Jordan Royale
ScopeOut: Tell me about what you're working on right now
Jordan: Wow that's a big one. Right now I'm currently engaged with writing my next project, keeping the shows flowing, and keeping the fan base growing. Writing and keeping the lyrics on top is a must...I have to be on top and continue to re-innovate. At this present moment, I'm working on hammering out the written for this new track w/ The Jokerr.👌
ScopeOut: Tom Volpicelli has worked with a lot of great artists, what it like working with him?
Jordan: It was really neat. He literally can hear any pop or crackle in the beat or in one of your vocals when he masters the tracks. We went in this room that's just speakers everywhere and soundbars and shit that can detect noises I didn't even know existed. He was the GOD to mastering tracks. At least with who I've worked with so far. [Laughs] And you're right he has worked with some big names like Iggy Pop and Pat Benatar.
ScopeOut: Who would you like to collaborate with in the future
Jordan: Many of the people I wanna collaborate with I'm making happen right now. Of course there are a few artists that seem unattainable or I know they are gonna want a ludicrous amount of money, so I'm holding out and I'll see what else pops up... Afterall, people are here to listen to my music, not "such and such" feature. Some of the people I PLAN on collaborating with would be Whitney Peyton, Twiztid, and Twisted Insane. As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see what happens before I open my mouth. 😉
ScopeOut: Which song of Dichotomy is your favorite to perform live?
Jordan: Honestly my favorite has to be Adult Beverages. I love performing a lot of my songs, but the engagement just isn't the same unless it's an amped the fuck up song, I honestly don't know why that is...But I'll take it. I love talking about political and religious stuff...and people vibe to that. But for some reason, people love my energy the most. They love me flailing all over the stage. They love feeling involved and riled up, and for that reason this is my favorite song to perform. 😊
ScopeOut: Tell me about making the music video for Skeletons
Jordan: The making of this music video was pretty crazy. I originally had so many fucking ideas...I wanna do this, I wanna do that. It came down to what made sense, what wasn't too literal, and what gave a hidden message and agenda during the song (As you'll see I repeat this same type of cycle in the last video for Adult Beverages). We started out filming the bathroom scene first which was completely ass backwards...But that's what we started with. Used some fake Halloween blood and mixed cookies, fake blood, and water together to appear as throw-up. This shit actually made me literally for real throw-up [laughs]. We filmed the train and boardwalk scenes in Coney Island, NY. The station and shit in Newark, NJ. This was like a 16 hour shoot day. I'm glad I was able to get the #Royalty T-shirt drop in there and that my boy, Nito from Yacht Club Music Group was able to swing thru. Shoutout to Secret Society Motion Pictures and Nimi Hendrix for shooting this with me.
ScopeOut: What was your America's Got Talent experience like?
Jordan: It was a unique experience, it happened so long ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was pretty neat, I got to meet Nick Cannon and a couple other characters. But to be honest with you, those shows are so biased I'm not surprised I didn't make it far. Fuck em!
ScopeOut: I know you're into acting as well, any new projects related to that?
Jordan: Haven't gotten into it lately but it is something I do enjoy more or less as a side type of thing. Helps get my name and face out there. 👍
ScopeOut: If you could do a show anywhere with anyone, who and where would you pick?
Jordan: Tech N9ne at the Gathering of the Juggalos. His work speaks for itself, I love his double time and rapping in the hundreds. I've never been to the gathering as sad as that sounds and I hear how everyone there is so down to earth and just open to all types of music...I guess that really rings true though to all juggalos just "The Gathering".
Jordan: Wow that's a big one. Right now I'm currently engaged with writing my next project, keeping the shows flowing, and keeping the fan base growing. Writing and keeping the lyrics on top is a must...I have to be on top and continue to re-innovate. At this present moment, I'm working on hammering out the written for this new track w/ The Jokerr.👌
ScopeOut: Tom Volpicelli has worked with a lot of great artists, what it like working with him?
Jordan: It was really neat. He literally can hear any pop or crackle in the beat or in one of your vocals when he masters the tracks. We went in this room that's just speakers everywhere and soundbars and shit that can detect noises I didn't even know existed. He was the GOD to mastering tracks. At least with who I've worked with so far. [Laughs] And you're right he has worked with some big names like Iggy Pop and Pat Benatar.
ScopeOut: Who would you like to collaborate with in the future
Jordan: Many of the people I wanna collaborate with I'm making happen right now. Of course there are a few artists that seem unattainable or I know they are gonna want a ludicrous amount of money, so I'm holding out and I'll see what else pops up... Afterall, people are here to listen to my music, not "such and such" feature. Some of the people I PLAN on collaborating with would be Whitney Peyton, Twiztid, and Twisted Insane. As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see what happens before I open my mouth. 😉
ScopeOut: Which song of Dichotomy is your favorite to perform live?
Jordan: Honestly my favorite has to be Adult Beverages. I love performing a lot of my songs, but the engagement just isn't the same unless it's an amped the fuck up song, I honestly don't know why that is...But I'll take it. I love talking about political and religious stuff...and people vibe to that. But for some reason, people love my energy the most. They love me flailing all over the stage. They love feeling involved and riled up, and for that reason this is my favorite song to perform. 😊
ScopeOut: Tell me about making the music video for Skeletons
Jordan: The making of this music video was pretty crazy. I originally had so many fucking ideas...I wanna do this, I wanna do that. It came down to what made sense, what wasn't too literal, and what gave a hidden message and agenda during the song (As you'll see I repeat this same type of cycle in the last video for Adult Beverages). We started out filming the bathroom scene first which was completely ass backwards...But that's what we started with. Used some fake Halloween blood and mixed cookies, fake blood, and water together to appear as throw-up. This shit actually made me literally for real throw-up [laughs]. We filmed the train and boardwalk scenes in Coney Island, NY. The station and shit in Newark, NJ. This was like a 16 hour shoot day. I'm glad I was able to get the #Royalty T-shirt drop in there and that my boy, Nito from Yacht Club Music Group was able to swing thru. Shoutout to Secret Society Motion Pictures and Nimi Hendrix for shooting this with me.
ScopeOut: What was your America's Got Talent experience like?
Jordan: It was a unique experience, it happened so long ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was pretty neat, I got to meet Nick Cannon and a couple other characters. But to be honest with you, those shows are so biased I'm not surprised I didn't make it far. Fuck em!
ScopeOut: I know you're into acting as well, any new projects related to that?
Jordan: Haven't gotten into it lately but it is something I do enjoy more or less as a side type of thing. Helps get my name and face out there. 👍
ScopeOut: If you could do a show anywhere with anyone, who and where would you pick?
Jordan: Tech N9ne at the Gathering of the Juggalos. His work speaks for itself, I love his double time and rapping in the hundreds. I've never been to the gathering as sad as that sounds and I hear how everyone there is so down to earth and just open to all types of music...I guess that really rings true though to all juggalos just "The Gathering".
Angelspit
ScopeOut: What do you think has changed most about Angelspit since 2004?
Zoog: any musicians mellow out as they get older - I have become more furious. My music and lyrics are more brutal - more political. I have also become more open to experiment.The more people I meet, the more I am In touch with the issues that are effecting us all - and I want to address these with power.
ScopeOut: Angelspit’s design is unique and inspiring, where do you draw influence from?
Zoog: Taking everyday things around us to the horrific extreme.
I love to mix Horror and high fashion - it's like a high gloss bloody collision that you can not look away from.
ScopeOut: I love that you have such unique and personalized merch items. Do you have a method of destruction?
Zoog: It is all about taking our designs and applying them to different things - Tshirts, jackets, business shirts, jewellery. It is about having fun with the designs. So often a CD design will be forgotten on the shelf, but you can wear it if it's a Tshirt or piece of jewelry.
ScopeOut: You’ve shared the stage with many great bands. If you had to pick your favourite, which would it be?
Zoog: Skinny puppy, Baal, Chant.
ScopeOut: How do you think being from Sydney affects your sound, if at all?
Zoog: I believe Australians have a do-or-die attitude. This is not a hobby, it's a life or death mission.
While living in the USA I have met many amazing musicians who are complacent.
It's not about talent, it's about fierce determination - and that determination comes through in the music.
ScopeOut: You mentioned you have moved to Chicago. Why’d you pick Chicago?
Zoog: Because it's awesome and very central. There are so many cities within an 8 hour drive.
The scene here is massive!
ScopeOut: What are you working on right now?
Zoog: Angelspit's fifth album, and it is sounding brutal. It is dark, heavy and haunted. I am so excited to release this!
I am getting back to the roots of Angelspit - which is using a sampler, analogue synths and recording trash cans for percussion.
I have acquired several old samplers from the late 80's. When you use these machines there is a more thorough process you need to adopt. You need to painstakingly program everything - it forces you to pay attention to the details of the sounds. The result is a heavier more 90s sound. When this is mixed with my 70s synthesizers produced using modern technology, something new emerges. I find this so exciting. Being a part of the evolution of a genre.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick one song to show someone who hadn’t heard of Angelspit, which would it be?
Zoog: Probably 100%, it seems to be the most popular track.
ScopeOut: Who would your dream tour be with? (Dead or alive, past or present bands)
Zoog: Led zeppelin, nirvana, sound garden, David Bowie.
Zoog: any musicians mellow out as they get older - I have become more furious. My music and lyrics are more brutal - more political. I have also become more open to experiment.The more people I meet, the more I am In touch with the issues that are effecting us all - and I want to address these with power.
ScopeOut: Angelspit’s design is unique and inspiring, where do you draw influence from?
Zoog: Taking everyday things around us to the horrific extreme.
I love to mix Horror and high fashion - it's like a high gloss bloody collision that you can not look away from.
ScopeOut: I love that you have such unique and personalized merch items. Do you have a method of destruction?
Zoog: It is all about taking our designs and applying them to different things - Tshirts, jackets, business shirts, jewellery. It is about having fun with the designs. So often a CD design will be forgotten on the shelf, but you can wear it if it's a Tshirt or piece of jewelry.
ScopeOut: You’ve shared the stage with many great bands. If you had to pick your favourite, which would it be?
Zoog: Skinny puppy, Baal, Chant.
ScopeOut: How do you think being from Sydney affects your sound, if at all?
Zoog: I believe Australians have a do-or-die attitude. This is not a hobby, it's a life or death mission.
While living in the USA I have met many amazing musicians who are complacent.
It's not about talent, it's about fierce determination - and that determination comes through in the music.
ScopeOut: You mentioned you have moved to Chicago. Why’d you pick Chicago?
Zoog: Because it's awesome and very central. There are so many cities within an 8 hour drive.
The scene here is massive!
ScopeOut: What are you working on right now?
Zoog: Angelspit's fifth album, and it is sounding brutal. It is dark, heavy and haunted. I am so excited to release this!
I am getting back to the roots of Angelspit - which is using a sampler, analogue synths and recording trash cans for percussion.
I have acquired several old samplers from the late 80's. When you use these machines there is a more thorough process you need to adopt. You need to painstakingly program everything - it forces you to pay attention to the details of the sounds. The result is a heavier more 90s sound. When this is mixed with my 70s synthesizers produced using modern technology, something new emerges. I find this so exciting. Being a part of the evolution of a genre.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick one song to show someone who hadn’t heard of Angelspit, which would it be?
Zoog: Probably 100%, it seems to be the most popular track.
ScopeOut: Who would your dream tour be with? (Dead or alive, past or present bands)
Zoog: Led zeppelin, nirvana, sound garden, David Bowie.
Arden & The Wolves
Photo by: Ron Douglas
ScopeOut: You’ve already released one EP, Break Me In, what can people expect from the new EP?
Arden: The new EP has a much darker rock sound with a hint of blues thrown in. I was a much more integral part of the production process on this one, which is partly in thanks to feeling more confident about what kind of sound I envisioned than I did when I worked on the first EP, and also partly in thanks to my amazing producer Stacy O'Dell for being so collaborative in spirit and trying out things the way I wanted to see if they would work. He was incredibly supportive and we got into a really good groove together by the end. I seriously can't say enough good things about him.
I also realized, after the first EP, that I didn't have to write every single melody at the top of my belt range, and that actually some songs sound better in my lower ranges. When I first performed "Walk with the Devil" live, which is a really low, bluesy, almost Creole-influenced song, people commented on how much lower the vocals were and I got a really positive response on that. There's still some old school belting on the EP but I think overall it's a much sexier, more organic, more dynamic kind of sound.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick one song of the new EP to show someone to introduce them to your music, which would you pick?
Arden: Definitely "It Looks Like Trouble," which is also the title of the EP. That was the last song we did together, and I wanted it to be the closing track, as the songs on the EP are roughly in the order in which they were written. When we were working on that, I was constantly amazed by how smoothly it came together and how much it was everything I wanted it to sound like. It's a hooky melody, but the bass and drums have this consistent, driving rhythm. It's very Metric in that sense.
ScopeOut: What changed most about the writing process from Break Me In to Looks Like Trouble?
Arden: Definitely the fact that I got to be a collaborative part of the production process. When I recorded Break Me In, it was my first time ever recording my own music, so I just kind of trusted the producer I was working with to take it and make it look good, and even sometimes in that process when I wanted to change up something a bit, he would tell me that it wouldn't work that way. (For example, the third verse of Hazy Town originally had a second half to it. I still kind of miss that half sometimes.)
For my part, the beginning of the writing process stayed mostly the same. Usually I come up with a lyric and rhythm first, and then after repeating in my head several times, a melody starts to come along with it. A few of the songs on Break Me In had chord progressions to go with them before I brought them to my producer, but he changed most of them anyway, which was probably for the best. So when I brought the new songs to Stacy, I just brought in the melody and lyrics and gave him a few references for how I wanted the songs to sound (I'd say the biggest influences on It Looks Like Trouble were Paramore, Anberlin, Metric, The Pretty Reckless, and a hint of Michelle Branch and Green Day). Then Stacy would break out his guitar and bass and start playing around, and we'd know when we hit on the right thing. It was a lot of me going, "That chord! Wait, no, go back one!"
ScopeOut: You said Anberlin influenced you, I'm sure you have heard the news Anberlin is done after their next album. What do you think about that? Which of their albums influenced you most?
Arden: I have heard that, but I haven't listened to it yet. It's hard to pick a favorite album of theirs, but the first one I ever listened to was Never Take Friendship Personal, and that got me hooked. "Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen" is my favorite song ever and probably always will be.
ScopeOut: How did you assemble the band and the team who worked on the album?
Arden: I was lucky to be a part of the rock scene in NYC for several years as a fan, gogo dancer, emcee, and occasional rock girlfriend. So when I went to put together my band, I just started asking around. I wanted to make it an appealing gig for serious musicians, so I said, hey, the songs are already done, and I'll guarantee a pay rate per gig, so all you have to do is learn them at home and show up to a couple rehearsals. I brought together Percy Trayanov from Psylab on bass, Matt James from Angelspit on drums, Mick Royale from The Jamesons on guitar, and ultimately Bruce Edwards on lead. They were an amazing team. I basically surrounded myself with people who were smarter and more talented and more experienced than I was.
When I decided I wanted to put out a second EP, I asked around about producers, and every single person I talked to recommended Stacy O'Dell. He had just finished the self-titled album for Killcode, which had just landed them a deal with Sony/CME records. I opened for Killcode at Mercury Lounge on the night they inked their deal and I asked Stacy if he would show up early for my set to see if he wanted to work with me, and I was kind of starstruck when he said yes. Even the super hardcore guys from Panzie, whom he also produced, told me, "Just listen to him and trust him and do everything he says and it'll turn out great."
ScopeOut: One of my favorite aspects of your band are the lyrics, what’s your song writing process?
Arden: Oh man, thanks, first of all. Basically when you write a song you pretty much have to say everything you want to say in 3-5 minutes, so it forces you to be really economical. I write so many more lyrics that get cut because once you have a melody, it's so easy to say so many more things that fit the same meter, but they don't all have the punch of the ones I end up keeping.
Sometimes I just get really lucky. "Ballad," for example, was the easiest song to write but the most difficult one to put on the album -- I wrote it in under an hour, and all this stuff just started coming up. The song ends up in a totally different place from where it started. It starts out about a lover I had who had this habit of running away whenever things were just getting good between us, and then all of a sudden it's also about my dad disowning me around the same time, and then it ends with suicidal thoughts over nothing ever getting better. I was in such a black hole at the time and it felt like it was going to take more work to climb out than it was worth. I constantly have these feelings that I'm so deeply damaged, that there's something so inherently wrong with me that I can't fix, that at this point there's just no hope and I'm a lost cause, that it's just too late to bring me back. And that's hard to admit to an audience, even in song form. I brought it to Stacy and I was half hoping he would tell me it sucked and that we shouldn't put it on the album, but he loved it.
"When You Come Undone" on the other hand went through a lot of incarnations. The chorus was easy but the verses were difficult. I really felt like I had a lot that I needed to say in that one, and it was impossible for a long time to know whether I was getting my point across sufficiently. I think that's why the first half of the chorus changes lyrically every time. It's like the musical equivalent of being like, "And ANOTHER thing!"
"It Looks Like Trouble" was easy to write because it was such a clear story. I had sworn off dating rocker guys because it just never ended well, and then this singer dude comes along -- long hair, leather pants, like every cliche stereotype I fall for -- and I was like, "Nooooo!!" By that time I'd already made plans to move out of NY, so I was like, fine, I'll just sleep with him a couple times, have some fun and then be on my way. And then after we slept together the first time, I went to one of his shows and he came out into the audience and kissed me, and then gave me this line later that night about how he wanted to take me out to dinner and do things the right way. Which made things even worse. So I went home that night and wrote the song.
"Walk with the Devil" was a fun one. It took a long time to come together, like for a while I just had the second half of the chorus and knew that somewhere there was an entire song in it. I wrote it about this musician with whom I had a surprisingly functional fuckbuddy relationship for over two years. He was kind of a dick at times, but you knew he was a dick, and he never led you to believe otherwise. So I was at this show once and he walks in with another girl, and I just kind of smiled to myself, and all of a sudden there was the chorus. I played the track for him when it was finished and he liked it. I guess any guy is going to like a song with words like "sublime" and "godliness" used to describe him in it. But it's a decidedly unsentimental song, as it was a decidedly unsentimental relationship.
"The Hype" was fun to write too, because it's a story with three clear acts. That was the first one that Stacy and I worked on together, and he noted that what really set my songwriting apart was how narrative it is. There's always a story in there. But with "The Hype" it's really clear -- it's the story of the band you idolized as a teenager falling apart and sucking ten years later. Percy, my bassist, listened to it and said, "Everyone's going to relate to that, because everyone who loves music has had that experience at one point or another."
ScopeOut: I have to agree with Percy. I think we're alike in that we write from experience. I don't usually write about stories that aren't mind. Do you think that makes your song writing more cathartic? I often find songs like that easiest to connect to.
Arden: I'm not sure about cathartic, but whenever I'd bring a song to Stacy and he'd think it was good, it always seemed like whatever issues I had with whatever boy I wrote the song about would somehow all magically work out, because the song was working out. And actually it happened that way once -- like, things unexpectedly worked out on the very night that Stacy had approved the song for the album. So, maybe it's cathartic after all.
ScopeOut: Let us in on a little bit of the back story on how you got into music, and what drove you to start A&TW.
Arden: I grew up singing my whole life, and ever since I was a teenager I wanted to have a band, but I had neither the resources nor the talent to do it all myself. I tried playing guitar and piano for a while but I have pretty fucked-up hands, and I'm way double-jointed, so my teachers would always be like, "what are you doing, your hands look like claws when you play a chord!" I think immersing myself in the rock scene in NY was what really inspired me to go for it. Seeing all my friends starting bands and getting up and performing, I was like, I can do that, I'm ready for it to be my turn. So I brought together some people who were willing to take a chance and believe in me.
ScopeOut: I know you come from a theatre background, tell me how that plays into your performances.
Arden: Believe it or not, having a rock stage presence was the thing I was most nervous about with performing. So many of my exes could do these cool things like flip the mic around their hands, or like, wrap the mic chord around their necks and unwrap it in time to sing the next verse, or do these crazy splits in the air with their guitars. In theater you have a director giving you blocking and choreography the whole time, but when you're a rocker you just kind of have to rely on your own charisma. Mostly what I found was that when you don't have a director, the next best thing is a few shots of whiskey.
ScopeOut: You just made a huge change from NY to Las Vegas, how do you think that will change the direction of A&TW?
Arden: I think there is a much more thriving music scene in LA at this point than there is in NY. Don't get me wrong, some of my favorite bands are in NY, but I just don't feel like the scene is the same as it was three or four years ago. I'm moving to LA sometime this spring, Vegas is kind of a stopover for me to chill out and get some writing work done in the quiet. I think once I get to LA, I'll do the same thing I did in NY and just find some musicians who want to work with me, who are interested in being in a band that already has songs ready to go so that we can jump into playing gigs right away. I try to make it an appealing gig for the guys I work with because they're professionals and they deserve to be treated as such. Creatively though, it's always been my baby, so I think the sound will stay true to my voice. Who knows how LA will affect my mood and the things I choose to write about though. Maybe my songs will start getting a lot happier.
ScopeOut: You’ve always got something new going on, what can we expect in 2014?
Arden: I'm excited to see how people react to the new EP. I'm also moving to LA to try to get some forward movement on the screenplay I wrote and getting it produced into an actual movie. And I'm trying to finish a solid draft of the companionate memoir to the screenplay. I think it would be unrealistic to expect any of those things to debut within the year, but I'm hoping to push them forward. I'm also hoping to teach some more of my sex & relationship courses out in LA; I think they have a much stronger sexuality education community than the east coast. Other than that, hopefully more blogs and parkour videos!
Arden: The new EP has a much darker rock sound with a hint of blues thrown in. I was a much more integral part of the production process on this one, which is partly in thanks to feeling more confident about what kind of sound I envisioned than I did when I worked on the first EP, and also partly in thanks to my amazing producer Stacy O'Dell for being so collaborative in spirit and trying out things the way I wanted to see if they would work. He was incredibly supportive and we got into a really good groove together by the end. I seriously can't say enough good things about him.
I also realized, after the first EP, that I didn't have to write every single melody at the top of my belt range, and that actually some songs sound better in my lower ranges. When I first performed "Walk with the Devil" live, which is a really low, bluesy, almost Creole-influenced song, people commented on how much lower the vocals were and I got a really positive response on that. There's still some old school belting on the EP but I think overall it's a much sexier, more organic, more dynamic kind of sound.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick one song of the new EP to show someone to introduce them to your music, which would you pick?
Arden: Definitely "It Looks Like Trouble," which is also the title of the EP. That was the last song we did together, and I wanted it to be the closing track, as the songs on the EP are roughly in the order in which they were written. When we were working on that, I was constantly amazed by how smoothly it came together and how much it was everything I wanted it to sound like. It's a hooky melody, but the bass and drums have this consistent, driving rhythm. It's very Metric in that sense.
ScopeOut: What changed most about the writing process from Break Me In to Looks Like Trouble?
Arden: Definitely the fact that I got to be a collaborative part of the production process. When I recorded Break Me In, it was my first time ever recording my own music, so I just kind of trusted the producer I was working with to take it and make it look good, and even sometimes in that process when I wanted to change up something a bit, he would tell me that it wouldn't work that way. (For example, the third verse of Hazy Town originally had a second half to it. I still kind of miss that half sometimes.)
For my part, the beginning of the writing process stayed mostly the same. Usually I come up with a lyric and rhythm first, and then after repeating in my head several times, a melody starts to come along with it. A few of the songs on Break Me In had chord progressions to go with them before I brought them to my producer, but he changed most of them anyway, which was probably for the best. So when I brought the new songs to Stacy, I just brought in the melody and lyrics and gave him a few references for how I wanted the songs to sound (I'd say the biggest influences on It Looks Like Trouble were Paramore, Anberlin, Metric, The Pretty Reckless, and a hint of Michelle Branch and Green Day). Then Stacy would break out his guitar and bass and start playing around, and we'd know when we hit on the right thing. It was a lot of me going, "That chord! Wait, no, go back one!"
ScopeOut: You said Anberlin influenced you, I'm sure you have heard the news Anberlin is done after their next album. What do you think about that? Which of their albums influenced you most?
Arden: I have heard that, but I haven't listened to it yet. It's hard to pick a favorite album of theirs, but the first one I ever listened to was Never Take Friendship Personal, and that got me hooked. "Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen" is my favorite song ever and probably always will be.
ScopeOut: How did you assemble the band and the team who worked on the album?
Arden: I was lucky to be a part of the rock scene in NYC for several years as a fan, gogo dancer, emcee, and occasional rock girlfriend. So when I went to put together my band, I just started asking around. I wanted to make it an appealing gig for serious musicians, so I said, hey, the songs are already done, and I'll guarantee a pay rate per gig, so all you have to do is learn them at home and show up to a couple rehearsals. I brought together Percy Trayanov from Psylab on bass, Matt James from Angelspit on drums, Mick Royale from The Jamesons on guitar, and ultimately Bruce Edwards on lead. They were an amazing team. I basically surrounded myself with people who were smarter and more talented and more experienced than I was.
When I decided I wanted to put out a second EP, I asked around about producers, and every single person I talked to recommended Stacy O'Dell. He had just finished the self-titled album for Killcode, which had just landed them a deal with Sony/CME records. I opened for Killcode at Mercury Lounge on the night they inked their deal and I asked Stacy if he would show up early for my set to see if he wanted to work with me, and I was kind of starstruck when he said yes. Even the super hardcore guys from Panzie, whom he also produced, told me, "Just listen to him and trust him and do everything he says and it'll turn out great."
ScopeOut: One of my favorite aspects of your band are the lyrics, what’s your song writing process?
Arden: Oh man, thanks, first of all. Basically when you write a song you pretty much have to say everything you want to say in 3-5 minutes, so it forces you to be really economical. I write so many more lyrics that get cut because once you have a melody, it's so easy to say so many more things that fit the same meter, but they don't all have the punch of the ones I end up keeping.
Sometimes I just get really lucky. "Ballad," for example, was the easiest song to write but the most difficult one to put on the album -- I wrote it in under an hour, and all this stuff just started coming up. The song ends up in a totally different place from where it started. It starts out about a lover I had who had this habit of running away whenever things were just getting good between us, and then all of a sudden it's also about my dad disowning me around the same time, and then it ends with suicidal thoughts over nothing ever getting better. I was in such a black hole at the time and it felt like it was going to take more work to climb out than it was worth. I constantly have these feelings that I'm so deeply damaged, that there's something so inherently wrong with me that I can't fix, that at this point there's just no hope and I'm a lost cause, that it's just too late to bring me back. And that's hard to admit to an audience, even in song form. I brought it to Stacy and I was half hoping he would tell me it sucked and that we shouldn't put it on the album, but he loved it.
"When You Come Undone" on the other hand went through a lot of incarnations. The chorus was easy but the verses were difficult. I really felt like I had a lot that I needed to say in that one, and it was impossible for a long time to know whether I was getting my point across sufficiently. I think that's why the first half of the chorus changes lyrically every time. It's like the musical equivalent of being like, "And ANOTHER thing!"
"It Looks Like Trouble" was easy to write because it was such a clear story. I had sworn off dating rocker guys because it just never ended well, and then this singer dude comes along -- long hair, leather pants, like every cliche stereotype I fall for -- and I was like, "Nooooo!!" By that time I'd already made plans to move out of NY, so I was like, fine, I'll just sleep with him a couple times, have some fun and then be on my way. And then after we slept together the first time, I went to one of his shows and he came out into the audience and kissed me, and then gave me this line later that night about how he wanted to take me out to dinner and do things the right way. Which made things even worse. So I went home that night and wrote the song.
"Walk with the Devil" was a fun one. It took a long time to come together, like for a while I just had the second half of the chorus and knew that somewhere there was an entire song in it. I wrote it about this musician with whom I had a surprisingly functional fuckbuddy relationship for over two years. He was kind of a dick at times, but you knew he was a dick, and he never led you to believe otherwise. So I was at this show once and he walks in with another girl, and I just kind of smiled to myself, and all of a sudden there was the chorus. I played the track for him when it was finished and he liked it. I guess any guy is going to like a song with words like "sublime" and "godliness" used to describe him in it. But it's a decidedly unsentimental song, as it was a decidedly unsentimental relationship.
"The Hype" was fun to write too, because it's a story with three clear acts. That was the first one that Stacy and I worked on together, and he noted that what really set my songwriting apart was how narrative it is. There's always a story in there. But with "The Hype" it's really clear -- it's the story of the band you idolized as a teenager falling apart and sucking ten years later. Percy, my bassist, listened to it and said, "Everyone's going to relate to that, because everyone who loves music has had that experience at one point or another."
ScopeOut: I have to agree with Percy. I think we're alike in that we write from experience. I don't usually write about stories that aren't mind. Do you think that makes your song writing more cathartic? I often find songs like that easiest to connect to.
Arden: I'm not sure about cathartic, but whenever I'd bring a song to Stacy and he'd think it was good, it always seemed like whatever issues I had with whatever boy I wrote the song about would somehow all magically work out, because the song was working out. And actually it happened that way once -- like, things unexpectedly worked out on the very night that Stacy had approved the song for the album. So, maybe it's cathartic after all.
ScopeOut: Let us in on a little bit of the back story on how you got into music, and what drove you to start A&TW.
Arden: I grew up singing my whole life, and ever since I was a teenager I wanted to have a band, but I had neither the resources nor the talent to do it all myself. I tried playing guitar and piano for a while but I have pretty fucked-up hands, and I'm way double-jointed, so my teachers would always be like, "what are you doing, your hands look like claws when you play a chord!" I think immersing myself in the rock scene in NY was what really inspired me to go for it. Seeing all my friends starting bands and getting up and performing, I was like, I can do that, I'm ready for it to be my turn. So I brought together some people who were willing to take a chance and believe in me.
ScopeOut: I know you come from a theatre background, tell me how that plays into your performances.
Arden: Believe it or not, having a rock stage presence was the thing I was most nervous about with performing. So many of my exes could do these cool things like flip the mic around their hands, or like, wrap the mic chord around their necks and unwrap it in time to sing the next verse, or do these crazy splits in the air with their guitars. In theater you have a director giving you blocking and choreography the whole time, but when you're a rocker you just kind of have to rely on your own charisma. Mostly what I found was that when you don't have a director, the next best thing is a few shots of whiskey.
ScopeOut: You just made a huge change from NY to Las Vegas, how do you think that will change the direction of A&TW?
Arden: I think there is a much more thriving music scene in LA at this point than there is in NY. Don't get me wrong, some of my favorite bands are in NY, but I just don't feel like the scene is the same as it was three or four years ago. I'm moving to LA sometime this spring, Vegas is kind of a stopover for me to chill out and get some writing work done in the quiet. I think once I get to LA, I'll do the same thing I did in NY and just find some musicians who want to work with me, who are interested in being in a band that already has songs ready to go so that we can jump into playing gigs right away. I try to make it an appealing gig for the guys I work with because they're professionals and they deserve to be treated as such. Creatively though, it's always been my baby, so I think the sound will stay true to my voice. Who knows how LA will affect my mood and the things I choose to write about though. Maybe my songs will start getting a lot happier.
ScopeOut: You’ve always got something new going on, what can we expect in 2014?
Arden: I'm excited to see how people react to the new EP. I'm also moving to LA to try to get some forward movement on the screenplay I wrote and getting it produced into an actual movie. And I'm trying to finish a solid draft of the companionate memoir to the screenplay. I think it would be unrealistic to expect any of those things to debut within the year, but I'm hoping to push them forward. I'm also hoping to teach some more of my sex & relationship courses out in LA; I think they have a much stronger sexuality education community than the east coast. Other than that, hopefully more blogs and parkour videos!
You Me At Six
Photo by scopeout.net
ScopeOut: How does it feel doing a North America headlining tour?
Dan (Drums): It’s amazing. It’s the first one, so we’re just really impressed by how many people are coming out to shows. It’s really exciting.
ScopeOut: It’s sold out tonight, which has got to be awesome.
Max (Guitar): Yeah the show is sold out, they’re all sold out, and for a first headlining tour in the states it’s really beating any expectations we had. We’re really happy about how things are turning out.
ScopeOut: Did you guys pick the tour support? How did you guys choose?
Dan: We put the tour on sale, just us at the start, to see how tickets would go. They all did really well, shows were selling out. Then we just decided to bring our friends. We’re already friends with Tonight Alive and Conditions.
Max: We’ve toured with Conditions before as well. We chose Dinosaur Pile-Up because they’re another UK band, we thought we’d bring another bit of a UK band overseas and show what UK music is all about really.
ScopeOut: So what are you guys listening to on this tour? What’s on your I-pods?
Dan: I’ve actually been listening to our new record quite a lot. We just finished in March/Spring. We were listening to Bon Iver last night.
Max: It kind of changes, you know, like, it mixes throughout the day. I’ve been listening to rock music, so I listen to anything from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Eat World and Incubus, and then we listen to rap and hip-hop music a lot- Drake, Notorious BIG.
Dan: Especially before we go on stage we like we the hype music. Something to get you in the mood, get you pumped.
Max: And then when the gig starts, if it’s a chill mood we put on some chill out music. We’re very open in tastes in this band. We don’t just listen to one style of music, we listen to everything.
ScopeOut: You guys have done a lot of really cool covers, how do you go about picking those as a band?
Dan: Usually the covers that we’ve done have come from the big radio station in the UK called Radio 1. Usually we do covers for their live lounge. It usually has to be something that is relevant at the time, it has to be in the top 40, so that kind of whittles it down into only sort of half of the songs and kinda helps us choose. Then we think of…
Max: We try and pick an oddball
Dan: Yeah, and oddball song people wouldn’t expect us to do. That’s why we did Avicii, we did “Wake Me Up”-Avicii last time- which was good fun to do, because it’s obviously a dance tune. You wouldn’t expect a band like us to do that. It turned out cool I thought.
Max: Yeah, I think, especially with the Avicii one we did recently, I think it shows our musical side to someone new to the CD listening in, which it’s in that kind of vain. So we thought it’d be quite cool to introduce that in maybe a cover, so someone can start seeing where the band is going in one kind of direction.
ScopeOut: Some of you guys have clothing lines, where do you guys draw inspiration for that from?
Max: [Who owns Become Antique] From stuff I like, from traveling and seeing really cool things and just taking photos all the time. I think traveling really helps you get that kind of thing going.
[You can also check out Josh’s line Down But Not Out, and Matt’s Cheer Up! Clothing]
ScopeOut: You Me At Six has put a lot of music videos out, how do you pick which song off an album you’re going to do a music video for?
Dan: It’s usually the song that is a single, the one that’s being played on the radio back home. Whichever one we think is going to have a cool treatment, whichever one we think there could be a good idea for a video and will do well for us.
ScopeOut: What’s planned for after this tour?
Max: After this we go home for a few days, probably going to shoot another video. And then we go off on tour with 30 Seconds to Mars around Europe and the UK. Then we finish in December with more promo, and then starting next year we go on tour with Paramore in Australia, and the album comes out. So we’re doing a lot of stuff.
ScopeOut: What was the biggest difference between recording and writing Cavalier Youth and Take Off Your Colours?
Max: Take Off Your Colours was recorded in 2 weeks and Cavalier Youth was recorded in 2 months. One was in England and one was in America, so they’re the two big differences.
Dan: We went with a pretty big producer for the new record- Neal Avron- and he really got the best out of us. We used to just write songs, then go to the studio and record them. This time he got us to sit down and play our songs over and over and over and make sure they’re the best they could be.
ScopeOut: Where would you want to record in the future, now that you’ve experienced writing in two different countries?
Max: For me personally I really want to do one at Abbey Road. It’s a legendary UK studio, you know. And being the UK what more can you really say on your roster than ‘Oh, I recorded at Abbey Road.’
ScopeOut: What was it like being on the Spring Fever Tour [with Mayday Parade, Pierce the Veil, and All Time Low]?
Max: It was pretty cool.
Dan: Fun.
Max: It was nice to be first on. It was a massive tour package, and we normally do headlining shows. So for us to go on first it kind of brought us back to reality again, to make us go out there and put the most in the performance and show them what the UK really has got and what we can provide.
Dan: It was really good, the shows were great as well, the fans. We were blown away the reaction we were getting. It was awesome. You can just see how well this tour has done so it’s obviously benefited us, going on that tour.
ScopeOut: What’s your best memory in Chicago?
Dan: Chicago is actually, interestingly enough, kind of the first place we played a proper show. The first day of Warped Tour when we joined in 2009. We turned up and it was actually an amazing show. And we were like oh my god, how come there are so many people watching us? This is amazing.
Max: Then the next day was reality check when no one came.
Dan: Yeah, the rest of Warped Tour was not like that. But we have fond memories of that first day in Chicago being incredible.
Max: Yeah, just the first ever show we played in America, that whole decree, it was a huge moment.
Dan: Yeah, we like Chicago.
Dan (Drums): It’s amazing. It’s the first one, so we’re just really impressed by how many people are coming out to shows. It’s really exciting.
ScopeOut: It’s sold out tonight, which has got to be awesome.
Max (Guitar): Yeah the show is sold out, they’re all sold out, and for a first headlining tour in the states it’s really beating any expectations we had. We’re really happy about how things are turning out.
ScopeOut: Did you guys pick the tour support? How did you guys choose?
Dan: We put the tour on sale, just us at the start, to see how tickets would go. They all did really well, shows were selling out. Then we just decided to bring our friends. We’re already friends with Tonight Alive and Conditions.
Max: We’ve toured with Conditions before as well. We chose Dinosaur Pile-Up because they’re another UK band, we thought we’d bring another bit of a UK band overseas and show what UK music is all about really.
ScopeOut: So what are you guys listening to on this tour? What’s on your I-pods?
Dan: I’ve actually been listening to our new record quite a lot. We just finished in March/Spring. We were listening to Bon Iver last night.
Max: It kind of changes, you know, like, it mixes throughout the day. I’ve been listening to rock music, so I listen to anything from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Eat World and Incubus, and then we listen to rap and hip-hop music a lot- Drake, Notorious BIG.
Dan: Especially before we go on stage we like we the hype music. Something to get you in the mood, get you pumped.
Max: And then when the gig starts, if it’s a chill mood we put on some chill out music. We’re very open in tastes in this band. We don’t just listen to one style of music, we listen to everything.
ScopeOut: You guys have done a lot of really cool covers, how do you go about picking those as a band?
Dan: Usually the covers that we’ve done have come from the big radio station in the UK called Radio 1. Usually we do covers for their live lounge. It usually has to be something that is relevant at the time, it has to be in the top 40, so that kind of whittles it down into only sort of half of the songs and kinda helps us choose. Then we think of…
Max: We try and pick an oddball
Dan: Yeah, and oddball song people wouldn’t expect us to do. That’s why we did Avicii, we did “Wake Me Up”-Avicii last time- which was good fun to do, because it’s obviously a dance tune. You wouldn’t expect a band like us to do that. It turned out cool I thought.
Max: Yeah, I think, especially with the Avicii one we did recently, I think it shows our musical side to someone new to the CD listening in, which it’s in that kind of vain. So we thought it’d be quite cool to introduce that in maybe a cover, so someone can start seeing where the band is going in one kind of direction.
ScopeOut: Some of you guys have clothing lines, where do you guys draw inspiration for that from?
Max: [Who owns Become Antique] From stuff I like, from traveling and seeing really cool things and just taking photos all the time. I think traveling really helps you get that kind of thing going.
[You can also check out Josh’s line Down But Not Out, and Matt’s Cheer Up! Clothing]
ScopeOut: You Me At Six has put a lot of music videos out, how do you pick which song off an album you’re going to do a music video for?
Dan: It’s usually the song that is a single, the one that’s being played on the radio back home. Whichever one we think is going to have a cool treatment, whichever one we think there could be a good idea for a video and will do well for us.
ScopeOut: What’s planned for after this tour?
Max: After this we go home for a few days, probably going to shoot another video. And then we go off on tour with 30 Seconds to Mars around Europe and the UK. Then we finish in December with more promo, and then starting next year we go on tour with Paramore in Australia, and the album comes out. So we’re doing a lot of stuff.
ScopeOut: What was the biggest difference between recording and writing Cavalier Youth and Take Off Your Colours?
Max: Take Off Your Colours was recorded in 2 weeks and Cavalier Youth was recorded in 2 months. One was in England and one was in America, so they’re the two big differences.
Dan: We went with a pretty big producer for the new record- Neal Avron- and he really got the best out of us. We used to just write songs, then go to the studio and record them. This time he got us to sit down and play our songs over and over and over and make sure they’re the best they could be.
ScopeOut: Where would you want to record in the future, now that you’ve experienced writing in two different countries?
Max: For me personally I really want to do one at Abbey Road. It’s a legendary UK studio, you know. And being the UK what more can you really say on your roster than ‘Oh, I recorded at Abbey Road.’
ScopeOut: What was it like being on the Spring Fever Tour [with Mayday Parade, Pierce the Veil, and All Time Low]?
Max: It was pretty cool.
Dan: Fun.
Max: It was nice to be first on. It was a massive tour package, and we normally do headlining shows. So for us to go on first it kind of brought us back to reality again, to make us go out there and put the most in the performance and show them what the UK really has got and what we can provide.
Dan: It was really good, the shows were great as well, the fans. We were blown away the reaction we were getting. It was awesome. You can just see how well this tour has done so it’s obviously benefited us, going on that tour.
ScopeOut: What’s your best memory in Chicago?
Dan: Chicago is actually, interestingly enough, kind of the first place we played a proper show. The first day of Warped Tour when we joined in 2009. We turned up and it was actually an amazing show. And we were like oh my god, how come there are so many people watching us? This is amazing.
Max: Then the next day was reality check when no one came.
Dan: Yeah, the rest of Warped Tour was not like that. But we have fond memories of that first day in Chicago being incredible.
Max: Yeah, just the first ever show we played in America, that whole decree, it was a huge moment.
Dan: Yeah, we like Chicago.
Warped '13 Series: New Years Day
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: I love the new album name “Victim to Villain”, tell me how you decided on that.
Ash Costello: Originally I wanted to name the record Villain. I can’t remember why we didn’t do that. I think it was taken. And then when we started putting it all together in order it started to tell a story of its own. It’s the transformation of being this beaten down character to discovering your own power- inside yourself- and then becoming this bad ass. So the name Victim to Villain just kind of popped into my head. As soon as I saw the name, I saw the visual right away. I knew instantly I wanted a corpse white girl, which is me on the cover, with her darkness inside of her- which to me is her power- coming out of her mouth, her eyes, her ears, her hands being taken over by the darkness.
ScopeOut: I’ve seen an army of half-heads [fans with their hair dyed like Ash’s] today.
Ash: Yeah! I found a couple. No villain make-up today, oddly enough. Kids come with the black bleeding out of their mouths, but none today.
ScopeOut: How big do you think the half-head army is now?
Ash: I wasn’t expecting as much as what I’ve seen at this Warped Tour, it’s pretty overwhelming. There are at least a couple people every day. I was not expecting that at all. It’s pretty crazy.
ScopeOut: Do you think being from California has influenced your sound?
Ash: I don’t think it’s influenced the sound as much as it has influenced us visually. I grew up right across the street from Disneyland. It’s a huge part of who I am. I have it tattooed all over me. In our show we have what we call ‘Murder Mickey’. It’s this big Mickey Mouse, he’s very angry looking. He has a chainsaw and bloody apron, and he comes out and just scares the crowd for a little bit. I think growing up at Disneyland made me a dark person, but still really fun. Cause to me Disneyland always has this dark aspect to it. I was always fascinated with the deaths at Disneyland when I was a kid.
ScopeOut: Even fairy tales are just dark.
Ash: They are very dark. And- to Disneyland, to everything Disney is- there is dark. Dude a lot of those rides at Disneyland are fucked up. Some of them used to make me legitimately cry. They used to make me cry, because it’s fucking scary. The Dungeon? That shouldn’t be a kid’s ride. But I think that’s kind of why New Years Day is the way it is. We do take ourselves really seriously, but there is a really fun side of it.
ScopeOut: Tell me about your first Warped Tour, not as an artist.
Ash: You know I have a really good story about this year, it kind of came around full circle. 10 years ago- 2003- I snuck into Warped Tour, just to try and see The Used play the main stage. Bert McCracken crawled up to the rafters, and jumped off into the crowd. It was one of the moments to me, as a teenager, where I thought, “I don’t want to be in the crowd. I want to be doing that on stage.” 10 years later Bert McCracken came and watched me play, because they’re on this year. I got to tell him that story, and I got thank him for being part of the reason why I’m here today. Pretty crazy right?
ScopeOut: Yeah.
Ash: It took 10 years. That’s kind of a long time, but it happened.
ScopeOut: So who would you most like to collaborate with on this tour, would it be The Used?
Ash: The Used! Yeah, The fucking Used! For sure. Oh my god.
ScopeOut: Have you talked to Bert about it?
Ash: He’s really nice, by the way. He’s super nice, but no. I don’t to be that person. You know, if it happens, it happens. Sometimes these things do happen at Warped Tour. But if it doesn’t, at least he knows who I am now.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite horror movie?
Ash: House of 1000 Corpses.
ScopeOut: You can pick a few, if you’d like.
Ash: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, any of the Hellraisers, Nightmare on Elm Street, of course. And a French film that really got me called High Tension.
ScopeOut: What’s the best New Years Day tattoo you’ve seen?
Ash: They’re all pretty much the same.
ScopeOut: The mechanical hearts?
Ash: Yeah, a lot of the mechanical hearts from the album, a lot of the mechanical heart logos, a lot of lyrics. I think the coolest is when you see someone with your actual signature on them, that’s kind of crazy.
ScopeOut: I have a few that are lyrics written out by the person who wrote the song.
Ash: That’s a good idea! I should have Bert do that. Is that creepy?
ScopeOut: You know what, I don’t think so. People tell me that all the time, but those are meaningful memories for me.
Ash: I should ask Bert to do it. I’m gonna ask Bert to do it. Cool! I’ll do it.
ScopeOut: Tell me which song off the new album is your favorite to play.
Ash: Death of the party, it’s my favorite. It kind of turns Warped Tour into Club Warped Tour. Everyone dances and rocks out, I like that a lot.
ScopeOut: How do you think the writing process was different for the new album? I know from My Dear to The Mechanical Heart you guys had a lot more freedom and ability to be what you wanted to be. Now that you’ve had that and taken it the next step, has it changed?
Ash: Each album has a reason for why it was the way it was. For My Dear, I was a baby: first record, just got signed to a major label, didn’t really know how to by my own artist yet, trying to do my own thing- but letting that label tell us what they wanted us to do. My Dear was great, but it’s not who I was really. Then when we were let go from TVT Record and got to do our own EP, it was just no holds barred, and it kind of turned into this hot mess- but a really good hot mess. I feel like this is the first time where we actually really locked down what New Years Day was supposed to sound like from day one. This is the first time I’ve feel really really really proud of how we sound.
ScopeOut: You guys have had a little bit of a lineup change.
Ash: A lot bit.
ScopeOut: But I love bands like yours that look like they’re a band.
Ash: Yes! That look like they go together. The way I always put it is, when I would go through a new album cycle, I always wanted to create a new look that goes with it. I always described it as I want it to look like we’re a gang, like people want to join our gang. You know, don’t fuck with us. They know that if someone looks a certain way, they’re part of our crew. So we worked really hard on trying to create something like that. But it’s not false, it’s kind of what we look like every day, but we amp it up a little bit. Like Nikki doesn’t, well, yeah he does. I was going to say Nikki doesn’t wear corpse paint to Disneyland, but he does.
ScopeOut: I think I remember you guys telling me a story about when you and Nikki would run around California with a can filled with fake blood, spitting it out.
Ash: Yeah, when Nikki and me first met he loved wreaking havoc on Hollywood Boulevard. We would take a soda can and fill it with fake blood and just take sips every now and then, and kind of spit it up at strangers. Or fall into someone at a bar and cough it up. Just because we were bored. Really no other reason.
ScopeOut: Anything you’d like to say to the army you created?
Ash: Yes, stay beautiful but keep it ugly- everyday. Fuck being pretty.
Ash Costello: Originally I wanted to name the record Villain. I can’t remember why we didn’t do that. I think it was taken. And then when we started putting it all together in order it started to tell a story of its own. It’s the transformation of being this beaten down character to discovering your own power- inside yourself- and then becoming this bad ass. So the name Victim to Villain just kind of popped into my head. As soon as I saw the name, I saw the visual right away. I knew instantly I wanted a corpse white girl, which is me on the cover, with her darkness inside of her- which to me is her power- coming out of her mouth, her eyes, her ears, her hands being taken over by the darkness.
ScopeOut: I’ve seen an army of half-heads [fans with their hair dyed like Ash’s] today.
Ash: Yeah! I found a couple. No villain make-up today, oddly enough. Kids come with the black bleeding out of their mouths, but none today.
ScopeOut: How big do you think the half-head army is now?
Ash: I wasn’t expecting as much as what I’ve seen at this Warped Tour, it’s pretty overwhelming. There are at least a couple people every day. I was not expecting that at all. It’s pretty crazy.
ScopeOut: Do you think being from California has influenced your sound?
Ash: I don’t think it’s influenced the sound as much as it has influenced us visually. I grew up right across the street from Disneyland. It’s a huge part of who I am. I have it tattooed all over me. In our show we have what we call ‘Murder Mickey’. It’s this big Mickey Mouse, he’s very angry looking. He has a chainsaw and bloody apron, and he comes out and just scares the crowd for a little bit. I think growing up at Disneyland made me a dark person, but still really fun. Cause to me Disneyland always has this dark aspect to it. I was always fascinated with the deaths at Disneyland when I was a kid.
ScopeOut: Even fairy tales are just dark.
Ash: They are very dark. And- to Disneyland, to everything Disney is- there is dark. Dude a lot of those rides at Disneyland are fucked up. Some of them used to make me legitimately cry. They used to make me cry, because it’s fucking scary. The Dungeon? That shouldn’t be a kid’s ride. But I think that’s kind of why New Years Day is the way it is. We do take ourselves really seriously, but there is a really fun side of it.
ScopeOut: Tell me about your first Warped Tour, not as an artist.
Ash: You know I have a really good story about this year, it kind of came around full circle. 10 years ago- 2003- I snuck into Warped Tour, just to try and see The Used play the main stage. Bert McCracken crawled up to the rafters, and jumped off into the crowd. It was one of the moments to me, as a teenager, where I thought, “I don’t want to be in the crowd. I want to be doing that on stage.” 10 years later Bert McCracken came and watched me play, because they’re on this year. I got to tell him that story, and I got thank him for being part of the reason why I’m here today. Pretty crazy right?
ScopeOut: Yeah.
Ash: It took 10 years. That’s kind of a long time, but it happened.
ScopeOut: So who would you most like to collaborate with on this tour, would it be The Used?
Ash: The Used! Yeah, The fucking Used! For sure. Oh my god.
ScopeOut: Have you talked to Bert about it?
Ash: He’s really nice, by the way. He’s super nice, but no. I don’t to be that person. You know, if it happens, it happens. Sometimes these things do happen at Warped Tour. But if it doesn’t, at least he knows who I am now.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite horror movie?
Ash: House of 1000 Corpses.
ScopeOut: You can pick a few, if you’d like.
Ash: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, any of the Hellraisers, Nightmare on Elm Street, of course. And a French film that really got me called High Tension.
ScopeOut: What’s the best New Years Day tattoo you’ve seen?
Ash: They’re all pretty much the same.
ScopeOut: The mechanical hearts?
Ash: Yeah, a lot of the mechanical hearts from the album, a lot of the mechanical heart logos, a lot of lyrics. I think the coolest is when you see someone with your actual signature on them, that’s kind of crazy.
ScopeOut: I have a few that are lyrics written out by the person who wrote the song.
Ash: That’s a good idea! I should have Bert do that. Is that creepy?
ScopeOut: You know what, I don’t think so. People tell me that all the time, but those are meaningful memories for me.
Ash: I should ask Bert to do it. I’m gonna ask Bert to do it. Cool! I’ll do it.
ScopeOut: Tell me which song off the new album is your favorite to play.
Ash: Death of the party, it’s my favorite. It kind of turns Warped Tour into Club Warped Tour. Everyone dances and rocks out, I like that a lot.
ScopeOut: How do you think the writing process was different for the new album? I know from My Dear to The Mechanical Heart you guys had a lot more freedom and ability to be what you wanted to be. Now that you’ve had that and taken it the next step, has it changed?
Ash: Each album has a reason for why it was the way it was. For My Dear, I was a baby: first record, just got signed to a major label, didn’t really know how to by my own artist yet, trying to do my own thing- but letting that label tell us what they wanted us to do. My Dear was great, but it’s not who I was really. Then when we were let go from TVT Record and got to do our own EP, it was just no holds barred, and it kind of turned into this hot mess- but a really good hot mess. I feel like this is the first time where we actually really locked down what New Years Day was supposed to sound like from day one. This is the first time I’ve feel really really really proud of how we sound.
ScopeOut: You guys have had a little bit of a lineup change.
Ash: A lot bit.
ScopeOut: But I love bands like yours that look like they’re a band.
Ash: Yes! That look like they go together. The way I always put it is, when I would go through a new album cycle, I always wanted to create a new look that goes with it. I always described it as I want it to look like we’re a gang, like people want to join our gang. You know, don’t fuck with us. They know that if someone looks a certain way, they’re part of our crew. So we worked really hard on trying to create something like that. But it’s not false, it’s kind of what we look like every day, but we amp it up a little bit. Like Nikki doesn’t, well, yeah he does. I was going to say Nikki doesn’t wear corpse paint to Disneyland, but he does.
ScopeOut: I think I remember you guys telling me a story about when you and Nikki would run around California with a can filled with fake blood, spitting it out.
Ash: Yeah, when Nikki and me first met he loved wreaking havoc on Hollywood Boulevard. We would take a soda can and fill it with fake blood and just take sips every now and then, and kind of spit it up at strangers. Or fall into someone at a bar and cough it up. Just because we were bored. Really no other reason.
ScopeOut: Anything you’d like to say to the army you created?
Ash: Yes, stay beautiful but keep it ugly- everyday. Fuck being pretty.
Warped '13 Series: The Cleopatra Complex
Photo from facebook.com/TheCleopatraComplex
ScopeOut: What new things are you working for right now?
Gea Gamboa: I have a new single out called "Neckbreaker" with up and coming dancehall artist Jr. Pinchers. It's one of my favorite songs yet. When I get back from tour Paul Trust and I will be back in the studio at it again.
ScopeOut: What artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
Gea: I'm drawing inspiration from my friends back in Miami mainly. Everything going on- from watching Radioboxer, Spred the Dub, One Drop Rebellion, hanging out with Jr Pinchers or the guys from Solehouse, to going to Churchills pub. Love it all. I'm all over the place.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the need a girl video.
Gea: The whole process, from making the song to making the video was very natural and candid. I loved every second of making the video and making the song. The team worked with was very supportive about the whole thing. It was a pleasure working with Candice Meyer (model/actress) and director Stian Petter Roenning. I was honored that Candice played the role because she's someone I respect in the Miami scene and is a hell of a talent. We were very much in character, had a lot of passion and never even had to kiss each other. It was awesome.
ScopeOut: How do you think being from FL has influenced your sound?
Gea: Growing up in Florida, more specifically South Florida, gave me a diversity of music to grow up with. Dancehall, R&B, hip-hop, dance and rock. I continue to take from South FL's scene. It's a great place to be if you want to make something new happen.
ScopeOut: What was your first Warped experience?
Gea: We were in Camden, NJ and it was pouring. I was wearing white jeans and had to go on stage. It wasn't see through, but I did ruin them forever, I'm afraid, with all the mudd.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite band(s) on Warped Tour?
Gea: Strawberry Blondes and The Indecent. I'm a sucker for badass rockers. Strawberry Blondes is your classic "f-u" type punks whom have saved my ass on tour several times and The Indecent is a wonderful bunch of indecent kids under 18 playing 90's grunge whom have been my source of entertainment. They're both the real deal in my book. New Year's Day is great! There are many amazing bands on Warped Tour though! Every single one is amazing! I love Beebs and Her Money Makers too; they're from Florida. Nothing but respect for all of them.
ScopeOut: What new artist did you discover this year that you think people should check out?
Gea: The Indecent, Strawberry Blondes, Wallpaper, Beebs and Her Money Makers, New Year's Day...pick any from the warped tour list! They're all worth checking out.
ScopeOut: Who do you think should be on the tour next year?
Gea: I wish Spinnerette would play. Also wish TAT would go back on the Tour.
ScopeOut: Anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Gea: Two messages...Love yourself, even if it means telling someone to fuck off. Say 'No' more often to people. It's not going to kill you. And, live like you are already dead
Gea Gamboa: I have a new single out called "Neckbreaker" with up and coming dancehall artist Jr. Pinchers. It's one of my favorite songs yet. When I get back from tour Paul Trust and I will be back in the studio at it again.
ScopeOut: What artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
Gea: I'm drawing inspiration from my friends back in Miami mainly. Everything going on- from watching Radioboxer, Spred the Dub, One Drop Rebellion, hanging out with Jr Pinchers or the guys from Solehouse, to going to Churchills pub. Love it all. I'm all over the place.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the need a girl video.
Gea: The whole process, from making the song to making the video was very natural and candid. I loved every second of making the video and making the song. The team worked with was very supportive about the whole thing. It was a pleasure working with Candice Meyer (model/actress) and director Stian Petter Roenning. I was honored that Candice played the role because she's someone I respect in the Miami scene and is a hell of a talent. We were very much in character, had a lot of passion and never even had to kiss each other. It was awesome.
ScopeOut: How do you think being from FL has influenced your sound?
Gea: Growing up in Florida, more specifically South Florida, gave me a diversity of music to grow up with. Dancehall, R&B, hip-hop, dance and rock. I continue to take from South FL's scene. It's a great place to be if you want to make something new happen.
ScopeOut: What was your first Warped experience?
Gea: We were in Camden, NJ and it was pouring. I was wearing white jeans and had to go on stage. It wasn't see through, but I did ruin them forever, I'm afraid, with all the mudd.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite band(s) on Warped Tour?
Gea: Strawberry Blondes and The Indecent. I'm a sucker for badass rockers. Strawberry Blondes is your classic "f-u" type punks whom have saved my ass on tour several times and The Indecent is a wonderful bunch of indecent kids under 18 playing 90's grunge whom have been my source of entertainment. They're both the real deal in my book. New Year's Day is great! There are many amazing bands on Warped Tour though! Every single one is amazing! I love Beebs and Her Money Makers too; they're from Florida. Nothing but respect for all of them.
ScopeOut: What new artist did you discover this year that you think people should check out?
Gea: The Indecent, Strawberry Blondes, Wallpaper, Beebs and Her Money Makers, New Year's Day...pick any from the warped tour list! They're all worth checking out.
ScopeOut: Who do you think should be on the tour next year?
Gea: I wish Spinnerette would play. Also wish TAT would go back on the Tour.
ScopeOut: Anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Gea: Two messages...Love yourself, even if it means telling someone to fuck off. Say 'No' more often to people. It's not going to kill you. And, live like you are already dead
Comasoft
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: What can we expect to be seeing from Comasoft in 2013?
Comasoft/Jay: We are working on a new record. We’ve done 2 songs with Jimmy Con from Ghosthouse that we’re really excited about. They are almost mixed and ready. We are also going back in with the producer we did the last 2 EPs with Chuck Macak from Electrowerks Studios. We work really well with Chuck on all the aspects of music creation so we’re really looking forward to getting our new songs down.
ScopeOut: Tell us about the writing process for “Burn to Shine”.
Jay: It was horrendous! We spent a lot of time sifting thru endless synth banks and working on stuff that we knew wouldn’t make the record. It took us a really long time to nail down the vibe of the record. Two of the songs: Never Sleep Again and Lights Out clicked and happened really fast but Last Day Parade, Dead Deadly and 10Volt physically hurt the inside of my skull. We wrote so many melodies and bridges for those songs and picked apart every single part, I thought we’d never get done. In the end I think we learned a lot and hopefully we’ll use what we learned for this new record. Burn to Shine has the some of the best writing we’ve ever done; it just took a lot of pain to extract it. I suspect I lost bone density in the process. It’s like astronauts who know they’ll have considerably shorter lives if they volunteer to do extended space missions due to the brutal environment that the vacuum of space presents to our fragile bodies, yet there is no small number of them what would jump at the chance to be the first humans to set foot on an asteroid of another planet.
ScopeOut: Which song would you choose off “Burn to Shine” to show potential Comasoft fans?
Jay: Well 10Volt was the single and we shot a video for it so I would for sure lean to that one, but Lights Out was really the track we heard a lot about after the record came out. People seemed to enjoy it. It almost didn’t make the record at all. The keyboard riff was something I had laying around since the 1st days of writing for the record and it was only when we happened to be skimming thru 90+ gigs of demo takes, riffs, starts and stops that we came across it in the form that made the record and a slightly more legato take that I said “Ummm, we need to finish this one”. Everyone agreed and we dove in right at the very end of our session.
ScopeOut: Where did the idea from the 10volt video come from?
Jay: Well I have an affinity for machines. My dad is a tool & die-cast maker, so he always had really odd looking tools and machine parts laying around when I was growing up. I have a lot of really weird pieces of tooled and machined metal that I can’t throw away. I just keep on keeping them. When we first started to think about 10Volt I wanted a way to show our lighting and design prowess. Johnny our lighting designer is a madman with a soldering iron and we both love lights and DMX controllers and all that kind of stuff. I just wanted to display some of the strange things we could build and not just have a performance video. When I first started I had taken like 3 trips to the science store and purchased all these flips and switches and stuff and I went home to Michigan for a weekend and was having my dad help me attach them all onto what was going to become the main console. I remember him saying over and over to me “So what are we doing here again?” He was beside himself as to why I’d be “wasting” all those good switches. But in the end it all worked out. I’m very proud of the video; everyone that worked on it did a fantastic job. Bill Holland is a great video director and the crew was nothing but top notch pro the whole time. I’d love to get started on another video. It has to have a concept though, performance videos are too easy. Where is the fun if you have no switches doing weird stuff?!!!
ScopeOut: 10volt has been featured on several TV shows, how did those come about?
Jay: We have a few companies that license our music out. Jingle Punks in New York and Music Dealers here in Chicago. We just give them the tracks and they do all the work.
ScopeOut: What would you say is the biggest difference is between “Burn to Shine” and “The Beautiful Departure”?
Jay: No one has ever asked me that before. I think Burn to Shine is a touch more personal for me. I don’t mind changing lyrics up at all, I invite it, but there were certain passages that I needed to have stay exactly the way I wrote them. I even tattooed a drawing of one of the passages on my arm when we were in talks of changing the bridge completely of a song. I was like “No way, it’s on my arm now, it’s not changing”. This last record has a real conscious attempt to connect with the listener, the choruses are all pretty hookey and we did that on purpose, we wanted to make songs you’d sing along to in your car or in the shower or wherever you sing, even if you don’t know you’re doing it.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite venue to perform at in Chicago?
Jay: Metro is top notch! There are a few great places, Bottom Lounge, Double Door, Beat Kitchen, but Metro is the Godzilla of venues for us.
ScopeOut: Will we ever see a Comasoft / Kill Hannah collaboration?
Jay: That would be amazing! The answer to that would ultimately lie in Mr. Devine’s hands though.
ScopeOut: Tell us about Words & Stories.
Jay: We have this book I’ve been carrying around with us for years called the Comabook. We’ve just had so many ridiculous times out there playing that I felt the need to keep track of things. I’ve had countless times where I wake up with my stomach hurting from laughing so much the next day when this band is out playing shows or in the studio. We just seem to always find humor in the tragedy that is the music industry. A lot of the book is completely R rated and crass, in the most enduring and puppy doggish way possibly of course, but none the less, most of it could never be aired for fear of besmirching our families good names. The Words & Stories section of the website was my attempt to bring some of the P-13 passages to light.
ScopeOut: Any last words for your fans?
Jay: Yes, tell your friends about us, tell your friends about Rock and Roll. Life is short so we have to obliterate as many rules as we can while our joints and bones are still all working together.
Comasoft/Jay: We are working on a new record. We’ve done 2 songs with Jimmy Con from Ghosthouse that we’re really excited about. They are almost mixed and ready. We are also going back in with the producer we did the last 2 EPs with Chuck Macak from Electrowerks Studios. We work really well with Chuck on all the aspects of music creation so we’re really looking forward to getting our new songs down.
ScopeOut: Tell us about the writing process for “Burn to Shine”.
Jay: It was horrendous! We spent a lot of time sifting thru endless synth banks and working on stuff that we knew wouldn’t make the record. It took us a really long time to nail down the vibe of the record. Two of the songs: Never Sleep Again and Lights Out clicked and happened really fast but Last Day Parade, Dead Deadly and 10Volt physically hurt the inside of my skull. We wrote so many melodies and bridges for those songs and picked apart every single part, I thought we’d never get done. In the end I think we learned a lot and hopefully we’ll use what we learned for this new record. Burn to Shine has the some of the best writing we’ve ever done; it just took a lot of pain to extract it. I suspect I lost bone density in the process. It’s like astronauts who know they’ll have considerably shorter lives if they volunteer to do extended space missions due to the brutal environment that the vacuum of space presents to our fragile bodies, yet there is no small number of them what would jump at the chance to be the first humans to set foot on an asteroid of another planet.
ScopeOut: Which song would you choose off “Burn to Shine” to show potential Comasoft fans?
Jay: Well 10Volt was the single and we shot a video for it so I would for sure lean to that one, but Lights Out was really the track we heard a lot about after the record came out. People seemed to enjoy it. It almost didn’t make the record at all. The keyboard riff was something I had laying around since the 1st days of writing for the record and it was only when we happened to be skimming thru 90+ gigs of demo takes, riffs, starts and stops that we came across it in the form that made the record and a slightly more legato take that I said “Ummm, we need to finish this one”. Everyone agreed and we dove in right at the very end of our session.
ScopeOut: Where did the idea from the 10volt video come from?
Jay: Well I have an affinity for machines. My dad is a tool & die-cast maker, so he always had really odd looking tools and machine parts laying around when I was growing up. I have a lot of really weird pieces of tooled and machined metal that I can’t throw away. I just keep on keeping them. When we first started to think about 10Volt I wanted a way to show our lighting and design prowess. Johnny our lighting designer is a madman with a soldering iron and we both love lights and DMX controllers and all that kind of stuff. I just wanted to display some of the strange things we could build and not just have a performance video. When I first started I had taken like 3 trips to the science store and purchased all these flips and switches and stuff and I went home to Michigan for a weekend and was having my dad help me attach them all onto what was going to become the main console. I remember him saying over and over to me “So what are we doing here again?” He was beside himself as to why I’d be “wasting” all those good switches. But in the end it all worked out. I’m very proud of the video; everyone that worked on it did a fantastic job. Bill Holland is a great video director and the crew was nothing but top notch pro the whole time. I’d love to get started on another video. It has to have a concept though, performance videos are too easy. Where is the fun if you have no switches doing weird stuff?!!!
ScopeOut: 10volt has been featured on several TV shows, how did those come about?
Jay: We have a few companies that license our music out. Jingle Punks in New York and Music Dealers here in Chicago. We just give them the tracks and they do all the work.
ScopeOut: What would you say is the biggest difference is between “Burn to Shine” and “The Beautiful Departure”?
Jay: No one has ever asked me that before. I think Burn to Shine is a touch more personal for me. I don’t mind changing lyrics up at all, I invite it, but there were certain passages that I needed to have stay exactly the way I wrote them. I even tattooed a drawing of one of the passages on my arm when we were in talks of changing the bridge completely of a song. I was like “No way, it’s on my arm now, it’s not changing”. This last record has a real conscious attempt to connect with the listener, the choruses are all pretty hookey and we did that on purpose, we wanted to make songs you’d sing along to in your car or in the shower or wherever you sing, even if you don’t know you’re doing it.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite venue to perform at in Chicago?
Jay: Metro is top notch! There are a few great places, Bottom Lounge, Double Door, Beat Kitchen, but Metro is the Godzilla of venues for us.
ScopeOut: Will we ever see a Comasoft / Kill Hannah collaboration?
Jay: That would be amazing! The answer to that would ultimately lie in Mr. Devine’s hands though.
ScopeOut: Tell us about Words & Stories.
Jay: We have this book I’ve been carrying around with us for years called the Comabook. We’ve just had so many ridiculous times out there playing that I felt the need to keep track of things. I’ve had countless times where I wake up with my stomach hurting from laughing so much the next day when this band is out playing shows or in the studio. We just seem to always find humor in the tragedy that is the music industry. A lot of the book is completely R rated and crass, in the most enduring and puppy doggish way possibly of course, but none the less, most of it could never be aired for fear of besmirching our families good names. The Words & Stories section of the website was my attempt to bring some of the P-13 passages to light.
ScopeOut: Any last words for your fans?
Jay: Yes, tell your friends about us, tell your friends about Rock and Roll. Life is short so we have to obliterate as many rules as we can while our joints and bones are still all working together.
Davey Suicide
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: What has this tour with New Years Day, Jeffree Star, and Blood On The Dance Floor been like?
Davey Suicide: It’s the favorite tour I’ve ever been on. It’s just fun. I get excited to see everybody every day. We were almost getting towed in St. Petersburg, and Jeffree saw it, came out, and stopped the driver from towing our van. New Years Day broke down in Florida, and we went and took our van and we went and picked them up and took their trailer back. That’s what building a team’s all about.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the New EP.
Davey: Put our trust in suicide, it’s the first crack in the wall of what we are. It gives you a little bit of an insight about what to expect from our full length. It’s real just to hold people over. Personally I think there are so many great tracks on the album. Condensing it onto this small little thing is a tease. But it will hold people over for a couple months.
ScopeOut: What do you hope for in 2013?
Davey: I think we want to build up to the point where we’re headlining tours. I think that getting our album with will parlay that.
ScopeOut: What do you do to get ready for a show?
Davey: Obviously, [pointing to outfit] this whole thing. But I warm up, vocal warm ups. Lately I’m hooked on these green monster energy drinks, so if I can have one of those, that’s perfect.
Scopeout: Do you have a song writing process?
Davey: Sometimes it’s me, garage band, a drum machine. Then I bring it to the guys. Sometimes they’ll make music, give it to me and then I’ll write the words and melody to it. It depends on the song.
ScopeOut: So, the Chicago Bears.
Davey: I’m a die hard! I’m the biggest bears fan. I have multiple jerseys. My ex-girlfriend, I used to make her wear Bears jerseys on Sundays and watch the games on Sunday. It’s the team I’ve always latched onto through thick and thin. I’m a Bears fan for life.
ScopeOut: Anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Davey: Thank you for the opportunity to live the life that I’ve always wanted too. I wake up every day grateful for this.
Davey Suicide: It’s the favorite tour I’ve ever been on. It’s just fun. I get excited to see everybody every day. We were almost getting towed in St. Petersburg, and Jeffree saw it, came out, and stopped the driver from towing our van. New Years Day broke down in Florida, and we went and took our van and we went and picked them up and took their trailer back. That’s what building a team’s all about.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the New EP.
Davey: Put our trust in suicide, it’s the first crack in the wall of what we are. It gives you a little bit of an insight about what to expect from our full length. It’s real just to hold people over. Personally I think there are so many great tracks on the album. Condensing it onto this small little thing is a tease. But it will hold people over for a couple months.
ScopeOut: What do you hope for in 2013?
Davey: I think we want to build up to the point where we’re headlining tours. I think that getting our album with will parlay that.
ScopeOut: What do you do to get ready for a show?
Davey: Obviously, [pointing to outfit] this whole thing. But I warm up, vocal warm ups. Lately I’m hooked on these green monster energy drinks, so if I can have one of those, that’s perfect.
Scopeout: Do you have a song writing process?
Davey: Sometimes it’s me, garage band, a drum machine. Then I bring it to the guys. Sometimes they’ll make music, give it to me and then I’ll write the words and melody to it. It depends on the song.
ScopeOut: So, the Chicago Bears.
Davey: I’m a die hard! I’m the biggest bears fan. I have multiple jerseys. My ex-girlfriend, I used to make her wear Bears jerseys on Sundays and watch the games on Sunday. It’s the team I’ve always latched onto through thick and thin. I’m a Bears fan for life.
ScopeOut: Anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Davey: Thank you for the opportunity to live the life that I’ve always wanted too. I wake up every day grateful for this.
Vampires Everywhere!
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: You guys were signed to Hollywood Waste, how did you get signed to that label?
Michael: Well initially we signed to Central Media Records. They wanted to start a label more around our type of music and crowd, so they started Hollywood Waste. However we aren’t going to be part of that much longer. We are going to stick to Central Media, we think it’s more gangster. They ended up finding us in Hollywood and they like our music.
ScopeOut: How do you think being in LA changes your sound?
Eric: The culture in LA and the art crowd, the night clubs are more sinister. Our music has gained a lot of personality based on who we hang out with and the life experience definitely changes the influence on the music that we write.
ScopeOut: You guys worked with director Scott Hanson for the video “Immortal Love”, what was that like?
Michael: It was like pulling teeth. I must have given him 400 re-edits. We went way over budget. It was our first big budget type deal. It came out great. I think it gave us a lot of exposure. I can thank Scott for giving us all the exposure.
ScopeOut: Where did the idea come for the video? Was it something you came up with yourself or was it brought to you?
Michael: More or less it was a dream thing I had. You know when you have someone haunting you in your dreams; kind of the same thing like love never dies. The concept of Dracula I wanted that to be the concept of the video, where there was an entity that haunts you in the middle of the night. It went well, it could have been little bit better but we’re happy.
ScopeOut: Is there anything you can say about a new video in the works?
Eric: It’s for our new single called “Drug of Choice”. It’s out right now on iTunes.
Michael: It’s about culture climbing in Hollywood. It’s about a girl who wants to be seen who is going through the ranks to try to get to the end result. We put a twist in the end that is kind of fun for everyone to see that.
ScopeOut: You guys have toured with a lot of great bands, which would you say is your favorite?
Michael: Alesana. They understand who we are. They don’t care about who is making it bigger or not. We all drink together and have a good time.
Eric: Alesana for sure.
ScopeOut: You guys have a new bassist how did you find him?
Michael: Facebook! Actually I was trolling Facebook and said “He’s pretty”. Truthfully that’s how it happened. I gave him a call and he showed me all these crazy other goth and industrial bands he played in. He agreed to be in the band and we welcomed him aboard.
ScopeOut: What’s on your playlist?
Eric: Music wise? Rocking to Ghost lately. It’s very Sabbath-ish, but its very new age, its very cool, has that old sound. But its metal, I like it a lot.
Michael: Manson, Zombie, Him. I’m going to be really horrific to my fans right now but, The Calling. It’s amazing, I’m into vocalists.
ScopeOut: If you have to pick a band to tour with from your new label, who would it be?
Michael: Suicide Silence, In this moment. We became really good friends with Rise to Remain. We went to the U.K. with them.
ScopeOut: Any last words you want to say to your fans?
Michael: Stay true to yourself, always believe, and don’t let anyone tell you to do something you don’t believe in.
Eric: Thank you for all your awesome support. We love you!
Michael: Well initially we signed to Central Media Records. They wanted to start a label more around our type of music and crowd, so they started Hollywood Waste. However we aren’t going to be part of that much longer. We are going to stick to Central Media, we think it’s more gangster. They ended up finding us in Hollywood and they like our music.
ScopeOut: How do you think being in LA changes your sound?
Eric: The culture in LA and the art crowd, the night clubs are more sinister. Our music has gained a lot of personality based on who we hang out with and the life experience definitely changes the influence on the music that we write.
ScopeOut: You guys worked with director Scott Hanson for the video “Immortal Love”, what was that like?
Michael: It was like pulling teeth. I must have given him 400 re-edits. We went way over budget. It was our first big budget type deal. It came out great. I think it gave us a lot of exposure. I can thank Scott for giving us all the exposure.
ScopeOut: Where did the idea come for the video? Was it something you came up with yourself or was it brought to you?
Michael: More or less it was a dream thing I had. You know when you have someone haunting you in your dreams; kind of the same thing like love never dies. The concept of Dracula I wanted that to be the concept of the video, where there was an entity that haunts you in the middle of the night. It went well, it could have been little bit better but we’re happy.
ScopeOut: Is there anything you can say about a new video in the works?
Eric: It’s for our new single called “Drug of Choice”. It’s out right now on iTunes.
Michael: It’s about culture climbing in Hollywood. It’s about a girl who wants to be seen who is going through the ranks to try to get to the end result. We put a twist in the end that is kind of fun for everyone to see that.
ScopeOut: You guys have toured with a lot of great bands, which would you say is your favorite?
Michael: Alesana. They understand who we are. They don’t care about who is making it bigger or not. We all drink together and have a good time.
Eric: Alesana for sure.
ScopeOut: You guys have a new bassist how did you find him?
Michael: Facebook! Actually I was trolling Facebook and said “He’s pretty”. Truthfully that’s how it happened. I gave him a call and he showed me all these crazy other goth and industrial bands he played in. He agreed to be in the band and we welcomed him aboard.
ScopeOut: What’s on your playlist?
Eric: Music wise? Rocking to Ghost lately. It’s very Sabbath-ish, but its very new age, its very cool, has that old sound. But its metal, I like it a lot.
Michael: Manson, Zombie, Him. I’m going to be really horrific to my fans right now but, The Calling. It’s amazing, I’m into vocalists.
ScopeOut: If you have to pick a band to tour with from your new label, who would it be?
Michael: Suicide Silence, In this moment. We became really good friends with Rise to Remain. We went to the U.K. with them.
ScopeOut: Any last words you want to say to your fans?
Michael: Stay true to yourself, always believe, and don’t let anyone tell you to do something you don’t believe in.
Eric: Thank you for all your awesome support. We love you!
Phone Calls From Home
ScopeOut: Where are you from?
Jason: We’re from Capetown, Mass.
ScopeOut: Do you think not being from a big city like LA or NY influences your sound?
Jason: I don’t think it influences our sound because of the way music can travel. But it definitely influences our connections. Whenever we go out to LA or Florida or NY, there are people everywhere that are interested in talking. It definitely influences a lot of things but our sound not so much.
ScopeOut: You guys have two full length albums out. What is your favorite song to play live off of that?
Jason: Our newest one “Live Love” has some of our favorite songs we have ever written. My favorite song is “Still Forget You” it’s off of our full length “Connected”. We play it almost all the time; it’s one of those dancey jumpy songs that I love to play.
ScopeOut: So this summer was not your first year at warped tour, would you say this year was different?
Jason: It’s funny. Every year we play it gets a little bit more legitimate for us. We followed the tour in 2008, it was sketchy, we weren’t supposed to be there but we tried as hard as we could to make it work. In 2011 we did it again and we played only half the day. This year we had our own tent spot and played the entire time. A lot less sketchy, like a breath of fresh air for us.
ScopeOut: If I were to introduce someone to your music, what would be the song that you think really shows your band sound the best?
Jason: It’s funny you ask that. We hustle CDs all the time still so we have to try and pick that one song that plays through the headphones to get that first impression. The one song I always play is called “I Guess You Could Call It Love” its our first song off of our album “Live. Love”. It’s a really dynamic song. It starts real soft and real meaningful lyrics, tells a story real well. The chorus hits hard and the drum beat hits hard. I love the dynamics in that song and the lyrics and everything.
ScopeOut: What's the biggest difference between your first CD and “Live Love”?
Jason: Wow so much. When we first started writing songs for the band I wasn’t even in the band at that point. We were trying to go for that college sound that we thought everyone was going to like and just try to make it as in the scene as possible, to have something to put us there. It was great because that’s what worked. We were selling EPs all the time on Warped Tour ’08, it just had that sound that was really popular back then. For us it was great because we kept moving forward and forward to what we wanted to sound like. I’m really glad at the progress that we’ve made.
ScopeOut: Who was your favorite band on this years warped tour?
Jason: Yesterday I watched Taking Back Sunday for the first time in my life. It was amazing for me because it was like the greatest hits set. They don’t give you a lot of time to play. So it was perfect they played all my favorite songs.
ScopeOut: Do you guys have any new music in the works?
Jason: We just released 2 new EPs on iTunes. One is an acoustic EP of all the new songs. One is called “One and Done”. It’s a bunch of one hit wonder songs form the 70s-90s. It was a lot of fun for the parents of all of our fans, a lot of our fans have never even heard of the songs before. It was fun for us to make and fun for the parents to listen to.
ScopeOut: Why did you guys decide to do an acoustic EP?
Jason: It was something to complete our contract with our record label. Something we all agreed that was different that we haven’t done before. It had a lot of really cool sounds that acoustic guitar really brought those through. A few piano parts we have dabbled with in the past, just a few cool things that PCFH hasn’t done before.
ScopeOut: What music are you listening to that you think other people should check out?
Jason: On my iPod personally, I love 2 Door Cinema Club. They are random. I'd never heard them before but when I did, I fell in love. Gentlemen Hall, which I started listening to a lot recently. Parachute, which their huge, but I listen to them a lot. I love all different genres but right now I’m into the indie genre right now.
ScopeOut: Anyhting else you want to say to your fans?
Jason: Thank you so much for being loyal to us, following us, and helping us move forward because all we want to do is reach out to other people. Thank you so much.
Jason: We’re from Capetown, Mass.
ScopeOut: Do you think not being from a big city like LA or NY influences your sound?
Jason: I don’t think it influences our sound because of the way music can travel. But it definitely influences our connections. Whenever we go out to LA or Florida or NY, there are people everywhere that are interested in talking. It definitely influences a lot of things but our sound not so much.
ScopeOut: You guys have two full length albums out. What is your favorite song to play live off of that?
Jason: Our newest one “Live Love” has some of our favorite songs we have ever written. My favorite song is “Still Forget You” it’s off of our full length “Connected”. We play it almost all the time; it’s one of those dancey jumpy songs that I love to play.
ScopeOut: So this summer was not your first year at warped tour, would you say this year was different?
Jason: It’s funny. Every year we play it gets a little bit more legitimate for us. We followed the tour in 2008, it was sketchy, we weren’t supposed to be there but we tried as hard as we could to make it work. In 2011 we did it again and we played only half the day. This year we had our own tent spot and played the entire time. A lot less sketchy, like a breath of fresh air for us.
ScopeOut: If I were to introduce someone to your music, what would be the song that you think really shows your band sound the best?
Jason: It’s funny you ask that. We hustle CDs all the time still so we have to try and pick that one song that plays through the headphones to get that first impression. The one song I always play is called “I Guess You Could Call It Love” its our first song off of our album “Live. Love”. It’s a really dynamic song. It starts real soft and real meaningful lyrics, tells a story real well. The chorus hits hard and the drum beat hits hard. I love the dynamics in that song and the lyrics and everything.
ScopeOut: What's the biggest difference between your first CD and “Live Love”?
Jason: Wow so much. When we first started writing songs for the band I wasn’t even in the band at that point. We were trying to go for that college sound that we thought everyone was going to like and just try to make it as in the scene as possible, to have something to put us there. It was great because that’s what worked. We were selling EPs all the time on Warped Tour ’08, it just had that sound that was really popular back then. For us it was great because we kept moving forward and forward to what we wanted to sound like. I’m really glad at the progress that we’ve made.
ScopeOut: Who was your favorite band on this years warped tour?
Jason: Yesterday I watched Taking Back Sunday for the first time in my life. It was amazing for me because it was like the greatest hits set. They don’t give you a lot of time to play. So it was perfect they played all my favorite songs.
ScopeOut: Do you guys have any new music in the works?
Jason: We just released 2 new EPs on iTunes. One is an acoustic EP of all the new songs. One is called “One and Done”. It’s a bunch of one hit wonder songs form the 70s-90s. It was a lot of fun for the parents of all of our fans, a lot of our fans have never even heard of the songs before. It was fun for us to make and fun for the parents to listen to.
ScopeOut: Why did you guys decide to do an acoustic EP?
Jason: It was something to complete our contract with our record label. Something we all agreed that was different that we haven’t done before. It had a lot of really cool sounds that acoustic guitar really brought those through. A few piano parts we have dabbled with in the past, just a few cool things that PCFH hasn’t done before.
ScopeOut: What music are you listening to that you think other people should check out?
Jason: On my iPod personally, I love 2 Door Cinema Club. They are random. I'd never heard them before but when I did, I fell in love. Gentlemen Hall, which I started listening to a lot recently. Parachute, which their huge, but I listen to them a lot. I love all different genres but right now I’m into the indie genre right now.
ScopeOut: Anyhting else you want to say to your fans?
Jason: Thank you so much for being loyal to us, following us, and helping us move forward because all we want to do is reach out to other people. Thank you so much.
Awaken The Empire
Photo from awakentheempire.com
ScopeOut: Where are you guys from originally?
Damien: I'm from Los Angeles, Shivan and Vince are from random areas in Southern California, and Daryl is from Chicago.
ScopeOut: How did you come together?
Damien: I was releasing music on my own, and wanted to start playing live... I auditioned a ton of people, and for the first year or so, we had a revolving door of members... Awaken the Empire evolved from the original music I was putting out and the whole process of finding the right people...
ScopeOut: What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Damien: I wanted something that sounded huge and matched our sound. Something very cinematic and visual... and ultimately something that represented my desire to mobilize people.
ScopeOut: What are your plans for new music?
Damien: Our debut album is done and ready to release. We will be able to make some big announcements very soon, but for now... shhhhhhh. <3
ScopeOut: You guys have a unique sound, which bands would you saw influence you the most?
Damien: Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, HIM, Kill Hannah, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Cure, VNV Nation, Aesthetic Perfection, A Perfect Circle, Innerpartysystem, Nine Inch Nails...Movie Scores are something that have definitely influenced the whole vibe of Awaken the Empire.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song to perform live?
Damien: It's a song that we haven't released yet... It's called "Insomniacs Unite." It's very anthemic and dramatic. We usually open our shows with it.
ScopeOut: What’s the best and worst shows you’ve ever played?
Damien: My favorite show so far has been opening up for Kill Hannah in Chicago... Worst show ever was at The Roxy in Hollywood a couple years ago... I was really sick with some kind of throat/respiratory infection, and coughing up blood before and after the show. Not fun...but I hate canceling shows, so i just played and collapsed afterwords.
ScopeOut: Tell me about your instruments (favorite brands…etc).
Damien: I don't play guitar live anymore, but I am in an obsessive love affair with my Fender Jag-Stang and Jaguar. I wrote our record on those guitars (and a fender acoustic that I shattered) and they are my babies. I tend to love vintage/worn in gear... stuff that sounds really dirty. I have a vintage Music Man head from the 70's that has a tone that I've never been able to find anywhere else. All my distortion sounds come from dirty fuzz boxes. I also have a couple roland synths that I use a lot...
ScopeOut: What’s a pet peeve you have?
Damien: People that aren't appreciative of what they have...People that use the phrase "Come to find out" at the end of a story that I didn't wanna hear in the first place... People without empathy... Guys that break girls hearts... Girls that ruin guys for good girls... Hollywood people that are fake as fuck, and don't give a shit about anyone but themselves... That raising an army to revolt against ridiculous lemming infused ideals is generally frowned upon by the people in power... ya know, typical stuff... <3
ScopeOut: If you could meet any serial killer (and not be killed) who would it be?
Damien: I've actually thought about this before... My girlfriend and I read a lot about serial killers. It was actually a major discussion on our first date... Definitely Albert Fish. If you've never heard of him, google him. He is just so fucking creepy and twisted...
Damien: I'm from Los Angeles, Shivan and Vince are from random areas in Southern California, and Daryl is from Chicago.
ScopeOut: How did you come together?
Damien: I was releasing music on my own, and wanted to start playing live... I auditioned a ton of people, and for the first year or so, we had a revolving door of members... Awaken the Empire evolved from the original music I was putting out and the whole process of finding the right people...
ScopeOut: What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Damien: I wanted something that sounded huge and matched our sound. Something very cinematic and visual... and ultimately something that represented my desire to mobilize people.
ScopeOut: What are your plans for new music?
Damien: Our debut album is done and ready to release. We will be able to make some big announcements very soon, but for now... shhhhhhh. <3
ScopeOut: You guys have a unique sound, which bands would you saw influence you the most?
Damien: Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, HIM, Kill Hannah, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Cure, VNV Nation, Aesthetic Perfection, A Perfect Circle, Innerpartysystem, Nine Inch Nails...Movie Scores are something that have definitely influenced the whole vibe of Awaken the Empire.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song to perform live?
Damien: It's a song that we haven't released yet... It's called "Insomniacs Unite." It's very anthemic and dramatic. We usually open our shows with it.
ScopeOut: What’s the best and worst shows you’ve ever played?
Damien: My favorite show so far has been opening up for Kill Hannah in Chicago... Worst show ever was at The Roxy in Hollywood a couple years ago... I was really sick with some kind of throat/respiratory infection, and coughing up blood before and after the show. Not fun...but I hate canceling shows, so i just played and collapsed afterwords.
ScopeOut: Tell me about your instruments (favorite brands…etc).
Damien: I don't play guitar live anymore, but I am in an obsessive love affair with my Fender Jag-Stang and Jaguar. I wrote our record on those guitars (and a fender acoustic that I shattered) and they are my babies. I tend to love vintage/worn in gear... stuff that sounds really dirty. I have a vintage Music Man head from the 70's that has a tone that I've never been able to find anywhere else. All my distortion sounds come from dirty fuzz boxes. I also have a couple roland synths that I use a lot...
ScopeOut: What’s a pet peeve you have?
Damien: People that aren't appreciative of what they have...People that use the phrase "Come to find out" at the end of a story that I didn't wanna hear in the first place... People without empathy... Guys that break girls hearts... Girls that ruin guys for good girls... Hollywood people that are fake as fuck, and don't give a shit about anyone but themselves... That raising an army to revolt against ridiculous lemming infused ideals is generally frowned upon by the people in power... ya know, typical stuff... <3
ScopeOut: If you could meet any serial killer (and not be killed) who would it be?
Damien: I've actually thought about this before... My girlfriend and I read a lot about serial killers. It was actually a major discussion on our first date... Definitely Albert Fish. If you've never heard of him, google him. He is just so fucking creepy and twisted...
Junior Doctor
Photo from jrdrmusic.com
ScopeOut: What was the inspiration for the album name "Clumsy Words and Bad Pickup Lines?
Mark: It's a lyric from our song Uh Oh, I just thought it was kind of a cool way to say that a guy is trying to do something good but falls flat on his face. Typically a guy never comes up to a girl and is trying to be mean by using a pick up line, or stumbling over his words. He's trying to flatter the girl and get her to talk to him. I just thought it was kind of a neat play on words.
ScopeOut: Why did you pick Uh Oh as your single?
Mark: We picked Uh Oh as our single because it's something that I'm very passionate about. I love the feeling of love at first sight. I'm so intrigued by that-just butterflies, that feeling like you're on a roller coaster and you're standing still. When you see someone for the first time, and you just connect with them, and you haven't even spoken to them yet. That's really what the song's about. I feel like a lot of people can relate to that. I hope that the song is able to portray that emotion. It's just one that means a whole lot to me. It's about a specific experience in my life, when I first saw my wife.
ScopeOut: Where did you get the music video for that song?
Mark: Actually a good friend of mine directed the video, his name is Jimmy Myers and he had help from another friend of mine. They both came up with the concept and they pitched it to me. Basically the idea is that, myself, I fall in love at first sight with this girl. She is on TV, she's on an infomercial trying to sell this product she invented. I keep ordering the products hoping that it will somehow get me closer to her, but all the products end up beating me up. So by the end of it I have like a neck brace on and this arm cast. The last package is a little different, it doesn't hurt me, but you'll have to check out the video to see what happens.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the song Beautiful and Blind.
Mark: Well, the song Beautiful and Blind sounds a whole lot like a love song, and it kind of is, but it's about my cousin Kelsey. She's the closest thing that I have to a sister, and about a year ago she was in a really, really bad motorcycle accident. She was sitting on the back and the motorcycle- they lost control or something- and she flew over and was crushed between the motorcycle and the guard rail. her ribs punctured her lungs, she was in a coma for weeks. During that time I had scheduled a writing session to go write a couple songs for our album. I was so distraught and I couldn't think. Really that song was for me, just trying to get me through that time, not knowing if she was going to live or die. Its kind of a comparison about what she means to me, and how she views the world and how I am sometimes be very cynical, and she's so positive. It's one that mean's a lot to me. She's alive today, she made it through. It's a very special song to me.
ScopeOut: Do you guys have any new music in the works?
Mark: We just re-released our album that we put out independently a year ago. We released it on April 10th through our label. There's two new songs on it that just came out. One of them is called Mirror, Mirror the other is called Falling to Pieces. Both songs are actually about what it's been like to tour over the past year, and being away from our families, and looking at yourself and determining the changes that you made in your life, to be a touring musician, the sacrifices that you made, or require the people around you make. Are you happy with that life? Are you happy with forcing yourself to sacrifice so much, and is it all worth it? And and the end of the day I really believe that it is, because I think that we're doing something good. The songs mean a lot to me, and they're new!
ScopeOut: Do you have any other side projects happening?
Mark: No side projects, all hands are on deck with Junior Doctor. Our song Uh Oh just recently started being played on the radio, there are a whole bunch of radio stations that picked it up XM, Sirius, which is super cool. We're very blessed about that.
Scope Out: What's your favorite charity on Warped Tour this year?
Mark: Music Saves Lives is really cool, mainly because, I mean obviously we're all here for music, and I love the idea pf using music to help people through their hard times. Because sometimes, it's just sorta like it sounds cool and fun, but to me music is more than just fun. It's something to help to relate to help with, and help ing them through a difficult time.
ScopeOut: What music have you been listening to, and influenced by lately?
Mark: Lately, there's this band called Fun, and their new album Some Nights, I love so much. It's so cool the urban elements that they've integrated into their style, it's really inspiring to me. I don't necessarily know if it will come across in our future songs, because I like stuff that's very different from what I do, because I write and listen to my own stuff all the time, and we play it. That's something that's really been interesting to me.
ScopeOut: Anything else you want to add for your fans?
Mark: My band, Junior Doctor, loves to on facebook and twitter and all that stuff. And we really enjoy talking to people who like our music. So if you get a chance, facebook.com/JuniorDoctor, twitter @JRDRmusic and our website is JRDRmusic.com.
Mark: It's a lyric from our song Uh Oh, I just thought it was kind of a cool way to say that a guy is trying to do something good but falls flat on his face. Typically a guy never comes up to a girl and is trying to be mean by using a pick up line, or stumbling over his words. He's trying to flatter the girl and get her to talk to him. I just thought it was kind of a neat play on words.
ScopeOut: Why did you pick Uh Oh as your single?
Mark: We picked Uh Oh as our single because it's something that I'm very passionate about. I love the feeling of love at first sight. I'm so intrigued by that-just butterflies, that feeling like you're on a roller coaster and you're standing still. When you see someone for the first time, and you just connect with them, and you haven't even spoken to them yet. That's really what the song's about. I feel like a lot of people can relate to that. I hope that the song is able to portray that emotion. It's just one that means a whole lot to me. It's about a specific experience in my life, when I first saw my wife.
ScopeOut: Where did you get the music video for that song?
Mark: Actually a good friend of mine directed the video, his name is Jimmy Myers and he had help from another friend of mine. They both came up with the concept and they pitched it to me. Basically the idea is that, myself, I fall in love at first sight with this girl. She is on TV, she's on an infomercial trying to sell this product she invented. I keep ordering the products hoping that it will somehow get me closer to her, but all the products end up beating me up. So by the end of it I have like a neck brace on and this arm cast. The last package is a little different, it doesn't hurt me, but you'll have to check out the video to see what happens.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the song Beautiful and Blind.
Mark: Well, the song Beautiful and Blind sounds a whole lot like a love song, and it kind of is, but it's about my cousin Kelsey. She's the closest thing that I have to a sister, and about a year ago she was in a really, really bad motorcycle accident. She was sitting on the back and the motorcycle- they lost control or something- and she flew over and was crushed between the motorcycle and the guard rail. her ribs punctured her lungs, she was in a coma for weeks. During that time I had scheduled a writing session to go write a couple songs for our album. I was so distraught and I couldn't think. Really that song was for me, just trying to get me through that time, not knowing if she was going to live or die. Its kind of a comparison about what she means to me, and how she views the world and how I am sometimes be very cynical, and she's so positive. It's one that mean's a lot to me. She's alive today, she made it through. It's a very special song to me.
ScopeOut: Do you guys have any new music in the works?
Mark: We just re-released our album that we put out independently a year ago. We released it on April 10th through our label. There's two new songs on it that just came out. One of them is called Mirror, Mirror the other is called Falling to Pieces. Both songs are actually about what it's been like to tour over the past year, and being away from our families, and looking at yourself and determining the changes that you made in your life, to be a touring musician, the sacrifices that you made, or require the people around you make. Are you happy with that life? Are you happy with forcing yourself to sacrifice so much, and is it all worth it? And and the end of the day I really believe that it is, because I think that we're doing something good. The songs mean a lot to me, and they're new!
ScopeOut: Do you have any other side projects happening?
Mark: No side projects, all hands are on deck with Junior Doctor. Our song Uh Oh just recently started being played on the radio, there are a whole bunch of radio stations that picked it up XM, Sirius, which is super cool. We're very blessed about that.
Scope Out: What's your favorite charity on Warped Tour this year?
Mark: Music Saves Lives is really cool, mainly because, I mean obviously we're all here for music, and I love the idea pf using music to help people through their hard times. Because sometimes, it's just sorta like it sounds cool and fun, but to me music is more than just fun. It's something to help to relate to help with, and help ing them through a difficult time.
ScopeOut: What music have you been listening to, and influenced by lately?
Mark: Lately, there's this band called Fun, and their new album Some Nights, I love so much. It's so cool the urban elements that they've integrated into their style, it's really inspiring to me. I don't necessarily know if it will come across in our future songs, because I like stuff that's very different from what I do, because I write and listen to my own stuff all the time, and we play it. That's something that's really been interesting to me.
ScopeOut: Anything else you want to add for your fans?
Mark: My band, Junior Doctor, loves to on facebook and twitter and all that stuff. And we really enjoy talking to people who like our music. So if you get a chance, facebook.com/JuniorDoctor, twitter @JRDRmusic and our website is JRDRmusic.com.
Anti Flag
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: If you could go back and change something on the album Die For The Government, would you?
Pat Thetic: Yes, I would change the snare drum part at the very beginning of Die For The Government
ScopeOut: You performed back in 2000 on Warped Tour, what would you say is most different about the tour today?
Pat: There is a lot more metal on the tour today then there was then.
ScopeOut: Tell me about The Underground Action.
Pat: Underground Action Alliance is a non-profit organization that we started as a band to work with young people and have them become informed about their civil rights and their right to political free speech.
ScopeOut: Who is your biggest musical influence?
Pat: My biggest musical influence would be Michael Jackson, because I know I don't want to be anything like him.
ScopeOut: What music is on your summer play list?
Pat: Paul Simon
ScopeOut: You guys are involved with PETA quite a lot, how did that relationship begin?
Pat: I've been a vegetarian for 20 years and been vegan for 10. I'm a firm believer that there is no nice way to kill anything, so because of that we felt that PETA was also trying to make sure that all beings are treated with compassion.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick a song to show people who have never heard your music before, which song would you choose to show them what you're all about?
Pat: I would say Anatomy of Your Enemy, it's a deep one- you gotta dig it out. It's a good one.
ScopeOut: What was most different about recording The General Strike?
Pat: It took us a long time to record. While we were recording it there was revolution happening all over the world. That was interesting to us. Wether it was the revolution in Egypt, or Indonesia, or the Occupy movement in the US. That was an amazing time in history for revolution and for creating music.
ScopeOut: What's the best show you've played on Warped Tour so far?
Pat: It was Arizona, because so fucking hot but kids came out.
Pat Thetic: Yes, I would change the snare drum part at the very beginning of Die For The Government
ScopeOut: You performed back in 2000 on Warped Tour, what would you say is most different about the tour today?
Pat: There is a lot more metal on the tour today then there was then.
ScopeOut: Tell me about The Underground Action.
Pat: Underground Action Alliance is a non-profit organization that we started as a band to work with young people and have them become informed about their civil rights and their right to political free speech.
ScopeOut: Who is your biggest musical influence?
Pat: My biggest musical influence would be Michael Jackson, because I know I don't want to be anything like him.
ScopeOut: What music is on your summer play list?
Pat: Paul Simon
ScopeOut: You guys are involved with PETA quite a lot, how did that relationship begin?
Pat: I've been a vegetarian for 20 years and been vegan for 10. I'm a firm believer that there is no nice way to kill anything, so because of that we felt that PETA was also trying to make sure that all beings are treated with compassion.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick a song to show people who have never heard your music before, which song would you choose to show them what you're all about?
Pat: I would say Anatomy of Your Enemy, it's a deep one- you gotta dig it out. It's a good one.
ScopeOut: What was most different about recording The General Strike?
Pat: It took us a long time to record. While we were recording it there was revolution happening all over the world. That was interesting to us. Wether it was the revolution in Egypt, or Indonesia, or the Occupy movement in the US. That was an amazing time in history for revolution and for creating music.
ScopeOut: What's the best show you've played on Warped Tour so far?
Pat: It was Arizona, because so fucking hot but kids came out.
The Rocket Summer
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: What music has been most inspiring to you recently?
Bryce: I love the new albums by Smashing Pumpkins, St Vincent and The National.
ScopeOut: If you could go back and tell yourself something around when you were
recording the self-titled EP or Calendar Days, what would you say?
Bryce: Honestly I don't really have too many regrets and have loved all that I've learned along the way. We played our last show of the tour in Lawrence KS last week, where I recorded Calendar Days, and being there brought back a flood of memories, that optimism that came with being 19 and making that record. I felt like ending the tour there helped me channel those early dreams that I've been able to taste some but am always still after, which I suppose is making the best music I can that makes a difference by igniting inspiration within myself and anyone who listens.
Scope Out: How did you come up for the video for “Do You Feel”?
Bryce: I'll never forget having the idea to write Do You Feel on the palm of my hand with a sharpie for the cover of that album. It's probably the biggest thing thats ever been born out of TRS as silly as that sounds. Such a random idea, and Island hated it. But I asked them to trust me with it, I loved how the concept of writing what weighs you down, what brings you hope, the things that make up your life that are in your heart and mind, putting that in words on the palm of your hand and letting that speak for itself, I dont know something about that seemed powerful to me. We asked fans to take photos of themselves with their own thoughts written on their palms, or the album title, or the band name, make the photo their myspace profile pic and we would put them in our top 8 or top 50 or whatever it became. The next thing we know writing on your palm with a sharpie became this random trend across myspace and then made its way into mainstream culture. I'll never forget opening a Time magazine and seeing a picture of Barack Obama with "Do You Feel" written on his hand just like the album cover. That was the craziest moment, there were several massive non profits that started campaigns of writing feelings on their palms that far surpassed what we were doing and that was crazy to witness. I know, quite a silly thing to claim you started "hey I started the idea of writing on your palm!" ha, but to see that set fire like that was one of the most surreal things I think I've ever witnessed. When we made the video for Do You Feel I wanted to focus on real people with with real struggles, not actors, people with real stories of hope & victory and have them write down on their hands what they were going through. I wanted to make a video that would get people out of their seats and start helping in their community amidst their own issues that so often hold us back from doing things that make a difference. A bunch of my friends in bands jumped in and it meant the world to me. It's amazing what can happen when you believe in something and you team up with great people, this video is a testament to that. I ended up putting together and shooting that video on my own with my own small budget because Island wouldn't do it, it's crazy because it's to date our biggest song and video.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the album name “Of Men and Angels”.
Bryce: I took that from a scripture that discusses the importance of love. How no matter what we're doing as great as it may look and be helping others, if we're not genuinely loving, essentially it doesn't really matter. Thats something that really cut into my soul when I was making that record, not wanting to be a phony. It's a choice we have to make daily.
ScopeOut: In 2010 you got to tour with OneRepublic and Goo Goo Dolls, what was that like?
Bryce: It was a huge blessing and a privilege to get to play with those guys. I'm always trying to learn from people I admire, being out with them was an inspiring time.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song from Life Will Write The Words?
Bryce: Thats impossible to answer! I would say, today, 200,000. I'm proud of those dueling key hooks that kick off the song. Reminds me of Old Nintendo. And it sounds simple but I had to practice that part for days to pull it off live!
ScopeOut: What would you say is most different about this album?
Bryce: When I hear it, I'm reminded of the creative environment I was in by making it independently, literally just down the street from my house. It was such a different environment from what I was used to and I think that created a space for me to be more creative and to spend time really delving into the lyrics.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song to play live (from any album)?
Bryce: We started playing Circa '46 on this tour and I couldn't believe how well it went over live. It generally happened near the end of the night when everyone was sweaty and fully engaged so it became a bit of a jovial dance fest for a minute and a half. Makes me miss touring.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick your biggest musical influence, who would it be?
Bryce: Honestly I have no idea. I love all kinds of music, all kinds of artists and there's no one artist that is my biggest influence. I'm easily just as inspired by the emotion within the guy singing for change in a run down area as I am by Peter Gabriel.
ScopeOut: How did you choose your touring band members?
Bryce: They have to be good and they have to like Wes Anderson movies.
ScopeOut: Do you have any new projects/music in the works?
Bryce: I'm always writing and working on projects, possibly even to a fault. But yes...
ScopeOut: Anything you want to say to your fans?
Bryce: I'm so extremely blessed and thankful that y'all care about what I'm doing. You guys have straight up carried this thing through the highs and lows and you mean the world to me. Thank you again!
Bryce: I love the new albums by Smashing Pumpkins, St Vincent and The National.
ScopeOut: If you could go back and tell yourself something around when you were
recording the self-titled EP or Calendar Days, what would you say?
Bryce: Honestly I don't really have too many regrets and have loved all that I've learned along the way. We played our last show of the tour in Lawrence KS last week, where I recorded Calendar Days, and being there brought back a flood of memories, that optimism that came with being 19 and making that record. I felt like ending the tour there helped me channel those early dreams that I've been able to taste some but am always still after, which I suppose is making the best music I can that makes a difference by igniting inspiration within myself and anyone who listens.
Scope Out: How did you come up for the video for “Do You Feel”?
Bryce: I'll never forget having the idea to write Do You Feel on the palm of my hand with a sharpie for the cover of that album. It's probably the biggest thing thats ever been born out of TRS as silly as that sounds. Such a random idea, and Island hated it. But I asked them to trust me with it, I loved how the concept of writing what weighs you down, what brings you hope, the things that make up your life that are in your heart and mind, putting that in words on the palm of your hand and letting that speak for itself, I dont know something about that seemed powerful to me. We asked fans to take photos of themselves with their own thoughts written on their palms, or the album title, or the band name, make the photo their myspace profile pic and we would put them in our top 8 or top 50 or whatever it became. The next thing we know writing on your palm with a sharpie became this random trend across myspace and then made its way into mainstream culture. I'll never forget opening a Time magazine and seeing a picture of Barack Obama with "Do You Feel" written on his hand just like the album cover. That was the craziest moment, there were several massive non profits that started campaigns of writing feelings on their palms that far surpassed what we were doing and that was crazy to witness. I know, quite a silly thing to claim you started "hey I started the idea of writing on your palm!" ha, but to see that set fire like that was one of the most surreal things I think I've ever witnessed. When we made the video for Do You Feel I wanted to focus on real people with with real struggles, not actors, people with real stories of hope & victory and have them write down on their hands what they were going through. I wanted to make a video that would get people out of their seats and start helping in their community amidst their own issues that so often hold us back from doing things that make a difference. A bunch of my friends in bands jumped in and it meant the world to me. It's amazing what can happen when you believe in something and you team up with great people, this video is a testament to that. I ended up putting together and shooting that video on my own with my own small budget because Island wouldn't do it, it's crazy because it's to date our biggest song and video.
ScopeOut: Tell me about the album name “Of Men and Angels”.
Bryce: I took that from a scripture that discusses the importance of love. How no matter what we're doing as great as it may look and be helping others, if we're not genuinely loving, essentially it doesn't really matter. Thats something that really cut into my soul when I was making that record, not wanting to be a phony. It's a choice we have to make daily.
ScopeOut: In 2010 you got to tour with OneRepublic and Goo Goo Dolls, what was that like?
Bryce: It was a huge blessing and a privilege to get to play with those guys. I'm always trying to learn from people I admire, being out with them was an inspiring time.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song from Life Will Write The Words?
Bryce: Thats impossible to answer! I would say, today, 200,000. I'm proud of those dueling key hooks that kick off the song. Reminds me of Old Nintendo. And it sounds simple but I had to practice that part for days to pull it off live!
ScopeOut: What would you say is most different about this album?
Bryce: When I hear it, I'm reminded of the creative environment I was in by making it independently, literally just down the street from my house. It was such a different environment from what I was used to and I think that created a space for me to be more creative and to spend time really delving into the lyrics.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song to play live (from any album)?
Bryce: We started playing Circa '46 on this tour and I couldn't believe how well it went over live. It generally happened near the end of the night when everyone was sweaty and fully engaged so it became a bit of a jovial dance fest for a minute and a half. Makes me miss touring.
ScopeOut: If you had to pick your biggest musical influence, who would it be?
Bryce: Honestly I have no idea. I love all kinds of music, all kinds of artists and there's no one artist that is my biggest influence. I'm easily just as inspired by the emotion within the guy singing for change in a run down area as I am by Peter Gabriel.
ScopeOut: How did you choose your touring band members?
Bryce: They have to be good and they have to like Wes Anderson movies.
ScopeOut: Do you have any new projects/music in the works?
Bryce: I'm always writing and working on projects, possibly even to a fault. But yes...
ScopeOut: Anything you want to say to your fans?
Bryce: I'm so extremely blessed and thankful that y'all care about what I'm doing. You guys have straight up carried this thing through the highs and lows and you mean the world to me. Thank you again!
State & Madison
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: How did State & Madison come together?
S&M (Nick Blazina): We came together in 2005 after our high school band called it quits. Mark and I started writing songs right away that built the foundation for what would eventually become STATE AND MADISON. Travis and Alan joined us some time later. Travis had been in an earlier version of one of our high school bands, so we had a pretty rich musical history together. We had actually met Alan on a tour stop in Omaha. He moved to Chicago after that and started playing drums with us.
ScopeOut: What would you say is the biggest difference between Tar & Feather and the EPs?
Nick: Tar & Feather is meant to be listened to front to back. The EPs were collections of songs we had accumulated over certain periods, but weren't necessarily meant to be heard as complete works. Tar & Feather is the first time we've spent collecting songs we knew were meant to be heard in a particular sequence on a record.
ScopeOut: Tell me about your favorite song from Tar & Feather.
Nick: "Since Last She Was Sad" holds a pretty special place in my heart. Of all the songs we've released, I feel like that tune gets to some sort of simple truth more than anything we've yet done. "Tell the ones you love you do," because you don't ever know when things will change. And they will change.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song to perform live (new or old)?
Nick: I really love playing "Goodnight Sun" live. It's deceptively heavy. The verses are because of my love for the first track on the Swell Season record Strict Joy. I love that record, and that first track is so chill in the best way. The choruses though remind me of something that would have been on the Silverchair record Diorama. Just gigantic chords over a simple melody, ala "Without You" on that record. Check it out. The guitars are huge.
ScopeOut: What’s the story behind the new album name “Tar & Feather”?
Nick: It came from the tune "Dearest Restless". Lyrically, the record talks a lot about the emotional layers of divorce. I felt like the "we'll dress in tar and feather," line came to represent a wider theme on the record that, in order to do the right thing in a relationship, sometimes you need to swallow your pride. We are all capable of being wrong. Instead of throwing your hands in the air and continually protecting your right to win a fight, you should allow the possibility that you may not be right and learn from it.
ScopeOut: What music would you say influences you the most?
Nick: Lately it's been a lot of Hidden Hospitals, Here In Arms, and Cactus. I enjoy bands that are working hard to see their visions to fruition. Those are just a few that I've been digging on hard lately. Great tunes, very disparate style wise, but a good song is a good song.
ScopeOut: What artist would you most like to work with?
Nick: I'd love to tour with Company of Thieves. Those guys regularly evolve into a different type of band, while retaining what got them to where they already are. I could see a few weeks on tour with them making us much sharper. There's such a pervasive competitive feeling for certain people/bands that is unfortunate. Music isn't a contest. Be inspired. Allow that. Don't waste energy trying to be better than anyone. Let others' talents rub off. There is a lot to learn from bands who are great at what they do.
ScopeOut: What was your favorite part about your last tour?
Nick: Getting to play our new tunes for others the very first time was really gratifying. You can only see how far something works in the rehearsal space. It's a different feeling when you get on stage. Songs definitely grow into leaner, meaner beasts when you have the chance to play them for weeks on end.
ScopeOut: If you could be invisible, where would you go and what would you do?
Nick: I'd sit in traffic with people. People are who they are in terrible, hot summer traffic. No air conditioning.
ScopeOut: Favorite movie that has come out this summer?
Nick: As yet, it's Prometheus, but I'm reserving the top spot for July 20. "The Dark Knight Rises" baby. I will be unavailable that day and for the whole week after. At least.
Find out more about State & Madison at stateandmadison.net or @stateandmadison
S&M (Nick Blazina): We came together in 2005 after our high school band called it quits. Mark and I started writing songs right away that built the foundation for what would eventually become STATE AND MADISON. Travis and Alan joined us some time later. Travis had been in an earlier version of one of our high school bands, so we had a pretty rich musical history together. We had actually met Alan on a tour stop in Omaha. He moved to Chicago after that and started playing drums with us.
ScopeOut: What would you say is the biggest difference between Tar & Feather and the EPs?
Nick: Tar & Feather is meant to be listened to front to back. The EPs were collections of songs we had accumulated over certain periods, but weren't necessarily meant to be heard as complete works. Tar & Feather is the first time we've spent collecting songs we knew were meant to be heard in a particular sequence on a record.
ScopeOut: Tell me about your favorite song from Tar & Feather.
Nick: "Since Last She Was Sad" holds a pretty special place in my heart. Of all the songs we've released, I feel like that tune gets to some sort of simple truth more than anything we've yet done. "Tell the ones you love you do," because you don't ever know when things will change. And they will change.
ScopeOut: What is your favorite song to perform live (new or old)?
Nick: I really love playing "Goodnight Sun" live. It's deceptively heavy. The verses are because of my love for the first track on the Swell Season record Strict Joy. I love that record, and that first track is so chill in the best way. The choruses though remind me of something that would have been on the Silverchair record Diorama. Just gigantic chords over a simple melody, ala "Without You" on that record. Check it out. The guitars are huge.
ScopeOut: What’s the story behind the new album name “Tar & Feather”?
Nick: It came from the tune "Dearest Restless". Lyrically, the record talks a lot about the emotional layers of divorce. I felt like the "we'll dress in tar and feather," line came to represent a wider theme on the record that, in order to do the right thing in a relationship, sometimes you need to swallow your pride. We are all capable of being wrong. Instead of throwing your hands in the air and continually protecting your right to win a fight, you should allow the possibility that you may not be right and learn from it.
ScopeOut: What music would you say influences you the most?
Nick: Lately it's been a lot of Hidden Hospitals, Here In Arms, and Cactus. I enjoy bands that are working hard to see their visions to fruition. Those are just a few that I've been digging on hard lately. Great tunes, very disparate style wise, but a good song is a good song.
ScopeOut: What artist would you most like to work with?
Nick: I'd love to tour with Company of Thieves. Those guys regularly evolve into a different type of band, while retaining what got them to where they already are. I could see a few weeks on tour with them making us much sharper. There's such a pervasive competitive feeling for certain people/bands that is unfortunate. Music isn't a contest. Be inspired. Allow that. Don't waste energy trying to be better than anyone. Let others' talents rub off. There is a lot to learn from bands who are great at what they do.
ScopeOut: What was your favorite part about your last tour?
Nick: Getting to play our new tunes for others the very first time was really gratifying. You can only see how far something works in the rehearsal space. It's a different feeling when you get on stage. Songs definitely grow into leaner, meaner beasts when you have the chance to play them for weeks on end.
ScopeOut: If you could be invisible, where would you go and what would you do?
Nick: I'd sit in traffic with people. People are who they are in terrible, hot summer traffic. No air conditioning.
ScopeOut: Favorite movie that has come out this summer?
Nick: As yet, it's Prometheus, but I'm reserving the top spot for July 20. "The Dark Knight Rises" baby. I will be unavailable that day and for the whole week after. At least.
Find out more about State & Madison at stateandmadison.net or @stateandmadison
Cara Salimando
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: Where are you from?
Cara: Originally I'm from a small town near Asbury Park in New Jersey. Now I'm living in Manhattan, NYC.
ScopeOut: You just finished touring with William Beckett. What was that like?
Cara: Very fun! We did a small car tour, just us both acoustic and one tour manager. So it was pretty low maintenance, equipment and set up wise. The shows were all very different experiences, some very intimate, others quite rowdy. We met a lot of really awesome people and definitely came away with great memories. I learned a lot about smoke daddies and Juggalos along the way, courtesy of Williams (apparent) infinite knowledge of both...
ScopeOut: What was your favorite part of the tour?
Cara: Playing in Toronto was definitely a highlight for me. The crowd was so warm and welcoming, and really enthusiastic about me, which was nice. Being the opening act can sometimes be really rough, but that night I felt so comfortable and really humbled that the crowd was so into it. Also, there was a night of tour where we stayed at the Buffalo NY venue after hours and it turned into a dance night. I got some good dancing in.
ScopeOut: What's one venue or state you'd love to play in?
Cara: I would love to one day play at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. I feel like that would be a crowning achievement for me, if I ever get there.
ScopeOut: If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?
Cara: I'd love to tour with Death Cab for Cutie, or Bright Eyes (sighhh, if only).
ScopeOut: Do you have plans to get back to the studio?
Cara: Yes! I will be gone for almost all of July working on new material in Denver, CO. There is a studio that my friend is allowed to use for free while the band that owns the space is out on tour. They're going to be gone, so we are going to be creating all sorts of music for 15 days. I can't wait to see what we come up with; I have no material written, just bits and pieces. We're going to dive in, totally fresh and unstructured and just create. It's going to be so much fun.
ScopeOut: Tell me about a song from "The Moving Ahead".
Cara: The Moving Ahead is an EP I made specifically for this tour; you can't find it on iTunes or any other online retailer. Basically it's a collection of 6 songs that I feel like express my sound and songwriting best. But one song, Bookmark, stands out the most. At least, in my eyes it does. I wrote Bookmark in May of 2011, after a seven month block of creating nothing. I was walking home to my apartment in the rain, humming to myself, and all of a sudden these sentences just started coming out and attaching themselves to the melody I was humming. I recorded a quick little memo of it on my phone, and when I got home just threw some chords that went well with the melody underneath. Lyrically, it's quite complex, but it came out so naturally, and says exactly how I felt at that specific time in my life. After many months of not having the words to describe how terrible it felt to just be a placeholder in someone's life, it was honestly a relief to get it into a song. I think it's the most personal song I've written, so its always incredibly interesting to me when girls (or boys) come up to me after shows and tell me "Bookmark" had them in tears in the audience. I think that's how you know a song has served it's purpose; if it affects others the same way it affected you.
ScopeOut: When did you start performing?
Cara: I first sang in front of an audience when I was 10 years old. My first show of all original material was when I was 13, at a local coffee shop. I played like, five or six songs, haha.
ScopeOut: What's one show you've played that really sticks out in your mind as a great show?
Cara: Once my band and I opened for Big Time Rush at a state fair in Vermont. We got cotton candy and took an old time photo after. It was pretty fun. Other than that, I opened for Ingrid Michaelson and Mat Kearney when I was 18, every show was amazing because it was my first tour and I was so overwhelmed and excited.
ScopeOut: Tell me something about you not many people know.
Cara: Hm... I'm lactose intolerant. Is that interesting? Probably not. I have an older brother named Greg who is a super genius. He's in neuroscience. Something I can't even begin to understand. Haha.
ScopeOut: What music has been inspiring you lately?
Cara: I love St. Vincent, amazing band with an amazing front woman, Annie Clark. Other than that, some of my favorite bands are Land of Talk, Bright Eyes (or anything Conor Oberst), Bon Iver, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's... Fiona Apple is my favorite songwriter ever, and her plus Jon Brion (producer) was insanely magical. Even though people hate on her, I think Lana Del Rey writes really interesting lyrics, great imagery. Also, I love the band Bat for Lashes. Such a cool sound.
Find out more about Cara & pick up her music at carasalimando.com
Cara: Originally I'm from a small town near Asbury Park in New Jersey. Now I'm living in Manhattan, NYC.
ScopeOut: You just finished touring with William Beckett. What was that like?
Cara: Very fun! We did a small car tour, just us both acoustic and one tour manager. So it was pretty low maintenance, equipment and set up wise. The shows were all very different experiences, some very intimate, others quite rowdy. We met a lot of really awesome people and definitely came away with great memories. I learned a lot about smoke daddies and Juggalos along the way, courtesy of Williams (apparent) infinite knowledge of both...
ScopeOut: What was your favorite part of the tour?
Cara: Playing in Toronto was definitely a highlight for me. The crowd was so warm and welcoming, and really enthusiastic about me, which was nice. Being the opening act can sometimes be really rough, but that night I felt so comfortable and really humbled that the crowd was so into it. Also, there was a night of tour where we stayed at the Buffalo NY venue after hours and it turned into a dance night. I got some good dancing in.
ScopeOut: What's one venue or state you'd love to play in?
Cara: I would love to one day play at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. I feel like that would be a crowning achievement for me, if I ever get there.
ScopeOut: If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?
Cara: I'd love to tour with Death Cab for Cutie, or Bright Eyes (sighhh, if only).
ScopeOut: Do you have plans to get back to the studio?
Cara: Yes! I will be gone for almost all of July working on new material in Denver, CO. There is a studio that my friend is allowed to use for free while the band that owns the space is out on tour. They're going to be gone, so we are going to be creating all sorts of music for 15 days. I can't wait to see what we come up with; I have no material written, just bits and pieces. We're going to dive in, totally fresh and unstructured and just create. It's going to be so much fun.
ScopeOut: Tell me about a song from "The Moving Ahead".
Cara: The Moving Ahead is an EP I made specifically for this tour; you can't find it on iTunes or any other online retailer. Basically it's a collection of 6 songs that I feel like express my sound and songwriting best. But one song, Bookmark, stands out the most. At least, in my eyes it does. I wrote Bookmark in May of 2011, after a seven month block of creating nothing. I was walking home to my apartment in the rain, humming to myself, and all of a sudden these sentences just started coming out and attaching themselves to the melody I was humming. I recorded a quick little memo of it on my phone, and when I got home just threw some chords that went well with the melody underneath. Lyrically, it's quite complex, but it came out so naturally, and says exactly how I felt at that specific time in my life. After many months of not having the words to describe how terrible it felt to just be a placeholder in someone's life, it was honestly a relief to get it into a song. I think it's the most personal song I've written, so its always incredibly interesting to me when girls (or boys) come up to me after shows and tell me "Bookmark" had them in tears in the audience. I think that's how you know a song has served it's purpose; if it affects others the same way it affected you.
ScopeOut: When did you start performing?
Cara: I first sang in front of an audience when I was 10 years old. My first show of all original material was when I was 13, at a local coffee shop. I played like, five or six songs, haha.
ScopeOut: What's one show you've played that really sticks out in your mind as a great show?
Cara: Once my band and I opened for Big Time Rush at a state fair in Vermont. We got cotton candy and took an old time photo after. It was pretty fun. Other than that, I opened for Ingrid Michaelson and Mat Kearney when I was 18, every show was amazing because it was my first tour and I was so overwhelmed and excited.
ScopeOut: Tell me something about you not many people know.
Cara: Hm... I'm lactose intolerant. Is that interesting? Probably not. I have an older brother named Greg who is a super genius. He's in neuroscience. Something I can't even begin to understand. Haha.
ScopeOut: What music has been inspiring you lately?
Cara: I love St. Vincent, amazing band with an amazing front woman, Annie Clark. Other than that, some of my favorite bands are Land of Talk, Bright Eyes (or anything Conor Oberst), Bon Iver, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's... Fiona Apple is my favorite songwriter ever, and her plus Jon Brion (producer) was insanely magical. Even though people hate on her, I think Lana Del Rey writes really interesting lyrics, great imagery. Also, I love the band Bat for Lashes. Such a cool sound.
Find out more about Cara & pick up her music at carasalimando.com
Erin Martin
photo from erinmartinmusic.com
I was lucky enough to get to interview the amazingly talented Erin Martin. She’s one of the contestants who made it through from Chicago onto NBC’s “The Voice”. She performed “Hey There, Delilah” on the first episode, and ended up on Team Cee Lo.
Scope Out: Who would you say is the biggest influence for you vocally?
Erin Martin: I draw influences from a number of sources. I grew up in musical theatre. I grew up listening to “The Sound of Music”, “My Fair Lady”, and “Annie”. I listened to classical music radio, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday. Those are all things that my parents listened too. I didn’t grow up listening to pop radio. My parents were pretty reserved. The classics I would say, and I don’t mean the classics like Led Zeppelin, the classics as in really melodic Ella Fitzgerald, and that type of music. I think my biggest influence when I started writing music as a teenager would be Fiona Apple. The first three albums I bought were Fiona Apple, No Doubt, and Seal. As far as production, putting out an album would be like Trent Reznor. I like it when he breaks it down really soft, and goes into the keyboards, really dramatic moments like that.
ScopeOut: You said you grew up into musical theatre. Did you work in productions or was it more something you were a fan of?
Erin Martin: I grew up in musical theatre. My dad was the president of a theatre in south Michigan. For a good 10 years from when I was 4 or 5 until I was 14 or 15 I was on stage performing, singing, dancing, backstage helping with costumes, lights, and make up. I was doing everything. I was defiantly on stage from a young age.
ScopeOut: What made you start writing music for yourself (as a teenager).
Erin Martin: You know, there was a lot of stress in my family growing up because we didn’t have a lot of money and I was really sick. When I was like 10 years old I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. It’s this thing basically where ulcers eat through the lining of your large intestine and you shit blood until you die basically. So on the edge of death, 14 years old, my parents asked me if I wanted to have my colon removed to save my life, or if I just wanted to continue to try to take medication that isn’t doing anything for me. So I had to have my colon removed and like millions of blood transfusions, quarter of a million dollars later, and hell of a lot of surgeries. Growing up in musical theatre, growing up in a hospital while I- you go through something like that, and you start writing, and being an artist. And my Dad’s an artist. He paints. Going through that struggle, I needed an outlet, and I started writing. I just coupled that with my voice and started singing. I was a young teenager, when I was a kid I was writing my own songs just lyrically. Then I started adding instruments, and started playing when I was 12. I played the clarinet and violin. And I picked up a guitar when I was 16. I never let my sickness get me down, I was always really positive and happy although I was literally dying. I try to present myself in the best way, no matter how I’m feeling. It definitely gives you a different outlook on life. You make the best of every situation and be as positive as possible, and take every opportunity that comes your way. Because you don’t know how long you’re going to be here.
ScopeOut: How did you come about auditioning for “The Voice”. Were you a fan of the show before or did you hear about the audition and decide to go for it?
Erin Martin: It was a little bit of both. I’d been watching the show and I appreciated the premise of the show, the activity of the coaches and judges. I’d watch it and be like “I could be on that show! I could do that, I could be Dia Frampton. I could be on Team Cee Lo. Then all of a sudden my manager said they were holding auditions for “The Voice”, would I try out? So I did, and here we are today. It’s definitely mind blowing that out of 42,000 people I made it to the top 24. At the same time, it’s definitely, the feelings of I know that I didn’t survive all the things that I survived in my life for nothing. I definitely think that I have a gift of music and I have a joy that I need to bring to other people. I need to get my music heard on a world wide scale, not for my own purposes, for the purpose of changing other people’s lives. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why I’m doing this.
ScopeOut: Was it hard to pick a team? Did you go in knowing that you wanted to be Team Cee Lo?
Erin Martin: I went in knowing I wanted to be on team Cee Lo. I knew that I wanted to be on his team from the beginning. I said if all 4 people turn around then I’d pick Cee Lo, but if someone gives me a better argument then I might go with them. I just knew as far as creativity and eccentricities, Cee Lo was right down my lane. I like to put on a show and Cee Lo does too, so I think as far as creative thinking we mesh well. Although, everything that you’ve seen thus far has been crafted by NBC “The Voice” and we don’t creative control over what songs we choose or anything like that.
ScopeOut: You sang ‘Hey There, Delilah’ for the first episode of “The Voice”, so how did you pick that? Was it something they presented to you or was it a song that you’ve been covering?
Erin Martin: ‘Hey There, Delilah’ was, you know they have a list of songs that are cleared. Probably like 200 songs, and you have to put them in order of songs 1-200 of what they want you to use. I think ‘Hey There, Delilah’ was number 15 on my list. They would go through and they would listen to your music that you have online and they talk to you and figure out what the best song for you would be. I think they made the right decision, when they chose ‘Hey There, Delilah’ for me. After I sang it I embraced it as my own song, because I did choose it, it was in my top 30. I didn’t choose it out of the world, I chose it from a list, and I’m happy with my decision. It got me from that vision of being on Team Cee Lo to come to fruition.
ScopeOut: If you could perform with any artist, alive or dead, who would you choose?
Erin Martin: I would love to perform with Louis Armstrong. I grew up listening to him. I strive to be someone comparable to Billie Holiday. She’s one of my biggest influences in music. After that would be Fiona Apple. If I could perform with anyone it would definitely be Louis Armstrong. I’d love to do a duet with him, it’s obviously not possible. That would be the three. At the same time I don’t try to sound like anybody. That’s really important to me. People say “you sound so different”. You know, when Fiona Apple came on the scene she didn’t sound like anybody else, she sounded like herself. People, in an age where we are so custom to imitation, I think people get confused by the fact that there’s something new and different that they have never heard before. It’s hard for them to accept, but we’re just going to keep shoving it in their faces. When they realize that it’s something new and that it’s okay to accept something new, it doesn’t have to be a duplicate of something you’ve already heard, try something that’s auto tuned. It’s okay to be unique and different and yourself.
Scope Out: It’s so interesting to see someone with such an interesting voice on a show like “The Voice”, because you don’t always get to see someone who doesn’t sound like someone already on the radio.
Erin Martin: Through this whole process I’m part of “The Voice”, but my goal is not to win “The Voice”, my goal is to get my music heard. However I end up doing that, that’s my goal.
ScopeOut: If you were to give advice to young singers who haven’t quite made their break yet, what would you tell them?
Erin Martin: I would say just keep at it. You just have to never give up, never surrender, in the face of pain and the face of sickness, you just have to find whatever place that that you can, just remember that no matter what people say about you, you can’t let other people’s opinions of who you are or what you do affect how you present yourself, or any moves that you make in life. You have to be strong and make your own decisions. If you have a dream, write it down. Write down a list of thing that you want to accomplish in your life and refer to that list, and visualize it happening for yourself. I always visualize everything that I’ve done. The things that I visualize, they come to fruition. I would just way follow your dream and you surround yourself with positive people. Other people can have a strong influence in your life and you want to be friends with who you want to be, and who you want to be surrounded by. The vision that you love and adore will take on those characteristic, so just be careful who you’re running around with.
ScopeOut: Thank you so much for your time, and this interview.
Scope Out: Who would you say is the biggest influence for you vocally?
Erin Martin: I draw influences from a number of sources. I grew up in musical theatre. I grew up listening to “The Sound of Music”, “My Fair Lady”, and “Annie”. I listened to classical music radio, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday. Those are all things that my parents listened too. I didn’t grow up listening to pop radio. My parents were pretty reserved. The classics I would say, and I don’t mean the classics like Led Zeppelin, the classics as in really melodic Ella Fitzgerald, and that type of music. I think my biggest influence when I started writing music as a teenager would be Fiona Apple. The first three albums I bought were Fiona Apple, No Doubt, and Seal. As far as production, putting out an album would be like Trent Reznor. I like it when he breaks it down really soft, and goes into the keyboards, really dramatic moments like that.
ScopeOut: You said you grew up into musical theatre. Did you work in productions or was it more something you were a fan of?
Erin Martin: I grew up in musical theatre. My dad was the president of a theatre in south Michigan. For a good 10 years from when I was 4 or 5 until I was 14 or 15 I was on stage performing, singing, dancing, backstage helping with costumes, lights, and make up. I was doing everything. I was defiantly on stage from a young age.
ScopeOut: What made you start writing music for yourself (as a teenager).
Erin Martin: You know, there was a lot of stress in my family growing up because we didn’t have a lot of money and I was really sick. When I was like 10 years old I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. It’s this thing basically where ulcers eat through the lining of your large intestine and you shit blood until you die basically. So on the edge of death, 14 years old, my parents asked me if I wanted to have my colon removed to save my life, or if I just wanted to continue to try to take medication that isn’t doing anything for me. So I had to have my colon removed and like millions of blood transfusions, quarter of a million dollars later, and hell of a lot of surgeries. Growing up in musical theatre, growing up in a hospital while I- you go through something like that, and you start writing, and being an artist. And my Dad’s an artist. He paints. Going through that struggle, I needed an outlet, and I started writing. I just coupled that with my voice and started singing. I was a young teenager, when I was a kid I was writing my own songs just lyrically. Then I started adding instruments, and started playing when I was 12. I played the clarinet and violin. And I picked up a guitar when I was 16. I never let my sickness get me down, I was always really positive and happy although I was literally dying. I try to present myself in the best way, no matter how I’m feeling. It definitely gives you a different outlook on life. You make the best of every situation and be as positive as possible, and take every opportunity that comes your way. Because you don’t know how long you’re going to be here.
ScopeOut: How did you come about auditioning for “The Voice”. Were you a fan of the show before or did you hear about the audition and decide to go for it?
Erin Martin: It was a little bit of both. I’d been watching the show and I appreciated the premise of the show, the activity of the coaches and judges. I’d watch it and be like “I could be on that show! I could do that, I could be Dia Frampton. I could be on Team Cee Lo. Then all of a sudden my manager said they were holding auditions for “The Voice”, would I try out? So I did, and here we are today. It’s definitely mind blowing that out of 42,000 people I made it to the top 24. At the same time, it’s definitely, the feelings of I know that I didn’t survive all the things that I survived in my life for nothing. I definitely think that I have a gift of music and I have a joy that I need to bring to other people. I need to get my music heard on a world wide scale, not for my own purposes, for the purpose of changing other people’s lives. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why I’m doing this.
ScopeOut: Was it hard to pick a team? Did you go in knowing that you wanted to be Team Cee Lo?
Erin Martin: I went in knowing I wanted to be on team Cee Lo. I knew that I wanted to be on his team from the beginning. I said if all 4 people turn around then I’d pick Cee Lo, but if someone gives me a better argument then I might go with them. I just knew as far as creativity and eccentricities, Cee Lo was right down my lane. I like to put on a show and Cee Lo does too, so I think as far as creative thinking we mesh well. Although, everything that you’ve seen thus far has been crafted by NBC “The Voice” and we don’t creative control over what songs we choose or anything like that.
ScopeOut: You sang ‘Hey There, Delilah’ for the first episode of “The Voice”, so how did you pick that? Was it something they presented to you or was it a song that you’ve been covering?
Erin Martin: ‘Hey There, Delilah’ was, you know they have a list of songs that are cleared. Probably like 200 songs, and you have to put them in order of songs 1-200 of what they want you to use. I think ‘Hey There, Delilah’ was number 15 on my list. They would go through and they would listen to your music that you have online and they talk to you and figure out what the best song for you would be. I think they made the right decision, when they chose ‘Hey There, Delilah’ for me. After I sang it I embraced it as my own song, because I did choose it, it was in my top 30. I didn’t choose it out of the world, I chose it from a list, and I’m happy with my decision. It got me from that vision of being on Team Cee Lo to come to fruition.
ScopeOut: If you could perform with any artist, alive or dead, who would you choose?
Erin Martin: I would love to perform with Louis Armstrong. I grew up listening to him. I strive to be someone comparable to Billie Holiday. She’s one of my biggest influences in music. After that would be Fiona Apple. If I could perform with anyone it would definitely be Louis Armstrong. I’d love to do a duet with him, it’s obviously not possible. That would be the three. At the same time I don’t try to sound like anybody. That’s really important to me. People say “you sound so different”. You know, when Fiona Apple came on the scene she didn’t sound like anybody else, she sounded like herself. People, in an age where we are so custom to imitation, I think people get confused by the fact that there’s something new and different that they have never heard before. It’s hard for them to accept, but we’re just going to keep shoving it in their faces. When they realize that it’s something new and that it’s okay to accept something new, it doesn’t have to be a duplicate of something you’ve already heard, try something that’s auto tuned. It’s okay to be unique and different and yourself.
Scope Out: It’s so interesting to see someone with such an interesting voice on a show like “The Voice”, because you don’t always get to see someone who doesn’t sound like someone already on the radio.
Erin Martin: Through this whole process I’m part of “The Voice”, but my goal is not to win “The Voice”, my goal is to get my music heard. However I end up doing that, that’s my goal.
ScopeOut: If you were to give advice to young singers who haven’t quite made their break yet, what would you tell them?
Erin Martin: I would say just keep at it. You just have to never give up, never surrender, in the face of pain and the face of sickness, you just have to find whatever place that that you can, just remember that no matter what people say about you, you can’t let other people’s opinions of who you are or what you do affect how you present yourself, or any moves that you make in life. You have to be strong and make your own decisions. If you have a dream, write it down. Write down a list of thing that you want to accomplish in your life and refer to that list, and visualize it happening for yourself. I always visualize everything that I’ve done. The things that I visualize, they come to fruition. I would just way follow your dream and you surround yourself with positive people. Other people can have a strong influence in your life and you want to be friends with who you want to be, and who you want to be surrounded by. The vision that you love and adore will take on those characteristic, so just be careful who you’re running around with.
ScopeOut: Thank you so much for your time, and this interview.
New Years Day
Photo by ScopeOut.net
ScopeOut: When did you know that music was what you wanted to do with your life?
Ashley: It's weird, huh? I always knew. It's the weirdest thing. Well, I didn't always know that I wanted to be a singer in a rock band. I always knew that I was meant to be on the stage and not in the crowd. I just pursued that in any way possible whether that meant theatre or singing in a band or performance art. I did it all, until eventually wanting to be on stage lead me to starting a band when I was 14. I just kind of got sucked into it, and couldn’t ever leave. It’s like a blessing and a curse.
Nikki: Me? Same question? It was, I think, that music is a form of chaos that we can all get into. If I can’t go out on the streets and terrorize everything, then I might as well take it out on a guitar on stage.
Ashley: It’s a good thing he has a band, because if not he would be out on the streets, running amuck. It’s a good outlet for both of us. It’s true, if I didn’t have this outlet I would be running down the streets covered in fake blood, just screaming at the top of my lungs. It’s like a good outlet for everyone in the band.
ScopeOut: We do things like that here in Chicago as well.
Ashley: We used to terrorize Hollywood Boulevard like you would not believe. We would put fake blood in a soda can, and just stumble down the street from one end of Hollywood Boulevard to the other. Just spitting up blood at people, falling on the ground, stumbling into bars. People were like “Oh my god! Are you okay?”, and I’m like “No! There’s a horrible accident outside.
Nikki: We were running and screaming.
Ashley: Yeah, we were mean to strangers.
ScopeOut: I know you love Disney, how did that start?
Ashley: Well I grew up in a big Disney family, because we grew up in Anaheim. My great Uncle helped build the Matterhorn. My Grandma was a can-can dancer, my Mom worked there in management for a while, and I started working there when I was really young. They used to have kids dance in the parades, and I worked there for six years. I just…I grew up there. I swear my Mom would give me like 20 bucks and drop me off for the day. Disneyland raised me as much as anywhere else. I still feel like a kid when I go. I fucking love Disneyland, him too.
Nikki: I’m a big Disneyland freak.
ScopeOut:The new album is a lot different from the last one. Was there a moment when you realized this was going to be a very different record from the first?
Ashley: I knew it was going to be different right away. I knew as soon as we finished My Dear that the next time we made a record I was going to make the kind of record I wanted to make. My Dear, although I love it and I’m really proud of it, it was the kind of record that was done with a major label breathing over your shoulder. They’d say “this is to poppy” or “this is too dark”, “this is too scary”, “twist it like that,do this, do that”. Hey Russell! Would you like to join the party?
Russell (drums): What party?
Ashley: Come here! This party.
Russell: Is it a pants party?
Ashley: It is a pants party.
Russell: It’s definitely a pants party? So, I’m at the right place.
Ashley: Yeah, and so right away I knew the next record was going to be something more representative of who we are as people- which is very dark, morbid, almost disgusting at times. But really fun, happy, loving, and catchy. That’s like us, it’s just what naturally came out. I’m really a big fan of my own record. I love The Mechanical Heart.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite song to play live?
Ashley: “Two in the Chest, One in the Head”! That’s my favorite song. Our label said, “we wouldn’t have picked that song as the first single”. We did the record on our own, we did the music video on our own, and we picked our own single. We got signed after all that. That’s my favorite song.
Russell: I claim “Murder”.
Ashley: Murder too, the crowd likes that one. We wrote “Two in the Chest, One in the Head” by accident one night.
Russell: Yeah it was an accident, it was a fluke.
Ashley: I went to his house to write and he was not in the mood to write at all. And I was like ‘let’s just try, write something, and whatever comes out- if it’s good that’s awesome, if not then at least we tried’. Literally in like two hours “Two in the Chest, One in the Head” just happened. I told you!
Russell: Yeah.
ScopeOut: You have a lot of young fans, do you think it changes how you act, or put your stuff, knowing that you have a lot of girls that look up to you?
Ashley: No. It probably should. I probably should pay attention to that, but no, it doesn’t. I’m like a 14 year old inside my head, so it’s fine. No big deal. Actually, we have a really crazy range of fans. We have some 40 or 50 year old dudes and women, and then we’ve got 12-14 year old girls and boys. It’s all over the board, but that’s what I love about New Years Day. It’s really kind of all over the place.
ScopeOut: If you weren’t playing in a band, what would you be doing?
Russell: I’d be dead.
Ashley: I’d either be trying to be an actress in horror movies or doing special effects makeup, or designing comic books.
Nikki: Serial killer.
Russell: Like cereal?
Nikki: C-E-R-E-A-L, yeah.
Russell: Dude, yeah!
ScopeOut: Did you guys like your venue (The Rave in Milwaukee, rumored to be haunted) on Halloween?
Ashley: Oh my god, yes! We snuck into the pool, explored around, heard voices.
ScopeOut: Did you sign the pool?
Ashley: No we didn’t sign the pool. We legitimately heard voices. No joke. Me and Jake [guitar] heard voices, it was awesome. It was the best place to spend Halloween. And the owner started freaking out about us being in the basement. He would not go in there, and he freaked out about us going in there. He was like “any night but tonight, not tonight”. It was cool, it was really cool. It was awesome. We’re really into that kind of stuff.
ScopeOut: What do you miss most from home when you’re on tour?
Ashley: Sleep, I miss sleep. I miss being clean. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to spend the night at my friend’s houses because I like being in my bed with my things and my shit. I’m weird like that. I don’t like staying in other places. So, for me, sleeping in a van every night, or a hotel room, is hard enough as it is. And that’s on a very little amount of sleep. And I miss my dog!
Russell: I miss my dog too.
Ashley: Which one?
Russell: Actually both of them, Bruce and Charlie, Charlie a little more.
Ashley: Yeah, I miss Gremlin.
Nikki: I miss showers and Warcraft. I love World of Warcraft.
Ashley: I miss Disneyland. I miss eating on a regular basis.
Russell: We’re doing some good eating on this tour [with Blood On The Dance Floor and Angelspit].
Nikki: Oh Yeah!
Russell: Some amazing eating.
Nikki: The food here smells delicious too. I’m going to have to get some of that.
ScopeOut: Last question, if you were to give advice to any of your fans who want to start a band, what would you say?
Ashley: Never give up. Don’t ever give up. You have to believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. Just don’t ever give up. It’s going to be shitty and hard, and it’s going to fucking suck sometimes, but don’t ever give up. Keep chasing your dreams.
Ashley: It's weird, huh? I always knew. It's the weirdest thing. Well, I didn't always know that I wanted to be a singer in a rock band. I always knew that I was meant to be on the stage and not in the crowd. I just pursued that in any way possible whether that meant theatre or singing in a band or performance art. I did it all, until eventually wanting to be on stage lead me to starting a band when I was 14. I just kind of got sucked into it, and couldn’t ever leave. It’s like a blessing and a curse.
Nikki: Me? Same question? It was, I think, that music is a form of chaos that we can all get into. If I can’t go out on the streets and terrorize everything, then I might as well take it out on a guitar on stage.
Ashley: It’s a good thing he has a band, because if not he would be out on the streets, running amuck. It’s a good outlet for both of us. It’s true, if I didn’t have this outlet I would be running down the streets covered in fake blood, just screaming at the top of my lungs. It’s like a good outlet for everyone in the band.
ScopeOut: We do things like that here in Chicago as well.
Ashley: We used to terrorize Hollywood Boulevard like you would not believe. We would put fake blood in a soda can, and just stumble down the street from one end of Hollywood Boulevard to the other. Just spitting up blood at people, falling on the ground, stumbling into bars. People were like “Oh my god! Are you okay?”, and I’m like “No! There’s a horrible accident outside.
Nikki: We were running and screaming.
Ashley: Yeah, we were mean to strangers.
ScopeOut: I know you love Disney, how did that start?
Ashley: Well I grew up in a big Disney family, because we grew up in Anaheim. My great Uncle helped build the Matterhorn. My Grandma was a can-can dancer, my Mom worked there in management for a while, and I started working there when I was really young. They used to have kids dance in the parades, and I worked there for six years. I just…I grew up there. I swear my Mom would give me like 20 bucks and drop me off for the day. Disneyland raised me as much as anywhere else. I still feel like a kid when I go. I fucking love Disneyland, him too.
Nikki: I’m a big Disneyland freak.
ScopeOut:The new album is a lot different from the last one. Was there a moment when you realized this was going to be a very different record from the first?
Ashley: I knew it was going to be different right away. I knew as soon as we finished My Dear that the next time we made a record I was going to make the kind of record I wanted to make. My Dear, although I love it and I’m really proud of it, it was the kind of record that was done with a major label breathing over your shoulder. They’d say “this is to poppy” or “this is too dark”, “this is too scary”, “twist it like that,do this, do that”. Hey Russell! Would you like to join the party?
Russell (drums): What party?
Ashley: Come here! This party.
Russell: Is it a pants party?
Ashley: It is a pants party.
Russell: It’s definitely a pants party? So, I’m at the right place.
Ashley: Yeah, and so right away I knew the next record was going to be something more representative of who we are as people- which is very dark, morbid, almost disgusting at times. But really fun, happy, loving, and catchy. That’s like us, it’s just what naturally came out. I’m really a big fan of my own record. I love The Mechanical Heart.
ScopeOut: What’s your favorite song to play live?
Ashley: “Two in the Chest, One in the Head”! That’s my favorite song. Our label said, “we wouldn’t have picked that song as the first single”. We did the record on our own, we did the music video on our own, and we picked our own single. We got signed after all that. That’s my favorite song.
Russell: I claim “Murder”.
Ashley: Murder too, the crowd likes that one. We wrote “Two in the Chest, One in the Head” by accident one night.
Russell: Yeah it was an accident, it was a fluke.
Ashley: I went to his house to write and he was not in the mood to write at all. And I was like ‘let’s just try, write something, and whatever comes out- if it’s good that’s awesome, if not then at least we tried’. Literally in like two hours “Two in the Chest, One in the Head” just happened. I told you!
Russell: Yeah.
ScopeOut: You have a lot of young fans, do you think it changes how you act, or put your stuff, knowing that you have a lot of girls that look up to you?
Ashley: No. It probably should. I probably should pay attention to that, but no, it doesn’t. I’m like a 14 year old inside my head, so it’s fine. No big deal. Actually, we have a really crazy range of fans. We have some 40 or 50 year old dudes and women, and then we’ve got 12-14 year old girls and boys. It’s all over the board, but that’s what I love about New Years Day. It’s really kind of all over the place.
ScopeOut: If you weren’t playing in a band, what would you be doing?
Russell: I’d be dead.
Ashley: I’d either be trying to be an actress in horror movies or doing special effects makeup, or designing comic books.
Nikki: Serial killer.
Russell: Like cereal?
Nikki: C-E-R-E-A-L, yeah.
Russell: Dude, yeah!
ScopeOut: Did you guys like your venue (The Rave in Milwaukee, rumored to be haunted) on Halloween?
Ashley: Oh my god, yes! We snuck into the pool, explored around, heard voices.
ScopeOut: Did you sign the pool?
Ashley: No we didn’t sign the pool. We legitimately heard voices. No joke. Me and Jake [guitar] heard voices, it was awesome. It was the best place to spend Halloween. And the owner started freaking out about us being in the basement. He would not go in there, and he freaked out about us going in there. He was like “any night but tonight, not tonight”. It was cool, it was really cool. It was awesome. We’re really into that kind of stuff.
ScopeOut: What do you miss most from home when you’re on tour?
Ashley: Sleep, I miss sleep. I miss being clean. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to spend the night at my friend’s houses because I like being in my bed with my things and my shit. I’m weird like that. I don’t like staying in other places. So, for me, sleeping in a van every night, or a hotel room, is hard enough as it is. And that’s on a very little amount of sleep. And I miss my dog!
Russell: I miss my dog too.
Ashley: Which one?
Russell: Actually both of them, Bruce and Charlie, Charlie a little more.
Ashley: Yeah, I miss Gremlin.
Nikki: I miss showers and Warcraft. I love World of Warcraft.
Ashley: I miss Disneyland. I miss eating on a regular basis.
Russell: We’re doing some good eating on this tour [with Blood On The Dance Floor and Angelspit].
Nikki: Oh Yeah!
Russell: Some amazing eating.
Nikki: The food here smells delicious too. I’m going to have to get some of that.
ScopeOut: Last question, if you were to give advice to any of your fans who want to start a band, what would you say?
Ashley: Never give up. Don’t ever give up. You have to believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. Just don’t ever give up. It’s going to be shitty and hard, and it’s going to fucking suck sometimes, but don’t ever give up. Keep chasing your dreams.
