Interview & Photos by Jamary Bobe
How's NY so far? Have you gotten the chance to explore a bit?
Jaime: New York is good so far, we went to go get some food, we've been in the venue all day, we've been here before, loads of times, we love this place so much.
You recently released a new single "It gets better" can you tell us a little about?
Jaime: Yes, It's sort of this rebel rousing, self-help, up-lifter that means everything to us. You know, I'm now four and a half years into recovery, and it gets better was something that I had written down in my books and in my phone, and I always wanted to use it in a song, but I had never found the right thing to put it into to. Then Roland and I were in LA working and we were just like lets try something, let's see what happens, and "It gets better" was born in Pasadena. Roland: It probably took us about four hours to finish. It was really quick
What's your writing process like?
Jaime: Intense! It's really intense. I mean it depends really, I like to work alone a lot of the time, it's nice, I get so crazy that sometimes its good for me to be on my own. Other times, we work together too which is fun and interesting, it's very quick , the writing process, because we do it a lot like I write automatically, its a process of getting emotion down through instrument and voice. It's always a very fast-pace, fiery experience. We have a song that we wrote on this record that we wrote all together in the room, that was really fun, that came out of Tristan playing this chord, and I was like oh my god, that sounds amazing, and within two hours the song was born.
What's your biggest aspirations as an artist?
Jaime: Mine personally is to inspire and to empower anyone, doesn't matter. I would also like to bring a level of connectivity back to the world, back to humanity. I feel like we live in a world and in a society that is so disconnected from others. I think its really important that we recognize that we all share the same feelings, that we all go through the same things, you know, pain, love, joy, sadness, it doesn't matter what it is. I think that being in recovery teaches you to be honest with another person, and with that comes a very spiritual connection into everything. So I would love to try and bring that, and talk about the things that we don't really talk about, you know mental health, addiction, anxiety, reality.
What advice can you give to those who want to start a band?
Roland: Don't do it! Its a slump! No I'm just kidding, you know we all love music so much, it's in our blood. We've been doing it our whole lives. If you heart is in the right place and you work hard enough, you'll go do what you want to do and you'll achieve it. It's definitely hard work, but if its what you want to do, go for it. For us, this is our emotional release, the ability to get out and perform every night, it means the world to us.
Jaime: Stick with it!
Who would you like to tour with?
Jamie: So many bands!
Sam: Blur! Radiohead would be amazing!
Roland: I would love to tour with twenty one pilots! We just saw them, we were on the same stage at Reeding Leeds, and we caught their set, it was amazing, so intense. We were watching not knowing what to expect, and we were just blown away. They're so powerful.
If one of your sings could be featured in a film/TV show, which one would it be and why?
Jamie: "It gets better" in the OC! Do you know what I mean!
Roland: That's strong, I can already see the montage!
Jamie: We can play the venue that they had on the Pier, where they used to go and hang out at. Do you remember?
Roland: Oh yeah, we'd be the band!
Jamie: The Killers did it!
Sam: They did!
Roland: We can finish the season, like everyone comes together and we're all jamming out.
Jamie: Yes exactly!
Roland: If the OC comes back, Please give us a call!
What was the last show you attended as a fan?
Jamie: Probably the 1975 at the Roxy. This is a long time ago, this was earlier this year. It was a sick show! I love that band so much, it was wild.
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