Interview: Vanna

July 8, 2010

On tour in the UK for the first time, Faye sat down with Boston’s Vanna at their sold out show in Newcastle. They talked about member changes, the curses that Curses brought them, and their frustration about reviewers, as well as a ton more!

Faye: Can you say your name and what you do?
Evan: We’re Vanna. I’m Evan, and I play guitar and sing.
Davey: I’m Davey and I do vocals.
Chris: I’m Chris and I play the drums.
Nick: I’m Nick and I play guitar.
Shawn: I’m Shawn and I play bass.

Faye: For those who are unfamiliar, can you tell me a bit of history?
Nick: We started the band in December 2004 and we really started playing shows in the summer of 2005. A couple of us were at school at the time, so we were taking it easy, just doing local shows and stuff. Epitaph Records got in contact with us and we ended up signing with them. We’ve put out three records, we put out an EP first called The Search Party Never Came and then our first full-length was called Curses and our second full-length is called A New Hope, and that’s where we’re at right now.

Faye: You replaced Chris, your vocalist, with Davey last year, didn’t you?
Evan: Yeah, we’ve had a couple of replacements. We replaced Chris Preece with Davey about a year ago.
Nick: Nearly a year, Davey’s first show was July 25th, but he was on tour with us before that.
Davey: Right, I had been on tour with you guys since June, so, yeah, this month is like my first year, and then you guys replaced Brandon our old drummer, who was on the first couple of records, with Chris ‘Rutland Badboy’ Campell.

Faye: Was there ever any uncertainty about the band’s future when Chris left?
Evan: He just had a different idea of where he wanted to go with his life and we’re friends still, and we supported him. It was kind of better for the band to move on and Davey’s filled that space better, he’s been the best singer we’ve ever had.
Davey: I came on Chris’s last tour and did songs with Chris, so I think it was an easy transition. They didn’t have to lose a singer, then search for a singer for months and months, it was just like a thing that fit.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Interviews, Vanna | Permalink
Posted by changetherecord

Interview: The Flatliners

July 4, 2010

Straight off the stage, after playing Middlesbrough Music Live, Faye managed to grab Canadian punks The Flatliners for a catch up. They got talking all about the release of the critically acclaimed Cavalcade, Fat Mike taking them under his wing, their customs drama, and a lot more!

-

Faye: Can you introduce yourselves?
Chris: My name’s Chris, I play guitar and sing in The Flatliners.
Paul: I’m Paul, and I play drums.

Faye: How are you today on this rainy, dismal afternoon in Middlesbrough?
Paul: It’s a downer today with the rain.
Chris: Yeah, the show was still fun, though. We just ate dinner and it was really good. We showed up and we were playing the only outdoor stage, or one of only the outdoor stages, and it’s raining, but it worked out great. I didn’t get rained on at all. I feel good.

Faye: How did you find your set?
Chris: It was fun. Honestly, whenever we come to the UK and Europe and stuff, we usually headline, so we play for a long time, like an hour plus, but today we played like 35-minutes, it was awesome. We started a bit early, so we played for like 40-mins, but it’s so fun just to get up there and play, play, play. Like when we’re headlining we have to kill more time – like you saw the other night in Bristol, we were talking our heads off. So, yeah, I had a blast today. It was a good time. Other than the police beating up kids in the crowd.
Paul: The police wear stupid hats, too. Cops at home don’t wear stupid hats.

Faye: You were last over in September, can you give me a rundown of what you’ve been up to since then?
Chris: Tons. We finished recording Cavalcade, because at that point, last August/September, we had recorded 14-songs and when we got home, we jammed a bit. Then we went out on tour again with Strung Out and Dropkick Murphy’s for like two months, and then we came home in November, and Fat Mike came up to Toronto to work on songs with us for three days, and then we recorded four brand new songs after we did that with him for the record. The record took a while all-in-all to put together, but we’re really proud of how it turned out. I don’t think we’d ever do a record again the same way, in between tours, it’s kind of stressful. You kind of have two heads on all the time, like tour mode, and not even home mode, just like recording mode, it’s weird. We did it the way we had to do it with all the touring we’re doing, and it worked out great, we’re really happy with it.

Faye: You’ve been Europe for a few weeks now, haven’t you?
Chris: We’ve been here for almost a most. We have three shows left and we fly home on Thursday. It’s been really good.
Paul: The UK shows have been really good.
Chris: The funny thing for me about the UK, which is cool – well, for me – is that kids don’t want encores. It’s kind of cool, though, because I’ll play another song if kids want us to play another song, but there’s bands where no-one’s really asking for an encore and they’re like, “Alright, we’ll play one more song!” It’s just like, why? Only do it if your fans want you to do it.
Paul: Yeah, in Bristol everyone seemed satisfied, I was pretty cool with that. That was a hot show and now nobody can smoke inside, everyone just wants to go. [laughs]
Chris: The whole tour’s been cool, though. I don’t think we went anywhere new, so all the shows, we’ve been visiting places again for the second or third time, and the shows are getting better.
Paul: The shows in Germany were really good as well.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Interviews, The Flatliners | Permalink
Posted by changetherecord

Interview: Four Year Strong

July 2, 2010

Back in the UK, Faye catches up with Four Year Strong, before their sold out show at the Islington Academy, and once again, it turns into a derailed conversation about dildos and such. Oh, and find out why they back Millionaires!

-

Faye: Can you introduce yourselves?
Joe: I’m Joe, I play bass.
Josh: What else do you do?
Joe: I don’t know, I like puppies.
Josh: Do you like adult dogs?
Joe: Yes, I also like adult dogs, I like woodworking, what do you like? And who are you?
Josh: I’m Josh, I play the keyboard and the human organ. I heart nothing, except I also like adult dogs and puppies, I like kittens. Oh, and I like writing and reading, but that makes me sound too intellectual. I also like really dumb things. How about you? Who the hell are you?
Jake: I’m Jake, I play drums and I like weed. I also like puppies, kittens and adult dogs, except for mine, it smells. His tail is always up and his butthole is always exposed – he’s old and decrepit – and whenever he barks, it kind of pushes out. His bark is the most horrible thing, if you’ve ever heard a Beagle bark, it’s the most obnoxious thing ever. His hips are bad, he can’t stand up very well and whenever he jumps up on you in the kitchen, he just falls down.
Josh: This is turning into the saddest interview ever. [laughs]

Faye: Didn’t Alan and Dan [vocals and guitars] play an acoustic show at Banquet Records in Kingston earlier today?
Jake: Yeah, the place was rad, I bought a Matt Pryor vinyl, I’m fucking stoked. I’m going to listen the shit out of that when I get home. I wish I bought more vinyl, but I didn’t look hard enough and we had to leave.
Joe: I don’t even collect vinyl, except for Alkaline Trio vinyl.

Faye: You have to play a show in Kingston at The Peel or Fighting Cocks at some point.
Josh: We’ve been trying to do that for a long time. I’ve brought it up on every tour and somehow it just falls through the cracks, but don’t worry, it will happen.

Faye: You were last over in October on the Eastpak Tour, what have you been up to since then?
Josh: Everything.
Joe: And nothing.
Jake: Touring and touring, then we went on tour again. Then I think I slept in my bed once or twice then we went on tour again, and now we’re here on tour.
Josh: And then after this we’re on tour.
Jake: Then go on tour after that.
Josh: So, touring mostly, and we put out a new record.

Faye: You recently played Slam Dunk, it seemed like everyone in your circle of friends also played it, how was that?
Josh: It was so good.
Jake: It was great, we got to see all of our buddies and got wasted. We’ve been drinking cider heavily since we’ve been here, and we got Magners tonight, which is the best kind. You guys don’t believe in ice, though, and that shit’s supposed to be on ice. It’s so much better on ice.
Josh: There is a lack of ice.
Jake: It says “serve with ice” on the can and I’ve still got no ice, so I’m drinking mildly warm cider.
Joe: I’m not a big cider guy. I can drink a cider on ice, though.
Josh: I would drink cider over beer, I think.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Four Year Strong, Interviews | Permalink
Posted by changetherecord

Interview: Millionaires

July 1, 2010

Following their wild Slam Dunk performances, Faye recently had the opportunity to chat with the controversial Millionaires ahead of their headline show in Bristol. They got talking about haters, being compared to Ke$ha, their DIY ethic and, of course, Chipotle!

Faye: You seem to come to the UK a lot now, is that because you’re on a UK label?
Melissa Green: Yeah, we just signed to B-Unique, so we’re just coming out here to do press, because we don’t really have a fanbase out here, like we do in the US.

Faye: I was supposed to interview you at your Leeds show in December, but you had to cancel because Allison had to have surgery to remove a huge cyst.
Allison Green: Yeah, I’m sorry.
Melissa: Yeah, Allison had to have surgery so, it was a little stressful. It put us back a little bit, so we had to reschedule, so now we’re pretty much making up all the lost time. Everyone thought she was exaggerating. [laughs]
Allison: Yeah, it was large. Everyone was like, “Oh, she’ll be fine!” I don’t think so!
Melissa: She was in bed for 8-weeks, she had a walker.
Allison: [laughs] I looked like an old woman, I looked really sick

Faye: I finally saw you at Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds, it was wild! How did you find that?
Melissa: That was fun, I threw up on stage the day before, though. I had some sort of alcohol or food poisoning, something like that, we didn’t know what was going on. I was so ill the whole day, I couldn’t even get up and then after the first song, I just puked.
Dani Artaud: Then the sound engineer didn’t show up, so our sound messed up.
Melissa: Oh yeah, because we ended up not using any microphones, just screaming and the whole crowd was singing.
Allison: [laughs] Yeah, the crowd was our voice, basically.
Melissa: That’s what made it fun! It was like some sketchy house party.

Faye: What happened at the after party? I heard it was a bit chaotic.
Melissa: It was a little intense, like we performed for everyone, so it was sketchy, then at the end, every single guy from like every guy came on stage and was a fucking nut case on the stage. I started stage diving on stage. [laughs]
Allison: Like everyone was naked on stage and dancing around, it was ridiculous.
Melissa: We finished our whole set.
Dani: We don’t quit, fuck that.

Faye: Are most of your shows as crazy as those?
Melissa: Yeah, I mean, it’s a little sketchier out here, because we didn’t know what to expect coming out here. We know how we are in the States and we know how the responses are, but out here, it could be amazing, it could be dangerous, it could be just general. It’s always good to have controversy – good or bad, than to have like a boring set.
Allison: I’m sure everybody is going to be talking about that for a while, so it’s life.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Interviews, Millionaires | Permalink
Posted by changetherecord

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.