What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
I grew up in a house with a decent amount of music in the air, my mom would put on The Beatles, The Who, The Stones, etc so it was always there. I don’t mean to sound cliché but really it was the first time I heard “Punk Rock”
That made me want to pick up an instrument and learn to play. Now it was the popular bands at first of course Rancid, Green Day, NOFX.
But when I heard them it was just something I could relate in to right away and even though it was fast and loud the melodies reminded of music I heard as a kid.
Introduce us to all to the members and your musical history.
Eric – Main Vocals/Bass
Rob Deuce – Guitar/Backing Vocals
Aaron Melcher – Trombone/Backing Vocals
Amanda Brooke – Saxophone
Jimmy James – Drums
Name me your 3 favorite Albums.
The Clash – London Calling
blink-182 – Dude Ranch
Green Day – Dookie
What was the first song you heard that steered you into a music path?
As far as playing and writing, I’d say
Dammit by blink-182. Yeah it was popular and it was on the radio but it felt different than the rest of the radio, also it said everything I wanted to say both musically and lyrically and I knew if I could learn it I’d be on the path to writing and playing my own songs.
The music industry is the hardest industry in the world to progress in, How do you feel you are doing?
I mean good, we’re out there doing what we can do. The music industry now seems fragmented. And the idea of “making it big” is mostly out of the question, but I feel at the same time a band can be successful on a smaller scale with the help and support of fans, friends, and community.
I’m seeing a lot of debate about women not feeling safe at music gigs, any thoughts on what we need to do to help?
Is it ok to say beat the dudes up that make them uncomfortable? I mean anyone that knows me knows I’m not prone to violence at all but this shit has got to stop. It’s not funny, it’s not cool, cut the crap, and stop ruining a good time.
As you develop as an artist and develop using socials what ways do you get new ears on your music? Any tips?
Staying connected with the bands we play with on social media and checking the other bands they are playing is a great way of catching new bands. The Discover Weekly playlists on the streaming services help as well.
Tell us Two truths and a lie about you.
I’m a father of two.
I’ve never broken a bone.
I’m left-handed.
What’s your thought on Spotify’s monopoly on the music industry?
It’s a double edge sword. Spotify is great for the fans for bringing music to their ears at a click of a button but they certainly could pay a little more per play. I think if fans really enjoy hearing their favorite bands on Spotify and other services, they should support those artists by going to the shows and buying merch, that helps so much.
Do you sign up for any conspiracy theories?
Some of them are fun to read but I don’t like getting too deep into most of them. I do believe we as a Western Economy have become so financially driven that things could teeter away faster then most expect. Also to the idea that money is designed to make you poor, at least the way it works the rich get their hands on it first and squeeze the most purchasing power out of it and we get left with the crumbs of its worth. Not sure if those really qualify as conspiracy theories or just a perspective on how things work though.
Did you buy anything you don’t need during the pandemic?
Lots and lots of Xbox games.
What was the worst experience on stage?
Hum that’s a tough one I mean I try not to dwell on the bad ones. Yeah as a band you’ve had it all input jack stops working, amp goes out, Sound Guy cuts you short, Sound Guy is drunk and it’s tons of feedback and you can’t really hear yourself or anyone in the band so you just start letting go even more and say the heck with it and give it all you got on stage, but yeah definitely more good than bad.
Tell us something about each member that you think people would be surprised about.
I only made it to the third grade …And it gets better I recently took a job at an elementary school, so now I tell people I’m here to finish my education. Lol
What makes you stand out as a band/artist?
Hum I mean we’d be arrogant if we said no one else does what we do, but I do feel we do it really well, and people always leave saying how energetic our live shows are.
I hear you have new music, what can you tell us about it.
I think this is the part where we say it’s our best work ever right, haha well ok really it is we’ve been a band for a while now and it feels like we are really coming into our own with writing material. Each member knows what the other is going to do as it’s being written. It is a great feeling to just feel like that. For this album we got Roger Lima of Less Than Jake to mix and master the songs and he did a great job of bringing the best out of them.
What was the recording process like?
It was an in-house studio.
Comfortable comes to mind. Always a cold beer and a warm smile. We did guitar, bass and drums together live and from their overdubbed vocals, horns, extra guitars, etc. It made the most sense to use to go about it that way since our goal was to capture our live energy.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
Really just pushing myself, I never have any doubts about my band members. But for myself I’m like hum, what harmony should be there, what can we do here, etc. Everyone feeds in their own ideas and that’s always great.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
Nah it was time to let her run free after
“Waiting for so long”
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
I think that covers it just wanna say thank you for this opportunity it’s been fun. Make sure you check out our music video for our song “Jumping the Shark” on YouTube and to connect with us on our socials.
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