PCM's Rebekah was able to talk with Brent Kutzle, the bass guitar and cello player for OneRepublic. The band first rose to success with the single "Apologize." Their second album, "Dreaming Out Loud" hits stores November 17.

Q: You guys are currently on tour with Rob Thomas, are you guys playing mostly new music or some of the older stuff as well?

BK: It's a fifty-fifty thing. We are playing some of the new stuff and it is reacting really well. People actually try to sing the new stuff or like when we started playing the old album on the last album cycle it was like "oh these are cool mid-tempos," but I think it is more sing-a-longy than this album.

Q: Which song is your favorite to perform live?

BK: Probably "Everybody Loves Me" because it has a lot of energy. It starts out with Ryan playing and I'm on cello. It's just a fun, energetic song.

Q: How does the new CD "Waking Up" compare to "Dreaming Out Load"?

BK: It hits harder sonically. There are a lot more low ends with the drums. The approach is more like writing an urban record, just like laying drums first and then filling in the rest from there. There are not so many mid-tempo ballads on the record. There is some beautiful "Abby Road" string stuff in a few of the tracks. I'd say sonically it has a wider spectrum and it hits harder.

BK: I think it is going to take a few listens for that song, but everyone loves it so far. They are really surprised. I think they are happy that we are not residing in the old ballad backboard. We were kind of tired of playing those songs so we wanted an up-tempo marching band type of thing with a lot more guitar and a lot more strings.

Q: So when you guys first started off you had a number one hit with "Apologize" before you even had an album. Was there a lot of pressure when picking the first single for the new album?

BK: Yeah, totally. How do you follow that up? We actually have been playing "All The Right Moves" for a long time. We wrote it back in Germany, we played it and got a great reaction from people. That was the first song written for the album. We had a chance to see people's reactions and they loved it so we just decided to go with it. There is no way that you can beat "Apologize" so we just decided to do something fresh and different.

Q: So the last album was called "Dreaming Out Loud" and the new one is called "Waking Up" is there a reason behind the whole sleeping theme?

BK: That's a funny question. I don't know. Obviously we are moving in a different direction and we are kind of evolving--the last album was written seven years ago. We got new material and we are headed in a different direction so there is kind of a cool correlation there. One of the tracks on the record is called "Waking Up" and it is just beautiful. There are beautiful Abby Road strings and it is like an up-tempo rock song. It is one of our favorite songs and the title just jumped out and we were like "lets just go with Waking Up." There is an obvious correlation between album one and two and the song is awesome.

Q: You have been playing the cello since you were a young kid, did you always know that you wanted to pursue music as a career?

BK: Yeah, totally. In junior high I started playing the cello and I picked up the bass. I was like I want to do this for a living some day--I want to be in a band. It was never a second thought. I don't know what I'd be doing otherwise.

Q: You were the last one to become part of One Republic, how did you get involved?

BK: They dropped their old bass player. There was an audition and I knew the drummer--I had done some stuff with the drummer and he was like "you play bass too." He knew I played the cello. Every gig we played together I played the cello and I was like "Yeah, I play bass and cello." And he was like "will you audition?" and a week later was the first audition and I just played and they were like "You're the guy." It was pretty cool. It was right before they signed.

Q: I read somewhere that you guys often switch up who plays the what instruments on the different tracks, how do you decide who plays what?

BK: Kind of what every the best part is. We all play a little keys, do some programming--it's just whatever fits best. We kind of form the tracks as we go and we all have the files. If someone comes in with an amazing beat--if Drew Or Zach or whoever--if it is a rad beat we just put that into the track. Live Drew plays a glockenspiel and some other crazy instruments. It's fun for us and I think the audience likes it too.

Q: Do get to help out with the song writing process?

BK: Yeah, I did quite a bit on this album--a lot of production, a lot of writing. The majority. I did a lot of tracks and stuff on this thing.

BK: The music first. I'll sit down at the piano or something and then Ryan will come over and we will just start from there. Or he will walk in with the strings and be like play this and see what happens and then we start. It's not really what a band would do, it's just track based stuff. We just layer and yeah.

Q: Are you guys into the whole Twitter thing and all the social networking sites?

BK: Nah, I wish I was. I'm like the least connected person in the band, but the band is. I guess we like Twitter about BBQ trout. It's so random. I think it is the perfect thing to connect with your fans and with new people--like posting random videos of ourselves and stuff.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

BK: Just to be prepared for a departure from "Dreaming Out Loud" and hopefully everyone loves it.

Q: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today.

BK: Alright thank you. Take care.

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