Driven Far Off

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Kaddisfly interview

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Kaddisfly

1. So what is your name and rank (what you play)?

My name is Kelsey and I usually play guitar.

2. Where did you guys get the name?

As the story goes, there is no real story behind it. It is an insect that is native to where we live and it is a nice word. Also, I think Chris did a report on them in school.

3. You guys have just wrapped up a major touring stint, was there a venue that was particularly memorable?

This whole tour has been amazing…Ohio was great, New Hampshire…the list goes on and on…

4. What has been the general fan reaction to the new material on “Buy Our Intention…”?

Positive… I think for anyone who was into the previous material it was pretty easy to digest. Stylistically, it is definitely more diverse, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

5. Did you see it as a departure or evolution from the “Did you know people can fly”?

From my eyes (eyes that were not in the band), I see “Buy Our Intention” as the next logical step. It is still in the same vein, and the same band, but you can sense the growth.

6. What were some of the geneses for song ideas on “Buy Our Intention”?

We never really set out to write specific types of songs; they just sort of ooze out. We knew that we wanted it to be more diverse, but we never really tried (if that makes any sense).

7. As a very progressive band you use tons of unusually instrumentation, can you describe some of the more atypical sounds you’ve used in your songs.

A lot of the instrumentation stems from us wanting to create a mood and feel, rather than using them as a novelty. On the record we used kalimbas, concert bells, melodicas, wine glasses, organ…anything that could help create a mood.

8. What are some of your musical influences?

I grew up listening to Dire Straits, The Police, Toto, Yes and Enya, thanks to my parents. My dad also listened to a lot of jazz, which has a big influence on my playing. Lately, I have been listening to Isis, Minus The Bear, Botch, Steely Dan, R.E.M. and Pinback, to name a few.

9. You mentioned on your website that you’re going to settle down for a couple of months and write material for the new record. You’ve set the working album title as “Set Sail The Prairie” what is the story behind that? Isn’t it also a track title on “Buy Our Intention..”?

The next record will be “Set Sail The Prairie” and the second installment in a trilogy of albums that will end on “Horses Galloping On Sailboats”. The title track on “Buy Our Intention” represents current time, “Set Sail” the future and “Horses Galloping” the end of time…heavy stuff haha.

10. What more can you tell me about the new record? How different will it sound compared your previous releases?

The best way I can describe it is that it will be more cohesive like “Did You Know” but still have the diversity of “Buy Our Intention”. It will be one solid unit of music. It will span 12 tracks and 12 months. I am beyond excited to finish writing, start recording and presenting it to the fullest…it will be large.

11. Where do you or would you like to see the band in two years?

Writing, playing and performing…playing to more and more people, getting better at our instruments, going to Europe…the whole 9 yards.

12. Alright last real question… what are your personal views on copyrighted file sharing, as far as music downloading and burning.

To me, it all depends on the situation. If you are checking out a smaller band, downloading their cuts, and you enjoy it, support them and buy their album. They need it. If you just want to dance to “Rappers Delight”, I say download it.

13. Thanks for the interview, any last words for the fans?

Thank you thank you thank you….keep it real, booyaka booyaka boo.

Gym Class Heroes Interview November 4th, 2005

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Gym Class Heroes

Last night, I got to chill out with Travis, Matt, and Disashi of Gym Class Heroes in their van, and let me tell you, these guys are awesome. Matt didn’t talk much, and Disashi mostly laughed, but they’re cool dudes. Travis is one of the straightest guys I’ve met, and if you ever get a chance to meet this amazing person, please do so and show him some love.

Trevor: So this is the end of the tour, right?

Travis: Yeah, tomorrow’s the last date.

Trevor: How’s it been so far?

Travis: Awesome. Really, really awesome. But now it’s kinda come to the point where we’re all like, “Alright, let’s wrap this up and go home.”

(Laughter)

Travis: It’s always like that. It could be the coolest tour ever but once it wraps down to the last two or three days it can get pretty grueling.

Matt: I kind of equate it to the last week of school, you know, before summer vacation. It’s kind of like that.

Trevor: I know the fans here are into music that’s a lot different from what you guys play, but have they been reacting really well to you guys?

Travis: Well I mean there’s never a crowd, and there won’t be for a while, that’s all our own. Like, I mean before, when we first started playing, there weren’t kids there to see us at all. Now you’ll see groups, and you’ll see the kids that like to merge and it’s really really cool. I think I’m more comfortable..well, I wouldn’t want to say more comfortable, but I wouldn’t..I don’t know how I would take it if there was a whole crowd there to see us. I mean, it’s cool, but it’s also cool to take kids that necessarily wouldn’t listen to us in any other situation and have them go home and say, “That was cool.”

Trevor: Is there a specific band on this tour that you guys have been watching and digging a lot?

Travis: He Is Legend. Those guys are blowing me away.

Trevor: They’re awesome live. I saw them back in June and it was a crazy show.

Travis: Those guys are amazing. One of my new favorite bands. They’re really, really, really, really great dudes, too.

Trevor: What have you guys been doing to keep you occupied? I mean, this has been a really long tour. Weren’t there two runs of it?

Travis: Yeah, Gatsby’s and then He Is Legend. We’ve been doing the same shit we do any other tour. We listen to music, I’ve been doing a lot of video editing and shit and um..

Matt: We just bought the new Tony Hawk. We’ve been playing that a lot.

Travis: Yeah, it’s really fun.

Trevor: Alright, your labelmates, Panic! At the Disco..they’re uh..they’re blowing up. Do you guys have an opinion on that? I asked October Fall about it and they were stoked about it, and I talked to Panic! and of course they were stoked. So what do you think of it?

Travis: I think it’s awesome man. Definitely. Especially like..anybody that you have a correlation with, you’re always excited for them to further..you know what I mean, to go further and I think it’s beautiful.

Trevor: Speaking of Panic!, do you think there’s a chance of a Decaydance Tour later?

Travis: Um..perhaps. I mean, shit is so crazy right now, I mean, we’re writing our new record and stuff, but I’m sure something like that or another Fueled By Ramen Tour will go down soon, in the next year or so.

Trevor: Yeah, and you guys were wanting to record this winter, right? Do you have any dates scheduled to start recording?

Travis: Actually, we start writing right after this tour. We’re gonna take like three days off and then start writing the record right away, so we’re shooting for this winter and it’ll definitely be out by next summer.

Trevor: Is that when you’d like for it to be out? This summer?

Travis: Yeah, definitely.

Trevor: Is there the chance of any more collaborations like “Naked Peek-A-Boo?”

Travis: Uh..I mean, there might be. I mean, there’s definitely a lot of artists we’ve toured with that we have in mind for our next album. It’s going to be really tasteful as opposed to just getting somebody on our record for namesake. You might even have to like..like..dig into it to find who’s actually on the record. It’s gonna be one of those deals.

Trevor: Alright, so you went to the UK. How was that?

Travis: Amazing! We played one show. Just one show. We just hung out, and it was incredible. I can’t wait to go back. It’d be really awesome.

Trevor: Okay, “The Papercut Chronicles”. I’ve noticed a lot of the album has serious topics, and then there’s humorous stuff in it. Did you try to balance it out, or did it just come out that way?

Travis: I think that it’s my life in a nutshell. My lifestyle, you know? I don’t think anybody in this band takes themselves too seriously. And I think that’s how I’ve delt with serious stuff. I throw a little humor on, or look at it in a humorous way. And I don’t know..laughing. Laughing is probably one of the coolest, healthiest forms of therapy, for me at least. So when it came time to post the album, I definitely wanted to touch things that were relevant and things going on in my life, but at the same time, have a little fun. I think that’s one of the cool things about Gym Class, is that, like I said, we don’t take ourselves too seriously and have a lot of fun with what we do. I think the next album will definitely have the same element. It’ll have a little humor to it. I like making…girls laugh.

(Laughter)

Trevor: I asked some people if they had any questions that they wanted me to ask you so these are a little bit off the wall.

Travis: Alright, alright. Cool.

Trevor: Um…how often do you get snakebit?

Travis: Oh man! I know exactly where that came from. Was that from Erika?

Trevor: I’m pretty sure. She was like, “Ask him that, he’ll crack up!”

Travis: That’s so funny. Oh man, I get snakebit way too much and the anti-venoms don’t even work anymore.

Trevor: Are any of you guys cereal guys? Do you like any specific ceral?

(Matt shakes his head and Disashi continues to chill in the back of the van.)

Travis: I love ceral. Shit, I love soggy, cinnamon Life.

(Laughter)

Trevor: Brittany really wants to know where you went to art school.

Travis: Munsen Williams in Proctor, in Utica New York. Don’t go there.

(Laughter)

Travis: Don’t support the demons.

Trevor: Are you guys going to be going through Miami any time soon?

Travis: Miami? Um..(Looks back at Matt)

Matt: Orlando.

Travis: Yeah, we’ll be in Orlando next week, or in a couple of weeks. But um..Miami may have to wait until the next album’s, done.

Matt: I don’t think we’ve ever played in Miami.

Travis: I don’t think we have, either.

Trevor: Speaking of Florida, with the hurricanes and everything, what do you think about that?

Travis: It sucks. It sucks and I feel fortunate that we live in New York and really don’t have to worry about crazy shit like that. I mean, we get ice storms and stuff, but I can’t imagine having to put up with fear the minute a storm comes, and you’re worried that your house is going to get washed away or something.

Trevor: A lot of crazy shit has happened over the past few weeks. You had Andy from the Junior Varsity’s girlfriend…

Travis: That was really tragic.

Trevor: And then Bayside…

Travis: It’s crazy, man. Like, my heart goes out to all those people who were involved or have any relation to those kids or to Beatz, you know. I mean, it’s really really tragic and it’s hard. Especially being on the road. Anything can happen out here. We’re constantly hearing stories, whether it’s someone getting killed, someone dying, vans or trailers getting jacked, I mean, it’s really crazy. Like, we’re out here trying to entertain people and have fun doing what we love to do, but there’s constantly, you’re constantly in the back of your mind thinking, “Damn anything can happen right now or tomorrow.” I mean, I was talking about bands getting robbed, it’s like the new black. I mean, trailers..and bands getting their equipment stolen. Like, the other night I was just..up, like seriously checking the window every five seconds, you know what I’m saying? The road is crazy man. There’s a lot of cool things that happen out here, but there’s also a lot of crazy things we have to deal with.

Trevor: How difficult was it to think of the basic structure of each song for “The Papercut Chronicles?”

Travis: Lyrically it was like, I would start out and the first line would determine how the rest of the song was gonna go. Like, the first two lines, and once that idea was in the air, I mean, if it’s a fictional story or whatever you want to do with it. Once there’s the idea, you just tumble with it, fall with it until you like it and then you mold it and play with it for a while.

Trevor: And this one’s from me. You still love Kelly Clarkson?

Travis: Shit yeah man, are you kidding me? (Unzips his jacket to reveal an “I <3 Kelly Clarkson” t-shirt)

Trevor: Haha, that’s freaking awesome.

(Laugher)

Trevor: Thanks for sitting down with me.

Travis: No problem man, no problem.

Gym Class Heroes
Fueled By Ramen
Decaydance Records

underOATH Interview October 18th, 2005

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Underoath

I had the honor of sitting down with Spencer of underOATH before their show in Fargo, ND on October 18th 2005. We talk about their tour with Thrice, their upcoming studio time,new album, and other good things.

Bryce: Can we get your name and position in the band?
Spencer: My name is Spencer and I do vocals.

Bryce: How has your tour been going with Thrice?
Spencer: It’s been awesome, the shows have been awesome. Everyone on the tour is really cool. We’ve known everyone but Veda for longer then this tour.

Bryce: Have you toured with Thrice before?
Spencer: No, unless you count Warped Tour. Its like when we met them and The Bled we’ve toured with a couple of times before.

Bryce: You guys are going back into the studio soon. What can we expect with your new album?
Spencer: We go into the studio in January and we are going with Adam D who did Killswitch. We’re trying to record something that you know if you see us live we are completely different from CD. A lot of stuff thats hard for people to capture for some reason, it gets dried out and kind of stale feeling. We’re hoping that someone like Adam who is our friend before he’s a producer to us you know like someone that’s excited about us even if we aren’t recording with him and not someone who’s just excited about getting paid. Not saying thats how lots of people are but that’s how a lot of producers are. Like we were on tour with them and we were writing new songs and he was excited and thats hopefully something that will shine through our new recordings. All of us having fun and just being awesome so hopefully that will come through when you hear the CD you will be able to tell we’re having a good time and you can tell that the people who are working on it are excited.

Bryce: You don’t have to sell yourself to him.
Spencer: Right, yeah.

Bryce: Do you guys have a specific writing process?
Spencer: Not really. Someone will come up with an idea like a riff for an example and that will be like Tim or me or someone who’s playing guitar coming up with something. If we’re home we’ll work on it a lot at home but this last two years we haven’t really been home. Normally on sound check we’ll play around or we’ll play around in the back of our bus we have like a crappy little thing to record with. But now that we have the basic sculpting done on tour and then we come home and we practice every day when we are at home and we just tear it up and what goes wear and switch stuff around. It’s a long process but it’s cool because you get to sit on it for a while even though that happens all the time no matter what.

Bryce: Are you looking forward to going back to the studio?
Spencer: I’m not looking forward to being home. I go crazy when I’m at home because i’ve got nothing to do. I am looking forward to going into the studio for sure. We have like eight songs done already, like done. Like we’re almost done with the record.

Bryce: Will we hear any new ones tonight?
Spencer: Yeah you will.

Bryce: Your the second vocalist for this band. Do you still get people comparing you to Dallas?
Spencer: It’s been over two years, its like a totally different thing.

Bryce: What if someone says I like the old underOATH better?
Spencer: I understand why someone would say they don’t like the last record. I don’t even like all the last record. Thats what we were into at that time. The record we are about to record is completely different. It’s heavier then any underOATH record. It’s not metal it’s just really heavy and some people will be really excited and probably some people who like us now might not be but that’s never our concern. If your concerned of what people are going to think then your going to writ crappy records. There are six of us so to get six of us to record something its the best it could possibly be.

Bryce: Your Special Edition version of “They’re Only Chasing Safety” just came out. Was it your idea to release it?
Spencer: It was kinda the labels idea. We’ve been doing video stuff forever and it was kind the labels idea to do a re-release thing because that seems like something all the bands are doing these days. We were really strict about it being the same price as the regular record. We were just like the DVD has to be really good, we want kids to buy it because it’s worth it not to make more money. We don’t make money off that crap anyways (laughter) we make our money on tours. We were a little worried about it at first but when we got the edit for the DVD we were pretty like I think kids will be stoked about it. Everyone we have talked to was like dude we’ve watched it like ten times. There are like bands that I’m really into and if they re-release something i would go out and buy it. And same thing if they like release the digapack instead of the hard case, i’ll go buy it. It’s worth it and having like a DVD that’s funny is worth it. Selling a DVD alone is like so weird because stores are going to overcharge for it, we are going to try and do a full DVD but that’s so hard to do so we might wait and put it out with the next record. But we thought that was the coolest way to get the DVD out.

Bryce: The videos on the DVD are funny and thats like what you guys get to do in your free time right?
Spencer: Ya we get to mess around a lot in our free time.

Bryce: Do you guys have any pre show rituals?
Spencer: Like normal stretching and pumping yourself up before the show. We always pray before we go on. I warm up every day.

Bryce: Is that all the exercise you get?
Spencer: Normally when the first band goes on I go warm up somewhere and come back and watch the band before us, for me.

Bryce: What can we find in your tour bus?
Spencer: The company we rent from it always costs the same and sometimes you get a nicer bus and sometimes you don’t. They all have TV’s but we bring like our own XBox and stuff. Grant is probably in the bus right now playing games. (laughter)

Bryce: Do you have any favorite places to tour?
Spencer: Well we’re from the south east so down there is always awesome. California is always awesome, and Texas is always good as well. I like being everywhere, I mean there are definitely places that are better then others where kids are just like more excited about what’s going on.

Bryce: Are you listening to anything in particular at the moment?
Spencer: Right now I got the new Sigur Ros thats really good, the new Pelican record thats pretty good, just older stuff.

Bryce: Are you into newer stuff?
Spencer: Umm, like what’s going on now?

Bryce: Yeah, like Thrice’s new record?
Spencer: Yeah Thrice’s new record is pretty good. But most stuff thats going on right now I’m not really into. I’m not saying that we are anything special or awesome but most things that are like cool right now I’m not really into. The bands I’m into are like Botch, Isis, Red Sparrows, Radiohead, and Sigur Ros. Weirder bands like that, but nothing thats really like indie whatever popular like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance kind of stuff I’m not into that stuff. I like those dudes as people but whatever that scene is has taken over.

Bryce: How was the Taste of Chaos tour?
Spencer: That was awesome.

Bryce: What has been one of your favorite tours?
Spencer: There are things about every tour. Like warped tour when this past record came out seeing things grow. We were out there passing out records working our butts off in the heat and seeing it pay off in the end was cool. Things like Taste of Chaos which is like a huge opportunity that you don’t get all the time and headlining. I can’t really pick a favorite all the tours have stuck out.

Bryce: What do you think is the difference between a christian band today then one ten years ago?
Spencer: There’s not much difference at all thats what sucks about christian music. Like we try to do something different. I look at us as just another band in the secular market like with all these other hardcore bands and we just happen to be a christian band that has different beliefs. We’re the sore thumb we’re like not in the christian scene that’s doing something different. We went to this christian award show one time and it was the weirdest thing I’ve ever been to. That to me is like I know why people hate christians and think the scene is lame and the people are lame cause for the most part they are, that’s why we are here trying to change it.

Bryce: I think it’s way more acceptable today.
Spencer: Right, it’s acceptable because it’s not forced. We don’t get up there and say your going to hell because you don’t believe what we believe thats a bunch of crap. I know when I was 15 and going to hardcore metal shows and I didn’t believe in God that wasn’t what was going to help me out at all.

Bryce: Bands that get on the radio like Switchfoot and all those that are christian makes people look at it different look at it different but they have to figure it out for themselves.

We are interrupted by a man running through the curtains and tripping while trying to get outside to get cell phone reception. Watch where your going buddy, lol.

Bryce: Are you guys going to be on Warped Tour next year?
Spencer: Hopefully, we don’t know yet but we’ve been on the last two years a bit. Its hot and you hear a lot of the same thing everyday but its good for bands and kids who might not get out to a normal show.

Bryce: Well thanks for hanging out Spencer. We all look forward to your new record and seeing you again.
Spencer: Cool, thanks!

www.underoat777.com
www.purevolume.com/underoath

Panic! At The Disco Interview October 16th, 2005

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Panic! At The Disco

I got super lucky and got to sit down with Panic! At the Disco at the Atlanta date of the Nintendo Fusion Tour. These guys were super cool considering it was a spur of the moment thing and I could hardly talk and was doing everything on the fly.

Trevor: Can I get you guys to state your names and what you do in the band? (I really hate asking this question, but when it’s a newer band, and the whole band, it makes things easier.)

Spencer: My name’s Spencer and I play drums.

Brent: Brent, I play bass.

Ryan: Ryan, I play guitar.

Brendon: Brendon, I sing.

Trevor: Alright. So your album just dropped and you’re Fueled By Ramen’s biggest first week. It was over 9,500 I think. When you found out, how did you feel about that?

Brendon: Good.

Brent: Really good. We were really excited, because we weren’t expecting that at all.

Ryan: Yeah..we were expecting..

Spencer: (Quietly) Nothing.

(Laughter)

Spencer: Haha, that was the most asshole thing ever. What did we feel, about it..wait what was the question?

(Laughter)

Spencer: I just had a whole scenario in my head of what would be funny.

Trevor: Let’s look at it this way. You guys haven’t been a band very long. You had like two demos posted, and you got signed, and then this album is flying off the shelves…when it’s on them.

Brent: Yeah.

Brendon: Yeah..there was a little problem.

Spencer: It’s great though. The first week was more than we thought and a lot more than Fueled By Ramen thought or anybody, so it was a lot better than anybody expected.

Brendon: So we’re shocked.

Ryan and Brent: Yeah.

Spencer: Yeah, we were really excited. I know it was an awesome way to start this tour.

Trevor: Was the “Take Cover” tour your first official tour?

Ryan: Yeah.

Spencer: It was our first only tour.

(Laughter)

Brendon: That was like our third show ever.

Trevor: That’s got to be insane. How were you feeling when you left for that tour?

Brendon: Pretty nervous.

Spencer: The thing is, our second show ever was on the way to that tour. We had to drive from Vegas to Baltimore so we played one time in Ohio.

Brendon: So even the first few shows of the “Take Cover Tour” there were some things going wrong, but I think by the time we got down to Florida we felt a little more comfortable. We were definitely very nervous on the way out, though.

Trevor: Did the crowds respond well to you during that tour?

Ryan: Yeah.

Brendon: Yeah, as good as you could hope for, you know..not having a CD out and opening. It was like…there were definitely some shows that were a lot better than others, but there wasn’t horrible shows as far as crowd reaction.

Trevor: You went straight from that tour to here, because Paramore took over for you guys, right?

Brent: Yeah.

Spencer: Yeah, they overlapped.

Trevor: Now, I know you guys probably got some pretty big crowds there, but this tour has sold out shows everywhere. With you opening here, are you feeling nervous at all?

Brendon: Actually less nervous. I feel like we all agree that it’d be like, a lot more unnerving to play in front of like..20 kids instead of 2,000 kids.

Ryan: There were a couple of shows like that on the Acceptance tour. I don’t know. It’s a lot harder to play in front of small crowds.

Trevor: Yeah, I can tell you guys should be playing to bigger crowds with the energy you guys have, so I can see it being weird with a small crowd.

Ryan: Yeah, it’s just hard when you’re up there and you’re into it or whatever and it seems like the less people are there, the worse it is.

Trevor: Let’s talk about the album a little bit. You have some weird structures and melodies..I don’t know..it’s different from stuff I’ve heard before. I really don’t know how to describe it. Where are you taking your inspirations from?

Ryan: Lots of different places, I guess. The stuff earlier on is a lot of dance-influenced, so dance music in general. The second half is more theatrical stuff..like movie soundtracks and musicals. I guess the melody stuff would be from bands like Third Eye Blind and Counting Crows, stuff like that.

Trevor: Have you picked a first single?

Brent: We want to go with..”I Write Sins, Not Tragedies.” It’s not 100 percent for sure, but it’s what we all want.

Trevor: I was thinking about that the other night. I was like, “They should really make a video for this song.” Because like, Fall Out Boy’s “Dance Dance” just came out and it’s sort of like a mini-movie. It’s like..a super small version of “Thriller.”

Spencer: I still haven’t seen it.

Trevor: You haven’t seen it yet?

Spencer: No.

Brendon: It’s good.

Trevor: Yeah, it’s very well done.

Spencer: I heard it was good, but then I also heard…nevermind.

(Laughter)

Spencer: (Laughing)That was gonna be really bad.

Trevor: Now, if you did do a video for “I write Sins, Not Tragedies,” would you have any concepts that you would want to run through the treatments with the director about?

Spencer: Well, I think..it’s the same thing, like with our album artwork and t-shirt designs. A lot of the time we’ll tell people an idea and they’ll give us back something. Then, we’re like, “Well, you have to change this, this, this, and this.” So it basically ends up being us doing it all ourselves, only using their like..skills to do it. So I think if we did a video, it would be close to 100 percent our idea.

Trevor: So just not the tech parts of it?

Spencer: Yeah, yeah. Like, obviously we couldn’t go out and know how to shoot a video ourselves, but we want to be a big part of the creative aspect of it.

Trevor: Do you know who did the marketing campaign? Like, the promotion with purevolume and myspace?

Brendon: That was..I think that was Fueled By Ramen’s idea actually.

Brent: John.

Brendon: Yeah, John Janick. Johnathan Joseph Janick Jr. He’s the man.

Trevor: Well, he did a very good job, because that had everyone talking. People were waiting entire weekends just to hear a new song.

All: Yeah.

Trevor: I definitely think it helped the album sales and everything. So do you have anything planned for after the Fusion Tour?

Ryan: We’re going to take some time off in December, maybe do the video, and then go on tour in the UK with theAcademy.

Trevor: Yeah, I’ve heard so much buzz about that tour.

Spencer: The one here or..?

Trevor:The one coming up with theAcademy.

Spencer: Well, see, we’re going to the UK with them in January and we’re doing another tour with them and Acceptance in the states.

Trevor: Oh, really?

Brendon: Yeah.

Trevor: Okay, I hadn’t heard of that one yet.

Spencer: Yeah..end of January.

Trevor: I’d just heard of the UK branch.

Ryan: Yeah, we’re all looking forward to going over there.

Trevor: I know a lot of kids over there have been going across the message boards and they’re looking forward to it.

Brendon: Right on.

Trevor: Thank you for taking the time to do this. I know it was very short notice. (Laughing) I’m sorry it wasn’t better prepared, I had a whole thing at home.

(Laughter)

Brendon: Haha, it’s totally cool.

Spencer: Thanks for interviewing us at all.

www.panicatthedisco.com
www.purevolume.com/panicatthedisco

My American Heart Interivew October 6th, 2005

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My American Heart

I interviewed Larry, the singer of My American Heart outside the muse in Nashville. They are currently playing with Just Surrender and October Fall.

Paul: Where did you get the name My American Heart?
-Larry: I owned a web design firm called My American Heart, and during the time we were going through legal issues with No Way Out. No Way Out was just a really pop punk high school band name. We all agreed we wanted to change our name. So we took My American Heart. We thought it fit us well.

Paul: How did you all come together as a band?
-Larry: Jeremy the guitarist and I were best friends since 5th grade. This was way before we knew anything about music. I met Jesse and Steven in Junior High. Dustin is new to our band. He is from a band called The Transition out of Pittsburgh. We have lost 3 members before Dustin. Jesse played bass before the last two guys.

Paul: As everyone already knows, your band was one of the most popular unsigned bands around. What made you decide to sign to Warcon Records?
-Larry: We held out for a really long time, and got offers from other labels. Warcon just had everything to offer us in a label, relationship wise. They werenï¿Â½t already huge so they had enough time to develop our band and give us the attention that you canï¿Â½t get from other labels with a full roster of other bands. So we felt like it was the right choice for us.

Paul: Tell us some about Warcon.
-Larry: It works like a major but to me it is an indie. I feel like itï¿Â½s going to be the new Vagrant Records or the next biggest Indie label. We have the same qualities, as majors do, like the distribution and the marketing. Itï¿Â½s a great label.

Paul: How was the song writing process for the new album compared to the previous EP?
-Larry: That was our self-debut and now we have progressed as musicians and writers and we have structure in our songs now. Not to many bands can pull songs with verse, verse, verse, then a breakdown and that is the end of the song. To me I feel like we just found our niche and we are still progressing and becoming better musicians as a whole.
When we write our songs, Jesse is usually the one who will have the main riff and the rest of us will just get creative and put our own parts into the song.

Paul: What happened to the song ï¿Â½White Linesï¿Â½ and what is it about?
-Larry: Dude everyone has been asking me about that. Our new bass player doesnï¿Â½t know the song, and we are trying to refrain from playing old songs. Itï¿Â½s not about doing coke like a lot people think it is. We had this whole joke about doing coke off our maps, but the song is really about touring. Obviously, the while lines are the lines on the highway. People always tried to interpret the song meaning itï¿Â½s about coke but itï¿Â½s not. Whenever they ask me usually Iï¿Â½ll just kid around and be like yeah it is. Yeah but no nose grinds, there are no nose grinds involved here in My American Heart. There is no hope with motha fucking dope.

Paul: What songs on the album would you say have the most significant meaning?
-Larry: The Process. The whole song is about people who have no respect for themselves and they are controlled by everything around them and their peers. The new cool thing is to be a scene kid. We want people to feel like they can be anything they want. They donï¿Â½t have to live a certain lifestyle to listen to certain music. I mean I listen to hip-hop and I look like the most flamboyant gayest kid youï¿Â½ll ever meet. Youï¿Â½re not limited. I just want people to feel like they can keep it real and people can accept them. The song ï¿Â½The Processï¿Â½ pretty much sums all that up. We picked that song as our single to debut the album, because that song is pretty much the message we want to get out there.

Paul: What is the meaning behind ï¿Â½The Meaning in Makeupï¿Â½?
-Larry: Well itï¿Â½s pretty much the same thing. Itï¿Â½s the same concept. Whatever you feel is beautiful to you, that is what you should be.

Paul: How was it shooting the video for ï¿Â½The Processï¿Â½?
-Larry: Man it was awesome. The producer was Shane Drake he did Armor For Sleep and Hawthorne Heights, The Audition and now is doing Paramoreï¿Â½s next video for ï¿Â½Pressureï¿Â½. It was really interesting working with a real director and a lot fun. The only bad part about it was we had to play to a CD without actually playing, and doing over and over again. I would get sweaty and want to pass out and then he was like ok youï¿Â½ve got to do it again. It was an all day thing 7 in the morning to 1 at night. It was pretty interesting shooting and get all the different camera angles. Shane was on a truck and just driving around getting those moving shots. It this was all done in a huge warehouse. It was a great time.

Paul: So does the whole videoï¿Â½s concept go along with the songs overall meaning?
-Larry: Yeah the same thing. If you donï¿Â½t notice in the beginning it looks like the girl is putting makeup on but itï¿Â½s actually coming off.

Paul: Sorry this is a random question, but did you guys hook up with any of the girls in the video?
-Larry: haha One of them is Jeremyï¿Â½s ex- girlfriend. These are all my friends from home. So I picked a lot of the most beautiful people to be in the video. Then Shane Drake had the final saying. He cut a lot of girls. He was like ï¿Â½I want nothing but fucking hot girls in my video.ï¿Â½

Paul: What is the craziest tour experience you have ever had?
-Larry: Weï¿Â½ve had a lot of them. There was one were we were in northern California at a Jack in the Box. There was this joke we had on tour and we had some tape and we made stick figure eating a dog. We wrote above it ï¿Â½I eat dog.ï¿Â½ It was a total practical joke. It was just figures made out of tape. So we go into Jack in the Box. This girl and her boyfriend walk in and they are just dogging us and yelling at us. There is like 8 of us. Only three of us are Asian. They walk up to us and say ï¿Â½Only Asians eat dogï¿Â½ because there were white people around us. They said things like ï¿Â½You fucking gooksï¿Â½ and it got all racist and stuff. We were like ï¿Â½There is only a few Asian people here the rest of us are white itï¿Â½s just a joke.ï¿Â½ They were like trying to fight us. It was really hickish and really weird. It was pretty intense.

Another one was with Just Surrender. We had piss wars. We will be driving down the highway and we will piss in cups, just any kind of cups we got from McDonalds or some place like that. Then we just throw it on their windshield and it will just explode. One time their tour manager had the window open, and we made it inside. It was nuts. Then we were at war for like two hours. Haha We were so tired because we pissed as much as we could in those couple of hours.

Speaking of touring, what other tour plans are in store for the band?
We are set to do Taste of Chaos Japan with The Used Killswitch Engage, and Funeral for a Friend. There are other bands playing but I canï¿Â½t think of them off the top of my head. We are going to Japan for a week or so and we come back we are doing a Myspace tour with Greeley Estates and A Change of Pace.

Paul: Whenever you arenï¿Â½t playing music what do you do in your free time?
-Larry: I play counterstrike. Um.. really we just hang out and get drunk. We enjoy hanging out. We donï¿Â½t really have much free time though. Even when we are at home we donï¿Â½t even disband, we still hang out just as if we were on tour. We all still spend the night at each others housing, party it up.

Paul: What would you say are your biggest musical influences?
-Larry: Personally my biggest musical influence is Sigurros. Iï¿Â½ve always listened to a lot of Refused. Also other bands like Radiohead, Bjork, and Minus the Bear have influenced me.

As a band, we have really looked up to a lot of San Diego band. We looked to bands called Counterfit and Noise Ratchet. Also Coldplay was a big influence.

(interview is slightly interrupted by a crackhead)
Larry: Dude a crackhead is washing your windshields.
Paul: Yeah I know I want to give something for the hardwork, but I donï¿Â½t have any change. Do you have any change?
Larry: Nah, I donï¿Â½t have anything.
(crackhead walks off and the interview continues)

Paul: If you could go out on any tour with any 3 bands who would it be?
-Larry: The Refused, Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age

Paul: Name 3 things you couldnï¿Â½t live without on tour.
-Larry: My cellphone and my CDï¿Â½s, I also have this diary that I write everything I do in. Itï¿Â½s more like a history book for me. Later Iï¿Â½ll look back on it all the things Iï¿Â½ve done and laugh.

Paul>Do you all have any more promotions plans or endorsements in the future?
-Larry: Um.. I have dreams of getting endorsements. We are endorsed by Ernie Balls. They do a lot of things for us. I would love to be sponsored by Nike and American Apparel, but as of now we are only sponsored by Ernie Ball. Ernie Ball is awesome.

Paul: Well Iï¿Â½ll give you this time to promote and mention anything you would like to say to your fans.
-Larry: Our new CD ï¿Â½The Meaning In Makeupï¿Â½ just came out in stores everywhere on September 13. If you havenï¿Â½t picked up yet then check it out. Thanks to everyone for listening to us.

My American Heartï¿Â½s Offical Website
Myspace
Purevolume

October Fall Interview October 6th, 2005

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October Fall

I had the pleasure of interviewing Pat and Clark from October Fall in Nashville behind The Muse. This interview had to be conducted in one of the weirdest places….we were next to “The World’s Largest Adult Bookstore.” Hmm. We also had some nice homeless fellows try to bum change from us, and we didn’t have any, but Pat was nice enough to offer Halls cough drops.

Trevor: Can you guys state your names and what you do for the band?

Pat: I’m Pat D’Andrea, I play guitar and sing and write the songs with Clark.

Clark: And I’m Clark Harrison. I play guitar and sing backgrounds…a lot.

Trevor: You guys formed in 2003 right?

Pat: Kind of.

Clark: Yeah, kind of

Pat: Well like, me and Clark have been writing music together since the sixth grade and we’ve been best friends for forever. It’s really weird. We can’t get rid of eachother. And um, basically, we went across the street one day and there was a drummer there and we kind of played with him and we met Boats, our piano player. He just happened to be sitting at this new drummer for-one-day’s house hanging out and waiting for a ride home.

Clark: Yeah, it was really weird.

Pat: So basically me and him started the band a while ago, and then Boats was the last surviving member. Everyone else was kind of replaced. So yeah, I guess 2003-ish

Clark: Haha sorry.

Pat: Yeah, we elaborate.

Trevor: So were you guys getting big crowds back then or small shows?

Clark: No.

Pat: No, it’s weird. We were playing acoustic for a while and like, the chicks are great.

Clark: Haha yeah.

(Laughter)

Pat: No, no, that was Almost Famous.

Clark: There was a group of like, 20 girls that would follow us around for a while, though.

Pat: Yeah, but then when we started playing a different sound, we started getting a pretty good following for a while. And not that it died of or anything, we just started changing our sound and maturing.

Trevor: So playing this tour, how big have the shows been? I mean, obviously you played a pretty small show tonight, but like, is it reminding you of when you started or…?

Pat: No, I guess now because we’re on such a different level musically since we recorded our record and everything. We just have so much fun on tour.

Clark: Yeah, I guess it’s kind of like we’re starting over.

Pat: It’s really a good thing because we want to be known as a different band. What’s weird is our first show was at The Fireside for like, fifty people in Chicago. Have you ever heard “Somewhere Down on Fullerton” by Allister?

Trevor: Yeah.

Pat: That song’s about there, but it was really weird. Like, we had a really good first show and ever since then, we just promoted the shit out of our shows.

Trevor: Oh man, I totally forgot about Allister being Chicago kids. Have you heard their new stuff?

Pat and Clark: Yeah, some of it.

Trevor: Oh, it’s good. Like, I don’t know..for a while I was kinda…

Pat: Skeptical?

Trevor: Yeah, well about Drive-Thru now. I wish it was my tenth grade year all over again, because that’s when Drive-Thru was really starting to pick up, then the whole Geffen thing happened. I don’t know, they’re working on getting things back to normal.

Pat: Yeah, they are. Richard and Stefanie are our friends. We actually hung out with them while we were in California recording our album. They’re really cool dudes and they know what they’re doing.

Trevor: Yeah, they’ve always seemed really down to earth.

Clark: Yeah, they’re really nice.

Trevor: Okay. Obvious question. You guys signed to Decaydance, which is Pete Wentz’s imprint.

Pat: Yep.

Trevor: How does it feel having a guy like Pete love you guys that much, that he will sign you and put his trust and faith in you?

Clark: It feels good!

Pat: It’s awesome. What’s cool about it is, it’s really weird. We’ve liked Fall Out Boy for a really long time and we used to go to their shows when they were around our hometown. I was definitely one of like, the three kids they were playing to at Wherehouse Music, like this little venue. It’s really cool that he got interested in us and stuff. Like, when we hang out with him we’re not like, “Oh it’s Pete from Fall Out Boy!” It’s Pete and he’s our dude.

Trevor: Yeah, well see, that’s like how I am at any show I go to. I saw them back in April at the Fueled By Ramen Tour, and I just saw Joe walking around. I was just like, “Hey man, what’s up?” and we talked and it was great. I don’t know. It’s just fun to see kids freak out around bands, though.

Pat: Haha, oh yeah, dude.

Trevor: Yeah, you guys are people, too.

Pat and Clark: Yeah, totally!

Trevor: Now, did you guys record this summer, or before?

Clark: We recorded in late July through the middle of September of 2005, so yeah, this summer.

Pat: Yeah, we went to San Diego. We worked with Mike Green, he did the Paramore record and the Over It record, which is what got us involved with him. We went out there and did like two or three weeks of pre-production and basically me and Clark worked on a lot of stuff with him.

Clark: Yeah, we’d go over songs and stuff.

Pat: We went out there with the frame of mind of making a really good rock record, like something that was not going to get thrown away in ten years. Something that can still be played in ten years.

Clark: Haha, yeah. Try to keep it as timeless as possible.

Pat: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Like…Billy Joel shit, you know?

Trevor: I like the Piano sound. It kind of reminds me of the Socratic stuff and Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin.

Pat: I love Jack’s Mannequin. I love Andrew McMahon. Let the record show that.

(I show Pat my Andrew-“I Will Fight” band)
Trevor: I will fight.

Pat: Dude that’s awesome!

Trevor: Yeah, as soon as they got that up, I was like, “I’ve got to get one of those.”

Pat: I have mine in my backpack.

Trevor: Really?

Pat: Yeah. He was a huge influence on me, but that’s not why we have a piano in the band. We just liked that guy and that kind of fell into our laps.

Trevor: What’s some of the content that you guys have written about on the new album?

Pat: Well, when I was writing lyrically, I was looking at from the perspective..we had actually a whole record.

Clark: We had a good nine..ten songs like solid that that was how they were exactly going to be on the record.

Pat: We were going out there and I was playing the songs every day trying to see if I really liked them and I kind of had a little bit of a problem with them. I was like, “You know what, this sounds like a lot of bands that are out there and I don’t want to do that. I was like, “Let’s test ourselves.” We have good structures in some aspects but when we got out there we’d try to do an all out rock band. I was doing lyrics, too, so when I was writing these songs, I didn’t want to be dwelling on the moment. I didn’t want to be like, “Oh, this girl cheated on me.” or “This girl did this and I’m really pissed about it.” so I was writing with more of a hopeful vibe. That’s what the song “Walking” is like. One of the lyrics is, “Just keep on wishing on the stars outside your window.” and it was more like an insightful look.

Clark: Yeah, and it has something to do with the name of the record.

Pat: Yeah, the name of the record is “Keep Dreaming Upside Down.”

Trevor: Do you have a release date for that yet? I know, the website said early 2006.

Pat: February-ish.

Trevor: Everybody’s releasing albums in February on Valentines day.

Pat: Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to do that.

Trevor: Please don’t.

Pat: If our record came out on Valentine’s day, I’d definitely be doing something else. Haha.

Trevor: Okay, your labelmates, Panic! at the Disco. What do you think of them selling their 9,500?

Clark: It’s incredible. It’s just like wow.

Pat: Yeah, that was actually Fueled By Ramen’s biggest first week ever.

Trevor: Yeah, that’s nuts.

Clark: It’s ridiculous.

Trevor: Their promotional campaign where they posted the clips on their myspace, and the full songs on purvolume, that had people talking. Are you guys going to try something similar?

Pat: I’m not sure yet. We’re talking with John, like..we run through John Janick a lot. He owns Fueled By Ramen. He is the man. Like, him and Pete have this great relationship going. John does a lot of the business stuff. We always say, “In John Janick we trust.” He should seriously be on the next dollar bill.

(Laughter)

Pat: So we’re trying to think of ways to release the new songs and stuff. We have like, four months to prep people for what’s going on.

Trevor: You guys have had “Hey Hey” up for a pretty good while now.

Clark: Yeah, it’s a little bit changed now. The album version is different from the demo.

Pat: But most songs are like that.

Trevor: What do you have planned after this tour?

Clark: I think we have a few plans.

Pat: Yeah, we’re kind of up in the air with stuff. We’re basically going to tour tour tour.

Clark: Yeah, we’re going to stay on the road.

Pat: There’s 365 days in the year. We want to be home five.

Clark: Those are holidays, and if we don’t have to be home on the holidays, that’s fine, too.

Trevor: Alright guys..thank you for doing this interview

Pat: Oh no, dude, thank you.

Trevor: Haha..in front of…

All: The World’s Largest Adult Bookstore
(Laughter)

Pat: Thanks so much.

October Fall
Decaydance Records
Fueled By Ramen

June Interview August 15th, 2005

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June
I got to talk to Mark from the band June while they are out on the road touring right now. We talked about their new album “If You Speak Any Faster” and other great things as well. June’s new album comes out August 23rd 2005 on Victory Records.

Bryce: Ok well lets start off with your name and position in the band.
Mark: Name is Mark Sutor, I play drums in the band.

Bryce: Ok so since our last time chatting with you, you guys have been signed to Victory Records, can you tell us a little bit about how that came about?
Mark: Well, Victory is based out of Chicago, so it was always a huge dream in our eyes to get signed to that label.
We were starting to meet alot of the staff from Victory at shows and other things just because they’re so involved with the Chicago scene, so we at least knew that they would give any of our music a listen.

Bryce: Thats a great way to get your music heard, cause it can be hard.
Mark: Yeah definitely, it really helped that we got to know alot of them over there.
So once we could see the opportunity, we didn’t want to blow it. We worked insanely hard at writing and recorded an EP at Big Gold Studios with Dan Duszynski.
The songs came together amazingly and Dan did an awesome job with the recording. We sent the EP’s everywhere we possibly could and booked our own tour last july-august, and then waited patiently for people to get back to us. When we heard Tony from Victory wanted to meet, we went in right away, worked out a deal and got things moving.
Ever since, everything has been going amazing. He gave us alot of time to concentrate on writing the new album, gave us a budget to work with Brian McTernan (who is absolutely incredible) and has supported everything we have done 100%.

Bryce: Yeah! Your EP came as a great shock to me, it was quite simple yet it was full of surprising elements that made it stand out a lot.
Mark: Well thank you.
To conclude with Victory, everything has been going amazing and we’re stoked to finally get a CD out (in a week!)

Bryce: Yes it should go nice with the fans. A lot of the victory bands are hardcore but its great to see your style on the label as well.

Bryce: On your new album you have re-recorded some of the songs you had on your EP and they sounds amazing. They basically sound like totally new songs, was it your intent to make them that much different or just polish them up a bit?
Mark: We had no idea what was going to happen to them. We wanted to go into the studio with a bunch of new ideas but without any direction (keeping it the same, changing it, etc.). We showed Brian the songs we wanted to re-record and he helped us figure out our ideas.
And they came out incredible. We are VERY happy with the new versions of the songs.

Bryce: Yes I think the fans will really like them too, because sometimes when songs are re-recorded they can be overdone but these are perfect.
Mark: Thank you very much, yeah, we were hoping not to scare some fans off with the new versions, but we felt like they were alot more powerful but still very memorable (for those fans that enjoy the EP).

Bryce: They will enjoy them!
Now your video for Patrick looks like it was a blast to shoot, can you tell us a little about that.
Mark: it was AWESOME.
we had no idea that amount of people would show up.
We seriously played the song like 35 times, and after every time, the crowd would cheer like we just finished an encore at a huge show somewhere. The energy was so high in that room, so consistent. I can’t remember having that much fun in a long time.
Also, what was funny the director, Shane Drake (who did an amazing job), was like “OK everybody, only 4 more takes and then you can all go home!” thinking that everybody was tired (it was about midnight by the time we were done) and would be happy to leave, and everyone booed! It was hilarious!
But so much fun.
As for the “Stand By Me” concept, we can’t believe how good that turned out

Bryce: Ya, is that the story behind the kids?
Mark: we had that exact idea planned out, and those kids that acted in the video weren’t found until the NIGHT before he was going to shoot.
It was very nervewrecking, we wanted to make sure the concept was kick-ass, and everything just came together so well.

Bryce: Ya it goes with the rest of the video pretty good. The bear part is rather funny.
Mark: Have you seen stand by me?

Bryce: I have… But can’t remember much lol.
Mark: Well, at the end, the kid who scares the bully off actually pulls out a gun, and we couldn’t do that in the video. So we wanted to make something that started off pretty serious and straight-forward and then gradually get funnier, ending with the bear suit (which we all thought of the day before the shoot as well). We definitely love that part.

Bryce: Haha ya it turned out great if you ask me.

Bryce: So your out on the road right now, who are you touring with?
Mark: We are touring with a band on Tooth and Nail called “Terminal”

Bryce: I love them by the way
Mark: As do I, haha

Bryce: haha
Mark: Halifax just dropped off the tour before we got to play any dates with them because the singer got strep throat…that’s what we were told.
So now it’s only a Terminal/June tour, and it’s been going on since the 8th

Bryce: Any locals opening for you on any dates?
Mark: Yes, locals are on every show because it was only a 3 band package to begin with, but now with only us 2 there are definitely locals on every show.

Bryce: Thats a good way to hear some potentially good music.
Mark: yes it is

Bryce: So what are your tour plans for this fall like after your CD release show (which has a great lineup by the way)
Mark: We will be routing out to CMJ in New York by ourselves, then we play CMJ on the Victory showcase (which is going to be kick ass), and then we’re going to be touring with Bayside/I Am The Avalanche/The Forecast
Everything after that is in the works right now.

Bryce Is there anyone you would love to tour with? If you could choose.
Mark: I say this every time, haha. Foo Fighters
Such an amazing live show, amazing songs, and I bet they would be amazing people.

Bryce: Haha ya I bet they would be. Great writers. So on that note do you have a favorite album for 2005 yet?
Mark: hmm
new Foo Fighters, definitely
haha
if you can’t tell, I’m a huge fan

Bryce: haha ya I kinda thought would be your choice. So has their drumming inspired you at all to want to try new things?
Mark: Who? Dave Grohl’s?

Bryce: ya
Mark: hell yeah, I can listen to the colour and the shape, and every time hear this amazing new thing they did on drums and be dumbfounded

Bryce: haha I hear ya there, so many things make me wish I was good at playing something.
Like those songs you hear and you just know that if you could do that you would be like king.
Mark: yep that’s a rough feeling to deal with, haha

Bryce: Ya it is, but it makes you want to try harder and become better, so its a good inspiration tool.
Mark: of course, if you don’t use that feeling of pure “awe” at somebody’s effort and feeling they put into something, then something is wrong. It’s very inspiring to hear music like that and actually feel how much went into a song.

[b]So is there any particular thing that got you into music.
Mark: There is 1 thing that got me into music
my first concert ever, seeing Blink 182 at The Tweeter Center
when I was 15

Bryce: Haha, that band changed my whole thought on music with one note.
Mark: I was astounded that 3 guys that were writing music they loved drew over 20,000 people to come and sing along
so I bought their CD
and then the rest of their CD’s
and have been changed by it forever

Bryce: Same here! I was your normal rock band lover before I heard Blink and ever since I have been after looking for great new music and it never fails to amaze me how much stuff is out there.

Bryce: So back to the recording a bit, it can be a fun but long process but do you enjoy the down time to get all your ideas out and recorded?
Mark: Of course. It’s such a creative experience
It’s definitely a bit draining at times, when you need to get something done, but songwriting can never be entirely a “get done on time” process
or else the songs just sound manufactured and boring

Bryce: Yeah thats for sure.

Bryce: So your cover art for your new album… Is there a story or meaning behind it? It looks really cool.
Not really either. We just wanted something that looked very slick and stood out, and we loved that picture from the second we saw it. Credits to Jac Vanek.

Bryce: Well it came out unique for sure.
Mark: Yeah, we’re getting alot of cool reactions to it

Bryce: So are there any bands out there right now that you think we should know of, like someone you heard that not very many people know about yet?
Mark: I don’t know of any really young bands, or very unnoticed
but people are definitely going to like the audition and the hush sound
both bands are going to make nice impacts on the chicagoland area, and more importantly this genre altogether

Bryce: Ya they will get some good coverage as well.

Bryce: Ok well thats about all I have, is there anything else you would like to add for the fans?
Mark: Talk to us. We have a new website coming on August 23rd
It will have all of our screen names
talk to us on myspace
email us
we want to be available for communication in a very personal way
drumlikejune is my AIM name
let them know
haha

Bryce: Haha, everyone should be sending you messages soon letting you know what they think of the new album which everyone needs to go out and get on August 23rd.
Mark: exactly. Let me know what you think.

Bryce: I will
Mark: If you’re at all interested, definitely check out our E-card at http://www.victoryrecords.com/june/ecards/
and get the record! tell all your friends!
that’s all i’ve got
haha

Bryce: Awesome! Look for your feature on www.drivenfaroff.com next week and I’ll have a review of your album up sometime soon as well!
Mark: excellent
thank you

Bryce: Thank you for your time, and have fun out on the road!

You can check out June at these places
www.junerock.com
www.purevolume.com/june

Spill Canvas Interview July 25th, 2005

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The Spill Canvas
At this year’s Warped Tour I also had the pleasure of talking to the Spill Canvas. I’d like to thank all the guys in the band for taking time out of their day, and Kate Cafaro for setting everything up. We did the interview before their Chicago show and we did the interview in a cafeteria backstage where my recording equipment had a rough time picking up everything with all the background noise. I did my best to get down exactly who said what, but going off voices it was extremely difficult.

Joe: Well letï¿Â½s start this out right away with this morning, what happened there?

Nick: They jimmied the lock on the passenger side, and the door was open. We were like, ï¿Â½whoahï¿Â½. We had a stand constructed for like our tv and Playstation and all that stuff and it was knocked over and our stuff was gone.

J: That sucks, totally unexpected

N: Yeah we didnï¿Â½t expect it at all

Dan: Yeah it was a nice way to wake up. It was kind of weird because we had like three laptops down there and we were thinking maybe they were so tired that they didnï¿Â½t touch them.

N: They were not very good thieves.

J: They just wanted the Ipod and Playstation?

D: Well they went more for the tv. They didnï¿Â½t even go to the front seats. We had the computers and stuff in the front and the tv was right there. They just opened the door and went for that.

N: And our Ipods were right there

Scott: And they stole our change

J: Ha ha ha

N: Yeah like who steals change?

J: Well I heard Rufio got their stuff stolen too, does that happen a lot on the road?

N: When I was touring solo, like I was touring with a band and all my stuff was in their van and trailer and we came out of a venue and the van and trailer was gone and I lost everything. So Iï¿Â½m like totally used to it by now< . J: Damn. So letï¿Â½s talk music. ï¿Â½Sunsets and Car Crashesï¿Â½ right?

N: Yeah

J: That was just your project?

N: Yeah that was just mainly me because I just didn’t have any musicians that really were inï¿Â½ I mean I live in South Dakota soï¿Â½

J: Ha ha ha, that’ll happen

N: Yeah, so there’s not a vast choice of musicians to pick from, but it was as good as I could do and it’s what I wanted to do the whole time. I mean it turned out great and I had a lot of fun so.

J: I reviewed that album for our website actually

N: Really?

J: For some reason, I have no idea, it has the most hits out of any other album.

N: Really?

J: Yeah, I believe I said it was, well how would you describe yourself?

N: How would I describe it?

J: I think I said it was like John Mayer meets Dashboardï¿Â½

N: Yeah that’s so hard. I mean I can’t put into words music that I would write. Especially on that record. I mean especially to compare we sound like thisï¿Â½I mean I’m honored to be perceived like that. They are both amazing musicians so.

J: I noticed a common theme for the first album was angst, or a lot of heartbreak on that album.

N: Oh yeah

J: So is there any reasoning behind that? Or was it just a rough time in your life?

N: You know it was just kind of a point where I was going through stuff in my life that was going on at the time. Itï¿Â½s just your average, you know, garbage that everyone goes through.

J: The new album, ï¿Â½One Fell Swoopï¿Â½ right?

D: Yeah yeah

J: Whenï¿Â½s that come out?

D: August 9th

J: So how is this album different than the last one?

S: Itï¿Â½s a lot more fast paced.

N: Up-tempo

D: Yeah thereï¿Â½s still those songs on it that resemble the first album. But it has more of that full band feel to it.

N: Yeah

D: Itï¿Â½s really fast paced and kinda rocks out

J: So the first album was just Nick, so how did you guys come

D: Yeah he had different musicians record, like he had someone do drums, and someone else play bass. But that was pretty much his thing.

J: So how did you guys form as a band for this current album?

S: All living together in Sioux Falls I guess.

D: Yeah the three of them went to high school together and these two (Joe and Scott) were also in a different band together.

Joe: Yeah Sorry I’m here now, sorry I was late.

J: Oh thatï¿Â½s alright donï¿Â½t even worry bout it.

Joe: ha ha alright

D: And just through like the local scene

J: The local South Dakota scene?

D: Yeah

Joe: ha ha ha

D: If you could call it that I guess. But just talking and sharing a common interest in music and stuff we came together.

J: So what are your expectations for this new album coming out in August? Like maybe not from reviews and critics but what do you expect from your listeners?

S: I donï¿Â½t know I think just a more mature album.

Joe: A wider audience

D: yeah, maybe branch out to people who wouldnï¿Â½t necessarily go for just the acoustic stuff.

J: And how is being on the Warped Tour helping that? Is it helping at all do you think youï¿Â½re reaching more people?

D: Well you reach more people, but Warped Tour is definitely more rock-based. I mean there are a lot of different styles now, but itï¿Â½s definitely a rock- based crowd and thatï¿Â½s the type of crowd that maybe didnï¿Â½t listen to any of ï¿Â½Sunsets and Car Crashesï¿Â½ that might now get into it.

Joe: Thatï¿Â½s the plan anyways

J: So when you play your songs on Warped Tour do you play your old stuff?

N: We play a couple full band versions of the old stuff. Like where theyï¿Â½d be acoustic on the old cd, now theyï¿Â½re more rockinï¿Â½ and more fun. Itï¿Â½s a little more accessible too. I mean there are people that even if they like acoustic stuff, more majority of people can just get into rocking out.

Joe: Yeah if there was some guy just playing by himself with an acoustic guitar

J: Yeah that doesnï¿Â½t really sell that much on Warped Tour not too many people wanna see that.

Joe: Yeah that would go horribly just a guy and a guitar by himself.

J: So other than the break in this morning how is the Warped Tour experience as a band? Is this your first Warped Tour?

N: Well we played a day last year.

D: Itï¿Â½s been pretty good, weï¿Â½ve gotten a pretty good response. Especially from kids that actually know about us, they come up to the merch-table they exceed our expectations by like 500 times. I mean weï¿Â½re not getting all rich

J: ha ha ha

D: Like last year there was probably like $30 sold total that day. So anythingï¿Â½s better than that.

J: Anything better than 30 and youï¿Â½re heading in the right direction?

D: Yeah

J: So have you guys become friends with any of the other bands? Like what bands do you most relate to?

S: Like some of the bands that are on the Smartpunk stage I say we relate to most because weï¿Â½re with each other a lot. Weï¿Â½ve only been on a for a week or so though soï¿Â½ Just the guys on the Smarpunk stage, meeting those guys.

N: Yeah itï¿Â½s hard because the big bands, like the really big bands they might not really have time to come check you out or anything. You donï¿Â½t want to be that guy thatï¿Â½s like, ï¿Â½Hey man. Come check us out!ï¿Â½ like totally just bugging them. You just kinda go with it and whoever you meet you meet.

J: So do you guys have any plans to tour this fall?

N: Yeah

J: Going on the road with anybody or headlining?

N: We have a label tour.

J: One eleven

N: Yeah, yeah itï¿Â½s with a band called This Day and Age, theyï¿Â½re really good friends of ours and another band Mashlin.

J: Mashlin?

D: Yeah theyï¿Â½re based out of Florida

N: Itï¿Â½s us three and weï¿Â½re just going on a whole US tour and itï¿Â½ll just be a whole lotta fun.

J: Well alright thanks so much for taking time out of your day.

N: No thank you

J: 6:50 Smartpunk stage right?

Joe: Yup

J: See ya guys there

The Higher Interview May 18th, 2005

By 6 Comments

The Higher

– Please state your name in the band, position and favorite animal.

Tom: my name is tom. Iï¿Â½m the guitarist, and if I could be any animal it would be a panda, because it eats bamboo, and its healthy.

– How did the higher start?

Tom: Everyone met in high school, well everyone except for me, and they started, but I knew them in high school. And they just started a band, and later I joined.

– You just have a record that just hit stores how would you describe it in one word?
Tom: Awesome, haha that’s hard, but I do like awesome.

– How long have you been signed to Fiddler Records?

Tom: About two years in about a month. They are really good to us we love them, they love us, and we are ready to have this record out with them.

– How has the band matured in the past two years?

Tom: We matured just through playing out instruments and learning how to play them a lot better. And coming more in tune with writing songs.

– Who influenced you to start playing music?

Tom: probably for me it would be Blink 182, and anyone playing a guitar when I was younger. I went to a Blink show when I was like 13 and I was like I want to do that, I want to play music.

– Who are your influences non-musically?

Tom: Chris Rock and Pablo Francisco

– Who is Pablo Francisco?

Tom: he’s a comedian
– Who writes the songs?

Tom: Usually someone comes with a part and everyone just jams around and makes parts to sound good together.

– What is your dream tour to play?

Tom: it would be awesome to go out to a Jimmy Eat World, The Who and Bob Dylan, thereï¿Â½s so many. A tour with like thirty bands and we could all pick like six, thatï¿Â½s our dream tour.

– What would be your dream tour to watch?

Tom: Lenny Kravitz, pink Floyd and maybe a band called Long Ways, its weird music but that would be awesome to watch.

– What are you expecting for the upcoming tour?

Tom: we aren’t expecting much we want to get our music out as much as possible, and let word of our new record, but there might be shows that only 5 kids show up to. We just canï¿Â½t wait to get back on the road; we are expecting a good time.

– Any last words

Tom: buy our record, in a Chicago accent, its really good, you will like it, its something new and exciting, if your tired of screaming, youï¿Â½ll love it.

– Thanks.