INTERVIEW WITH... CIRCLE THE EARTH THE LOS ANGELES BASED MULTICULTURAL BAND CRAFTING A DIVERSE SOUND

Formed around 2018 the Circle The Earth is the multicultural rock band fusing an artful mix of rock, pop, soul, hip-hop, and even emo with each band members years of extensive experience and talent. Ultimately crafting that is a sound that is undeniably theirs as it is futuristic, hard hitting, and worldly. Although the five-piece is now based out of Los Angeles, it's members are from all over the world and all walks of life. Fronted by Khadia, a former backup singer for Imagine Dragons who has worked with artists like Prince and Janelle Monae. The quintet is rounded out with band founding member/bassist Michael McBay, guitarist Kazuki Tokaji hailing from Japan. Then the Brazilian-born drummer Sandro Feliciano, and keyboardist/music director Sandy Chao Wang, who grew up in Taiwan. Back in June Circle The Earth performed at an industry showcase introducing a new track, “Sweetest Pain". I also got to chat with the band about their new music, influences, and more. Read on below...

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Starting, how are you guys? How did the showcase at SIR Studios go?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: The showcase at SIR was a great success and was our very best showcase to date! For this one, we hired a tremendous lighting company (T-Rev Productions/Trevor McGaughey) and a first-rate multi-camera video company (Vid First/Brandon Gilbert), both of whom have worked major festivals like Coachella, to capture the content for us so we have top-notch live videos for each song (to be released soon). We should also mention that our PR company (Press Here/Bari Lieberman) did an outstanding job of promoting the showcase and getting us press coverage and exposure around the releases of our music.

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: My next question is, how did you guys meet and ultimately form Circle The Earth?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: Mike McBay has been forming and performing in original rock bands in Los Angeles for about 30 years. 10 years ago, he met drummer Sandro Feliciano (who has toured the world with artists like Tina Marie and Ms. Lauryn Hill) after an earlier drummer bailed on an important gig without notice. Sandro played amazingly and he and Mike have stuck together ever since. Next, about 6 years ago, Sandro and Mike met vocalist Khadia (who has sung with acts like Prince and Imagine Dragons), who was referred to Mike by a harmony vocalist from Katy Perry’s touring band. Khadia was singing in a different project in Mexico at the time, but after speaking with her, Mike and Sandro knew she was perfect for the project, so they waited 2 months for her to return to the U.S. As expected, she was instantly both amazing and endearing at her first rehearsal. Next, Mike found keyboardist Sandy Chao Wang (a teaching assistant at Musicians Institute and very active musical director for several local music projects as well as several internationally famous Chinese artists) from a Craigslist ad. We all vividly remember Sandy’s first audition in which she played so beautifully that were all in instant agreement about her. Mike literally picked her up in his arms and asked her to join the project permanently. Finally, 2 years ago, Mike found lead guitarist/songwriter Kazuki Tokaji as a referral from a guitarist who answered a Craigslist ad. Kazuki learned 4 songs in one night for his audition and his virtuoso-level guitar playing and wonderful personality made him an instant member of the band. The current lineup has now been together for 2 years.

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Seeing as everyone in the five-piece comes from a different cultural background, how does that not only inform but shape the Circle The Earth sound and aesthetic?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: Even though we are all from quite different backgrounds and cultures, our musical tastes are surprisingly similar. We all enjoy creating quality, melodic, intelligent, commercial rock music with musicality, power, harmony, and energy. Each player brings a slightly different “flavor” to the music but our basic stylistic preferences are generally quite similar. 

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Can you talk about your latest single, 'Sweetest Pain'? Can you delve into the backstory of the song? How did the creative/recording process go for the band?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: “Sweetest Pain” was written by our guitarist Kazuki Tokaji and our main outside songwriter Jim McGorman (who works with Goo Goo Dolls, Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne). The song describes some of the inevitable pains of life that are unpleasant but necessary for spiritual growth such as relationship pains in which a sincere person opens their heart towards another person who is not yet on the same emotional level or not yet ready to be loved so deeply and the bittersweet experience of truly loving another person who is not yet ready for something so real. The inevitable pains that the sincere person feels trying to get the other person to change, to grow and to open themselves to this love, and the pain that the sincere person feels as they come to grips with the fact that the person they love will likely never be ready and that they must slowly accept this fact and pull away, which can be a bittersweet and painful process. 

Once the song was written and demoed, it was sent to the instrumentalists of the band and our lead vocalist, Khadia, as well as our producer Ethan Kaufman, to begin thinking of production and arrangement ideas. During this initial phase, we all came up with various ideas that twist the song into our style and then once we were all comfortable with the song, we rehearsed together, trying out various arrangements to come up with the final version, which retains the essence of the initial songwriter’s demo but delivers the track with the passion, excitement and power that is characteristic of Circle The Earth. The drums and rhythm guitar were recorded first, as is always the case for our songs, then the guitars and keyboards and lastly the bass. After all the instruments were recorded, Khadia went into the studio with Ethan to lay down all the vocals. 

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: For this track, you worked with Jim McGorman. How was that experience? Do you have any other dream collaborations?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: Working with Jim McGorman is literally a dream come true. In an effort to keep our music fresh and current, we constantly interview and screen outside songwriters. Jim is a schooled musician who graduated from the prestigious Berklee School of Music and he has a very melodic and hook-oriented writing style that is quite commercial and rocks. He and Kazuki work extremely well together and Jim is a consummate professional, who always keeps his word and his deadlines and is a very strong producer in his own right. Now with the combination of Jim and Kazuki doing the majority of the songwriting and Ethan Kaufman producing the recordings, we have found a “hit machine” combination that has led to a string of 6 very strong new songs that we are in the process of completing for our upcoming EP. 

Other dream collaborations would include Desmond Child and Diane Warren

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What inspires you to create music? To share your art?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: Regardless of our differing cultures or countries of origin, every member of Circle The Earth is a heartfelt, spiritually-oriented, passionate, loving, sincere human being, who is dedicated to creating and performing equally passionate, heartfelt quality music with an underlying positive message as part of who we are as people. 

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What lyric from your new song “Sweetest Pain” do you feel best represents the world around us currently on an emotional level?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: “I can’t walk away, yeah, Making a fool of me, yeah, Living with love I can’t explain. It’s the sweetest pain. (I keep) waiting, Hoping that you’ll make changes. Never get rainbows without rain. It’s the sweetest pain”

These lyrics refer to the reaction of any truly soul-awakened, spiritually oriented person as they observe the abject inhumanity, gross imperialism, all pervasive racism, sexism, and religious intolerance that characterizes human affairs. Having true compassion, respect and love for the average person while waiting for them to “wake up spiritually” can be an extremely painful experience. The underlying positive message of the concept of Circle The Earth is a gentle urge to wake up spiritually and move the planet forward together. 

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Switching gears a bit. What music are you guys listening to lately? What is on everyone’s playlists?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: Each of the younger members (Khadia, Sandy, Kazuki) keeps their ears open and listens to the music that is currently charting commercially and studies the newest groups that are doing well on social media, especially in the pop and rock genres. Honestly, the older members (Mike, Sandro) tend to listen to older, more established artists in the pop and rock genres and this combination of approaches gives the music of Circle The Earth a fresh sound with classic commercial melodic structure and delivery. 

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: If you were to write a song about a pivotal moment in history, what moment would you choose, why, and how would it sound?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: A song about a pivotal moment in history would probably include references to several moments such as: the end of World War II, legalization of gay marriage, passing of the voting right act, passing of Roe v. Wade, Juneteenth, The Million Man March on Washington. There are so many to choose from!

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What is your pick for the song of the summer for 2022? 

CIRCLE THE EARTH: We have 2 current candidates for our summer of 2022 release: a super energetic uptempo rocker called “Hey Goodbye” (written by a longtime outside songwriter for Circle The Earth named Adrian Jones) and an equally strong mid-tempo rocker called New Religion” (written by Kazuki and Jim McGorman)

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What are you most excited for fans and listeners, in general, to hear from your band?

CIRCLE THE EARTH: We are most excited for our fans and listeners to hear our newest releases on the radio soon. We are launching a national, non-commercial and college radio campaign for “Sweetest Pain” and also for a string of new singles from our upcoming EP with Marv Mac of Top Notch Music, who has been doing indie radio promo campaigns like this for over 12 years. 

THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: To end, is there anything I might have forgotten or that you would like to add? Thanks for taking the time out with me and TRB!

CIRCLE THE EARTH: The Circle The Earth project is the culmination of years of sacrifice, dedication and very hard work by everyone involved in and around the project. Our founder, Mike McBay, literally slept on the living room floor of his close friends for 8 years in order to minimize his living expenses and worked several jobs in order to be able to put all of his personal income into the band. Our message is one of inclusion, tolerance, equality, spirituality, and diversity with a team that also represents this. We all feel proud and blessed to be able to bring this message and our music to you. 

CIRCLE THE EARTH | SOCIALS

/ OFFICIAL SITE / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM /

https://open.spotify.com/track/7pHIrqjeR3uBI7cyKqKdXf?si=2cd234e118564a4b

Previous
Previous

INTERVIEW WITH... Brit Alt-Pop Singer-Songwriter Liz Cass

Next
Next

HEAR THIS NOW: EDITION 11 OF THE MUSIC SOUNDCHECK