Driven Far Off

The latest on the indie, alternative, and rock music scene including news, music, contest, interviews, and more. Best described as your favorite place to find new bands.

This Love Interview – July 12, 2010

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Can you please introduce yourself and your role in This Love?

My name is Joe McFaddin and I sing and play guitar in the band This Love

How did This Love get started?

Well, to make what might be a longer story short, we used to be a band called Callahan, a pop-punk act from Springfield, Ohio. But after a style and member change, (me being one of the member changes) , we decided to take on a new name and start fresh as This Love. We formed as a 5 piece and consist of former members of (Callahan) and other local bands from Dayton, Ohio.

Tell me about your new album that comes out on June 19th.

First off, you can snatch up the album The Beginning by This Love as soon as June 14th off of itunes and amazon.com <http://amazon.com> . You can grab the album (hard copy Compact disc form) at our CD release party on June 19th at the Lions club in Springfield, Ohio.

This album is our first attempt to be heard as This Love. The band and I have a lot of confidence in this EP, especially since we as a band are so new to the game. I believe that anyone who listens to this with open ears will appreciate it from front to back. We are very excited for people to hear it and to start receiving feedback.

Are you guys doing anything special/interesting/fun to promote the album?

Promoting the album is one of the funnest things we have been doing. We have been hustling our name and music to anyone that will give us a half of a second, from people pumping gas to people sitting down at a local restaurant trying to eat their dinner, hahaha. Plus, everything we have been doing with our social networks, such as, twitter, myspace, facebook. We have weekly contests and chats with all of our fans getting them pumped on our album release. We also make appearances at prime venues during prime show times and push our name and music to everyone we can. We make everyday an adventure when it comes to promotion, we want people to check us out!

Do you guys have any touring plans? Or are you currently on tour?

We are currently not on tour, as of right now we are planning out our schedule for the summer. A lot of exciting opportunities are to come!

What are some of your goals for This Love?

As of right now our main goal is to stay true to ourselves as musicians and as individuals, push our name and our music to as many listeners, in as many areas as possible. And most of all, have a blast with what we re doing and do it to the best of our abilities. We are a blessed group of kids that get to do what we love everyday.

How did you get started playing music?

I got started playing music as long ago as i can remember. Once I got into high-school, I bought my first acoustic guitar and it was all downhill from there. I caught a disease. An incurable one.

What are some of your major musical influences?

Wow, major musical influences? I wouldn’t know where to begin, but if i have to i would say, (as a band) our major influences are probably U2, Van Halen, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Third Eye Blind, The Maine, My Favorite Highway. And personally I will tell you im a sucker for blues. I love John Mayer, but you’ll always catch me listening to MJ, Stevie Ray, Robert Johnson, B.B. King. I love any music with a whole lot of feel. Never can get enough feel. But I would never be able to hit the tip of the ice burg when it comes to all of our influences.

What has been the biggest accomplishment for This Love?

We have accomplished soooo much already for being such a new band. But that is something I don’t personally like talking about at this point in time. We are ready for the future, because the accomplishments ahead are much more important.

Any last words for our readers?

AHH, last words, my favorite thing… haha.. This Love is all about making a difference in the world and in the time we have ahead. We are very passionate about what we do and how we do it. We are ready to express our love through our music and actions. We are ready to help bring back love to this world, and what it really means to care. And to the people, follow your dreams, love with all your heat, never ever give up, don’t take no for an answer, pick up your passion whatever it may be and DO NOT put it down, stay true to who you are and get to work, the world needs you.

Paper Tongues Interview – June 14th 2010

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I recently had the opportunity to ask the band Paper Tongues a few questions about their sound, album and dream collaborations…

Please introduce yourself and your role in the band…
Joey Signa, I play electric guitar and merch guy.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard you before?
We are very much a fusion of several different styles. I think U2 meets Mutemath meets Journey. It is different. The only way of really knowing is hearing Aswans voice, then you’ve heard us.

What kind of emotions or stories went into recording your debut album?
So much. It was quite a collaboration. We all threw as much of ourselves as we could into one computer then sorted threw the mess and picked out what made sense. There was a lot of back and forth and it took lots of ears to complete it but that is what made it what it is! We’re not selfish with our music.

What’s your favorite song on the album?
I love Everybody and Get Higher. Both are emotional and have so much meaning.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be
and why?
I personally would love to work with Death Cab For Cutie. I love what they have created and what the guitarist, Chris, pulls out of each song.

If you had to cover any one hit wonder in music history (ex. Who Let The
Dogs Out) what song would you choose?
I love playing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Won’t Back Down is such a soulful song that is simple but feels so good.

If you could go back in time and talk to a younger version of yourself, what
would you tell them?
Don’t be afraid of conflict. Often times on the other side of it is freedom and a path that wasn’t previously open.

How would define ‘success’?
Success is growth. It’s coming from one place to another in the midst of change. Success is never a destination, it’s simply a mindset.

Thanks to the band and Kaytea from XO Publicity for helping set this up!

Terrible Things Interview – June 18, 2010

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I recently called up Fred Mascherino (ex-Taking Back Sunday, The Color Fred) to discuss his new band Terrible Things. See what Fred has to say about the current tour with Anberlin, the new record and future goals for Terrible Things.

Can you please introduce yourself and your role in Terrible Things?

I’m Fred Mascherino and I play guitar and sing in Terrible Things.

Who else is involved in Terrible Things? How did the project start?

The other two members are Andy Jackson and Josh Eppard. I was doing a solo tour with The Color Fred with me and my guitar and Andy was at the club in Montgomery, Alabama where he lives. He came up afterwards and we were talking, saying how he liked the songs and that we should play together sometime. Nothing too serious. I took his number and as soon as I got home I called him because I am big fan of him as well. So I called him and I sent him some demos I had of some new stuff and he was really into it. Pretty much when Andy got on-board things started moving really quickly. Andy is just a super positive guy and really motivational that it just started moving quick. Next thing we know Josh Eppard was playing with us too. When he was Coheed and Cambria I was a big fan of him so it was really cool. That is where we are at right now. Next thing we know we recorded an album and now we are on tour.

Can you tell me some information about the new record and what we can expect?

Yeah, the record is finally finished. We spent a good 6 months on it and recorded it down in Birmingham, Alabama. It is a concept record about a series of fires that happened in my hometown. In 08-09, there were almost 50 arson fires that pretty much terrorized our city and people were angry and also scared. I was getting emotional about it myself so I wrote a few songs about it thinking no one would ever hear it. After I had several written about it, you know, I started to turn it into something and Andy got in on it. He had a house fire in his apartment a couple years ago so he was relating to the whole thing. He lost all of his stuff in that fire. It was just by coincidence that we both felt strongly about this sort of fear and things like that. Once the 3 of us got into a room, we put together 15 songs and it’s done. The record comes out August 31.

So, you guys are happy with what you guys have put out on this record?

Oh man, this is the most proud I have ever been of something I have created. We did it exatly the way we wanted to. We were able to take our time and it wasn’t really about the budget. It was about getting it right. The drums are all really live and it’s not your typical drum replacing with samples that you get on a lot of records these days. It sounds like Josh playing in a room and it hits really hard. There are just lots of layers of guitars. It’s a normal rock record with two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. We have a song on there called “Conspiracy” that has a 124 tracks that we used. So, we went all out in different ways each time. We are super into it and super excited.

You guys are currently on tour with Anberlin and Story Of The Year. Even though last night was the first night of the tour, how is it going so far?

It has been awesome. I mean, Anberlin is right where we want to be. We are just starting out and getting the word out. But they are a band that has been around for years and is finally getting the success they deserve. It’s nice to pick their brains about we should do next and also try to win over their fans. There have been a lot of kids at the shows so far.

And you guys are playing Warped Tour, correct? Are you looking forward to that?

Right. We have a show with 30 Seconds To Mars then we are going out with The Offspring for a week. It’s sort of a different type of door compared to all of our backgrounds. We are just trying it all. At some points on the record, we allowed ourselves to get out of our comfort zone and try something new and that is also kind of what this Offspring tour is. It should be really good. It is a way for us to play out west.

What are some of your goals for Terrible Things?

Well, you know, a lot of people may think this is just a project or a “side” thing but it is very much our focus and what we would like to be doing for the next 10 years. So everything we do we keep in mind that we want this and we are making it our first priority over everything else and put in 110%. Of course, we have to have enough success to be able to continue and honestly, that is why we spent so much time on the record and we really think that other people will get excited when they hear it. Our goals are pretty much musical. Just play the best music we ever have. There is sort of a lack of popular bands that try and play their instruments well and we are just trying to do that. It is an uphill battle but we feel like we made something that people can get behind that also has some really cool playing. Josh does some insane grooves on the record. It gets a little technical toward the end. There is a song that is a bit Coheed-ish. For the most part, it is straight-ahead rock and there are guitar solos on half the songs. That is something you don’t really hear anymore. I feel confident saying that there is no one out there doing exactly what we are doing right now.

Where did the name “Terrible Things” come from?

It came from a song that I have. The lyrics in that song says “We are doing terrible things.” It is kind of fitting for what our record is about. The concept of the record is like “How did we get to this place?” Our world as we know it, my town, was out of control. One of the songs on there is called “Revolution” and the chorus is “This is not a revolution” and it’s just like “Where are we going?” and “How can we make things better?” It deals with a lot of the darker elements of the world. I always tend to have a positive take on things but Terrible Things went around all things I have experienced.

Any last words for our readers?

I encourage everyone to check out the record. Most of all, come to our live shows. This band is very old school in that we are going to try and put on the very best possible live shows. We will be meeting people afterwards. So come out not only to see the shows but to hang out also. It should be a really exciting year and I hope as many of you can come out as possible.

The Great Valley Interview – June 14, 2010

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Can you please introduce yourself and your role in The Great Valley?

I’m Louis. I sing lead vocals and play drums on the record. I’m Nick and I sing back up and play guitar.

How did The Great Valley come together?

Nick and I are brothers and have been playing music together since 1999. We decided to start something new together. We took the ball and started running with it…we still are haha.

Your new EP, Wrecking Ball, came out last month. Tell me a little bit about the EP and the process of putting it together.

The EP is one of the biggest pieces to the puzzle for us. It is our life’s work to date. We want everyone that hears it to understand that we put everything we have in us to make this record. This was the first time “pre-production” was introduced into the process. We had no idea how to do it and are blessed to have worked with such a great producer like Matt Robnett. We just clicked and learned so much from him.

The EP was written and recorded by both of you guys. How was doing this by yourself? Where did you learn how to do this?

It was the most fun, draining, inspiring and ridiculous experience. One word to put it all together would be Meticulous. We left no corner cut or inch looked over to make sure we captured the sound we wanted. This has been bottled up inside of us and finally unleashed. We learned how to do this after YEARS of writing and recording. This may be the first release from us but we’ve struggled to put something like this out our whole lives.

What are your plans to release a full length in the future?

haha funny you ask. Even before we released this EP we were writing for the full length. Once we figured out the formula it has been non stop writing. We can’t help take how we are feeling at the moment and put it down on a track. We’ve been demoing and working to piece the next puzzle together. We think people will be surprised with the newer material compared to the EP.

I heard that you guys are playing acoustically to the fans waiting at the gates of Warped Tour this summer. How are you feeling about that?

Nervous and excited at the same time. Excited to finally get out in front of people and nervous for their reaction. We want people to have fun with us. It was awesome writing and recording so we expect it to be just as fun playing for everyone.

How did you get started playing music?

Our mother is a vocalist and our father is a drummer. It was around us all through our childhood. One day they said, “Hey do you guys want to take music lessons?” and Nick said, “I wanna try the guitar” and I said, “I’ll go for the drums”. haha and the rest has been years of practice. Anytime someone asks me what it’s like to play music with your brother I say, “Imagine hacking at a tree the size of the empire state building with a tiny ax”. We justkeep hacking and hacking at it.

What are some of your goals for The Great Valley?

Our number one goal is to be able to write, record and play music full time. 9-5 jobs are not for us. Number two is to make our parents proud. They have sacrificed more than you could imagine for us to get this far. So our success is their success.

Any last words for our readers?

Yes, follow us on twitter and facebook. Keep your eyes peeled for an acoustic EP we will be releasing soon and come see us at warped tour. We are going to play a set in the morning while the line forms and a set inside at a tent that will be announced that day via twitter. We’ll have a LOT of hang out time so come hang!

Society’s Plague Interview – June 3, 2010

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Can you please introduce yourself and your role in Society’s Plague?

I’m Joe, I play guitar for Society’s Plague and am one of the founding members.

How did Society’s Plague get started? What is the history of the band?

It’s a pretty long story, on how the band got started. Here is the short version, Me, Matt, Roger and our old bassist got together to make a band in high school. It took us a few years to start getting serious, mostly because we couldn’t find a stable drummer. Before we found a drummer we found Kate to play keyboard, after that we had a few drummers here and there, the longest one lasted about a year.

Then our old bassist quit, and we found Mike to play bass and do some back up vocals for us. Not too long after that we found JD, we had actually asked him to play drums for us years ago, but he was too busy with his band at the time. When JD joined Society’s Plague, it was the first time it  felt like we had THE drummer for SP.

From that point, we started playing a lot more shows, recorded our EP, The Mercy Untold, and eventually all our hard work lead us to a deal with Stand and Deliver Records.

Tell me a little bit about your new album The Human The Canvas that comes out in June.

We recorded The Human, The Canvas with Ben Schigel, and Tony Gammalo at Spider Studios near Cleveland, Ohio. In the middle of recording with Ben and Tony we ended up getting hit head on by a drunk driver, our van was totaled, three of us spent the night in the hospital, and came out with some broken bones. But we pushed through it and the album was only a few days behind schedule.

The album is a great mix of all of our musical influences, we have a base melodic metalcore style but we really try and put all elements of metal into these songs.

We think that anyone that likes any form of  Metal should dig The Human, The Canvas, it has powerful clean choruses, guitar harmonies, lots of keyboards, solos, breakdowns and a lot more.”¨We are very excited about the release of the album,  we have already had a great response to it.

How was it working with Ben Schiegl and Tony Gammalo (Chimaira, Drowning Pool, Misery Signals, It Dies Today) and Alan Douches (Mastadon, Shadows Fall)?

Ben and Tony are great, all the recording sessions were very relaxed, we had a great time.

They helped us pound out some ideas for songs that we probably would’ve never thought of, and got us some great tones out of all of our instruments. We would love to do another album with them.”¨We also had Alan Douches (Nile, Shadows Fall) from West West Side take care of the mastering for The Human, The Canvas, he did a killer job. He really made everything sound great and just took it to the next level for us.

What are your touring plans for the remainder of 2010?

We have a tour already planned out through KY, IL, IA, NE, TX and TN that is starting soon.

We are also have a tour coming up with two other national bands that we cant announce yet, that tour will be going across the entire eastern US. After our East Coast tour we are hoping to jump on another tour package that will lead us to our West Coast fans.

You guys were just added to the Dirt Fest lineup. How do you guys feel about this?

We were very excited about it, we had heard some great things about it and some great bands have played it in the past. Unfortunately Dirt Fest has been cancelled for this year, but hopefully you will get to see Society’s Plague on the 2011 Dirt Fest Lineup.

What would you say are some of your major musical influences?

Overall as a band we are influenced by a ton of different musical styles, anything from old school death metal, melodic deathmetal, metalcore, alternative rock, punk to classical.ӬCollectively some of our biggest band influences are: In Flames, Killswitch Engage, Iron Maiden and Insomnium.

How did you get started playing music?

I got a guitar for Christmas when I was in 6th grade and it all started there for me.ӬFor the most part we all casually played instruments till we all met, then things started to get serious, and we had thoughts about starting the band.

What are some of your goals for Society’s Plague?

We would really like to get over to the West Coast, Europe, and Australia to do some shows and festivals by the end of the year, cause we have some great fans in all those places. We defiantly want to keep putting out great music and playing live shows for a long time.Ӭ

Any last words for our readers?

Keep an eye out for us in upcoming issues of Guitar Edge Magazine, and Drum Magazine, and be sure to watch our Myspace and Facebook pages for new tour dates, and new merch designs, we will be posting them soon. We should also have some contests coming up.

Paper Tongues Interview-April 29, 2010

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Can you please introduce yourself and your role in Paper Tongues?
Hello, this is Devin Michael Forbes, guitarist for Paper Tongues.

How did the band get started?
We all met uptown Charlotte, NC at an improv music experience that happened every 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Saturday of every month.  We would plug a P.A. system into the city’s power on the corner or Trade and Tryon which is the main intersection in the middle of the city.  We all played there periodically and that’s how we all got acquainted found out that we all could play together.  Years later when Aswan was putting together a band, he called on us all.  We all dropped what we were doing for the opportunity to play music together that really meant something to us.  I dropped out of college and I don’t regret a thing.

Any particular reason for the name Paper Tongues?

When we came together in ’07, it was me, Cody, one of our buddies Nicolas Balachandran, and some of the other guys.  Nicolas and I had been in a previous band with Cody and we all felt some similarities with the two bands.  Nicolas asked Aswan if he would take on the old name of Paper Tongues and Aswan Loved it.  So, we adopted the name from then on.  Nicolas is now one of our main producers.

Your debut album just came out in March. How do you feel about the album?

I love it.  It feels so good to finally have something to put in people’s hands after a show.  We toured for so long without any merchandise I thought maybe we would never release this album.  But, I am very pleased with every song on the album.  I really believe there is a song for everybody on it.  It bounces around from so many different styles and hits on so many different emotions lyrically.  I still get blown away by Aswan’s voice when I listen to the songs.  Dude can sing.

How would you describe the sound of your music to new listeners?

Rock-n-Roll, hip-hop, funk, soul, country, folk, dance, trance, ambient, etc.  You really just have to listen to it.  If you only listen to one song from the album, you will have no idea what we really sound like.

What are your touring plans for the rest of 2010?

We’re doing some festival’s we’re excited about.  Bamboozle on the 1st of May in a couple days, and Bonnaroo is coming up too.  We’re doing a tour with Civil Twilight and Neon Tree’s which I can’t wait for.  After that, there is a ton of tours in the planning process, but nothing confirmed yet.  Lopez Tonight and Jimmy Fallon are coming up as well!

How did you get started playing music?

I started playing guitar when I was about 10 probably.  I was really into Metallica back then, but I couldn’t play any of Kirk hammett’s parts.  So, I learned every Nirvana song I could.  “Come as You Are” was the first song I learned.  I looked up to my older brother who was always playing Nirvana, Tool, Metallica, Allice in Chains, Orgy, etc.  I would make him show me whatever he was learning.  My first guitar was a B.C. Rich Mockingbird.  I customized it with James Hetfield’s EMG humbucker pickups.  Hah, I’ve come a long way since then.

What are some of your goals for Paper Tongues?

We want to tour as much as possible and bring this live experience to as many people as we can.  We’re really proud of the album and are going to push it on radio till your ears bleed.  This music gives us hope to keep on going, and we want to give that hope to others.  We want to inspire people to do something they love with their lives.  We want to inspire a generation with music.

Who would you say are some of your major influences?

Nels Cline is my hero when it comes to guitar, and Wilco is on of my favorite bands as well.  Television, The Roots, Modest Mouse, Talking Heads, The Cure, The Smiths, Pete Anderson.  I could go on forever.  Paul Simon, Tears for Fears, D’angelo, I need to stop.

Any last words for our readers?

Get up and do something you love to do.  Right now.  Get off the computer, unless computer stuff is what you love.

Interview: The Dirty Heads

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The Dirty Heads are releasing their new album, Any Port In A Storm [Special Edition], today! Check out a few questions the band answered below.

What is the history behind the band?

We met at a star wars convention tripping balls on acid. And we were all dressed as our favorite character”¦ princess leah

Tell me about some of the albums The Dirty Heads have put out/currently working on?

We are working on a new album right now and were really stoked, and a special edition cd is out on april 27 with 8 new songs unheard.

What are some of your major musical influences?

Beasties, Horace andy, lots of blues and folk and old reggae.

How did you get started playing music?

From duddy he really brought me into it.

What are your touring plans for the future?

Keep touring as long as possible. On a nation wide tour now, hopefully going over seas soon

What are some of your goals for The Dirty Heads?

Soccer ones

Favorite bands at the moment?

Black keys, massive attack and the new jayz is on rotation pretty heavy on the bus.

Be sure to check out the bands new album, Any Port In A Storm, in stores now.

You Me At Six Interview – March 17, 2010

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Can you  please introduce yourself and your role in You Me At Six?

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!

The Dangerous Summer Interview – February 21, 2010

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Can you please introduce yourself and your role in The Dangerous Summer?

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 is done?

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.

Your full length album Reach For The Sun was released in May of 2009. Overall, how do you feel about this album?

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.

How is Reach For The Sun different than the earlier EP’s you put out?

I just think that the EP is kind of less mature. I think Reach For The Sun is more developed. We wrote all of the EP when we were in high school so it’s like I can’t even imagine my mindset back then. I was so young. The thing is we were never a local band. Our second show ever was out of state. No need to be a local band. You can be a local band every where. We just started touring. Writing in high school we kind of did it by ourselves. No one really had that much faith in it and we just kind of left and did our own thing.

How did you get started playing music?

When I was in middle school I started playing bass and for some reason I became the default song writer.  I was the one who started writing lyrics. Back then I was really bad at singing but over the years I feel I’ve improved. I took vocal lessons senior year in high school like a short run just to preserve my voice and learned some methods to help me out.

Who would you say is your biggest inspiration and why?

A.J.: Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World and wow, um, that’s hard. What do you think Brian? Let’s bring Brian into this. Who is your biggest inspiration?

Brian: I’d say Tom Delonge [of Blink 182]. Definitely my biggest inspiration.

What are some of your goals for The Dangerous Summer?

I think we all just really want to make a living out of it. Like eventually get a house together and chill, you know? Drive around the country, keep writing songs. We just got into song writing yesterday. We went into the studio and wrote some pop songs for TV. We just want to make a career out of music in the long run.

Any last words?

Definitely check out our album Reach For The Sun and much love.

Thank you to A.J. Perdomo 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.

The Chariot Interview – February 8, 2010

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Can you please introduce yourself and your role in The Chariot?

My name is wolf and I play bass in The Chariot. Wolf is a nickname from my previous job as a mascot. Not because I think I’m tough.

Your latest album, Wars And Rumors Of Wars, came out in May of 2009. What have you been doing in the past year to support the album?

We’ve been doing support tours into our headliner which we are on now, Tours and Rumors of Tour, Tour.

How do you feel Wars And Rumors Of Wars is different than other material The Chariot has released?

Wars in my opinion is more well rounded than any of our other records. The song structure is more dynamic which gives each song life without the other songs around it. I like it.

What can we expect from The Chariot in 2010?

Well, This Tour. Tours and Rumors of Tour, Tour which extends into Europe. Then we will be writing and recording to release a record most likely by the end of 2010

Being a Christian band, how has being a Christian influenced your music and your life in general?

Saying we are a christian band sounds silly to me. My relationship with Jesus is my everything, so I guess after this band I hope to be a christian dad, own a christian car, and maybe even be a christian mascot again.  But in the band, we are all christians, and every lyric, and every show is for Jesus.

You guys are currently on tour with Greeley Estates, Inhale/Exhale, Memphis May Fire, and The Color Morale, how is that tour going so far?

It’s is going well! Right now I am icing my knee from something that happened during the show last night. All I know is that I can feel my heart beating in my knee, and that is not good.

How did you get started playing music?

I started playing drums in 5th grade, played machinehead by bush in the 6th grade talent show, and the rest is history. Haha

What are some of your overall goals for The Chariot?

My goal for The Chariot is to not expect anything, but rather let it be what its suppose to be and enjoy the ride.

Any last words for our readers?

Bands are made up of people, and people should never be put on a pedestal. What is this band other than an opportunity to point to something worth praising? Nothing.