INTERCONTINEN7AL is the first rock band in history to record music across all seven continents, and is comprised of over 30 musicians from 15 different countries. Their songs, “Manor Hill”, “Puerto Aisen,” “Night Shift,” “The Chamber,” and “Butterflies” (available on World Over EP) are the only original compositions to ever include instrumentation recorded on all seven continents – featuring percussion and/or guitar from research stations in Antarctica. The band’s music spans a multitude of genres, including alternative, hard rock, folk, pop, blues, jazz, Latin, funk, metal, gospel, prog, classical, reggae, bluegrass, bossa nova and even showtunes. All proceeds from streams go towards various humanitarian causes and non-profit charities. Learn more about the group, including bio, press coverage, interviews, and reviews at www.intercontinen7al.com.
With “Love Is Everywhere” out now, we took some time to hear from INTERCONTINEN7AL. Read below to learn more about INTERCONTINEN7AL, the story behind “Love Is Everywhere,” and what’s to come.
Hi! Let’s start with how did the band’s name come about?
Hello, Matt Smith from INTERCONTINEN7AL. Thank you so much for covering our project! The name, INTERCONTINEN7AL, actually was inspired by Tool’s song “7empest,” with the 7 reflecting the fact that all of Earth’s continents are represented in the music that is created by the band.
What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?
I suppose you could say the virtual band is based out of Castle Rock, CO (where I currently reside, after moving from Columbia, MD), but since the group is derived of musicians from all 7 continents, that list of cities would be quite large. 🙂 We have folks from 15 different countries who provide their talents to the project, from places such as South Africa, UK, Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Argentina, and Thailand (to name a few).
How and when did the band form?
So, the origins of INTERCONTINEN7AL date back to March 2020, when COVID-19 was just underway. Band members of the local Columbia, MD group Toast 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. I posted a grunge-inspired instrumental acoustic song idea, and within days, multiple lead/harmony vocal submissions were received, including South America’s Gustavo Prida’s lead vocals (sung in Spanish), transforming our song idea 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 Robert James Shoveller from Australia on lead guitar. In late August 2020, I was walking in my backyard when an idea struck me 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 expanded it to move forward with further international cooperation, seeking a musician from every continent to participate.
How would you all describe your band’s sound to readers who may not be familiar with you all?
No stone is left unturned when it comes to our group: as mentioned above, INTERCONTINEN7AL’s music covers everything from pop, prog, rock, folk, reggae, jazz, Latin, Americana, funk, metal, country, gospel, classical, blues, bluegrass, bossa nova, and showtunes.
Who are some of your band’s main musical influences?
As you can imagine, with the vast array of genres that our group has explored, we have quite a variety of artists that influence our work. From classic rock groups like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Hendrix, to ’90s rock acts like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden, to soul, pop and R&B musicians like Prince, Alicia Keys, Sia, and Leon Bridges, we consider ourselves genre agnostic when it comes to letting different musical elements guide our direction. We actually have a covers collection called Influences, which features a wide variety of cover songs performed by our members which is available exclusively on BandLab! Link here: https://intercontinen7al.com/influences.
Who would be a dream to collaborate with?
A dream music collaboration for our group would be being able to record with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. His Sonic Highways project is what inspired us to create this INTERCONTINEN7AL project in the first place, and he is one of the most talented multi-instrumentalists and songwriters in rock music. It would be absolutely incredible to have a chance to work with him!
What’s one of the proudest moments of your group’s music career so far?
In December of 2024, we released the EP, World Over, which includes 5 original songs. Each of these compositions incorporates instrumentation from all 7 continents, to include research stations in Antarctica. As far as we know, no other musical act has achieved this feat, so we are extremely proud to say that we have created this historic recording.
In addition, last March our band was mentioned in both Spin and Rolling Stone Argentina, which was something that I never would have thought possible. Truly honored and humbled to be covered in those publications.
What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?
I think patience is a key factor in our process, not just from a songwriting perspective (where you may have to wait weeks, if not months, for musician’s contributions to be added to a song), but also from the marketing piece. Promoting your songs as a musician takes time and due diligence to find out which bloggers and magazines, like MEI, are willing to take the time to learn about you.
Now onto “Love Is Everywhere.” What inspired this song?
The song is written and performed by Argentina’s Nereo Paulus, who is heavily inspired by the Beatles. This song is an ode and love letter, so to speak, of that group’s output in their later years (“Love” era).
What is “Love Is Everywhere” about?
“Love Is Everywhere” is a mediation on how the simplest things can bring us joy, and how love truly is all encompassing and surrounds us in our daily life.
What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for “Love Is Everywhere?”
The artwork is a photograph that Nereo took while he was in Baroliche, a picturesque city on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi.
What was the creative process like when making “Love Is Everywhere?”
This song is a bit different than most in our catalog in that Nereo composed and performed the track on his own. Nereo is a true multi-instrumentalist, and performs all of the instrumentation on the song, including mandolin, mellotron, nylon/classical guitar, bass, bongo, and other percussion.
How long did it take to complete “Love Is Everywhere?”
The actual song has been around since the summer of 2020, when Nereo posted an early version of the song in BandLab. I heard it and immediately fell in love, and asked him if he would be interested in re-recording it for our INTERCONTINEN7AL project. Like I said, patience is key when it comes to our group. 🙂 Took a few years to get it included on an album, but it was well worth the wait!
What message or messages do you all hope fans take away from “Love Is Everywhere” and your band’s music in general?
In this day and age where so many of us are divided due to differences in religion, politics, or other ideologies, music is something that can unite us and bridge those gaps. Nereo’s positive message in “Love Is Everywhere” is something that we can all get behind. I hope that our listeners feel the same way when it comes to our music in general.
What’s next for you all? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
Sadly, our project is actually coming to an end. “Love Is Everywhere” is the lead single from our forthcoming farewell album, Volume 7, which will be released on December 30th. However, we want those that are just learning about our band to please go to our website and explore our full catalog, as we have 7 full-length albums along with the aforementioned Influences collection for covers. In addition, there is a set of b-sides and rarities called The Vault, which features demos and unreleased tracks, as well as The Best of INTERCONTINEN7AL, a double mixtape that showcases the highlights of our musical journey.
Where can we follow you all on social media?
We are on Instagram, X, TikTok and Youtube! Links below:
https://www.youtube.com/@intercontinen7al503
https://x.com/intercontinen7
https://www.tiktok.com/@intercontinen7
https://www.instagram.com/intercontinen7al
Thank you all for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!
