Front Porch Stories is the new album from Avail, possibly their best to date, according to some, as Tim Barry. You don’t know who Tim Barry is? He is the singer from Avail and we interviewed them. We are lucky. Tim is a legend.

Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo@staff.truepunk.com | with M.Shadows.

Hi Tim! How are you? Can you introduce yourself ?
I’m Tim Barry, singer for the band AVAIL, and I’m doing just fine, thank you.

The new album from Avail is coming out these days - how do you feel about this record? Do you believe it is your best album by now?
I am really excited and proud of the new record. We spent a lot of time making it the best we could and hope that people enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.

“Front Porch Stories” sound more solid and clever than the your older albums - do you agree?
Yes, I thank Bryan Paulson, our producer for making the recording sound bright and powerful. I think the song writing was strong and the takes that we got in the studio came out more solid. I agree.

How did you get to get the sound of Avail - I mean, your music is a cross between hardcore and punk rock, with melodies but also some faster stuff . On “Front Porch Stories” you also use a violin. How do you get this music and what’s your idea of punk rock? Do you consider your musicpunkrock?
Some people have called us a hardcore band, some people call us a punk band and still other simply call us a rock band. I’d like to think we are a little of all of that. I think we mix styles because we are influenced by so many different kinds of music and bands. We like everything from mid-80’s DC bands like Dag Nasty to old country like Johnny Cash to west coast punk/pop like Lagwagon.

How would you describe Avail to a person that never heard of you?
Ummm… That’s a hard question. I’d say we are a band that plays loud and fast sometimes and slow and melodic sometimes. We are a band that plays with all of our heart when we are on stage and we are band that has a lot of fun.

The new album is your second on Fat Wreck Chords - how do you feel being on this record label ? Are you happy with this?
Yes, we love Fat Wreck, they treat us very fairly and are fun very ethically from a business stand point. We look forward to continuing putting out records with them.

Your lyrics are someway political, someway personal, as a cross. Can you tell us what the lyrics of the new CD deal with?
Again they are sometimes personal and sometimes semi-political. Many of the words were derived from experiences and conversations that I have had in our hometown Richmond, Virginia. Sometimes it’s almost like story telling. Each set of lyrics though has a different theme and experience to tell.

I always wondered why you have Beau Beau in the band. Is it because at live shows he is a very entertaining person or there’s something else?
Beau is a band member. He’s always been with the band. He definitely adds to the chaos at live shows and is really entertaining.

I read Ed Trask, your drummer, did the art-work for the album, paintings and all - how did you get this idea? Does he do painting professionally? Cuz I think he is good at it.
You’re right, Ed did do the paintings on the cover of the record and he actually put the whole layout together. He is a very talented artist. We are lucky to have him in the band. He paints constantly, both on canvas and wall murals (which he does for living). Check out his website and see some more of his art. www.edtrask.com

What are your future plans ? Are you going to tour ? If yes, where and with whom?
The record comes out on November 5. We will begin playing shows in the States on November 16 and will wrap up those tours by the middle or end of March. I just started planning out our next Europe tour. It looks like we’ll be coming over in April, and we’re really looking forward to it. I still don’t know who we will be bringing, but I do know that we will be headlining. We are not doing a support tour.

So you haven’t started touring to support the new album yet?
Nope, that starts soon. November 16.

You come from Richmond, Virginia - a lot of punk bands come from that place, like Strike Anywhere. What do you think of the music scene over there and do you like Strike Anywhere ?
Strike Anywhere are great friends of ours and one of my favorite bands. We’re lucky to live in a city with so much great music. The bands here are really good and we are proud of them all.

What’s the best thing of being in Avail ? And the worst one ?
The best thing for me about being in AVAIL is playing live shows. I love playing live, it’s one of my favorite things in the world. Ummm… The worst part would be having to leave my dog so much when we go on tour. I love my dog more than anything in the world.

I always wondered why you left Lookout Records for Fat Wreck Chords - is there some particular reason ? When I think of LookOut I always think of pop punk like Screeching Weasel - does it happen to you as well ?
We left Lookout for Fat because Fat has better distribution. We play all over the world and it is nice to see our records where ever we go. That is actually the only reason for the change. We are still good friends with Lookout and consider them a great record label.

Being a band on Fat Wreck Chords, can you say what are the most positive aspect of being on this label and the worst ones? I mean, there are lots of kids who love Fat Wreck, but there’s plenty who does not like this label so much … I guess it happens with all the labels, isn’t it?
Yeah, you’re right. It does happen with all record labels. It actually happens with bands as well. I’d say the best part of being on Fat is how supportive they are of us and their other bands. They really do a great job. I can’t even think of anything I dislike about Fat.

Once I read an interview with someone in Avail that said in the USA a lot of very young kids listen to your music - do you think your music is just for kids or there are also grown up people who like Avail ? ( I’m old + I like Avail ) .
Actually I think it’s just the opposite. Most of the people who listen to punk style music in the States are very young, but we are lucky to have people of all ages coming to our shows and picking up our records. There is always a good mix of different ages at our show.

What’s your relationship with the internet? Do you use it, read webzines and stuff? Or just don’t care?
I am just becoming more familiar with the internet and learning to use it. I’ve checked out a few webzines so far but can’t remember the name off the top of my head. I use the internet mostly to find out about protests and to read news that is not in our daily papers.

A question I do to all of the bands : what’s in your cd-player these days?
Right now? Strike Anywhere.

Final Comments?
I would just personally like to thank you for the interview. The questions were very good and thank you for taking the time to come up with them.