Max Krzeminski sat down with members of Interim, a finalist for the SGA Battle of the Bands competition, ahead of the final competition. The band consists of Liam Keck, Emma Burtnett, Ian Hoffman and Garrett Mappin.
Krzeminski: Why did you decide to participate in the Battle of the Bands?
Keck: One of the first things that actually made us interested in starting a band in the first place was when we went to the SGA Battle of the Bands two years ago. We thought it was super cool. Ian, Garrett and I had already talked about maybe forming a band before that, but it took a lot of convincing for me. That’s the story of how our band came to be, but now that we do have a band we thought it would be cool to participate in the Battle of the Bands.
Burtnett: It’s kind of our last year as a band too. They’re all [everyone besides Burtnett] going to graduate. So we thought we might as well do it this year.
Krzeminski: Can you explain the name of your band?
Burtnett: When we started our band, we knew names were so important and cool, but we decided that a name had to come about organically and we needed to have that “aha” moment. We spent months practicing before we had our first show. For weeks we just hung out a lot and did fun things, but nothing was working. We couldn’t come up with anything.
Keck: I said one day, “It’s okay, we can come up with an interim name for right now,” and we kind of just kept with that.
Krzeminski: What inspires you to make music and perform?
Keck: It’s fun. We are all musical people, we listened to a lot of music growing up and had experience playing instruments. It’s something at college that’s not just taking classes and doing homework. It’s also something most people don’t really have a chance to do.
Burtnett: It’s also easier to have a band in college because there are bars and places to play at. I think lots of people have always wanted to be in a band. If I could, I would just be in a band forever and never have a real job.
Krzeminski: What does music mean to you?
Burtnett: Music is very crucial to my life. It’s probably what I’m most interested in. … I listen to music basically while I do everything. It helps me destress.
Keck: Music to me is one of those things that is just so human. Music and art generally are so universal and I think that’s why so many people relate to it and enjoy it. Most of my meaningful experiences are related to music.
Krzeminski: Why do you think you deserve to win?
Burtnett: I feel like it’s hard to say before performing because I really want whoever puts on the best show to win. I feel like we’ve come a long way as a band and we’ve also been together as a band for a long time now. It would be really fun to win since this is kind of our last go at it.
Keck: We put in the work, but we still have fun and we’re going to do what we think people will enjoy. The final competition will be held Nov. 13 from 7 to 11 p.m. at Druid City Music Hall. Individual tickets are $10 and can be purchased on the SGA’s Facebook and Instagram pages or at the venue. Online ticket orders can be picked up in the SGA office in the Student Center Nov. 6-8 from noon to 5 p.m.
