Justin David of Cross Culture Interview:
CMP: Where do you live?
Justin: Columbus, Ohio.
CMP: Have you guys always lived in Columbus?
Justin: We have been a band for seven years, so there have been a lot of transitions. We started in 1998 as a ska band with eight people. We had a guy from Chicago, a guy from Georgia, a guy from Wisconsin, a guy from Texas, a girl from Michigan—all sorts of different people. Now everyone’s kind of dwindled away as we have developed our signature sound.
CMP: How does that work with the recording studio being in Nashville?
Justin: Everybody piles up in a van and drives down. We recorded a lot of it doing the “weekend warrior” thing.
CMP: What finally brought you to the point of making another album and signing with a national label?
Justin: The first thing we put out was a very ska-oriented EP. As we started downsizing, we started coming up with our signature sound, which was really written around the three core people, which then was Luis Duarte, our former bass player, myself and Chris Wright—all coming out of very different styles of music. I’m more the rock influence. I grew up with that whole early ‘90s grunge movement and then got into the early 90s metal. Then you’ve got Chris, who is African American and very into the gospel, hip-hop culture and R&B. Luis is Mexican and had a very Hispanic culture and background. Out of that we found our signature sound after everything else had gone away.
In ’99, we did a showcase for the Elefantes (John and Dino) and kept in contact over the years. We produced our songs to the point where we thought they were ready to go to the next level and signed a record contract about a year ago. A lot of it was good faith on Selectric Records’ part. They always believed in us, even from when they saw us as a broken up ska band trying to find our footing back in ’99.
CMP: During that time, were you doing music full time or did you have other jobs?
Justin: We still have other jobs. A lot of my friends are blown away by how much time this can take and how willing and driven we are to be doing this. You work your normal 40 hours or plus a week and then, in my case, I’m on the phone for 3-4 hours, or on the computer every day just getting back with people or trying to set stuff up. Chris just got done working at the Gap and is trying to find something that is going to be convenient with our touring schedule. Dan is a guitar teacher. For the last six months, I have been working at a local bank. On top of having a side business and doing this, and being recently married, it’s a very busy time.