies in one of the guitars and we don’t have any extras, it’ll definitely throw a wrench in the situation. When it comes to tape, obviously this is helpful for a lot of things at a gig, but for me, personally, it’s important because there’s been too many times where I’d bump the volume knob on my pedalboard while I’m on stage, or the mic cable or guitar cable somehow gets wrapped around the volume knob and turns it all the way down or all the way up, and then things just get messy really fast. Taping the volume knob down so it doesn’t move after soundcheck definitely prevents that from happening. Three other things I can’t forget but usually do? A sharpie, a change of clothes, and some snacks.

Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Facebook
Instagram