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Counterfit is a San Diego-based band that is shaking up listeners from coast to coast! Read on..and learn their secrets on touring successfully, recording inexpensively, and keeping rock alive on the west coast!

Lying In Traffic Tab - LISTEN!

This riff is contagious! Strum it hard to achieve the full cutting effect!

1. Harm. - This is an abbreviation for natural harmonic. Lightly place your fingers directly over the frets to bring out the harmonics.
   
   
2. 6/4 Time - There are six beats in each measure.

Check out other Counterfit songs..
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San Diego has been a hotbed for musical activity in recent years. Bands like Drive Like Jehu, The Locust, Rocket From the Crypt, Black Heart Procession, and Counterfit have piqued interest in music bred from this laid-back, coastal city. While Counterfit may have developed their sound in Connecticut, the transition and integration into San Diego's current music scene could hardly have been more natural.

They released their debut EP, On the Downside, on Alphabet Records in 1999. Today they have established themselves as one of the premier bands to see in California, because of the intensity of their live show as well as their unique and versatile sound.

Their first full-length endeavor, Super Amusement Machine For Your Exciting Heart was met with critical praise as well as anticipation from the fan base they have built through their rigorous touring schedule. They remain one of the most downloaded indie bands on MP3.com.

Access Rock: Did you produce your latest album Super Amusement Machine For Your Exciting Heart?

Adam: No, we actually produced it with the same guy that produced our previous EP. It was our first full-length [album] and we weren't sure, at the beginning, what we wanted to do. We chose Ben Moore who is a local San Diego producer and is getting really well known because he has put out some great stuff from Rock From The Crypt and Hot Snakes. We decided to go with him because the five songs that he did on our EP turned out really good, and he has an excellent ear for recording drums and guitar.

Access Rock: It sounds really kickin'! It sounds quite a bit different from your EP. The recording quality, the riffs, guitar sounds. What would you attribute that to?

Adam: I think a bunch of factors play into it. We're not disappointed with the sound of the EP, but I think on the first record we had a lot more hurdles to get over as far as time and budget restrictions. The first record we decided to do at this studio in San Diego called Big Fish. It was expensive and we were nervous because it was the first thing we had ever done. We didn't have a lot of time to mix. Those factors played into us just having to get something out in time for the release date.

The full-length, with Ben, we recorded at a bunch of different studios. We recorded the drums in L.A., overdubs in a studio in San Diego, and we mixed in a different studio.

Access Rock: Was that in people's bedrooms?

Adam: No. We went to small studios that you could say aren't official. They still had two-inch tape machines, big [mixing] boards, and separate rooms. We did a lot of the things that we didn't necessarily have to spend a thousand dollars a day for like throwing mics on guitar cabinets and recording parts. We went to cheaper places which let us spend more time and fine tune stuff at the end.

Access Rock: Did you record to two-inch [tape machine]?

Adam: There was nothing digital except for the mastering. We recorded to two-inch and mixed down to half-inch. We're not completely closed-minded to doing anything digital, it's just that we worked with Ben Moore on both records and he's a big analog guy.

Access Rock: That's great. I think you can definitely tell. Especially in the guitar sounds.

Adam: We're totally happy with those guitars! We want to expand..I'm not sure what everybody is going to want to do on the next record as far as guitar tones. I know we're going to try to expand things as far as using different guitars.

Access Rock: You got a lot more creative on the full-length with all of the guitar parts. You're distorted sounds are super tight!

Adam: Actually, we only used three amplifiers on that whole record. I would have a specific guitar part and the other guitarist, Dan, would have a different guitar part. I would take my [Gibson] SG and record my part through a Fender Bassman. Then, I would take my Les Paul Studio and use my [Marshall] JCM 800 and record the same part with that tone. So we ended up having four main guitar tracks for me and Dan. Ben just mixed them together so well that they just sound awesome.

Access Rock: How long has the band been together?

Adam: We've been together now a little over three years in San Diego. Counterfit was actually together in Connecticut when I wasn't in it. I've lived in California longer than my brother..my brother Mark is in the band by the way. I moved to San Diego when I was eighteen. My brother is four years younger than me so it took him a few extra years to get on out here. When he had come out, Counterfit was already put together back East, but with a bunch of members that didn't want to move out. We just changed the band completely when Mark came out here.

The first year in San Diego for the band was tough because the scene really kind-of died right when everybody made the decision to come out here. The scene was doing well primarily because there was one main club, as far as punk venues, where they gave local bands a chance. That place unfortunately was shut down and it really hurt the scene. Right when we started in San Diego, the scene was in the repairing process as far as bands trying to put together shows at the teen centers. We stuck it out. It's been three years since then and now there are six new venues in San Diego.

Access Rock: Getting back to the recording..what important lessons did you learn while recording your first EP?

Adam: We definitely learned a lot of lessons. I think that it is a given that you need to be prepared when you go into the studio, but I think the more preparation as far as pre-production, the better. I guess people don't really like to go in and refine stuff, but when we're writing stuff for a record, we like to get a song down the way we like it and then bring it in to the studio. I think it really helps to record the song yourself or inexpensively to figure out every wall you're going to come to or every part you need to spice up. All the kinds of decisions that you need to make in the studio are really good to think about beforehand. We're really big into trying to produce things as much as we can ourselves, so that when we go in with a producer or engineer we can let them know the way we want things to come out.

Access Rock: So you're working out guitar parts and getting an idea of what kind of sounds you're going to use?

Adam: Exactly. We don't necessarily get to play with all of the equipment that we are going to have access to in the studio. When a band plays a song live, everything you need to hear is there. But when your songs goes on tape, parts sound hollow and you need to add new things.. like a third guitar part super super light in the background. The less decisions you have to make while you're on the clock, the better.

In our two past recording experiences, we really haven't had the adequate amount of time we would have liked to write the songs. We're taking a lot more time to come up with a larger amount of songs..say like fifteen or twenty and then pick ten that are right for the album.

Access Rock: You've done four U.S. tours. Did you book all of the shows yourselves and were they promoted well?

Adam: The last two were primarily booked by us and a booking agency called Overdue Booking. It worked out well and it has been minimal promotion. We don't have a large amount of money behind us when we go out on tour. We have a band fund that we try to be wise with. We'll try to set up the shows so that the drives aren't too long. We get a descent guarantee from the clubs. Guarantees are hard to get on the weeknights, especially if your band isn't known in that city. [Editors note: a guarantee is a guaranteed payment for a show no matter how many people come to the show]. We try to put it together and make sure that we have some contacts in the cities where we are playing. A lot of times we are out on tour playing a place we've never been, and we don't know anybody in the city. But, those strangers have been super cool about letting us stay at their place.

Access Rock: Do you set up your tours with other bands?

Adam: Yah, the very first tour we went out with a band called Tsunami Bomb..they're from the Bay area. That was a five-week tour and we did the whole thing with them. The second tour we did with a band called Benton Falls on Deep Elm records. That was one of our favorite tours, by far. They're really great guys and we love their music. The third tour we were more by ourselves, but we met up with bands that we had met on previous tours and played little stints in their area. It was a really good way to do it because your band is on it's own, can get a guarantee easier, and is able to support itself on tour. It's a lot harder with a package [2 or more bands that play the same venue] sometimes.

Access Rock: So how did you know the bands in all of those different areas?

Adam: Every band that we met up with on tour has been from previous tours. Obviously, the first time that we went out, we were depending on that band Tsunami Bomb's crowd. We would also meet bands on the tour and end up corresponding with them. So, we would call those bands up and say, "We're booking another tour in your town, can you help us with a show?". It's really cool to see the work pay off after you've been on four tours. There are certain hot spots where we have a fan base, and we started with nothing. Places in Florida, Virginia, Texas, Salt Lake City..some of these key places where kids have been so cool and we've come back and had really good shows. It's funny because we live two hours away from L.A. and that's one of the places that we've played the least. It's a weird scene up there. We played a few shows in L.A. and it's not like any other time you'll play on tour. It's such a weird pot of actors, musicians, entertainment people. You play a show there and you'll be on the same show with some weird, wanna-be Radiohead band and a Rap-core Metal band.

Access Rock: You have a long list of college radio stations that have played your album. How did you get on their playlists?

Adam: Seth Hyman, the guy that runs our label, Negative Progression, wanted to promote our new album when it came out. He went with this company, Mcgaffe Promotions. I don't know much about how they work, but they push our music on college radio stations. Seth paid Mcgaffe for a campaign, and they hit up almost every college radio station in the country and submit your song. Your song gets added to the station's playlist, and based on the response, it stays or goes. At the financial level that our label is at, it wasn't possible to keep paying Mcgafee forever. It did help us because we did a tour right after this campaign. We played a lot of colleges, too. We're making good decisions for our band it's just at a small level right now.

Access Rock: How has your music changed from the time you were in Connecticut?

Adam: That's a good question. It was based much more on punk. It had a very fast, new-schoolish, punk sound. We've always been into technical music, but back then Counterfit was really about doing technical music fast and writing it well. I say that now like we had it planned, but we were just playing it to have fun. When Counterfit moved out to California, it changed for the better. It's just a reflection of how everybody has matured musically. We've never tried to force anything. It's still changing now and that's just the natural progression.

Access Rock: It's funny that you started out as this fast, pop-punk band. I can't imagine what you guys must have sounded like!? (laughs)

Adam: We've followed the same progression that our peers have. You're young and into punk music and eventually you slightly outgrow it and you move to more indie-ish punk. That's the way I've seen a lot of other people move, and it's the way we moved as a band. We just wanted to get rid of the super-fast drums in every song that pop-punk has.

Access Rock: You probably wanted to vary the harmony too, right?

Adam: We were all fans of bands like NOFX, No Use For a Name, and like all of the Fat Wreck Records type of bands. A lot of those punk bands were edgy and fast, but they had really good harmonies and writing. That's what we were really into..we didn't want to write a song that was mindless. We wanted to really think about the changes and bridges and work out cool guitar stuff.

Access Rock: Are you the lefty in the band or is Dan the lefty?

Adam: I am lefty and my brother, who plays the drums, is a lefty. Our singer/bass player, Justin, is a lefty. It's very odd. People don't even notice sometimes because Dan, the only right-handed guitar player, looks like he's out-of-place.

Access Rock: How do you and Dan come up with guitar parts that work well together?

Adam: Our songwriting usually begins with someone coming up with the shell for a song. This is just one guitar part that is based on the root note of the song. A lot of us work on the computer. We've done a lot of corresponding via email..writing a song, recording it into the computer and sending the file. A little work has been done before we bring the song to practice.