INTERCONTINEN7AL: World Over

INTERCONTINEN7AL makes history with collaborations from all 7 continents!

by Jack Rush

Based in Castle Rock, CO, United States, INTERCONTINEN7AL is a groundbreaking band that has redefined the concept of global collaboration in music. Their recently released debut EP entitled World Over marks a historic achievement as it features music instrumentation recorded from all 7 continents, including Antarctica. This record, over 4 years in the making, showcases the band's innovative approach to virtual collaboration, with 21 different musicians contributing to create a diverse range of genres, from progressive rock to Latin, bossa nova, acoustic, alternative, and hard rock.

INTERCONTINEN7AL's journey began during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when members of the band Toast discovered the application BandLab and started sharing musical ideas that eventually led to the formation of a global musical collective.

World Over is a testament to INTERCONTINEN7AL's musical influences, which span across various genres and artists such as Pearl Jam, Prince, Tool, and The Beatles. The EP stands out not only for its unique global recording process but also for its standout track "Night Shift," featuring an opening guitar intro recorded in Antarctica. With each song on the EP showcasing the band's diverse musical palette and international collaboration, World Over is a significant milestone in music history that exemplifies the power of uniting artists from around the world to create something truly extraordinary.

Q & A

Tell us about the key contributors to this project.

This historic EP was virtually composed and created on all 7 continents (including Antarctica) using BandLab, and is a record over 4 years in the making. The origins of INTERCONTINEN7AL date back to March 2020, when COVID-19 was impacting people around the globe and lockdowns had sidelined live music. Members of the local Columbia, MD band Toast (Matt Smith, Jamie Miller, Ben Gaither, Emily Betz and guest Becca Drayer) sought avenues to continue collaborating and playing together virtually. The band discovered the application BandLab, and were soon sharing drum tracks, guitar riffs, and other ideas among themselves. A few months later, the band recognized the potential of BandLab’s public community, and decided to publish internal song ideas outside the band framework – making them “forkable” and unlocking them with hashtags (ex. #needsvocals) so that any BandLab user can contribute. Matt posted a grunge-inspired instrumental acoustic song idea of his tentatively called Aslin. Within days, multiple lead/harmony vocal submissions were received, including North America’s Hope Gray’s backing vocals and South America’s Gustavo Prida’s lead vocals (sung in Spanish), transforming Aslin into No Somos De Este Lugar. The band continued this process, posting a blues idea by Matt and Jamie for external contributors, and this soon evolved into the song When I’m Gone, with David Lee Rendon from North America on vocals and Robert James Shoveller from Australia on lead guitar. In late August 2020, Matt was walking in his backyard when an idea struck him like a lightning bolt: what if the band adopts the Sonic Highways concept that Foo Fighters had (which was recording music with artists from several cities in the United States), and expands it to move forward with further international cooperation, seeking a musician from every continent to participate. The name INTERCONTINEN7AL was born, with the 7 in the name inspired by the band Tool's song "7empest". For the remaining musicians, the band contacted friends, former bandmates and family members who were fellow North American musicians (i.e. bassists Devin Heritage, Alex Burke), and used Explore and Creator Connect features in BandLab to target by location and instrument type to establish additional musician connections (i.e. guitarist Josh Pearlson of Africa). The band also reviewed musicians’ profiles that we were following to see who they were collaborating with, or who was commenting on their songs to try to recruit other participants, to include Nerse of Asia. Europe is represented by musicians such as Poland’s Marcin Nawrocki, who was recruited after flagging one of the band’s song ideas for potential collaboration, and the talented vocalist Rieneke from the Netherlands. To locate the two musicians from Antarctica, Matt contacted numerous active research stations in September 2020 to determine if there were researchers that happened to be musicians on site, and successfully recruited Aymar de Lichervelde and Stijn Thoolen. The final result was the epic progressive rock song “Manor Hill”, featuring musicians from all 7 continents to include Aymar and Stijn who were stationed in Antarctica. The first song in music history to feature instrumentation from every continent. Since then, the band has released five more albums, and created four more songs that were recorded across every continent.

Who influenced this release?

Due to the sheer size of the band, we have a multitude of influences, ranging from 90's rock like Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, John Frusciante, to Prince, Meat Loaf, Beatles, Stones, Tool, Porcupine Tree, Jim Steinman...the list goes on. These artists have made a major footprint on our musical psyche, and as a result our group covers a wide range of genres, such as heavy metal, pop, blues, funk, reggae, prog rock, bossa nova, Latin, jazz and even showtunes, so no stone is left unturned.

What's the story behind this release?

This particular release is unlike anything in music history, in that every one of the 5 songs included contains music instrumentation recorded from all 7 continents, to include Antarctica. The genres of the songs vary from progressive rock, Latin, bossa nova, acoustic, alternative and hard rock. The music was recorded virtually using the application BandLab, and features 21 different musicians.

Tell us what makes this release stand out and why it's significant.

This groundbreaking record is unlike anything ever created in music, for no other record contains compositions with instrumentation from all 7 continents, let alone 5 songs. In particular, the song Night Shift features an opening guitar intro composed and recorded in Antarctica, while the rest of the song features an acoustic/folk blend with alternative rock.

Where did the recording take place?

The album was recorded virtually using the application BandLab, as the musicians are literally scattered all over the globe. The musicians recorded all of their parts in either home studios or rented spaces (ex. drum tracks).

What was unique about the recording process?

As stated previously, all of the songs were recorded and mixed using digital DAWs, so BandLab, Cakewalk, Ableton, etc. Focusrite interfaces were a main contributor to the recording process, being utilized by several of the musicians on the album. Mixing and production were mainly handled by Marcin Nawrocki in Poland and Matthew Smith in the USA, who collaborated virtually within the BandLab chat feature to discuss production notes and revision changes and updates.

Do you have any recent or upcoming performances to highlight?

Due to our geographical limitations we are strictly a virtual band, so there are no upcoming performances to highlight.

Could you share a memorable quote about this release or your journey as an artist?

Matt Smith (bandleader) - "What if we take the Sonic Highways concept that Foo Fighters had of recording music with artists from several cities in the United States, and totally expand it to move forward."

Is there anything additional that would be valuable for music lovers to know?

Our band has been featured in various news sites, media sources, and blogs to include San Diego Union-Tribune, Denver Post, BandLab, Focusrite, Hype Machine, International Polar Foundation, Tony Kornheiser Show, and Newsbreak. "Perhaps the first band to own the term 'world music' in its truest, broadest, and most meaningful sense." - The Big Takeover "...groundbreaking international album..." - San Diego Union-Tribune "Proves yet again great music knows no borders." - Eric Alper, SiriusX

Have a listen and connect with INTERCONTINEN7AL:

Intercontinen7al (@intercontinen7al) • Instagram photos and videos