An Interview with Carbonwire at Universal Bar & Grill

An Interview with Carbonwire at Universal Bar & Grill

I had the fantastic opportunity to autograph the band Carbonwire. I got to see them perform live at Universal Bar and Grill on February 8, 2025. Here is their interview below.

How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard your music before?
Kenny: We’re kinda like a grungy metal band…

Matt: To me, it’s a mix of metalcore, symphonic metal, and hard rock.

Tanner: I would describe our sound as a heavy mix between hard rock, metal, and 90s grunge.

What are some of your musical influences, and how do they shape your style?
Kenny: Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, the Beatles, Paul Gilbert and Incubus to name a few, we get some fast, weird melodies. It all comes from them…

Matt: As far as the band, all the heavy bands shape the rhythm and riffs. Pop music gives an emphasis on melody, and Devin Townsend inspires the sense of size. Personally, I love Disturbed, Nirvana, Breaking Benjamin – and a bunch of pop stuff. Nelly Furtado, Shania Twain, and Carrie Underwood were all on my iPod growing up. And Metallica.

Seth: My influences are Petra, Tool, Pax217, Nirvana, KISS, Motley Crue, and Helloween. Basically, Christian rock music gave me the tools I needed to create better drum fills and grooves but when I heard Tool, Kiss, Helloween and others while growing up it was like adding a little spice on the soup.

Are there any non-musical inspirations (such as art, books, or experiences) that influence your music?
Tanner: The main non-musical inspirations that shape my style would be from my life experiences of love and heartbreak.

Seth: There’s a book that I really love called the Summer of the Sea Serpent and it describes how two people go on adventures and face many challenges until they come face to face with the sea serpent, and I view it as me going through many challenges ahead as a musician but that time will come when I come face to face with a difficult challenge I have to complete.

Kenny: Probably video games/Scary Movies, love zombies and all things spooky….

Matt: My own life experiences and messages or stories I hear from others is the primary source of inspiration for the lyrics I write for the band.

What’s been your most memorable recording experience so far?
Matt: Recording our upcoming album “The Mark of Cain” live with the guys was an incredible and memorable experience. Being in the room with those guys, having our incredible engineer Mikal Reid helping us along, recording the whole record in two days was something I never want to forget.

Tanner: My favorite experience would be writing our newest album ‘Mark of Cain’ recording live sessions.

Kenny: Recording drums at Mike Reid’s studio…

What’s the best part of working with each other, and what makes your band unique?
Seth: We become unique by wearing ear monitors for us to hear each other, so we crank up loud and make notes after practice of what we liked and dislike and what we need to fix to become better.

Kenny: We’re pretty laid back, not afraid to accept ideas which makes working together incredibly easy, we all just try to stay in our lane and see what chaos we make.

Tanner: I’ve known these guys for years now since I moved out to Hollywood in late 2017 to go to Musicians Institute and have played with them in different projects as well. We’ve always gotten along with each other and have similar taste in music. Making music with them is like hanging out with your best friends/brothers. We’re not just a band, we’re a family.

Matt: We never know exactly how something is going to come out when we work on it together – it’s bigger than any of us, because it took all of us to make it. We all bring vastly different influences to the music, so it’s going to be unique by that nature.

What’s next for the band? Any upcoming projects, tours, or plans you’re excited about?
Tanner: We are about to drop our newest album ’The Mark of Cain’ and have a few shows coming up like our show on February 28th at Three Clubs in Hollywood, opening up for an amazing band called RivetSkull fronted by my very good friend Chad McMurray.

Seth: I’m excited about this band going on tour soon – don’t know when, but I know our time is coming.

Matt: We’re releasing our upcoming album “The Mark of Cain” this spring, and we’re really excited about it. It’s the heaviest, most emotional, most melodic material we’ve ever written. We’re extremely excited about showing these songs to you guys!

If each member of the band were a superhero, what would their superpowers be?
Kenny: Kenny would be Spiderman, Tanner would be Sabertooth, Matt would be Banshee, and Seth would be The Flash.

Seth: In my opinion, Matt would have the power of lightning, Tanner would have the power of earth, Kenny would have the power of air, and for me… I would have the power of fire.

Tanner: My superpower would be super strength slamming those bass strings haha. Matt would have a super sonic voice with his powerful vocals. Seth would have super speed with his double bass. And Kenny would have the ability of flight because he flies so high with his guitar harmonies.

Matt: Kenny would be flying. Seth would be super speed. Matt would be teleporting. And Tanner already has a superpower – he’s Sabretooth.

Who’s the funniest member of the band, and can you share a funny moment from a tour or rehearsal?
Tanner: That’s a good question! It would probably be a tie between Matt and I. We both love cracking random jokes at each other and ourselves. Honestly I can’t really think of a certain time or funny moment because we have so many funny moments while being with each other.

Matt: Kenny is by far the funniest member. He has a knack for saying ridiculous shit that that gets us all laughing, not to mention his atomic burps when we least expect it.

Kenny: I think I’m the funniest in the band, I guess you just have to be around for the shenanigans.

Seth: The funniest member would be Kenny. He loves to crack jokes. Matt would do his part by being funny too. One time in rehearsal, we were on break, but we heard someone talking too loud – then Matt suggested we say something out loud too. I shouted, “SHUT UP” then the response back was “thank you.”

(Interview and Photos by Denise Johnson)

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