I sent over some questions to Open the Portal, the directors of Fall Out Boy’s “Love from the Other Side” video, and you can find that, along with some behind the scenes photos from the video shoot below.
Read More “Open the Portal — Directors of Fall Out Boy’s “Love from the Other Side” Video”
A couple of weeks ago I jumped on a Zoom call with Midtown to talk about the band’s upcoming tour dates with My Chemical Romance, their plans for the future, looking back at their career with the benefit of hindsight, and what it was like for all of us to grow up in this music scene. Our conversation can be found below.
Read More “Midtown”
Acceptance are back and have spent the last year working on a new album. I recently had the chance to talk with lead singer Jason Vena about getting the band back together and what lead to that decision, the differences in the music industry from when the band first broke into the music scene to now, and what the new songs are going to sound like. We also talked about the entire process of recording this album, how the band is taking their time through the process, and why it took ten years for Jason to once again feel like he had something he wanted to say musically. Our full conversation can be found below, only lightly edited, and make sure you pre-order the band’s upcoming album if you haven’t already.
On December 2nd, 2014, I had the chance to sit down and talk with Aaron Marsh of Copeland about their new album Ixora, the band’s future, and what it was like to get back together.
My relationship with Yellowcard begins over a decade ago and the musical connection and ensuing friendship now runs deeper and longer than many of my “in real life” relationships. On October 7th, 2014 the band will be releasing their most ambitious album to date, Lift a Sail. I had the chance to sit down and talk with lead singer Ryan Key about everything that went into crafting this album, the stories and inspiration behind the musical direction, and so much more.
This interview took place on October 7th, 2013 with Jeremy McKinnon, the lead singer of A Day to Remember. The band’s new album, Common Courtesy, is now available online.
Read More “Jeremy McKinnon of A Day to Remember”
We teamed up with PropertyOfZack to sit down with Chris Holmes, the co-producer and engineer behind Blink-182’s new EP, Dogs Eating Dogs.
What was it like going from working on Neighborhoods on and off for two years to doing Dogs Eatings Dogs in just over a month in terms of your role and it’s shift?
A very wild, yet familiar ride.
On Neighborhoods, while you could say we were on and off for two years, the crunch time “on” part was the last month or so. What I’ve found with most things with a deadline with bands, is you figure out the deadline, and you pack as much in as possible…and even more up until the last moment..It is the nature of the beast. There is no finishing early. There is always a need for more time. I call it End-of Record-itis.
With Dogs Eating Dogs, we were initially kind of casually starting to work on songs for the new LP for next year, and the next thing you know, we have one month to write, record, mix, and master for a Christmas release.
It ramped up quick as far as picking which ideas to focus on and really planning out how to make it happen within that time frame. My role essentially was the same as far as co-producer and engineer for the songs. What I’m trying to do as a co-producer is voice what I think the listener would want to hear, while also serving the song and balancing the artistic desires of the band. At the end of the day, the three guys decide what to do, but I can chime in and say my peace and hopefully offer a different perspective on things.
What I’m doing as engineer is trying to honor the legacy of the sounds from previous records and add my own touch to it. For example, if you listen to TOYPAJ Travis’s toms sound HUGE. I made a point to do the same treatment on them with this recording. The vocal sound on the “Untitled” record I really like, so I made sure to use the same vocal mic and recording chain from that record. To get even more micro, we had a different drum setup for almost every section of every song. For example on “Pretty Little Girl” ‘s pre-choruses we used these Zildjian 13″ hi-hats that were tight so you can hear every hit Travis is doing, and then when the chorus hits we put up this super-cracking OCDP Bell Brass Snare drum.
The only role change I had was being a little more hands-on with the delivery of the album and making sure it made it to iTunes, and to the bundles.
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On May 5th, 2012, I had the chance to talk with Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem about the band’s album, Handwritten. We also touch on a variety of other topics as well.
We recently had a chance to conduct a quick interview with Steve of New Found Glory. We’d like to say thank you to the band (for being a huge inspiration in the foundation of this very website) and to Steve in particular for taking time out of his day to answer a few questions for us. The band’s new album Coming Home hits stores September 19th, 2006.
Read More “Steve Klein of New Found Glory”
This interview was conducted over the phone with Mark Hoppus on August 14th, 2006. A huge thank you goes out to Ingrid at Interscope for setting this up and of course Mark for participating in the interview with us. For those of you that don’t know, Mark Hoppus is the former bassist for Blink-182 and is currently finishing up work with Travis Barker on their new project +44.
Read More “Mark Hoppus of +44”
First, thank you for doing this with me.
Hey what’s up? Glad to be here.
Awesome. So you got time to answer a few questions?
Sure thing dude.
Read More “Scott Raynor (formerly) of Blink-182”
So, is it [the new album] going to be released on MCA? That has sort of been debated by a lot of different people.
Gabe: Yes.
Are you guys excited about that?
Tyler: Yeah, oh yeah.
Gabe: Yeah, we are excited we don’t have to do another record on Drive-Thru.
Hahah. Oh, shit, you guys don’t like Drive-Thru, or what?
Gabe and Tyler: Hate Drive-Thru.
Read More “Midtown”