Interview

Dmitri Zaderetsky
Yerks
Composition 106 Section 19
10 March 2010
Profile Paper
For my interview I chose a friend who was in a local band, which has extensive knowledge of music. His name is Kars Peterson, he is eighteen years of age, and has a very unique personality. We both agreed upon meeting in a café for some coffee while participating in this interview, and he was glad to help. He stands at a solid five feet, eleven inches, sporting an athletic body type. His current hair is cut very short and is a light shade of brown. He chooses to alternate between wearing contacts and thick, black-rimmed glasses. His clothing style is made up of band t-shirts, and tight woman’s jeans; a very interesting fact is that he does not own any pants made for males.
He is a very fit individual physically, but that only makes up part of an individual, his psyche is important as well. In response to several questions, I have been able to find out that he has grown up in the city of Livonia, located in Michigan. He has one younger sibling, which is a sister the age of sixteen. While growing up he did not get along with her, but now that he is getting ready to set off for college, he regrets never settling his differences, and is now trying to make up for the time lost. His father is a police officer for Detroit that has recently retired, and now he tends to share his stories of being on duty to Kars and his friends. Their family attends a Christian church every Sunday, which shows a true commitment. He is finishing the last year of High School this June, and plans to further his education at Michigan Tech, although the current career remains undecided. Currently, he works at Kroger’s, enjoys swimming competitively, playing videogames, and most of all, music.
The musician Kars has talent in playing piano, guitar, and his favorite instrument, the electric bass. He has been playing bass for almost five years now, and plans to continue playing no matter where life takes him. He was in a local band called Cita’s Wings, which played heavy metal music mixed with a vocal style similar to Metallica. Their group played at several different venues around the Livonia area, including some as far as East Lansing. He explained that the group came together when word around school was that they were looking for a talented bassist, which he was more than glad to fill the position. The music he listens to ranges from Ska, with bands such as Streetlight Manifesto, to techno such as Angerfist, and all the way to heavy metal, a group he is particularly fond of is Between the Buried and Me. Kars claims it is very important for people to listen to as many different styles as possible, because it widens their view and ideas for music. His band released one CD, and was working on a second one, but after several months of practice and hard work, it became evident that Kars and the drummer had far too many things to focus on such as school, work, and sports, that there was not enough time for Cita’s Wings. There are many fond memories he shares with his band mates, and “would love to get back up on that stage to blast some funky beats”, but for now there are more important things he must do. Kars believes he will find a band to play with on campus, and even though they might not become famous, he still loves the thrill of playing live and writing music.
When asked about his views on piracy of music, he responded that it is wrong to steal music, but it is so common in today’s life, that it’s becoming the main way people find new bands to listen to, and thus is important. In his opinion, once people begin downloading a band’s albums, the music is being heard more often, and begins to spread throughout the world, until the group is noticed and given a big break to truly let their voices be heard. It’s not easy selling CD’s for a local band that few people has heard about, he says live shows provide the crowd with a taste of what the group is working toward, but with a lack of high end equipment and a studio, the process is very hard.