Throughout rock history, from “OK Computer” to “War” to “London Calling”, third albums have defined careers. With the bombastic, breathtaking Cities, Anberlin’s cohesive and adventurous new album, the group puts itself in some esteemed company with a modern classic that uplifts as much as it initiates thought and elicits emotion. The Winter Haven, Florida-reared quintet — who have watched its career rise while touring with everyone from Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance to Yellowcard and Hawthorne Heights — doesnt just build on the energy and determination of recent singles like “Paperthin Hymn”, “The Feel Good Drag”, and “A Day Late”. Instead, Anberlin expands its grasp of what a rock record can be with the Aaron Sprinkle-produced Cities. Be it the huge-sounding, memorable roar of “Reclusion” or the bright, infectious “Adelaide”, the writing team of singer Stephen Christian and guitarist Joseph Milligan drives Anberlin - which also counts bassist Deon Rexroat, guitarist Nathan Strayer and drummer Nathan Young - as it retains the airwave ready allure that earned the band a pair of radio hits last year. But, with the sprawling, epic “Fin*” and the gorgeous, lighter-ready “Unwinding Cable Car” the group vastly widens its musical boundaries on Cities. Expect Cities to light up the globe in 2007.
INTERVIEW WITH ANBERLIN Floridian punkers Anberlin tackle the big issues: religion, poverty and eating ribs with N’SYNC. Interview by Steve Tauschke | steve@staff.truepunk.com | with Anberlin’s Stephen Christian.
“This band and our faith are two separate things,” asserts singer Stephen Christian on the phone from Springfield, Missouri. “When you label yourself a Christian band you can usually only tour with Christian bands and you only get opportunities to do the most remote things.
“We’ve been on the road with Fallout Boy and My Chemical Romance and we would never have gotten those opportunities if we’d labeled ourselves a Christian band. Sure, we believe in Jesus Christ but I don’t think that comes into play on stage. We’re not preachers, we’re entertainers.”
In his teens, Christian sang in various groups including Anberlin precursor Saga, performing mainly in churches in and around central Florida due to a lack of venues in the area. Fast forward a few years and Anberlin are selling out sizeable shows in advance and earning high praise from a diverse demographic, including the odd celebrity.
“We were in our home town Orlando and we played two sold out shows and the kids were going crazy and afterwards a guy walks up to us and says ‘hey, I’m a personal assistant to someone famous but I can’t tell you who it is, but he wants you to come over to his house’,” laughs Christian. “We were all a little sceptical about this guy wanting us to come to this house.
“But it turned out he was the assistant for Chris Kirkpatrick who used to play in INSYNC and he wanted us to hang out with him. We nearly died laughing but we all went and had so much fun, partying with the guys from INSYNC. It was a million dollar house and he had ribs and a giant waterfall in his backyard and you could see Disney World right across the lake. We stayed there until 3.30 in the morning goofing off at his home theatre. He’s a huge fan of our band. I couldn’t believe it.”
After impressing fans with their 2003 debut Blueprints For The Black Market, Anberlin shifted up a gear on 2005’s follow up Never Take Friendship Personal, produced by Aaron Sprinkle (MxPx, Acceptance).
“We wanted someone to even us out,” explains Christian. “We’re not rough but we’re a very raw band and very energized and what we knew Aaron could bring to the table was a kind of pop sensibility without taking away the rugged rock sound. We’d heard an EP that he did with a band called Saosin on Militia Records and when we heard that we were sold. He kept the heavy guitars and yet made everything sound so smooth so you could hear every note that was played. We knew that’s what we wanted.”
“It was a very laid back atmosphere too. It wasn’t rushed or pressured and Aaron used his creative mind to manipulate the songs for the best. He would take out excess parts and add in a couple of melodies he thought would fit. He works around the musicians because he’s a musician himself.”
It’s no secret Anberlin’s affection for 80s sounds has rubbed off not only on their approach to songwriting but also in dealing with the industry.
“There’s something so innocent and pure about the 80s,” says Christian, “and maybe that’s why so many bands look back to then and think that’s when music had meaning and depth. It wasn’t all about the tours you got on and how big you could get or if your video was on MTV. It was about the music and about creativity.”
“One thing I don’t enjoy about American bands is that we’ve become such a marketing tool or a product placement. It seems to be more about having good looking band members and you have to dress just right and you got to look the part to sell records and I don’t understand that.
“If you look back to the 70s and 80s, these are the ugliest men alive but they had the best music. Look at Robert Smith, he was never the most attractive man in the world but his music just exemplifies sex. I think that’s one thing the Europeans have on us, is that they’re all about the music - just music, not glitz and glamour and stardom.”
And archivists can count Anberlin as another group in today’s youth brigade keeping the Smiths’ flame burning. Christian himself cites Morrissey as a huge inspiration.
“He comes across as relating to everybody that listens to him,” he says. “His stage presence, I take a lot of notice of what he does, I see what he does live and he’s not a Mick Jagger up in your face. He has a very humble way of expressing and he’s very witty, not too egocentric but very confident. And lyrically, every song could be a coming-of-age book.”
“I think that what we are trying to break a lot of stereotypes within the indie world,” says Christian. “Previous to maybe our generation, I think a lot of bands were out there for the whole sex, drugs and rock n’ roll and now I think maybe our generation is pushing that away and saying ‘I don’t want to be egocentric, it’s not just about me’.
“Coldplay’s Chris Martin is very involved in free trade and Bono, although not from our generation, is out there fighting AIDS. In Anberlin, I think we’re trying to move away from the egocentrics. We may not be here in five years, or three years, but what will be here is poverty and we want to make a difference while we still can.”
A Wilhelm Scream is back with their sophomore Nitro Records release,
entitled “Ruiner”. We sat down with Jon talking about how
the band grew up, music business, new bands wearing mascara and most
important, the band’s new songs, which are totally awesome. If you
want to read something interesting, here it goes.
Can you introduce
the members of A Wilhelm Scream right now? Didn’t you have some line
up changes recently?
Trevor plays guitar and sings. Nick plays drums. Nuno sings. Chris
plays guitar. Curtiss plays bass and sings. I am Jon. Trevor and I
started the band a long time ago. I recently stepped down from playing
bass and singing. I recorded “Ruiner”, but I didn’t enjoy
touring, so I’m back at home going to school and trying to keep involved
with AWS one way or another. Curtiss is the new guy and he seems to
be doing well.
You were once
called Smackin’ Isaiah. Then you changed your name to A Wilhelm Scream.
You like odd names, don’t you? Would you be so nice to explain both
band names?
Smackin’ Isaiah has to do with masturbation, I’m sure. It was funny
in high school. A Wilhelm Scream has to do with a sound clip from
movies, originally used for a scene where a guy was dragged underwater
by an alligator. Much better than jerking off…
Your new album
“Ruiner” is about to come out and I think it is your material
so far under either incarnation of the band: why did you decide to
name the disc the new album “Ruiner”?
I’m not sure how to answer this question. I think the answer lies
somewhere in Trevor’s crazy lyrics. I stopped asking him what his
songs meant a long time ago. I suppose album titles fall under that
category too.
Like I said,
I’ve listened to the new disc quite a lot and I do think it is very
good. I noticed a lot of songs are short but you also had a better
production than older discs as “Benefits Of Thinking Out Loud”.
Can you tell us more about the production process and how you decided
to keep songs shorter?
I think the songs being short just goes along with the A.D.D. style
of writing songs that we’ve always had. Maybe it’s because we want
the listener to want more. It’s funny that you mentioned this, only
because on “Ruiner” we specifically worked on trying to
give our album more “space”, especially in between songs
and stuff like that. As far as the sounds on the record…that’s Bill,
Jason, Andrew and Brian at the Blasting Room. They fucking rock!!
On your music
career, you changed a lot of record labels: from Tank to Jump Start
and now Nitro. Why do you move so fast? No seriously, how did you
decide Nitro was the right one for you?
We moved quickly from label to label because we never signed contracts.
Nitro was our first real contract where we didn’t own the recordings.
We decided that Nitro was right for us because they are a very artist-friendly
label. They moved in quickly to sign us and get the record out. We
really liked the people we talked to and met at the label. We were
just on the same level from the start. We saw them as a label looking
to build a solid roster and we wanted to be a part of it.
I personally
adore your first disc “The Way To A Girl’s Heart…”, there
are some very original ideas on it, as songs like “1957″
and “September 9th”. Do you ever think you could re-record
or re-mix some of your older songs, as the ones on “Benefits
Of Thinking Out Loud”, which were bad recorded, I guess?
Um…probably. I think we’re actually planning a retrospective release,
which will include a bunch of stuff that we’ve done previous to Benefits.
So I guess a lot of that will be redone a bit. I mean, we always thought
each of our albums sounded better than the last, and that’s thanks
to Joe Reilly for always upgrading his studio and teaching us about
recorded music. A lot of it is because we’ve gotten better as musicians.
But we thought it sounded really good at the time we put it out. It
was always the best sounding stuff we had done up to that point. I
don’t see a major reason to change that.
You recorded
at least two songs , “Butterflies Are Ugly Up Close” e “Fuck
You I Run Hollywood” that never got on your full albums: are
you ever going to use them in any official way? I’d really love to
see them on your discs.
Watch for that retrospective disc I was talking about earlier. I’m
sure they’ll be some unreleased shit on that. It’ll be a good time.
It’ll be better, so our fans won’t have to buy our whole back catalog.
We’ll just put everything on one release.
Lyrically,
you deal a lot about personal issues, and I think Trevor songwriting
has improved a lot and he deals with thinks in a very ironic way.
What is the way he thinks of lyrics, and what is your favorite lines
on the new disc?
Trevor is an amazing lyricist. And I can attest to the fact that he
only got that good because of practice. He has interesting views of
the events of his life and creates fictional metaphors for them. But
it takes a lot of practice to be able to express them in the right
way through words. I think my favorite line is “The ones who
resurrect sex and death bought the copyright. They ate shit on the
record, did you get the mix right?”. That song, “The Kids
Can Eat A Bag Of Dicks” is probably my favorite on the record.
Do you consider
yourself a punk or hardcore band at all? What do you think of the
music scene of nowadays? I see it and I think it really sucks. No bands who have the fucking
guts to do something new, original, or against the grain. We’ve never
considered ourselves a part of any genre. If you saw how we dressed,
you’d probably just think we were Red Sox fans. It’s interesting how
fashion has become such a huge part of independent music. A haircut,
a shirt, makeup, all have nothing to do with music. But it sure seems
to now. I think what happened is a whole bunch of money started pouring
into the independent scene and people started seeing more dollar signs
and hearing less music. The music seems so watered down, not because
there aren’t enough original bands, but because there are so many
goddamn bands. With low recording costs and a shit load of bands trying
to get a chance, these labels are more likely to sign bands and take
a chance on them with all that money they made off last year’s hit
release and hope that they’re this year’s hit release. We got a chance
this year to tour with some awesome bands like Rise Against, Strung
Out, Only Crime and Strike Anywhere. These guys have all been doing
this shit for a long time too. Every one of these guys is doing it
for the music. If you met them on the street, you would have no idea
that they are in band. In other words, their press photos are press
photos, not glamour shots. The business has changed so much from when
we started 11 years ago, but we really do things pretty much the same
as we always have. When I see bands with that same approach, it makes
me want to listen to what they have to say in their music. I could
go on an on. When we started making music, we had to go looking for
it. It wasn’t on MTV and in record stores. We had to send away for
catalogs. The internet was a fucking rumor for Christ sake. Now everything
is handed out on a big fat fucking billboard. The bands coming out
now have completely different influences. They started bands for completely
different reasons. I’m not saying that we’re better because of who
we are and how we got to where we are….I’m saying that we’ve become
the people who we are because how we got here….and I’m proud of
that.
Lately I see
there are a lot of bands who leave major labels for indie labels:
you always worked on indie labels. Would you ever jump to a major
and what advice could you give to some new band who would love to
jump on a major label?
We’ve never really thought about that whole “keep it real”
issue that comes up in this genre. Who the fuck knows. I can tell
you this, we don’t know shit about major labels. But we do know about
independent ones. Stick to what you know or lose a small piece of
dignity for a large sum of cash and exposure? This is a debate that
could last pretty much an infinite amount of time. In the end, who
gives a shit. If you like the band, you’re buying the record.
You released
about four full albums, one EP, and took part in more that 20 compilations
if I have my facts correct. You have been around for almost a decade
by now: you’re a old school punk band by today’s standard! That’s
weird. How do you see the evolution of your band and how would you
describe it? Did you grow up in any way, musically?
We grew as musicians and songwriters and people. The influence is
still the same, but of course the music quality has changed. Basically,
I think we originally set out to make music a certain way, and each
album is just an attempt to try to perfect what we’ve always wanted
to do musically.
How is the
music scene in New Bedford, MA?
New Bedford is awesome!! So much talent in New Bedford. Immortal Alice
is probably one of the first local bands I got into, and they helped
us get some of our first gigs. They’re playing with the original line-up
again, which is exciting for me. Right now, NB has some hot bands.
Beyond The Embrace are a metal band that signed to Metal Blade a couple
years ago. The Casual Lean just signed up with Doghouse. Blues Bastard
are a cross between AC/DC and Led Zepplin, and put on an out-of-control
rock show. There’s also a cool band called The Thrift Syndicate that
do some very original stuff and just put out a record on Eric Rock
from Boston. Also, check out rap artist, Nick Bishop. It’s hot.
How would you
describe your new disc to a person that has never heard of you?
“Lots of guitars and harmonies…pretty fast and loud. You wouldn’t
like it.”
Can you sum
up what you sing about in general on the new record?
Monsters.
For “Ruiner”,
did you record some more songs than the 14 on the record? I mean,
do we have to expect some unreleased tune to come out on some compilation
or on the internet?
We recorded 15 tracks…so there is one unreleased track that will
come out at some point, I’m sure. It’s called “Bodies and Suitcases”,
and the guitars are insane on it!!
How was to
work with Bill Stevenson? I know you already worked with him on “Mute
Print.”
It’s great to work with Bill, if you like to smell what the shit inside
his colon smells like. He farts a lot. But seriously, what a nice
guy. We love Bill and Jason so much, we got drunk and hid about 200
little chocolate eggs all over the studio for them. They’ll be randomly
finding those for about 3 years. In all seriousness, they are very
honest, amazing, and very talented people. They work well together.
What is the
best band of today that you’d tour with?
I think the wish list looks something like this…….Bad Religion,
Iron Maiden, Propagandhi.
What are some
of the bands that you guys in the band regularly listen to? Or that
inspire you? I know you took some inspiration from Immortal Alice.
We mostly listen to bands that we’ve toured with. It’s nice to put
a face and a personality behind the music. We’ll also each branch
off and have our own sort of shit we’ll listen to. Nuno will listen
to some hip-hop and Bob Marley. Nick is really into Quicksand and
Stevie Wonder. Chris likes Botch. Trevor likes Morissey, Bob Mould
and the Afghan Whigs. I like Bruce Springsteeen and Dinosar Jr. It
works out. I’m sure Curtiss is bringing some new flavor to the mix
now, too.
Have you got
some plans of touring to support you new album? If so, where and with
whom?
August/ Beginning September with Catch 22. Then, in the fall, two
different tours…one with Pennywise and one with Strung Out. Should
be awesome!!
Any final comments?
…Go Red Sox!!!
Ruiner comes out on August 30th, 2005 on Nitro Records.
Gratitude is the latest is a long succession of excellent bands for the somewhat famous Jonah Matranga; he has fronted both Far and Onelinedrawing, bands that have had quite respectable levels of success in the indie rock world. Matranga could very well have been saving his very best for Gratitude, as their debut self-titled full length is leaps and bounds better than anything Far or Onelinedrawing ever released.
The overwhelming quality of Gratitude’s music has much to do with guitarist Mark Weinberg, who himself has had success with his band Crumb, during the 1990’s. His is an especially talented guitarist, as evidenced by his chord selection and rather intricate playing on Gratitude’s album. He has a flair for the subtly angular and off-kilter, yet he disguises it well, veiling his melodies in poppy sweetness.
Many people draw comparisons between Gratitude and Jimmy Eat World, which only makes sense, as Weinberg is close friends with Jimmy Eat World, and Crumb and Jimmy Eat World basically grew up together during the 1990’s. It was truly a pleasure to speak with Weinberg on the telephone in his San Francisco home. What follows is a snippet of our conversation. It should be noted that Mark was by far the coolest and most entertaining interview I’ve ever done, and we spoke for nearly 45 minutes.How Would you describe Gratitude’s sound to novice music fans? Well, it’s basically music for everyone; All the guys in the band have played in lots of other bands before this one, so we all bring something different. I kind of bring in the pop element; Jonah brings a weirder element to the band, and we mix very well together
Of all the songs on the new album, I’d have to say that I like “Last” the best.
Yeah, that’s my favorite to play live. It’s also my girlfriend’s and mom’s favorite song!
What is it about a song like “Last,” that sways back and forth, that makes them so sweet?
I don’t know; it’s that ¾ timing that just kind of gets you into the groove.
You guys sound a lot like Jimmy Eat World, and early Juliana Theory; are you a fan of those bands?
Oh, yes I’m a fan of Jimmy Eat World! My old band Crumb’s first tour was with Jimmy Eat World; I basically grew up with Jim (JEW guitarist). He also played on one of Crumb’s records. I’ve never actually heard Juliana Theory.
Does the band have pressure from the label to move “X” amounts of “Gratitude?”
No, nobody at the label ever says that directly to us. They’ve been very good with us. It’s basically understood, without saying it, that the label wants the band to sell records, otherwise, the label wouldn’t run; but they’re not telling us that we have to move a certain number.
Your guitar work on the album is incredible. Who are your influences?
The Edge. U2 is my all-time favorite band, and he’s an incredible guitarist.
What’s your favorite U2 record? “Achtung Baby,” without a doubt. That record is perfect from start to finish. I’d say that basically everything they did up to 1991 was excellent and has completely inspired me.
I’ve always been partial to “Stay; Far Away, So Close”(1993 single); I think that could be U2’s finest moment.
Actually, yeah that song is totally cool. My friends and I were actually just talking about that song a few days ago. The guitars in that song are awesome!
What guitarists did you look up to when you first started playing; i.e. who made you want to start playing guitar? Probably Eddie Van Halen; he’s the shit. I was also really into Johnny Marr (of The Smiths); his guitar work is absolutely incredible. What more amazing is that, twenty years later, his guitar parts still hold up! I was also really into Dinosaur (later became Dinosaur Jr.). J. Mascis is the shit, too!
So, you’re a Van Halen fan; may I ask if the last four digits of your telephone number, “5150,” was an intentional move (5150 is synonymous with Van Halen, and Eddie Van Halen, for various reasons)? Holy shit! I can’t believe that you picked up on that! Yes, it was intentional! The day that we got the T-Mobile phone company down the road, I was literally the first one there on the day that it opened, so that I could get that “5150″ as my number. I’m so glad you picked up on that!
You like Johnny Marr; are you a Morrissey fan, as well? I ask because my Morrissey obsession is probably on par with your U2 obsession. Yes, I’m totally into Morrissey! When I was in middle school, some friends got me into stuff like Moz, The Cure, and The Pixies, and I’ve liked Morrissey ever since. My favorite is probably “My Early Burglary Years.” It’s pretty cool, because it’s a collection of rare songs and b-sides, and there are lots of great songs on it. The only Morrissey record that I haven’t really liked was “Maladjusted;” it lacked the singing of his previous releases.
What kind of activities does Gratitude take part in while in the van, touring? We watch a lot of DVD’s. I’ve got the entire first season of “24″ on DVD, and we have spent hours at a time watching that show. I’m also a big Star Wars nerd, so I’ve been educating the rest of the guys about Star Wars by watching the movies in the van. We also read quite a bit.
A Star Wars fan, eh? I myself am a Star Wars fan. Are you a fan to the point that you look for spoilers for Episode III on the internet, etc. Oh yeah, totally! Although, there’s one site that I will never visit, because the spoilers are way to specific, and they even have the script: Supershadow.net. I actually have a Rebel Alliance tattoo on my arm, too!
Wow! Yeah.
Anyway, is Gratitude your only job? In other words, when you’re not touring, do you have another job? No, music is all I do. I’ve been really fortunate to do well enough with music that it’s allowed me to not need other jobs. I do other songwriting outside of Gratitude. I co-wrote Matt Nathanson’s last album with him, and that was a lot of fun.
It’s been really fun talking to you! I wish you and Gratitude nothing but success! Thanks a lot, man. Hopefully you can come out to a show this spring!
Alli With An I is a mid-tempo, melodic emo/punk band from Raleigh, NC. The ban consists of friends who love music and playing out in front of people. The band formed in March 2000. Alli With An I grew out of two high school bands called The Chip-Punx and Hindsight near the Raleigh area. Influences of the band include Alkaline Trio, Hot Water Music, Saves The Day, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, The Get Up Kids, Lifetime, Midtown, among many others. Alli With An I has played over 60 shows with bands like Strike Anywhere, Fairweather, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Stretch Armstrong, and Glasseater.
Interview by Carlo Gironi / carlo@staff.truepunk.com / Answers by Michael Sileno
1. Hi! How are you doing ?
Michael: We are doing great! Thanks for asking. We are excited about our new cd coming out.
2. Can you introduce the band’s members and a story of how you got together?
Michael: I play drums, Matt, my brother, sings and plays guitar, Tom plays bass and sings, and Ry plays guitar. We started this band in March 2000 after being in previous bands and being good friends. After Tom joined the band in 2001, we really started to play out more and got to practice more. If you want more details, please check out the bio on our website.
3. Where do you come from? And how is the punk scene in the place you come from?
Michael: We are from Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States. The punk scene is actually better here than most places we have been. There are a lot of great bands from North Carolina and a lot of bands that are friends with each other. For the most part, everyone is accepting and likes to have a good time. We are fortunate enough to play with diverse bands and people, which is exciting.
4. Where does the name Alli With An I come from?
Michael: The name of the band comes from a line in the 1980s movie “The Karate Kid.”
5. You released your new LP “I Learned By Watching You” on the Law Of Inertia label; how did you get in touch with the guys at Law Of Inertia ?
Michael: We were very lucky to get to work with them. We were introduced to Law of Inertia through our friends The Scaries who are also on Law of Inertia. We maintained contact with Ross at Law of Inertia for a while and things just fell into place for us.
6. I know LOI is one of the most popular paper fanzine in the USA - are they also starting a record label now? What other bands are your label-mates?
Michael: Law of Inertia has been a record label since 1999, actually.
Our cd is their fourteenth release. Current active bands on LOI are The Scaries, Ultimate Fakebook (they just re-issued an older cd of theirs), and The AKAs (they just release the vinyl version of their album on Fueled By Ramen). Past bands include The Reunion Show, This Years Model, Hot Rod Circuit, and Billy Music.
7. You released some other stuff before your new LP - was all it done by yourselves or you were on some other record label?
Michael: Our first album “Long Story Short” was originally released with the help of Chris Carraway, who was trying to start a small local label. He basically funded the project and we took care of the rest. After the first pressing went out of print, we released it on Forsaken Recordings (The Manhattan Project, Sullivan, Bloodjinn) out of North Carolina. The album is still available through Forsaken Recordings. Most of the stuff we have done has been on our own up until this point, since we have a lot of help.
8. Your sound is very pop punk and it has also some rock influences ; where do you get your inspiration from ?
Michael: All of us have been listening to punk music for about 7 to 8 years now, so we got into it when Green Day got huge and listening to other bands like NOFX, Screeching Weasel, The Queers, The Bouncing Souls, etc. We still love 1990s pop-punk among lots of other types of music. I think we try to combine the various influences we have into our songs, but pop-punk is definitely the basis for it all.
9. What are some of the bands that you guys in the band regularly listen to?
Michael: Collectively we like No Use For A Name, old Get Up Kids, Strike Anywhere, Lifetime, Hot Water Music, and a lot more. I’ve been listening to a lot of Kudzu Wish, Rise Against, Motion City Soundtrack, and Kid Dynamite recently.
10. What about your lyrics? Do you sing about love, broken hearts and high-school dramas or you have also some other things to say?
Michael: Matt writes most of the lyrics and Tom writes them as well. Yes, most of them are about relationships involving love. We have a lot of other stuff to say, but that’s what they mainly write about. There is a song on the new record about losing someone that is close to you and being judged for how you are. We all have many other things going on in our lives and other interests, as well.
11. Have you got some plans of touring to support you new album? If so, where and with whom?
Michael: As of now, we are planning to head out in January with Outsmarting Simon (Triple Crown Records) and possibly our friends Guff (Go-Kart Records). We will be doing the southern United States. We hope to become a full-time band in the near future, so we can tour a lot more. Kudzu Wish and I have talked about coming to Europe this summer, but who knows. We will continue to play out as much as we can and hope that we can start doing it a lot more.
12. Speaking of tours, have you got some funny or interesting thing that happened to you while you were on tour? Do you want to share it with us ?
Michael: Wow! There are so many interesting and funny tour stories. We like to get rowdy and party with people from all over. We love hanging out with as many people as possible that like to have fun. You can spend all day reading our tour journal on our website. A lot of it is edited down because there is stuff that goes on that we don’t want to world to know about! I think the craziest night may have been when we saw someone get cocaine blown up their bum. That whole night was wild.
13. Do you think it is difficult for a young band to get hooked up by some label? I ask you this, because in the last year I saw a lot of unknown and untalented bands getting signed by major labels and all…how do you relate to this thing? Are you willing to get signed to some major or you just do not care ?
Michael: I think it is definitely difficult for a young band to get hooked up with a label. The bands that just get signed right away are usually bands that were in other bands previously or who have the resources (i.e.,
money) and know people in high places. Those bands probably won’t mean much to anyone years down the road. It’s the bands that have created a large fan base for themselves and stayed true to what they were about that have lasting effects on people down the road. I think we and other musicians are not too fond of bands that are spoiled and find instant success. There are so many hard working bands that are great that no one gets to hear because they are not marketable or don’t have great connections for some reason. We play music because we love it, we have an amazing time, we get to meet so many great people, and we get to travel to a lot of new places. Nothing compares to that. I’m sure we would sit down and talk to a major label, if that happened, but we are going to continue to play together for as long as we want, no matter what. As long as we are happy with how things are going, we will be Alli With An I.
14. Any final comments?
Michael: Please check out our website at http://www.alliwithani.com and feel free to get in touch with us.
15. Thanks so much for the interview, good luck on everything!!
Michael: Thank you very much. We really appreciate it.
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