Talent On The Run 

What drew you to singing or being a musician?

 

 

John Kirk 

For me, the most significant experience that made me want to be a musician happened, believe it or not, when I was about 8 years old, and watched a documentary on The Beatles with my whole family... somehow I was just captivated by everything that they did, and as an 8 year old thought to myself that being in the biggest band in the world would probably be pretty cool. Its a giddy kind of feeling that has stuck with me ever since, especially because I never thought I'd actually be doing this, even though since then I had always wanted to. Singing kind of happened by accident more than anything else. We really started out as a bored group of friends in high school hanging out with a bunch of instruments... and we decided to screw around and see if we can make music out of what we knew. At the time I hadn't learned guitar yet and only played in the marching band so I just became the singer by default. Needless to say I'm glad I haven't been booted yet.

Talent 

Who's music inspired or inspires you?

 

Nowadays, I try to draw inspiration from anywhere I can. I don't do a whole lot of writing on my own, but I still love to revert to that feeling of being 8 and longing to be a part of something amazing like the Beatles, I think we never really leave that... but now probably I draw most of what I try to do from Levon Helm and The Band, a folk-rock group from the late 60s and 70s. I'm floored every time I listen to The Band, especially Levon because there is a certain unique style that is nothing like anything I've heard before or sense. At the same time though, I also love good soul music stemming back to 50s doo-wop Motown, and some twangy pre-commercial country music.

Talent 

Who's been your biggest supporter in following your dreams?

 

John 

Without a doubt our biggest supporter is our guitar player's father. He has worked harder than some of us at times, and he does everything he can to help us get shows, get decent shows, and just spread the word. Of course I have to mention my family too for always being there. My mother is always the one to tell me we sounded great and to stay as long as she can, and my dad and brothers are always the ones to say we stink when we stink. I am grateful for both ends of it, because there are things you want to hear, and things you need to hear and both are incredibly important. And of course I must mention our close friends who come see us when they can make it. Sometimes we end up only playing for them, but they hang around anyway.

 

Talent 

Why is your band named "Civilian?"

 

The name "civilian" came out of a compromise after many failed attempts to name the band. We had played one gig under the name "Mocniak Brothers Band" but the Mocniak brother didn't want to keep the name. At the same time, we also called ourselves "Bad Ass Civilian" which was just a joke name that our guitar player's friend came up with years before when they played together. Our second show was coming up soon and we needed a name, so we panicked, dropped "bad ass" to be "family friendly" I guess, and never bothered to change it after that. To be honest, and the other guys know this, I've always hated the name.

Talent 

What was your first gig?

John 

Our first gig was an adventure. We played at "Doc's All-Star Jam" I think we found it was called years later, but it was at the Carroll Township American Legion in Dunkirk, PA... We went on at about 11:30 at night, played five songs for a well intoxicated audience, had a blast and basically got the hell out of there. The most memorable part about that though was that we saw our High School Principal there with quite a glow holding a pair of beers and wearing a cowboy hat. Obviously he wasn't expecting any of his student body to be there.

Talent 

What's been your most memorable moment on stage?

 

John 

Its kind of hard to pick a most memorable moment, but one that will always be with me will have to be our third show, which as the worst gig we had ever played. We somehow landed a gig opening up for a well known Pittsburgh group at an event called Riverfest, and it ended up being one of those days where everything that could have gone wrong did. I lost my voice, guitar players were out of tune and breaking strings, at one point the whole band was playing something wrong, and our sound levels were way out of balance. Really I'm surprised we made it out of there, but that one stuck with us for a while.

Talent 

What's been the best venue you've performed at?

The best venue we have performed at would have to be the Aquatorium in Mon City, for many reasons. The first is that we get to play for our own town which is always a thrill, but also as dusk rolls over the Mon, and the place is about full to watch the fireworks, being the main event for that moment is really something special to be a part of. Opportunities like that don't come around too often.

 

Talent 

Who's your favorite musician/band?

John 

My favorite musican/band would be, as I mentioned before Levon Helm of The Band, and of course The Band as an entity in itself. I'm forever indebted to my brother for getting my a The Band album for Christmas because I've been hooked ever since. I love their simplistic yet meaningful song writing, their rough gravelly harmonies it works together so well to create a sound that not many have come close to achieving.

 

What would you tell kids or people who want to be musicians?

 

John 

For kids or anyone who is aspiring to be a musician, I would say simply: keep playing. Keep playing, find a group of guys you can play with, grow together learn together the whole process, regardless of what your aspirations are is incredibly fulfilling, and just to be able see yourself make the progress from the day you picked up your instrument to years down the road, is really worth the whole experience. So keep playing, and keep learning theres always something waiting for you to find.

 

How did your band become a band? How did you meet?

John 

We became a band essentially by accident. We were all friends before hand during high school, and one evening, we were bored and hanging out at a friend's place, and he had all the equipment having played with some friends before, so we just set it up and screwed around for almost a year before we realized "hey, we might be able to make this work". We started writing together, and with the help of some friends, landed our first gigs.

 

Talent 

Is there a message you want to get out through your music?

 

I can't really speak for the other guys, but lyrically there isn't one unifying message... nor is there one musically. As sort of a joke, we kind of adopted this saying that one of us came up with was that we are here to promote "anything that rocks" and that for us has been our only limit as artists. We play what we love, essentially, and we encourage people to love it as much as we do.

 

Talent 

What's been the toughest obstacle you and your band have had to overcome?

 

John 

The toughest obstacle we have had to overcome, has to be the continuous juggling act of 5 guys going to different schools for different careers, and still finding the time not just to play but also write and develop. Ideally we would be able to play any time or all the time, but we just can't do it. So we spend our summers playing out, carve a niche for ourselves, go back to school, play one or two over breaks, and by the next summer we have to start over again because we can't always be out there reminding venues and crowds of who we are. Its tough, but as long as the opportunity to play is there, I'm taking it in any form it may come.

 

Talent 

If you had the opportunity to open for any band, who would it be? and why?

John 

If we had the opportunity to open for any band, I would say, assuming I could say any band that had existed at any time, I'd want to open up for The Band, mostly because I love almost everything they do, and it would be a real kick to able to show those guys what we can do as well, just to see if they were to like it or not. Perhaps its a result of shear idolization but I'd feel like our audience would be the group we're opening for, rather than the crowd. It be something to experience, thats for sure.