+What inspires you to be a musician?
I fell into what I do. I was supposed to be a history professor or a farmer or something much quieter.  Each album follows the previous. Each tour gets booked and I follow the dots on the map. I’ve become so woven into what I do that I can’t separate myself from myself and see what’s inside.  On a semi-side-note, I’m terrified of mirrors.

+ What do you like best about touring?
Touring is living inside of moment. We live out our days in service to the shows. It’s the highest and lowest form of living. My name of my new game is ‘optimism’. I’m going to stick to reflecting on the highs. No matter what happens, I put everything into playing.

+ What is your favorite part about Pennsylvania?
I lived in Philadelphia for ten years. My heart still lies somewhere deep in South Philly. There’s a wilderness feeling between all those buildings. And I live for the wild.

+ How did you get involved with the film, ‘Lebanon, Pa.’?
Ben Hickernell got in touch with us last spring. He’d been a fan for some time. I think it made sense for him to collaborate with our PA’s. Scoring was a dream I’d love to live again.

+ What was the inspiration behind your latest LP, ‘The Dark Leaves’?
The Dark Leaves was intended to be a band. But it imploded before ever being realized. And in that is the idea of the album — everything comes to an end. But these final curtains don’t have to follow fear. The Dark Leaves is the optimistic acceptance of the end — whatever ending that may be.

+ What drove you to release ‘Auri Sacra Fames’ as ‘The Freeep’ originally?
We believe this music life we’re living is based on interaction. We write it to relate. There’s no way we’d be to continue doing what we do without participation. Therefore, The Freeep was meant to be free for anyone who believed in listening. After a year it was yanked off our site and put onto iTunes, renamed Auri Sacra Fames. But I don’t mind if anyone and everyone downloads it for free. (Yes, I approved this message)

+Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I always look forward to playing in Pennsylvania. It’s where I first fell into all of this. The state’s a catalyst for all my best mistakes.

Atlanta is already behind these guys and their hard rock music. Their next step is the giant step, onto the national stage of touring and playing for faces that have never heard of them or seen their intense live show. It is a challenge they are looking forward to taking.

Fortunate enough to have their talent noticed and be picked up by Callaham Records, they embark on this journey with the added advantage that label support can provide.

Last year Green Eyed Stare shared the stage with 3 Doors Down, LL Cool J, Hinder and Red Jump Suit Apparatus. This year they are working their way through a series of venue and college dates, reaching for those new fans and drawing them in.

Q. How did you come up with the name Green Eyed Stare?

A. Our label owner, John Callaham, named the band after his wife. We are cool with that since she is hot.

Q. Describe your song writing process?

A. Most of the time, we come up with the tunes first and then lay the lyrics down. However, “I Don’t Believe” was written first, then the tunes, which is probably our best song to date. Also, our new soon to be released, “Get To You” was written first and the tunes were laid down. This is without a doubt our best song to date…maybe we should start writing first and then lay the tunes down…

Q. How would you describe your sound to someone that’s never heard you before?

A. The Best Band you’ve never heard. Lincoln Park meets Nickelback with a hint of Cher…(Just Kidding about Cher)

Q. What was your most memorable performance and where?

A. Definitely Project Revolution in Atlanta. It was very exciting with lots of energy and people. It was very hot, too. Opening for 3 Doors Down was great too, but our other favorite shows were our own right here in Atlanta. Packed out rooms all shouting “Green Eyed Stare” before we take the stage is awesome. We really appreciate and love our fans.

Q. What are some of your influences for your latest album “Sight To Behold”?

A. Real life events. When you listen to every song, it is about someone in our band or label. It is very close to home and has all kinds of emotion. This is really the only way we know how to put together music…real life.

Q. How was it opening Project Revolution for Lincoln Park and being featured on MTV?

A. Surreal! Project Revolution is so big and filled with incredible talent. We were honored to be voted as winners by our fans and very much appreciated it. I was actually eating out when the video played on MTV and when the waitress realized that it was me, I ate for free.

Q. What are your goals for the upcoming year?

A. A lot of touring and the promotion of our new release. We are working very hard to become a national act and hope that we will be received by new fans around the country and the world.

First things off, where in the hell have you been?

We’ve been unwillingly hibernating at our homes in California. We went through a bunch of legal shit getting off Drive Thru. Went through some managers.  Played some shows around here and now we’re anxiously awaiting to leave to go on tour in June.

Ok so Mike is out of the group and Chris has stepped in as lead vocals. Was this an easy decision or did you guys shop around for some new vocals as to be honest I think he fills in quite perfectly as he is almost an exact match.

When Mike quit, we went and got some beers and discussed, “Should we get a new singer or have Chris step up to the plate?”. No one in the band wanted to add another person and Chris was confident he could do it. So he did. We jammed with some other people, but their voices didn’t fit Halifax like Chris’. Now we’re a solid 4 piece.

You guys have gone through a good amount of lineup changes however sometimes when a group change singers they become a different band, is this still the same band and have you thought about changing names?

It’s still the same band because the music is still Halifax, but just more mature. Chris’ voice lends itself well to the band maturing.

Ok so the word on the street is that you have a new album coming out titled “Align”, when was this written and is there any concept behind it and when can we expect to hear it all?

The album is being released strictly digital on April 6th 2010. We’ll have physical copies on tour in June. The album was written about 2 years ago. We’ve been sitting on it for a while. It’s going to feel good to finally get it out.

What do you expect your fans to get out of the new album,

They’ll see how the band has grown and they’ll be reminded that Halifax can still kick a lot of ass.

Have you officially parted ways with drive thru records? What is the situation behind that label? Have you moved on and signed with anyone as of late? If not who would like to sign with?

The Drive Thru thing was really messy for us. They were going bankrupt and refused to send us into the studio to cut a new album. So obviously we had to get off the label. So we did, but it came with a hefty price tag. We’ve now signed with Rocket Science Records.

Ok so you have a new record coming out, shopping for labels, how do you expect to regain all that exposure you had back in 2006 when The Inevitability of a Strange World came out, you were on MTV’s the real world and also won MTV2 Dew Circuit breakout. Have you guys had any regrets these past few years? If so what are they?

No regrets at all! Life was different than we were used to when we were on the road, but everything happens for the good. I think we all learned a lot about ourselves, Music, and the Band in the time off. We have a new solid team getting us ready to make a serious comeback so we’re fired up about it. Hopefully we surpass what we were before.

A lot has changed in the past 3-4 years in the music business and there is a ton more artist out there, who are some of the bands you guys are currently following?

That new Mutemath record was pretty sick. Chickenfoot wasn’t too shabby either

Finally, we can we expect another bad ass music video like we saw in “Our Revolution”.

Well you can’t move backwards so…… Get Fuckin’ READY!!

Listen to: Remember Were Alive (Refresh page if media player doesn’t load or does not play)

In “NINE” we are taken on a journey of past familiarity of his hit releases “Transition Man” and “One Brother” to a soulful movement towards an everyday spirit with “Different”. David reminds us of a place within music that relaxes your senses and makes you want to rock out with your headphones on while doing all those mundane things in your life. You can throw it in your stereo while cleaning house or on your way to work as a source of positive energy to tap into.

David can lock you in with his sensible honesty in his lyrics and at the same time take you away on a soulfully rockin time.
His “everyman” feel is reminiscent of Springsteen, or of a bluesier Billy Joel. It’s easy some days to identify with the song “Modern Man” “…..I’m just a simple boy, I do what I’m told….I’m just a modern mule”. In the soulful song “Forgotten Man” you hear David deeply connecting the reality of being.

David Davenport, once again expresses his musical talent to be so different and eclectic with his sounds of piano and guitar. If you make a copy of “NINE” your own it has a chance to make your everyday activities more enjoyable, as you hum along and finally add a little jive to your step.

In a unique and somewhat quirky interview, For The Sound talks to David about the life and insights of a punk guy gone blues rock.

Q. What was the inspiration behind your new album?

A. I suppose you mean for the title, “Nine”? I’d love to keep you guessing. I will say this, there are nine songs on the CD; I’ve always loved The Beatles’ song “Revolution #9″ where the phrase, “number nine….number nine…number nine…” is repeated several times; I’m a huge math geek and am fascinated by the magic of the number nine (to wit: take any number, for instance 134,586 and add the individual digits thusly, 1+3+4+5+8+6 and you get 27, which is divisible by 9, and that tells you that the original number 134,586 is divisible by 9. Cool, eh?). It is also, by some calculations, my ninth album (bands and solo)

Q. What does this album “NINE” mean to you?

A. I think I’m more at peace with myself than I’ve ever been and it shows on this album. I don’t rush through the songs, and they benefit from that confidence

Q. When writing for this album, what was going on in your life?

A. This is a cool question because it makes it abundantly clear that nothing is going on in my life. I mean, nothing anyone cares about. I feel like Napoleon Dynamite, Sr. It’s always better retold, of course, but when it’s happening I am lost in the moment, and the moments don’t have to be momentous. It’s like before when I talked about having a great meal. That’s all it takes. That’s good though, right? I mean, your 10th anniversary can’t be like your senior prom.

Q. In the world today we are facing many perils, how do you feel you music connects with people and their mindset today?

A. We need more songs of togetherness and brother and sisterhood. I think it is very hard for us to heal ourselves when we’re off alone peering into the Internet looking for signs of life on the box. We need human touch.

Q. What advice could you give to people coming up in the industry today?

A. Support each other. Now more than ever you need to be networking and paying attention to who is working and why.

website: http://www.daviddavenportmusic.com

Hi I’m Max and I play guitar for You Me At Six.

How did  You Me At Six get started? What is the history behind the  band?

You Me At Six started around 4 years ago when myself and Josh wanted to start another band from previously being in one. Josh knew Matt from the local scene and he lived next door to Chris after already loosing a guitar player. Matt, Chris and myself met Dan at college and thought it was the best idea to get him to join the band after loosing our old drummer. We told Josh so we practiced and that’s when this line up was formed back in 2007.

So,  tell me about your new album Hold Me Down that came out in  January.

Hold Me Down is our second full length album, we started writing the songs in October 2008 and finished writing in June 2009, we hit the studio to record the bulk of it in April / May 2009 and returned for recording the last few songs in July 2009. I personally think this CD is the best songs we have written as a band. It went into the album charts at number 5 in the first week of it being on sell and number 2 in the iTunes download chart in the UK.

How  is Hold Me Down different from your previous  album Take Off
Your Colours?

Hold Me Down is a more mature CD, I would say it’s where we are at this time of our career and how we want to write songs, as well as enjoying them as musicians. Take Off Your Colours was written while we were growing up through our teen years where we wanted to be like band such as Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Paramore etc, so I think we have found our sound more on this second CD and hopefully it will progress as time goes on.

Since  You Me At Six is from overseas, have you found it difficult
to get recognition  within the United States? Do you guys have any
plans to play in the  U.S.?

We have already done 2 tours in the States, we did Warped Tour in the Summer of 09 and then we did the AP tour in the Fall of 09. It’s nice that we aren’t getting recognized because it was like that in the UK first and it made us work harder as a band. We are coming back again for the whole of Warped Tour this year and trying to get some more shows planned for the end of the year.

What  other touring plans do you have for 2010?

We are going to Japan, Europe, Australia, America and the UK, basically as many places as we can play this year to promote the Hold Me Down CD.

How did  you get started playing music?

I wanted to play guitar for 4 years before I got one and it took a lot of arguing with the parents but I think they are stocked now that they let me play. I was inspired by Kurt Cobain to play guitar ever since I heard Nirvana for the first time. Ever since then I’ve been writing music for 7 years.

Who (or  what band) would you say is your biggest influence and why?

Incubus and Thrice are 2 of the biggest influences on me, the jams they write on guitar are so inspiring to musicians. The sound and tone they can create makes me think one day I wish I could be as good as these guys.

What  are some of your goals for You Me At Six?

Our goals were to play the Astoria and Brixton academy as a band, and it’s crazy to think that we have sold out both of these venues and played them so I’m mega stocked, another great goal for You Me At Six was doing Warped tour last year. We all love old school Drive Thru bands and I remember watching their DVD’s from when their bands do Warped tour and we always wanted to do it, we are very lucky that we have had all these great opportunities in our lives.

Any  last words for our readers?

Thanks for supporting our band, it means the world to us and no doubt we will meet each other soon and I can say that face to face to them, if they haven’t picked up Hold Me Down please do! And see you guys on the road!

My name is A.J. and I sing and play bass.

What is the history behind the band?

We all kind of went to the same high school in a way and it just all came together. We played in previous bands together and our senior year of high school we started a band like in August and we signed to Hopeless [Records] later that year in like April or so. We started touring right after we graduated and have been doing it ever since.

You guys are currently on tour with The Audition, how has the tour been so far?

It’s awesome. It’s fun. It’s kind of getting to the point where we are getting more recognition as a band and we will always remember this tour. It’s like one of the more transitional tours for us. We probably have about 10 or 12 more shows all across to the east coast.

Do you guys have any touring plans after this tour?

Yeah we are going to be definitely going to be touring all year and and we are also going to be writing a bunch in between the short breaks we have because we want to do an album probably winter of this year and early next year. We have been working on some demos and stuff so far.

We are really happy with the way it turned out and it has been received very well. We have just been very grateful for that. We are just really happy with Reach For The Sun. It’s awesome.

Reach For The Sun seems to be an album about growing up and the struggles that we all face as we grow up..can you describe some of the inspiration behind some of the songs on the album?

Oh yeah yeah. It’s pretty much just…I’ve gone through a bunch of rough stuff in the past like the past 3 years of my life after high school. Just moving out of my parents house, sleeping in my car for a while, and just really learning to grow up. When we wrote Reach For The Sun, I kind of was at a low point and writing it brought me up to a point and kind of about that struggle I had.

Thank you to A.J. Pedromo for taking the time to answer these questions and to Gary Stack for setting up the interview. Interview conducted at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California.

My name is Jake Bundrick and I play drums and sing.

Your latest album, Anywhere But Here, was released in October. How is this album different or the same from previous albums? Are the fans into it?

I feel it’s different in a sense that it’s a newer record. We’re a better band, better friends and we have different lives now than we did when we wrote “Romantics.” We’re also minus a member but we’ve been a band longer without that member than we have with him. This record is relatively the same lyrically. We talk about heartache, relationships and hope. Another big thing I think kids notice about this record is there isn’t as many dual vocals. With this record, we were hoping to enter into a new world of fans while keeping our hardcore fans happy. With all that being said, I think kids still enjoy the new sound.

What are some of your favorite songs from Anywhere But Here and why?

Still Breathing is one of my favorite songs because it’s something everyone can relate to in a sense that it talks about being a man and doing everything you can to be your own person and be strong. The second verse of the song was written with this scenario in the back of our mind. You’re an American soldier in Iraq and you don’t want to be there. Is it justified?

You guys are getting ready to hit the road for the Take Action Tour 2010. What can we expect from this tour and what other bands will you guys be playing with?

We’re expecting a really good time. We The Kings, “the headliner,” are really good friends of ours. Every band has a ton of energy and brings great music to this tour. Other bands on the tour include A Rocket To The Moon, There For Tomorrow, Stereo Skyline! and Call The Cops.

What else can we expect from Mayday Parade in 2010?

Tour Tour Tour!! We hope to going overseas after the Take Action Tour and soon after that we have Warped Tour this summer where we’re doing the entire tour. We’re also involved with a compilation that Fearless Records is putting out soon called Punk Goes Classic Rock. So look for that this year!

Can you provide a little background history on how Mayday Parade got started?

Mayday Parade formed from two popular local bands called Defining Moment and Kid Named Chicago. We had a plan when we first started writing together. The plan was to press an EP and follow the entire Warped Tour asking kids to listen and purchase. By doing so, we sold close to 11,000 EP’s in two months by ourselves. Soon after, we signed to Fearless Records and have been nonstop touring ever since.

How did you get started playing music? What are some of your musical influences?

I started playing guitar when I was in 8th grade. My favorite bands were Green Day, Foo Fighters, The Offspring and Less Than Jake. My parents bought me that guitar with intensions of me just playing it alone but I had to start a band. The band I started, Sucker Punch, needed a drummer so I stopped playing guitar for the band and somehow convinced me parents to help me with a drumset. My dad always told me, “NO BAND,” but I never listened. I’m glad I didn’t. He’s proud of me now though. Our band was terrible then. Terrible!!! But without that band, I wouldn’t be where I am now.

What was your most memorable and/or insightful experience of 2009?

My most memorable moment of 2009 was writing and recording our record, “Anywhere But Here.”Watching that record come together in the studio was a dream come true.  I poured my heart and soul into that record and I’m very proud of it.

How did you celebrate New Years/Christmas this year?

I spent it in New York City, 10 blocks away from Times Square in an apartment that my friend rented out. A lot of my close friends were there including my girlfriend. The alcohol I consumed gave me super powers that night, but I learned no super hero can conquer a nasty hangover.

What are your goals for Mayday Parade?

My goals this year for Mayday Parade are to be more in touch with fans. The reason we’ve been giving the opportunity to do what we do and continue on is because of them. So I made it one of my New Year’s resolutions to be in touch more whether it be blogging, videos or twitter. They mean the world to me and I want to show them that.

Any last words?

Make sure to pick up or even just listen to our sophomore release, “Anywhere But Here.” You can check that out and so much more over at maydayparade.com. Also, make sure to follow us on twitter for info on the spot. @Mayday_Parade or @JakeMaydayP

Nickelsen/Brock: *throws horns up*

What about your fans?

Nickelsen/Brock: *throws horns up*

Who’s your favorite band to tour with?

Brock: The Maine?

Nickelsen: A Rocket To The Moon’s fun because those are like our best dudes.

Brock: 3OH!3 is really cool.

Nickelsen: 3OH!3’s the bomb. The Versa[emerge] guys are awesome. Slipknot was really cool. *jokes*

Brock: They were probably the coolest dudes.

Who are your musical idols?

Nickelsen: Beethoven. *jokes*

Brock: We’re really into Beethoven. And Cher.

Nickelsen: Yeah, Beethoven and Cher.

What’s your dream tour?

Nickelsen: Beethoven and Cher.

Brock:  Beethoven and Cher absolutely.

Nickelsen: Well, Beethoven couldn’t. I heard he comes back from the grave every ten years.

Brock: So it’ll be a couple of years from now?

Nickelsen: Yeah yeah!

You have a book coming out, is there anything you can say about it?

Nickelsen: December, so if you want it maybe you’ll get it for Christmas. And it comes with a little EP with “Life Like This” and some live songs. We saw the first edits of it two days ago and it looks really incredible.

Brock: We’re really excited. It looks really good.

Do you have any plans for recording?

Nickelsen: Nothing in stone. I mean we’re always writing new stuff.

Brock: Yeah, we don’t know. Sometime next year hopefully.

Nickelsen: But it might come out in like 20 years.

Brock: Yeah, we might record it next year but put it out like 10 years later.

Nickelsen: See if anyone cares.

What is your favorite song to play live?

Brock: Probably “Everything I Ask For.”

Nickelsen: “I Must Be Dreaming.”

What is one song you’ll never play live?

Nickelsen: I really doubt we’ll play a lot of songs. As in, I really don’t think we’ll play any Bon Jovi songs. I mean that’d be cool. I just think we wouldn’t do it justice.

Brock: Probably a few Godsmack songs we probably won’t play.

Nickelsen: Not that they’re not cool. The Fray, we’ll probably never play The Fray. I bet we’ll never play an All Time Low song either. Or 3OH!3, I don’t know how we could do that.

Brock: Probably not 3OH!3.

Nickelsen: I mean Nat [from 3OH!3] came up and played one of our songs. So I guess we kind of did.

Brock: I guess we did, technically.

Nickelsen: So it turned into Maine, The OH!3. It sounds like a pop band.

Any of your songs?

Nickelsen: I don’t know, I’m sure we’ll get around to playing…

Brock: Hopefully we’ll play…

Nickelsen: Oh, “Give Me Anything.” We’ll never, ever play that song.

Brock: It’s true.

Nickelsen: I forgot about that song.

Brock: Because he forgot about it. I don’t know, we…

Nickelsen: We’ve played everything else off that EP. I’d like to, but I really doubt we’ll play “This Is The End” ever. I don’t think we’ll get around to it.

There’s a rumor going around that you’re going on a headlining tour in the spring? Any touring plans?

Nickelsen: We are not. That is false. We have no touring plans at all. We’re going away for a little while. *jokes* We’re going to Cuba.

Why do you find interacting with your fans important?

Nickelsen: So they care.

Brock: They care about us, so we care about them.

Nickelsen: We care about our music and that hopefully by doing that, it makes people care about our music – not just us. But no, it’s cool to see what people get from it. It makes me happy that it makes people happy.

What is the best tour you’ve ever been on?

Nickelsen: Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour.

Brock: Yeah.

Nickelsen: That was my favorite. That [Six Flags New Jersey show] was the biggest show to date. That was the craziest thing. That whole tour in general was the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced.

Brock: It was insane.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in the band?

Nickelsen: I thought about this the other day and I had the perfect answer and then I forgot.

Brock: I’d probably be asleep in a class. I don’t know what I’d be studying.

Nickelsen: It was seriously the best answer but I don’t remember. What he said, I don’t know what he said.

Do you consider yourself famous?

Nickelsen/Brock: No.

What would have to happen for you to consider yourselves famous?

Brock: We’d have to be in a magazine with her…

Nickelsen: Kate Beckinsale?

Brock: Mhm.

Nickelsen: Megan Fox would have to come up and be like “Hey, you’re awesome!”

Brock: Megan Fox would have to tell me I’m famous.

Nickelsen: Yeah, Megan Fox would have to tell me I’m famous. Or I’m driving somewhere random and I see myself twice. On a billboard or something. But it’d have to be twice. Like, “Oh wow, what did I do to get here?!” No, we’re definitely not. Or on the front of some magazine, not AP…

Brock: Like US or People or something.

Nickelsen: Or GQ or something. Wow, I did something right in my life. Being on GQ would be kind of crazy.

Brock: On the front of a magazine in your sweat pants, looking it at in the store like, “Oh my God! He wears clothes also!”

Nickelsen: “He doesn’t always have jeans on! Nice non Ray Ban Ray Bans, freak!”

Do you think social networking has helped or hurt your band?

Nickelsen: Helped for sure. You can’t deny that. I don’t think we’d be anywhere we’re at without it. Pat and me were 17 when we started so it’s not like we could just pick up and go on tour.  It helped a lot.

Favorite place to tour, aside from home?

Brock: I liked going over to the UK. There were certain things about it that were different that maybe I would like if I was there longer. We haven’t been too, too many places.

Nickelsen: Boston’s cool.

Brock: I like Minnesota a lot. I just like the city.

What’s your favorite thing about being home?

Nickelsen: Being home.

Brock: Yeah. Waking up in the same spot for more than a couple days.

Nickelsen: That and not having to sleep in something that’s this big. * holds out hands.* Legitimately don’t have to wake up at a certain time. Some days on tour you have to wake up at a certain time. At home, I could sleep for 48 hours and it wouldn’t matter. Besides eating, I don’t think that’s too healthy.

Brock: Two days, no eating – just sleep.

If you could create your own college major, what would it be?

Nickelsen: Metal history. That would be very fun.

Brock: That’d be cool.

Nickelsen: Would you take my class?

Brock: Yeah, I’d take your class.

Would you be the professor?

Nickelsen: Oh yeah.

Thanks to Garrett Nickelsen and Kennedy Brock for taking the time to talk with us November 20! Also, thanks to Melissa Levine and The Maine’s tour manager Max for helping set everything up! For more information on The Maine, check out their MySpace here!

How exactly did the band come together?
I do know this, because I was there when it happened (laughs). Me and Erik [Engstrom], our keyboard player, were friends since we were like 10 years old, and we needed a hobby, and we started playing music together.  We were incompetent, and messing around, and slowly it grew over the course of many years, and neither of us have been in other bands before this.

How long have you been with HORSE the Band?
Well, we started in 1999, when we had our first show, so it’s been about 10 years since our first show, which is pretty strange, since I still think of myself as being in a new band.  I’m pretty old I guess.

What are some of your biggest influences?
My biggest influences? Fuck. Um.  I think I’m only influenced with a band for a month at a time, and I’ll think of ideas, but at the time I write another song, I think of something else, so I don’t really think it’s easy to trace my influences.  As a band as a whole, there’s nothing you can really be influenced by.  Otherwise, it’s nature, and movies, and life in general.

What was your role in the making of Desperate Living?
Um, well, it’s…Me and erik are the songwriters of the band, so this sound was more collaborative than other albums. We would think of ideas and record them on our own, and then we’d get together and just jam on little parts and talk about ideas for songs, and make demos. And uhh…you know.  Eventually they would turn into songs that we would bring into the rest of the band. But I think uh, there weren’t any songs that he and I wrote by ourselves.  Just collaborative ideas between he and I.  And our lyrics are written by our singer.

How long did it take to make Desperate Living?
Um. Well the writing process was a lot quicker and smoother than we’d ever done, but it was prolly uh, I mean I guess it took two and a half weeks to write stuff, starting with nothing.  Then the recording was a much more tedious process than ever before.  It took us like six weeks to record everything, and then three weeks to mix it all. Mixing was a really difficult thing, but in the end it all worked out, but it took a really long time.

What was the band’s worldwide tour like?
(laughs) It was such a long and varied experience, that it’s hard to describe it in any sort of manner.  I can’t say it was good, I can’t say it was bad, I can’t say it was miserable, and I can’t say it was amazing.  It was a mix of all those things.  We’d play to screaming fans one day, and then the next day we’d play to like 20 people who had no fucking clue who we were.  We’d be treated like royalty, we’d be treated like shit, but it was great.  It laid down a lot of inspiration for Desperate Living.

What is your favorite track off of Desperate Living?
Um, (thinks) I think I’m most proud of the song ‘Desperate Living’ itself because it was the most different on the album.  We tried a lot of new things, and new ideas that we weren’t really comfortable with, but that song we did it and pulled it off really well.  The lyrics also struck a chord with everyone in the band, and it’s probably everyone’s favorite song.  We actually wanted to use it for our first single, but then we just didn’t, but it’s still awesome.

Were you excited to see the release of this album on Vagrant Records?
Yeah.  It was uh, you know, me and Erik specifically, and Daniel, our drummer, really all of us, when we were getting into music, a lot of our favorite bands were on Vagrant when we were growing up.  We thought it would be pretty amazing to be on it, with bands such as The Get Up Kids, and Saves The Day.  We really love it, and at first they were “the emo label” like 10 years ago, but now they’re heading into new directions, and it’s pretty cool.

What are some of the craziest things that you’ve witnessed while being on tour?
Um, well.  Probably the craziest thing I’ve ever seen is captured entirely on video, on this like, DVD that we just got four days ago.  It’s from our Earth tour, when we were in the Ukraine, and we were there for 48 hours, in the highest highs and lowest lows.  It was just like partying so hard, followed by a day of complete misery and depression.  We had a guy following us filming the whole time, and we got a DVD made with that episode.  It’s called ‘We Flooded It and There’s Yoghurt Everywhere’. But there’s like four naked people everywhere trashing an apartment with yogurt, and taking a bath together and making like, eggs together, for no reason.  It was stupid, but really hilarious to watch.

How does it feel to be a part of a band that spawned a new genre, nintendocore?
I don’t know…I think there’s bands that have been inspired by us, notably the band playing above us now [note: at the time the interview was conducted, Arsonists Get All The Girls were on stage], but I wouldn’t say it’s so much a genre, as a few bands that kinda are inspired by us [play it].  It’s not big enough to be a genre yet. I think when we first came out, it was a totally fresh sound, blowing everybody’s minds, and that was our initial success.  It’s been about six years since our first album came out, and we can’t keep shocking people with the same sound, we need to progress and move on.  We want to progress onto our next album to keep people digging it.

Are there any plans for a new record anytime soon?
Oh, well.  It’s uh, hard to even say right now.  The last one just came out, and we haven’t written anything else since then, and it’s a way’s off for sure.  I think it will probably have a lot of differences than our new album, and our new bassist and drummer will have more impact on our sound, and some of us have gotten into programming for music on our computers, so I can’t really say anything for sure, except there’s a lot of different ways it could go from here.

Do you have anything else that you’d like to share?
Uhhhh…haha.  I don’t know. Where is this for again? Oh, that’s right, ForTheSound. (Laughs) I don’t know.  I don’t have much to say right now, but I had a rough day.  I went to a deli that had meals, except they didn’t have single servings, except burgers, but I didn’t want a burger, and instead I got an omelet meant for four people, and it was like ten pounds or something, and I ate the whole thing.  I’ve been really sluggish today ever since.  I need energy.  I think it’ll work out though.  Hopefully I’ll have the energy to play our set!

Authentik Artists is a small music company out of Los Angeles that acts as a digital label / publishing company hybrid. We offer emerging artists the opportunity to have distribution and marketing for their finished music while at the same time push for placements in key licensing opportunities in film, tv, apps etc.

How did this company go from an idea, to becoming a reality, and what steps were taken to ensure success?

Our CEO Scott Austin started the company after he left the major label system a few years back, the idea began as Authentik being a management company and over the first 2 years changed form into being a label/publishing company hybrid. He took the time to invest his own money carefully and craft a business plan that could bring success for the company and artists over the long term. The music industry is going through a huge change right now so taking the time to carefully develop a smart business model was exactly what needed to be done. Each day we are taking steps to provide services for our artists that benefit their career and create opportunity for their music to be discovered.

Is most of your work done online?  If so, what media outlets/social networking sites do you go through.  What physical media outlets do you go through if not done online?

99% of our work is done online through new media outlets that stream digital content (audio/video/text). Some of our primary sources are Facebook, Myspace, Vimeo, Twitter and Youtube. Maximizing our online territory is our priority and allows audiences to discover our artists naturally without being force-fed like traditional advertising models would push.

As far as marketing goes, how do you get the word out about the company?

We have most of our work being done online and we have been creating awareness for Authentik and our artists through social networking tools and blogs. Authentik focuses on building our brand and giving the artists the tools needed to promote themselves. On the publicity angle I do full servicing of every release to all major tastemaker blogs, new media sites, online radio sources and more. We usually prefer that our artists have a music video as well and we promote through retail pools and online sources like Youtube, Vimeo and online sites that promote music videos.

Does the musical style (ex: Rock, Rap, Pop) that you are dealing with effect the type of marketing that goes on when promoting a band?

Absolutely, every client is at a different point of their career and has different needs. In regards to genre my approach varies on the editorial side but with social networking most techniques are pretty universal.

With all of the challenges the music industry faces today, how does the company plan rising above these challenges and becoming a leader/success in the music industry?

Authentik places a strong emphasis on Publishing and strategic marketing opportunities, we are well aware that sales of downloaded music alone wouldn’t be able to help the artist or label ultimately succeed. In this economy and industry it’s about being creative and open minded to new ideas to promote the entire brand of the artist. Having a placement in a popular television show and video game can do a lot more for an artist today than a feature on a traditional zine or blog. Our plan is to be effective on all angles and get the artist publicity and over time many opportunities with placements in film/tv/video games.

What types of services do you offer to your clients/bands?

We provide publicity, marketing (video/audio) and some career consultation in regards to maximizing promotion of their release with Authentik. We are partnered with many music supervisors and retail pool networks that allow us to provide key tastemakers with major label quality music that wouldn’t be considered otherwise if the artist was on their own. Our services are comparable to the experience of being on a strong Indie label but without being held accountable for multiple albums.

What do you mean that to many firms take the “shotgun approach” to press servicing? And what exactly is the “shotgun approach?”

The shotgun approach to publicity is developing one pitch and servicing is to your mass list of editorial contacts. This can be effective at times but it’s always better to be personable and write your contact an individual email.  If you shoot an email to 2000 people and 10 people respond and work with you, that would be considered the shotgun approach.

The music industry has changed in a sense that whatever song you want is now a click away, anytime the consumer wants it.  How will the music industry take advantage of this and make a successful business model?  Will the music industry keep loosing money, or do you see a light at the end of a tunnel for the industry?

We see a light at the end of the tunnel and publishing without a doubt is key. Music sales could indeed keep slipping as people continue to download music. We are hoping new music companies that stream music such as Spotify will be able to offset the costs lost by pirated downloads. Streaming music for a subscription and/or royalty allows the labels and artists the chance to collect on their music. Many labels will continue to slip but others will rise during this downtime and develop unique strategies to bring income into the company.

What advice do you have to offer college students who are looking to getting into the music industry when they graduate?

Some of the best ways to snag a job in the industry is by interning and networking with the right people. If you have a good work-ethic and strong knowledge of music culture then usually within time you can find an opportunity to get in the door. It also helps to be in key music communities such as New York, Nashville and Los Angeles so you can meet the right people. My only other piece of advice will be to read and research as much as possible. Staying on top of tools music fans use to discover the next big thing keeps you relevant and on top of the industry.