Interview with Sight Unscene
Friday, February 22nd, 2008 
1. 1st off is there anything you would like to say about the band?
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Mike: Definitely, to all of those who have never heard of us, we are Sight Unscene from San Diego, CA. We’re a 4 piece hard rock / metal band, started in 04, w/ this current lineup for 2 yrs. I’d like to introduce the band: Anthony Dedrick on vocals / bass, Tony (NoTime) LaMarra on lead guitar, John Jackson on drums, & myself Mike Halsdorff on guitar.2. What are your favorite bands and how have they influenced your music?
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Anthony: If anyone has ever seen my right arm they would know Metallica is #1 in my book, Killswitch Engage is right up there, System, Pantera, Avenged 7X, Trivium, Mastodon, & Mudvayne. Chad Gray is one of my bigger singing influences. After I heard the first 2 Mudvayne CD’s I always wanted to be able to sing & scream like him. But it was Metallica that made me want to pick up a guitar. James Hetfield is right up there next to that one guy in my books, what’s his name…OH YEAH, God.
Tony: Lots of metal bands including: Metallica, Pantera, Staind, Avenged 7X, All that Remains, AIC, System, Slayer, Bullet for My Valentine, Thrice…any guitar driven music interests me. Dimebag got me to start playing & influenced my style the most; both Hetfield & Hammett, Hendrix, SRV, and some newer ones like Dragonforce have impacted me as well.
John: First and foremost Mudvayne, As I Lay Dying, Metallica, Bullet for My Valentine, Killswitch, Deftones. A lot of those bands have technical drummers and I strive to play at the same level as they do while trying to keep a sense of originality.
Mike: No question about it, Metallica, but lots of others are very close: Staind, Stone Sour, Flaw, System, AIC, Killswitch, GNR, Mudvayne, maybe some Phil Collins. Metallica is the reason I picked up a guitar but when I write, I play what sounds good to my ears, I really try to not sound too much like the bands I like, but subconsciously those influences come through in my style, sometimes when I’m stuck I think, what would Hetfield or Mushok or Cantrell write for this part.
3. What got you into music, how long you’ve been writing music?
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Tony: My dad got me to start playing the piano when I was 6, guitar wise I was 18, that’s when I started writing my own shit, even though it might not have been very good at the time….
Mike: Metallica’s black album was what got me into harder music when I was younger, then it was those 1st and 2nd records by Staind, Godsmack, & SOAD, those blew me away. I’ve been writing my own stuff for about 7yrs now, the very first song I ever finished back in 01′ called Neglect actually ended up on our first record.
4. How has being a music artist improved your life?
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Anthony: I have always been pretty shy and reserved and being a musician has really helped me to come out of my shell. I feel like I get to express myself in a way I was never able to before joining a band. When you get on stage you get to become another person. I’m still pretty shy offstage but I’m working on that!
5. Did you start playing music with any other instruments?
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Anthony: I started off playing guitar in Jr. High. I was actually looking for a band to play guitar in when I met these guys. They needed a bass player, I really liked their sound, we had a lot of the same musical influences so I figured “Hey, it’s 2 less strings, how hard could it be?” A year into it I started singing, so there have been a few changes for me.
Mike: I started out by attempting to play the drums while I was in college, turned out to be just too much of a hassle lugging gear around, plus I lived in an apt. so it just didn’t make much sense, I picked up my roommate’s guitar one day & seemed to get better at it in a few months than I was at playing drums & I had been playing those damn things for 2 years…….
6. Is there a story behind the band name?
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Mike: We had a few different names for awhile in 04′-05′, but we weren’t satisfied with them. I heard on a TV show or radio about someone being sold on something sight unseen, thought that would be a cool name, looked it up, no one else had it, changed the spelling slightly, & everyone liked it, plus it was kind of tongue in cheek cause at that time we were sight unseen, no one knew who we were.
7. Whats the biggest show you’ve played?
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Tony: The Roxy in Hollywood for nostalgia sake, our CD release show cause it has sentimental value…
John: The Roxy because it was the most energy I’ve felt coming from the crowd, a packed house, it was the most fun I’ve personally ever had playing a live show.
Anthony: Our CD release show or the Roxy, both shows were packed & the crowd response was sensational. I remember the Roxy show being one of the 1st times the crowd was singing louder than I was, most amazing feeling ever.
Mike: The Roxy was it, never had an audience go nuts like that before we ever played a note, that shit was incredible, CD release show close 2nd, just because of what it meant, we finally finished that damn CD…
9. OK, because Im a car guy as well, I gotta ask whats your dream car and what do you drive now?
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Tony: Current: Toyota Tacoma, dream car…I would build my own dream car from the ground up….. show room car would a McClaren F1…
10. Whats your favorite movie/ tv show?
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Anthony: My all time favorite movie is Happy Gilmore, that movie was comedic gold! If you don’t think that was the best movie ever, I will fight you!
John: My favorite TV show is CSI, the original one, no Miami bullshit….
11. What are some of your favorite foods and drinks?
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John: For food, Lasagna hands down…
Mike: As far as a drink goes I think I can speak for all of us when I say that Jagermiester is our alcoholic beverage of choice, maybe some Jameson as well for me but only on special occasions, if that shit doesn’t get you drunk I don’t know what will…
12. Have you or your fans gotten hurt in a mosh pit?
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Anthony: I’m getting hurt every 5 minutes, never at one of our shows but I’ve had my fair share of beatings in the pits. I got punched in the face at a Flaw show, got kicked in the back of the knee & stomped on at a Trivium show, awesome show though, almost worth it! As for our fans I don’t think anyone has been hurt bad. We must not rock hard enough!!!
Tony: I shattered my arm in a mosh pit at Ozzfest in 05.
13. What is something that you think everyone should try?
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14. Now I gotta ask, how did you find our site and what do you like about it?
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Mike: I found out about your site from Eli on myspace, decided to check it out, & thought it might be a good way to promote the band, so I registered, uploaded a few songs, it was very easy to use & the whole process of setting up our band page only took a few minutes. I hope it continues to grow and helps support and spread the word about unsigned bands and their music.
15. What other bands have you played with?
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John: We’ve played with Diecast, Mower, Ekotren, Evolocity, & plenty of great San Diego bands including Etched in Red & Discord…..
16. What is the greatest experience you’ve had so far?
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John: Shooting the video for Atrium was a really good experience and an exciting time for the band.
17. What is one of the biggest challenge you’ve had to face?
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Mike: Recording & producing our first album was a huge challenge, we were all new to the studio & due to $$$ constraints, we recorded it piecemeal over the course of 2 years, became this fucking huge ordeal, way over budget, way behind schedule, it was one of the most frustrating yet at the same time rewarding experiences of my life.
18. Have you ever forgotten lines to a song during a show? How did you cope?
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Anthony: I haven’t ever really forgotten the lyrics, per say, but on several occasions I’ve sang the 2nd verse in place of the 1st one or vise-versa. I don’t know if anyone else noticed so I’m ok with it. Lol. If I ever do forget I’ll just throw in a “WOO!!!” and that seems to work just fine!
19. Who is the craziest fan you’ve had?
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Tony: My girlfriend….but in a crazy good way….
John: This guy who contacted us on myspace…he sent us a bunch of messages everyday telling us how to do business with our band, change our logo, and make us his logo, etc.
20. Do you have any hobbies outside of playing music?
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John: I do love some video games……
Mike: After music it’s definitely snowboarding……
Tony: Outside of playing the guitar I really only play video games…
Anthony: Watching sports and tattoos…….
21. Do you have plans to tour in the future?
John: I would really enjoy that and if we can get something planned I would be more than willing to drop everything and go out on tour….
Tony: I sure as hell hope so, I would love to go on tour…that would definitely rank pretty high up there for me.
22. How about an album?
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Mike: We got one!!! We released our first full length album last August, it’s titled Devils in the Details, has 13 songs on it including Atrium, Until Forever, & Disarray, it’s available at any of our live shows and for download on our myspace music store www.myspace.com/sightunscene . We also just finished a video for Atrium, you can check it out on our site or on youtube. As for future recordings, we are almost finished writing the songs for our 2nd record, looking to get into the studio this summer to begin work on it
Now that you’ve read what they have to say Check Em’ out Here

1.) What bought you guys into music and how long have you been writing