Neutral Agreement

Neutral Agreement is a band thats been impressing crowds all over the place. Their new split ep titled MATH hits the streets soon. I recently sent Matt Jenkins, bass player of NA a few questions and this is how it all played out:

Billy IVM:Hows everything on the netural agreement front?

Matt: Things are good. We just got done recording some tunes for an a split E.P. that will be with a soon to be announced band. We are also writing for a full length that will be out the end of next summer.

Billy IVM: How’d the recording for the new ep go?

Matt: The E.P. recording went well. It took a little bit longer than expected, but it still didn’t take that long. We had a lot of fun doing it, and are excited to get some new material out.

Billy IVM:Could you give me some history of Neutral Agreement?

Matt: Neutral Agreement started in 2000. It was originally Me (Matthew Jenkins), Mike Billups, and Matt McDowell. We basically bought our instruments and learned how to play. After 3 practices, Mike said we had a show booked. We wrote 4 songs and learned a lot of really bad covers in 2 weeks to get ready for the show. Some line up changes later, we are still a band. I am the only original member of the band.

Billy IVM: How’d the name Neutral Agreement come about?

Matt: I hate this question. We were deliberating on a name for couple of hours. Everyone said that they didn’t care, but we also couldn’t agree on a name. I said, “Well we are all Neutral, so lets come to a Neutral Agreement.”

Billy IVM: You are also in The Apprentice, and you run Future Destination Records, how do you not lose your mind?

Matt: I do sometimes loose my mind, but lucikly have people who I can delegate things to and people pull their weight for the most part in the bands. I also run a button company called Think Twice Buttons. My parents help me out a lot making buttons and mailing stuff out for me.

Billy IVM: So who is in Neutral Agreement?

Matt: Neutral Agreement is: Bryan Patterson (vocals/guitar), Greg BeeBe (guitar/vocals), Jon Jefferson (drums/keys/bgv), and Matthew Jenkins (bass/bgv)

Billy IVM: What’s NA’s favorite band to play with?

Matt: We love playing with The Apprentice, The Redemption Song, Fairweather Fan, The Story Changes, and Joe Christmas.

Billy IVM: Any funny tour stories?

Matt: Hmm..we have a lot. One time we did 3 shows in 24 hours in 3 different states. Our old singer Matt got really sick from staying awake for over 24 hours and he had a really bad fever. So, we took off all his clothes and was asleep in the back of the van. All of a sudden he yells for us to pull over. He thought he was going to throw up so he hopped out of the van at 2 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon and was naked on the side of a busy interstate. Lots of people were honking and stuff so we pulled him back in the van.

Billy IVM: Some would be intrested to know about the pizza tattoo you have, Do you have any plans of a new tattoo, if so what are you thinking about getting?

Matt: Well, in a financial situation where I can afford it, I am going to get the guy on the back of The Redemption Song-Victims tattooed on me with some lyrics from the song These days they hardly know me as a tribute to Nathan overcoming his battle with leukemia. I also may get the new FDR logo on me because one of the guys in The Story Changes is getting it and he may be able to get me a good deal if we get them at the same time.

Billy IVM: Taking a serious note, this isnt my favorite question but for the sake of the zine, is NA a “christian” band?

Matt: I dont even know what it means these days when someone says they are a Christian band. Too many times bands actions are far from reflecting that of Christ. Neutral Agreements members are all Christians and we hope that our actions and words reflect that of Christ. A line from one of our songs on our new cd is may our ways please you and we all sang that together on the record. I think that sums up what our band is about.

Billy IVM: What are the future plans for NA?

Matt: Like I said earlier, we plan to write a new full length. Please as many shows as we can in between Apprentice tours, and just keep plugging along and doing shows. We just want to continue to write music that we are passionate about and record it and play shows.

Billy IVM: What do you think of Indie Vision Music, any thing that needs to change?

Matt: I think you guys are doing awesome. I have been friends with Brandon since the band almost first started and he has been an amazing support of my projects and label. I think Indie Vision needs to scout some bands for me to sign.

Billy IVM: Any closing remarks for our readers?