southernfriedmagazine.com - Interview of Allan Kaplon & The Non-Prophets

The Band consist of:
Allan Kaplon-Guitar and Vocals--Jeff Chester-Drums and Percussion--Tim Scott-Vocals and Percussion--Dave McKenzie-Bass

SF: Where are you from? Born and raised.
Allan: Born in Rochester,N.Y., lived there for only 1 year. Grew up in Belmont, North Carolina, went to high school at South Point and college at Belmont Abbey.

SF: What age did you start playing music and realize you wanted to play for a living?
Allan: Started playing at 13 on a cheap nylon string guitar I got at Roses Dept. Store. Within a week, I knew I wanted to play music for a living.

SF: How long has the band been together?
Allan: We've been together for about 9 monthes. Originally I just put together a unit to play a show I had at the Double Door Inn. I only intended it to be a 1 time thing, having gotten burned out on the whole band thing and playing out 3 or 4 times a month solo for the last year and a half, I was having some success with just me and the guitar. However, working with Dave McKenzie on bass and Jeff Chester on drums, just felt so right. They are both easy going, hardworking guys and we really felt a connection. The more we played out together, we realized we had something special together, so we decided to make it a permanent thing.

SF: What instruments do you play besides what is listed above?
Allan: I play accoustic (a Gibson J-45) and electric guitar(Gibson SG), and electric bass (Ibanez RG).

SF: When you write your songs, who contributes to them?
Allan: I'm the songwriter in the band. I love playing out and recording, but the thing that I get the most joy from is sitting down with guitar and pen and paper. That said, I strongly feel that Jeff and Dave, and what they add to the songs, clearly shapes the tunes and sometimes even takes them down paths I might not have seen when I wrote them. They really add a lot to the whole process.

SF: What inspires you to write your songs?
Allan: So many different things. Things I overhear people say, things me or my friends or family are going through and doing, people watching and imagining a back story for some stranger. I try to write about the little everyday things and as a rule stay away from trying to be profound or preachy.

SF: Who are your influences in music?
Allan: Growing up the Beatles were number 1. Neil Young and Tom Petty later in life became big influences. Ryan Adams really seems to never put out a bad album. Lucinda Williams has done some great work. Theres so many I like: Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, Elton John, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, really too many to list.

SF: If you could play on stage with anyone you choose, who would it be (living or not) and why?
Allan: That's a tough one. I guess living it would be Tom Petty because I really admire the way he's stayed true to his own voice, but at the same time evolved through the years. And dead.....it would be John Lennon, because while I'm never been one for hero worship, I like the artist's music, but not interested in getting autographs or such. He comes the closest to someone that I look up to as a hero, not just for the music, but for the way he lived his life, on his own terms.

SF: Who is waiting for you at home when you come home?
Allan: My wife Mesa, she's my best friend in the whole world. And my daughter Liz, and son Ben, they're the most important people in the world to me. I wouldn't trade my life with them for any kind of success in music.

SF: Do you have a favorite place to play?
Allan: Without question, the Double Door Inn!! It's truly a legendary place. Nick and all the folks there are the finest kind of folks and I actually met my wife there, long ago when I was in college.

SF: Where do you want to see the band in the future?
Allan: Right now, we've had a lot of success here in Charlotte and we're starting to branch out to venues in Chapel Hill, Winston Salem and Asheville. So hopefully by the end of the year we'll be able to duplicate the success we've had here to those locations.

SF: Your music is really awesome. What is it you want the fans to get from it?
Allan: You know, I think some of the real heroes in this world are people just out there doing the ordinary things we all do, that are faced with everyday problems like we all are. And in the middle of this cynical world where sometimes things can seem almost hopeless, are still able to find hope, still able to do a good job raising kids, have a good marriage, go to work everyday. And so I try to write a lot about folks who, maybe have had a few setbacks and even gotten discouraged some, but keep getting up and finding hope out there.

SF: Will you be doing a video for any of your songs?
Allan: Actually we'll be doing an on-air perfomance on the local FoxNews Rising Morning Show in the next little bit (we're just working on a date we can all get off work to do it) and while they're not paying us, we do get a DVD of the show. So we'll be putting that on our MySpace page when that happens.

SF: Is there anything you would like to tell the readers that we didn’t cover?
Allan: I always debate telling people this, because some folks seem to think less of the album when they hear this, but I'm kinda proud of it. I did all 12 songs; guitar, bass and vocals in 8 hours, no more than 3 takes for any song. And no click track. Then Tom Eure added drums, and no more than 1 extra part to each song. Then we mixed it in about 4 hours. In the end we wanted it to stand on the strength of the songs and to sound more like some friends sitting on a porch playing for the love of it, than some slick product for the radio. So, I guess I'm kinda proud of that. The other thing would be how neat the internet has made it for the Indie artist, where you can use MySpace or Facebook for a web page, Gmail for a mailing list, book your own shows, record, mix and master and even do the artwork. Then make copies of a CD using a hard disk system, or software, sell it on the internet, really do it all yourself, and along the way keep costs down, learn a lot about different aspects of the music biz. And if you're lucky even get good folks like you, Susan, to interview you and review your CD.

To learn more about Allen Kaplon, check out his websites at:
www.myspace.com/allankaplon
www.ilike.com/artist/AllanKaplon