Interview & Photos by Melissa Morris
Seth: Vocals Jimmy: Guitar Austin: Bass Mike: Drums
How did you guys get started as a band?
Jimmy: We ( Jimmy and Seth) played music together throughout middle school and high school. We stuck with it all those years, just playing music and writing songs. We decided to try other things, knowing we would come back to this project, so Seth moved to LA and started working at a studio. I joined another band that was already signed to a label and had some tours lined up, so I wanted to get that experience. Eventually I moved down here to meet Seth, along with Austin who was the bass player from my old band. We found Mike here through mutual friends, so thats how the current line up came about.
What can you share about the new album you guys are writing?
Seth: The perk of working at a studio is that we get to use it. So we have been recording our album ourselves. We have been writing it all year, recording it for the last six months or so. We are just about finished.
Jimmy: Seth has actually mixed and mastered multiple tracks already. All of what you’ve heard so far is completely done by us. Seth basically engineered the whole thing, which means recorded us and all the technical stuff. The band produced it. Its been a trying experience in some ways, but I think it's been really good.
Seth: It's been a huge learning experience. This is technically my first real try at mixing our music, and I had the tools and the knowledge so that really helped.
Jimmy: I was really skeptical at first for us to do it because it's a lot of responsibility, and can be a conflict sometimes. It can already be an issue just trying to write songs with four people, having four people with different ideas.
Seth: Producing it ourselves was the challenge. And because I am the one doing it, and I am part of the creative process too, it's easy for everyone to be super anal about things. But I think we figured it out. We are still recording. Tonight! It’s our last night of recording.
When are you guys thinking about putting out the album?
Seth: Honestly it could be January of February. Theres no specific time. It really just depends on how quickly we get the rest of the record mixed. I would be cool with it coming out soon. The sooner the better. I love that we have been releasing songs so frequently because I still kinda like them all. And I can enjoy them with people who aren’t in the band. In our experience before, with the Malice EP, Jimmy and I had written those songs at least four or five years before we even recorded and released them. So to me, not that I didn’t like them anymore, but I was just past that. Thats why I want to put it out sooner than later, because I want to be able to enjoy it with our fans and have that connection together. Instead of just with Jimmy and I.
Jimmy: I feel that. I don’t want to hang on to them for too long because I am excited. Theres a lot of variety.
I was listening to the songs on the way here, and they all have a different sound. Is that something you guys consciously decided?
Seth: No not me. I think we just wrote.
Jimmy: Yeah, if we like it, we write it.
Seth: The writing process for this collection of songs was different than before. Before, Jimmy and I were writing off and on through the internet, or seeing each other once every couple months. This time we actually got a lock out and sat in a room with our band. Most of the songs were written like that. I think if you listen to our new stuff, and then our old stuff, you can really tell its more mature.
Jimmy: Compared to the Malice EP, we have some stuff that is heavier than that, and some stuff that is definitely softer. So it's not like we went in one general direction. It is just more like if we like what we are writing, then we will just continue writing it.
Seth: Yeah we didn’t decide we were going to write this kind of song, or this kind of record.
Jimmy: There are a couple that are heavier that will probably surprise people.
Seth: We actually have really soft songs that no one has heard in that vibe before, and then we have some really heavy stuff.
Jimmy: Then all the different stuff we incorporated as well like trumpets, trombones, strings.
Seth: Yeah, stuff that most people wouldn’t use.
You guys released a new song called Halloween recently. Is there any meaning behind it?
Jimmy: Halloween was actually a nickname that we used and ended up keeping. The song is actually about anxiety. I think thats why I like the title Halloween because when I think about Halloween its a bunch of scary looking things around that aren’t actually scary things. To me, that is anxiety. Trying to find something that isn’t there is what feeding into anxiety is.
If you could pick anyone to tour with, who would it be?
Seth: I think I am going to surprise myself and honestly say Atreyu. I grew up listening to Atreyu so I think that would be really fun.
Jimmy: A band that Ive been really into lately, is Dance Gavin Dance. Id want to tour with them because it seems like they really do what they want to do. That is something I admire in a band.
Austin: I’d really like to hit the road with Rob Zombie. I caught his live show a few years back at a small venue in Santa Cruz and was blown away. For such a small stage, they put on a larger than life show. Horror fils and television are a big source of inspiration for us as well. To meet Rob and pick his brain both about his music and about his films would be a great opportunity.
Mike: For me, it would be Gojira. I worship their drummer!
