Explode and Make Up
August 27, 2010 by urbn
Filed under Bands, Emo, Hardcore Artists, Punk Artists
- Explode and Make Up
12XU
July 24, 2009 by Bijhan
Filed under Bands, Pop Punk Artists, Punk Artists
1 2 X U !
Named after a Wire song, this French three-piece prefers to play it unconventional. Instead of an independent website or a Myspace page they prefer a blogspot account that lists their profession as “architecture”. It’s not far from the truth. The tightly constructed songs run the gamut from old school punk to new-age emo, but all have an air of fun and irreverence unique to the band.
After playing No Idea Records’ FEST 8, 12XU will be heading on a limited tour of the US with Old Growth and Tubers.
For more on FEST 8 check out TruePunk’s Guide to FEST 8
Emo band Ten Second Epic Release new Video
Ten Second Epic has released the brand new video for their song “Every Day” featuring Juno award winner, LIGHTS!
Checkout the video on YouTube
Interview Funeral For A Friend
May 25, 2009 by Steve_Tauschke
Filed under Emo Bands, Interviews
Last year saw some changes in the Funeral For A Friend camp. Having found a global audience early in its career, the now seven-year old Welsh quintet spent the middle part of this decade building an empire, successfully tackling the lucrative US and European markets, working with super-producers Gil Norton and Terry Date among others as well as playing all the right festivals – not to mention sharing a stage with their metal heroes Iron Maiden in 2005.
| Interview by Steve Tauschke January 2009 And while their stratospheric trajectory shows few sings of tailing off, the Bridgend metal-core masters recently found themselves adapting to various developments both within and outside their control. This time last year Funeral For A Friend parted ways with their major label Atlantic whose contractual slice of the band’s hard-earned touring and merchandising revenue prompted the split and led to the formation their own imprint, Join Us. “We really depend on those streams of income to be able to let us tour so that deal was something that didn’t really work for us,” says drummer Ryan Richards. Join Us now oversees FFAF’s releases in the UK while Victory Records handles their output in the US and Canada and Roadrunner in all other territories. “It just got to the point where the industry had changed so much,” adds Richards. “What the major labels expect you to give them outweighs what they’re prepared to give you.” The move coincided with the amicable departure of long-time bassist Gareth Davies, who is now involved in artist management. “The touring game is not for everyone,” says Richards. “People see it as the ultimate dream to be in a touring band and while it is great and I wouldn’t wish to do anything else there are a lot of difficulties that come with it especially if you’re married and have children.” According to Richards, Davies eventually fell victim to the tyranny of distance having based himself and his wife in the America in recent years while the band remained rooted in Wales. “He just never got to be home with his family and it’s something that really started to take its toll,” he says. “I think it prevented him from enjoying the great aspects of being in a band. It was always very bitter-sweet for him so he had to make that decision which I know was very hard.” Davies’ replacement is bassist Gavin Burrough, who shared previous groups with Richards. “It’s been pretty seamless really – he’s jumped right on in there.” The addition of Burrough came just after last October’s release of the band’s fourth album Memory And Humanity, a direct channelling of their hardcore roots into consumable widescreen rock epics. And unlike much of the band’s back catalogue, written mostly on the run, Richards says the record was tracked at a leisurely pace in his Bridgend home overlooking a picturesque Welsh valley outside Cardiff. “It was great to spend a couple of weeks in my front room where you could look out the window over the valley or go outside and crack open a beer anytime you wanted to chill out,” he says. “It was good for the creativity and really helped things move along at a nice pace. We didn’t lock ourselves away and drive each other crazy all night.” Originally slated as an EP, Memory And Humanity was borne out of a surprisingly fruitful song writing session that extended the four-tracker to a full-blown album – and provided a quick follow up to 2007’s Tales Don’t Tell Themselves. “We’d just left our label at Atlantic and wanted to get some songs out there quickly so people could hear what we were up to,” explains Richards. “The plan was to start writing in January and record four songs in February but by then we had eight or nine songs that we felt really strongly about and wanted to use. “So we thought we may as well keep on writing. It was great really because the previous record took a long time to write and record. But with this we were our own masters being on our own label and it was a lot easier – and there was a lot less pressure.” | LinksFuneral For A Friend on Myspace lyrics |
Long Since forgotten
March 12, 2007 by urbn
Filed under Interviews
Interview by Carlo Gironi (HYPERLINK “mailto:carlo@staff.truepunk.com”carlo@staff.truepunk.com) with Josh Coy, singer and guitarist.
Hi! Can you please state your name and what you play in Long Since Forgotten ?
My name is Josh Coy and I play guitar and sing.
How is 2007 treating Long Since Forgotten ?
So far so good. We released a new album in Japan and did a release tour there which ended up being one of the best experiences of our lives. We signed on with a new manager. And we are already starting to write new songs. So I guess there is still a lot of time left in the year so we shall see what happens.
It’s been some years since the release of your previous album “Standing Room Only”: I personally lost traces of you. Can you please tell our readers what you have been during these years ?
Well we toured the states DIY for the better parts of the 2 years after the release of that album. We had some dissapointments with missed label opportunities because of our contract with Rocketstar. We parted ways with our old manager. We worked alot as well to pay the bills from money we lost touring. Instead of throwing in the towel we decided to work with a batch of songs we were writing that we felt really confident in and ended up recording “The Theft” which we feel is our best songs to date.
For the few people who still never heard of you, can you tell our readers a story of how you got together, where you come from and you story ?
Caleb, Jeff, and myself pretty much grew up together in the same school and such (Caleb more so since he is my brother) and for one reason or another we ended up plying music together. We started playing club shows in the Syracuse area in the late 90′s with and old drummer of ours but soon decided to part ways with him for stylistic reasons in 2000. Not long after that I met steve through an ex girlfriend/new job and found out he was a fan of our music and was interested in playing with us. So after a couple auditions and practice shows he was obviously the right choice for us. We finished writing the rest of the songs that would on the album “All The Things You Said” and booked time at a studio that was called Redhouse at the time in Eudora Kansas where Ed Rose worked out of. The first time I felt like I was in a real band was driving home from the studio listening to the rough mix of the song Some Sort Of Meaning.
I visited your myspace (http://www.myspace.com/longsinceforgotten) and saw you are releasing a new album called “The Theft”: I read it’s already out in Japan. When will you release it in the US and in the rest of the world?
We are currently still searching for a U.S. label to release this album. We hope for it to be out soon so the rest of our U.S. fans will be able to hear this work because we are very proud of it.
The Japanese version is said to come with three bonus tracks: will these songs also be on the US version of the CD ?
Can you tell me why bands release bonus tracks on Japanese releases, because I never understood it. No, seriously.
The bonus songs will not be on the U.S. for a couple reasons. first off, the bonus songs are just b-sides that didn’t fit with the album as a whole. They will possibly be released in the future in the form of a compilation. CD’s in Japan sell for almost twice as much as they cost in the states. So it has been customary to add a couple extra tracks to make it more worth the cost. It also makes for a cool import feature for collectors.
Are still on Rocketstar Recordings or are you looking for a new record label ?
No, we are currently looking for a new label.
Is it so hard for such a good band with great songs like you are to find a record label ?
Thank you for the compliments! It would seem that way at the moment. We have been trying to find a home for this new album for quite a few months now in the U.S. and it seems that we get passed up for the more trendy “cookie cutter” bands.
Speaking of “The Theft”, I heard some songs and I had the impression it’s much harder than your previous stuff, which was more poppy and indie rock oriented. Am I getting a wrong impression ? How does the whole record sound ?
There are a few “harder” type songs. They still retain a lot of the pop elements but have more character I think. There are still some pop type songs and a couple slow songs as well. Over I am sure you will get the impression of a much more mature sound when you finally hear the record as a whole.
For “The Theft”, how did you work on it? Did it take a long time to write and how was the recording process ?
A couple of the songs on the theft have been in progress since our first our for “standing Room Only.” There is a song called Ready Or Not that I started working on during a week we were stranded in Idaho after a van accident in 2004! The recording process was more spread out than what we normally were used to. We were in and out of the studio for a couple months rather than a block of 2 or three weeks of straight recording. But this time we were relatively close to the studio so it was possible to work that way.
Did you still work with Ed Rose ?
No, this time around we worked with a friend of ours named Kevin Bruchert. He had been a fan of our music and he owned a studio called Viking in Medina, NY not far from Buffalo. He had approached us several times about recording a full length for us and after we worked with him on a couple compilation songs we decided to give him the job.
Among all of the emo bands of the late ‘90’s and first 00’s, I must say Long Since Forgotten owns a piece of my heart,
Thank you for that! We are happy to have made an impact on anyone’s listening pallet!
And as final question, what are your future plans ?
The main focus right now is to get this new album released in the U.S. and tour so people can hear it. I am too proud of this work to let it go to waste. I just hope that there is a label that agrees. Thank you for taking the time to interview us and catch up!
Thank you so much for taking some time to reply to my questions! Good luck for everything!
Anberlin
August 5, 2006 by urbn
Filed under Interviews
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.”
