Local Band Interview by Erilyn Daly: Subject Untitled

Band: Subject Untitled
Upcoming Show: Friday June 25th at The First Bapstist Church Ft. Worth
Management: The Sherrill Agency

I’ve got a super special little article here for you guys, because it’s not an article, it’s an interview!! OH SNAP. That’s right, the first ever Hot Topic DFW Facebook Fanpage interview, and you all get to be a part of it. This is a special moment, and I want you all to savor it; I know I will.

Alright, sappiness over. I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Cothren, the lead singer of the band Subject Untitled. Now Subject Untitled has a show coming up today, that you need to checkout!! It’s at the First Baptist Church of Ft. Worth and it’s crazy cheap (only $7), so you HAVE to go. Plus, after reading this interview, you’ll wanna go out and support them even more. This band is really a bunch of Good Ole’ Boys making diggable, relatable tunes. They don’t want to be rockstars, they just want to reach out and touch people with their music. They have a very rock feel to them and I would probably compare them to a band like Papa Roach.

Q: So what’s the message behind your name?? Are you looking for a title of the band or will this project forever and always be “Subject Untitled?”
A: Well actually that band name has a lot of meaning to it. The bass player’s father passed away and he had a dream where his father told him to start a band and call it Subject Untitled. We didn’t really question it. Since we’ve gotten that name, I think our drummer went and looked up the meanings of the words. Subject is “to be under the rule of the sovereign one,” and Untitled is “to carry no name, as in ability.” So, it does have a meaning to it.

Q: What is your most recent CD releases or singles?
A: Right now we have a four song EP out, and we’ve released one of the songs, Lost Souls, to the radio stations, but we’re still working on trying to get our actual first official full-length CD together. It’s just hard. A lot of us have families, we’re trying to do gigs and live our normal lives while trying to make enough money to get into the studio. So, we just go in as we can afford it, and do a song.

Q: So do you only perform those four songs live?
A: No. We’ve got, I’m not sure how many songs, about 15. We usually play about 10 to 12 of them each show and there’s a few that we rotate in and out.

Q: Do you guys have any pre-show rituals?
A: Not really. We just show up, get the gear and hangout.

Q: What is your favorite thing about performing live?
A: For me, I’ve been through a lot in my life and my lyrics have a lot of meaning in them. That’s what I enjoy: Getting my message out to people and hearing their reactions. That people hear my words and respond to them, as a lyricist and a singer, that’s why I do what I do. I’m not in it for the whole rockstar lifestyle. I’m in it to reach people.

Q: What is the craziest thing that’s happened at a show (any broken bones?)
A: Once we played in Alvarado at a rodeo arena, and we already felt weird, and we get set up, and the first song we played, we blew the electricity out.

Q: What’s the farthest you’ve toured? Got any tour plans coming up?
A: We’re big family guys. I personally have five kids and am about to remarry, so we’re trying to ease into touring a little. We did go to Nashville in April for a week and we played SXSW (South By Southwest) down in Austin, back in March. (Which just happens to be my very favorite thing to do all year.)

Q: What’s your favorite venue that you’ve played at? Is there a venue you dream of playing?
A: I would probably say Curtain Club. It’s just a good place to play; sound is always good, setup is good, plus it’s a well known place to play. I know that Trees has opened up in Dallas and I’d like to play there. I know we’ve also talked about playing at House of Blues; just the idea of playing somewhere bigger, to a bigger crowd, because I feed off the energy. Even though I’ve always been kind of nervous and shy about being onstage and being the lead singer, it’s weird, the more people I have the better I do, although you’d think it’d be the opposite.

Q: How would you describe your live performance and what can someone expect to experience when watching you guys live?
A: I would say just a lot of passion. There’s a lot of emotion behind the music. I think you know that’s the main thing to me. The music has got something behind it—it’s emotional. You know, we have a lot of songs that have a lot of energy, but we also have songs that are slow and just very personal. So, the biggest thing to expect would be good music.

Q: What’s your favorite song to perform live and why?
A: Well, I would say our slowest song. It’s my daughter’s favorite song, called “Touch Me.” I don’t carry myself as a religious person, but I was raised that way, and Touch Me is a song I wrote. I’ve been divorced twice and was living on my own with my kids (I’ve got custody of them.) One night I found myself fixing to go to bed, and I started worrying about everything and how to take care of them financially. At that point I start writing this song. It’s me calling out to God and asking him just to let me know that he’s there. In my mind and my heart I know he is, but it’s just a song of me crying out to Him.

Q: Anything else to say about your live performance?
A: My main thing is reaching people, and meeting people. I don’t want people to think that we’re untouchable, you know? I want to talk to people and I want them to know that it’s not just about being in a band for me. It’s about reaching people, and that we can have a real relationship; they’re not just fans to me.

Q: Now, I understand you guys just released a music video, what’s the meaning behind the video and the song?
A: The idea of the news flashes and the character being frustrated comes from these days when you turn on the news and it’s always something bad. The character is just frustrated because he sees this world that could be so much better, and he sees all this negativity and all this violence, all the things that are going wrong, and it’s frustrating to him. The song, Lost Souls, is talking about all the violence and all the bad things that come from us. What we say, what we do, how we treat each other. It’s just talking about all the things that men are doing that are making the world the way it is.

Q: What did you enjoy most about making the video?
A: I think it was enjoyable to know I was getting the opportunity to do something that I’ve never done before. It also allowed me to get out of my shell again. Having that camera in front of me, by myself, and having to act out what I was doing felt kind of awkward at first, but there was some satisfaction when it was done. Because each time I do a show or do something like that, I’m overcoming that nervousness, fear, and shyness that I’ve always had. Being the lead singer of a band is not the gift that I would have chosen—I’m not the center of attention kind of guy.

Q: What is the goal of your band?
A: For me the band is more than just being in a band. Its about my relationship with God, it’s about message. For me, if it gets big, it gets big. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m not pushing for it to be big unless I feel like that’s the way God wants it to be. If the doors are meant to be open, they’ll be open.

There you have it, boys and girls: The lowdown on this band in their own words. Go see them, relate to them and enjoy their music. You won’t be disappointed!

-Erilyn Daly