Projekt Revolution 2008 Preview Interview Alex Varkatzas and Jesse Hasek

From The Crowd had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Alex Varkatzas (Atreyu) and Jesse Hasek (10 Years), who will be performing on this years Revolution Stage to discuss this summers Projekt Revolution Tour!

 

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Vanessa Franko, the Press Enterprise.  Please go ahead.

V. Franko                    My question is, how exciting was it for you when you guys found out that you’re going to be part of the Projekt Revolution tour?

 

A. Varkatzas               This is Alex from Atreyu.  It’s rad, you know what I mean?  It’s a huge tour to do, like Linkin Park is a rad great band, so we’re really excited to be out there and play a rad tour.

 

J. Hasek                       This is Jesse from 10 Years.  The feeling’s mutual.  It’s an honor to even be part of a tour that’s so big and to be along with Linkin Park, because they’re astronomically huge right now.  So it’s going to be fun.

 

V. Franko                    Do you guys have any like special production setup for the tour at all that you know of yet?

 

A. Varkatzas               This is Alex.  Just basically in-your-face rock ‘n roll, probably a lot of sweating, maybe a tiny bit of blood, and maybe some …; maybe a little …

 

V. Franko                    Very cool.

 

J. Hasek                       This is Jesse.  It’s pretty much just a rock show, going out there and giving 110%.

V. Franko                    Great, thank you guys so much.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Chad Childers, Westwood One.  Please go ahead.

C. Childers                  You guys play on the Revolution stage this year.  I talked to the other guys who were on the main stage last year; they basically say that they know they have to bring it because there’s such a great amount of talent on the second stage this time around.  I’m just curious what you guys are going to do in terms of your show and if there’s anybody obviously with the great lineup that you’re interested to see this year.

A. Varkatzas               This is Alex.  I don’t know.  We just want to shred.  We want to get out there and jam, like – it’s an honor to be out there for us with some legendary dudes and legendary bands, so we’re just going to get out there and try to like be worthy of being out there.  So as far as like gimmicks and stuff like that, like – or not gimmicks, like staging and stuff, like – I don’t know, like we play on a stage that’s a semi truck and it folds up at night.  There’s only really so much you can do, so rock ‘n roll.

J. Hasek                       This is Jesse.  I think he pretty much summed it up.  It’s just going to be an all-out rock show.  Our band, as a goal we try to get up there and just sort of give everybody a run for their money, and it’s almost like competitive, like – it’s fun.  You like to see the bands, and you see a lot of bands, and you watch – when they have a good performance, you know that you’ve got to bring your A-game just to stay at par with them.  So it’s cool and I think we’ll all challenge ourselves.

C. Childers                  Okay.  Also, just because it is such a great lineup, you’re going to be seeing these people day in, day out, and touring with them all summer long.  Any bands you’re really excited to see that’s part of the bill with you?

A. Varkatzas               I’m just really excited to see Linkin Park.  I mean, outside from all the other acts, I’m not just … them, but Linkin Park, I mean, it’s going to be rad.  I’ve never seen them before and I really, really like their new record so I’m really excited to see it every night.

J. Hasek                       I’m going to try to pretty much see everyone, definitely Linkin Park, and to see just how big of a crowd.  It’s amazing to see that many people come out for a band, but I like to see everyone, especially bands that I haven’t seen yet.  I’m even curious to see Atreyu.  I haven’t seen you guys yet.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Alan Sculley, Last Word Features.  Please go ahead.

A. Sculley                   Alex, I’ll ask you this one in particular:  You guys have had a pretty good deal of success here with Lead Sails Paper Anchor and a couple of singles have done pretty well.  I wonder how you think that success is going to translate to being on this tour.  It’d be easy to feel like you’ve got these big names out there with you; how do you get your own crowd to come out.  But I wonder how you feel now that you’ve had some of the success about just what kind of exposure you’ll get on Projekt Revolution.

A. Varkatzas               Every step that you can take forward is a good step, and we definitely feel like this tour is a step forward with us, you know what I mean?  I don’t know about us being like all that successful or anything, that’s going to affect how we play.  We’re just excited to be on a great tour.  It’s going to be huge.  We’re just going to play to a ton of people every day that’s like a mix of all these different band fans; it’s going to be a rad time.  We definitely hope that some of the kids who are into us come out.

J. Hasek                       I think a blessing in disguise too is getting fans that come out for the bigger acts that might not have ever seen us.  That’s our chance to win them over and to get new fans. 

A. Sculley                   Thanks much, guys.

 

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Gary Graff with Billboard.  Please go ahead.

G. Graff                      I wanted to hear from you a little bit about what you’re planning to do in terms of set list.  Jesse, if you can talk a little bit about the Division album and what you guys set out to do, and how much of that you feel like you’re going to be able to play during the show.  Then Alex, is there going to be a different kind of balance now that Lead Sails Paper Anchor has been out?  Also, do you guys have anything you’re going to put out new in time for the tour?

J. Hasek                       This is Jesse.  The Division record, we really tried to challenge ourselves and go in a different direction than the last record, but – it’s still definitely the 10 Years sound, but we’ve got a lot of ups and downs, it’s like a roller coaster ride.  We have some of the most aggressive stuff we’ve written that really translates well live, and then we have some more chilled-out melodic stuff.  As of the set playing, I guess we’re a little selfish, because we’ve played the old songs for so long that – it’s going to be pretty new-song heavy, but it will be about 50/50.

G. Graff                      All right.  Then, Alex, what’s the charge?

A. Varkatzas               Basically on this tour, the tour that we’re on now, we’ve kind of worked in playing a balance of new songs and select old material.  So I think on Projekt Rev it’s going to be definitely the same thing; we’re going to play like 50% new material and 50% songs from the other three records.

G. Graff                      Alex, with Atreyu, are you guys planning on putting out an EP or something, to be –

A. Varkatzas               On the 22nd of April we have a re-release of Lead Sails Paper Anchor coming out with enhanced CD-Vue content and a whole bunch of crazy stuff like that.  Then it also has a cover of “Epic,” Faith No More; a cover of “Clean Sheets” by the Descendants, and a brand-new song that we recorded just for this re-release; it’s not from a Lead Sails session, called The Squeeze.

G. Graff                      If you don’t mind, talk a little about that song, and also about doing those covers.

A. Varkatzas               The covers we did where they were part of a separate session that we did right after we did Lead Sails and we just had them, you know what I mean?  And we ended up using “Epic” as like a bonus on the original release of the record, and we just saved Descendants.  And then The Squeeze was just something new we wanted; if we were going to do a re-release, we wanted to actually have value to it, and the CD-Vue is awesome and gave it a lot, but we thought a new song would be really cool too, so we wrote a new jam.  It’s pretty heavy, it’s pretty thrashy, it’s good. 

 

G. Graff                      All right, good, thanks, and good luck with that.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Don Kaye, United Stations.  Please go ahead.

D. Kaye                       This is for Alex, and Jesse, you can chime in too.  Atreyu has done Warp Tour, Taste of Chaos, you guys – Family Values.  You guys are definitely big festival-goers.  What at this point makes for a good festival for you?  At the end of a festival when you look back, what makes it a great experience?

A. Varkatzas               Being parked close to the port-a-potties usually helps me.  Jesse, if you – we usually end up in a parking lot, to be honest.  Like Linkin Park, we’ll be on the normal stage, and then we’ll be on a semi truck that like transforms into a stage in the middle of a parking lot.  So the only thing that really matters is the shows; if the show is rad, then a positive experience, and there’s like good energy, then I walk away from that being like, dude, I don’t care.  I’m sweaty, I’m a mess; there’s nothing to do, but that’s the way it goes.  As long as the show is good.

D. Kaye                       The other thing I wanted to ask, with the festival landscape being pretty crowded this year with a lot of – not just the traveling shows like Warped and the new Rock Star Mayhem tour and Projekt, but even some of the standalone festivals that are out there, how do you guys feel about kind of the competition and just for the advanced ticket dollars?

A. Varkatzas               I don’t know.  Having done some of the other tours, I don’t think there’s that much competition.  I think the people on the tours definitely don’t think of it that way and I don’t think the fans do.  I just think that it’s more incentive for the promoters to put together solid lineups, and I think that this year’s Projekt drive is pretty solid, so it will speak for itself.  Linkin Park, Linkin Park, Linkin Park too. 

D. Kaye                       Right on.  Thanks, guys.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Steve Perry of The CollegeScape.  Please go ahead.

S. Perry                       You mentioned that this was a chance to win over some new fans.  How do you guys actually plan on winning them over, and will you be doing any meet-and-greets or fan discussions after the shows?

J. Hasek                       Definitely, I’ve got to do as many meet-and-greets as I can, because I think when you do that personal – get on a personal level with fans, it means a lot to them and you’ll get more of a loyal fan.  But winning them over, you just have to get up there and do what you do best and do the best shows that you can perform.  Sometimes you have good ones, sometimes you have bad ones, but if you get up there with energy, I think that you can easily win a crowd over.

 

S. Perry                       Excellent.  Thank you.

Moderator                   A question from the line of Tim  Nydellwith RockBottom.  Please go ahead.

T. Nydell                     I was wondering what’s going through your minds right now as you prepare, the beginning phase of the preparing for the show this summer?

A. Varkatzas               To be honest, I’m excited, but there’s really not much that needs to go on.  We’re kind of always touring, so we’re just basically getting ready to go out there and just play another awesome tour, and we’re real excited about it.  If you can gather at Linkin Park like 10 Years, all these great bands, and like – dude, it’s going to be a great experience.  So I just sit and stare at a Linkin Park poster and I just do push-ups. 

J. Hasek                       This is Jesse from 10 Years.  I think when you‘re in a band and you’re touring day in and day out, you don’t really think too far ahead; you just take it a day at a time, because you’re traveling to a new city every single day.  So you just sort of take it a step at a time and it just happens.  I don’t think you really – I don’t personally do any kind of yoga or anything for it.

T. Nydell                     Push-ups.

J. Hasek                       I do push-ups, I’m not going to lie.

A. Varkatzas               Yes, I might do a couple too.

 

T. Nydell                     All right, thanks, guys.  Hope to see you guys out there.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Mike Chaiken, Bristol Observer.  Please go ahead.

M. Chaiken                 I was talking yesterday to Mike of Linkin Park and he was talking about Projekt Revolution’s connection with Music for Relief and how a lot of the tour is very ecologically conscious – biofuel busses and things like that.  And as bands and as role models for the kids out there, how important is it for you to be on a tour that’s so ecologically conscious?

A. Varkatzas               I think that’s great, that’s a good thing.  I’m going to be honest with you:  I don’t know if our bus is going to be bio-friendly.  That might be a financial alternative that my band cannot afford.  I don’t think that’s as inexpensive as it should be, unfortunately; you know what I mean?  But I will be doing some moderate to heavy recycling throughout the tour.

J. Hasek                       I think we fall in the exact same category.  I mean, it’s cool that technology is going in the way of protecting the environment, but I don’t think every bus out there is going to be ecologically friendly.  Every step we can take forward is a good direction.

M. Chaiken                 Okay, thanks, guys.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Stephanie Baldwin, FormTheCrowd.com.  Please go ahead.

 

S. Baldwin                  The public has always heard about the camaraderie and the non-compete atmosphere that the Projekt Revolution tour offers to the bands involved.  Now, you’ve all been involved with different tours.  What do you think makes Projekt Revolution tour different for the bands involved, and is this part of the draw to join the lineup?

A. Varkatzas               I can’t tell you because I’m not on the tour.  I don’t know how I would be able to do that, other than to say that we’ve just heard real positive things about the Linkin Park camp and that’s very attractive when you’re getting offered a tour, besides the huge honor of being offered it.  So we kind of were like, yes, let’s do this.  Let’s do this one.

J. Hasek                       It’s really hard to determine what it’s going to be like until you’re in the middle of it, so I can’t say yet.  But it’s definitely an honor and it’s going to be a pleasure to play this thing.  We crossed paths when them in Japan a couple times, and it’s just amazing, the amount of people that come out to these shows, and that’s what I’m really excited about.

S. Baldwin                  Thank you very much.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Gary Graff.  Please go ahead.

G. Graff                      With the way the music industry is going and with the problem with CD’s selling fewer copies but downloads and things being up, how important is it for – what kind of role does this type of tour play for you guys in terms of getting people to turn on to your music, whether they wind up buying or getting it in some other way?

A. Varkatzas               To be honest, we never started the band to be concerned with those things, and at times you’re worried about your sales and you think about that kind of stuff, but I’m not going to start getting concerned with them now, you know what I mean?  Maybe I should, maybe that’s kind of stupid of me, but the way that I was brought up in the scene, we came up and we just played music.  We just want to like – … ram that stuff down your throat, that’s going to be my sales approach, you know what I mean?  I don’t need the Internet, I don’t need anything else.  I need a stage and I need my friends there with me to rock, and that’s what we’re going to do.

J. Hasek                       I think that times are changing, but it’s just like going from records to cassettes and eight-tracks – you’d have to harness change.  If you don’t accept change and go with it, you’re to get lost in the mix.  I think that the Internet is a very powerful thing for exposure.  There a lot of bands – look, like YouTube and stuff – you can’t sneeze without it being on the Internet somewhere.  So you’re definitely overexposed, and that’s a good thing.

G. Graff                      What kind of plans do you guys have after Projekt Revolution?  What’s this going to be a springboard for?

J. Hasek                       Our album is coming out May 13th, so I just know that we’re just going to be touring for at least a year or two straight, probably anywhere from 18 to 24 months.  So that’s what we’re getting prepared for.

A. Varkatzas               After Projekt Rev, we have a bunch of stuff lined up that I can’t really say yet.  But it’s going to be rad, and we probably won’t stop touring until spring or summer of next year.

G. Graff                      Are you at all thinking about the follow-up to Lead Sails Paper Anchor?

A. Varkatzas               No.  You know what I mean?  … three full-lengths, you know what I mean?  Three full-lengths, an EP and a demo, we’ve been doing this for kind of a long time.  I’m no more nervous than I would be just … record, you know?

G. Graff                      Sure.  Okay, thanks.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Chad Childers.  Please go ahead.

C. Childers                  I’m sure you guys saw plenty of festivals when you were growing up.  Can you talk about when you were seeing shows, like the first time you were going out and that experience, what that was like for you?

J. Hasek                       The festival shows are – it’s an all-day event for the fans that come out, and that’s why there’s more than one stage.  It’s almost like a summer camp in a way, when you come out and see all – there’s just so many bands to soak in.  I remember before I was even into music and going to festival shows; you’re running from one stage to the next, trying to catch all the bands that you want to see.  So that’s my experience of before I was in a band.

A. Varkatzas               I didn’t actually catch that whole question there.

C. Childers                  Just asking, I’m sure when you were growing up and seeing shows, I’m sure you caught a festival or two in your day or have seen that in your time.  Do you remember what your experiences were like, going to see these all-day shows?

A. Varkatzas               To be honest, my first festival show ever was the first OzFest that we played.  I’d never been to a festival show before.  I’m not a real big fan of tons of people and being crowded around them like that, so I just kind of always avoided that.  I was green to it until I got into it, and OzFest is a good way to cut your teeth, I guess, or break your legs, more like it.

C. Childers                  Okay.  Another question for you guys:  I know major league baseball is one of the sponsors for this year’s tour, and I was just curious, are either of you baseball fans at all?

A. Varkatzas               I’m not.

J. Hasek                       I’m probably – that’s my worst sport, so, no.

A. Varkatzas               We’re both just like, nah.

C. Childers                  Thank you.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Stephanie Baldwin.

 

S. Baldwin                  In order to make the tour more accessible to the fans, Linkin Park is covering the service charge fee if they’re fan club presale purchases.  How do you feel about this, and do you think this might be a trend in the future?  What are your thoughts on that?

A. Varkatzas               I just think it’s a great – you know what I mean, like that’s really cool.  I don’t think there should be a service charge, so maybe if bands figured out a way to get rid of it completely, they wouldn’t have to cover it.  I don’t know, like blackball TicketMaster.  I don’t know, can I even say that?  I probably just did something bad. 

J. Hasek                       Any time you can make it where the fans are paying less, I think it’s a cool thing, but I don’t know all the details to it so I can’t say too much except it’s cool that they’re helping the fans out.

A. Varkatzas               Any time a kid’s got to pay less for a ticket, that’s cool.  And that a huge band is covering the cost for their fans, that’s really cool.  I mean, if it were me, I’d buy them all the tickets, but I can’t. 

S. Baldwin                  Thank you very much.

Moderator                   We have a question from the line of Don Kaye.

D. Kaye                       Jesse, how much new material do you guys plan to play?  The album will be out; maybe you can give us a little idea of how the new stuff will fit into your live show and what fans can expect to hear.

 

J. Hasek                       Since we’re on the Projekt Rev tour here, we’re going to have a shorter set list than like a headliner or anything.  So you have to come out and really give as much energy as you can.  So a lot of the stuff’s going to be very upbeat and energetic and aggressive, and there’s a lot of stuff on the new record that’s very up-tempo and aggressive.  But the record is like a rollercoaster ride, it’s got highs and lows.  It’s got some acoustic stuff on there.  But that stuff we probably won’t play live on this festival show.

D. Kay                        Cool.  Thanks very much.

Moderator                   The final question comes from the line of Alan Sculley.

A. Sculley                   I think there’s one more for both of you.  I’m curious:  You’ve got a very diverse lineup here for both stages in Projekt Revolution and I’m curious what each of you think your band will bring that’s a little different from the rest of the lineup when you perform those days.  I don’t know if you see yourselves as really standing out in any way from the rest of the bands on the tour. 

J. Hasek                       Even on the second stage that us and Atreyu are on, our sounds are totally different, so we’re definitely going to stick out from each other.  But it might be a cool thing where we get some Atreyu fans and they get some 10 Years fans, so that’s always a good thing, to be exposed to people that wouldn’t normally see you or don’t know who you are.

 

A. Varkatzas               That’s definitely the way I look at it.  I look at it more as like a – I don’t know, I think every band brings something, so it’ll just be rad to get out there with so many bands offering so much different stuff, and just a real diverse show.

A. Sculley       Okay.  Thanks again, guys.

Projekt Revolution Tour Preview 2008 Mike Shinoda, Sam Endicott, Chris Cornell

From The Crowd had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Mike Shindo from Linkin Park, Sam Endicott from The Bravery and Chris Cornell, to discuss this summers Projekt Revolution Tour!

 

J. Soeder                     Hello.  I’ll start by thanking you guys for not making us schlep to some field in the middle of Tennessee.  Destination festivals like Bonnaroo, Coachella and Lollapalooza are obviously all the rage these days and I’m wondering why does it make sense to continue to mount Projekt Revolution as a traveling road show?

 

M. Shinoda                 I thought at first you were going to say that you were glad that you didn’t have to schlep halfway across the state in order to do this interview.

 

J. Soeder                     I appreciate that too.

 

C. Cornell                    But by the magic of telephones. 

 

M. Shinoda                 Yes, I was like we do a lot of interviews over the phone, I didn’t realize this was so special.  The Projekt Revolution tour started, I guess this is the fifth year that we’ve done it and each year we try to do something exciting for the summer.  I think originally we were inspired by the great festivals that happened in Europe and the ones that we’ve played overseas.  You know they’re a lot of fun and there are a number of different touring festivals that go on in the States that are cool, like I’d love to go see them, but I think that there is definitely a certain niche that we feel that this tour fills, and a lot of our fans seem to agree.

C. Cornell                    I actually, between Soundgarden and Audioslave, played Lollapalooza three different times on the main stage.  And one of the things that I think happens is that in order to keep these kind of tours happening year-after-year and to have sort of a traveling festival somebody has to have their eye on the ball, somebody has to focus on getting an interesting combination of bands together, getting that worked out and doing all the work, which is not that easy to do, which is why some of them come and go.  And which is why I think Projekt Revolution is a great one, because Linkin Park is on top of it, they’re excited about it, passionate about it and that’s what it takes to make it great.  And if you have that, then it can be great.

Moderator                   Next we’ll go to the line of Alan Sculley.  Please go ahead.

A. Sculley                   Hello, guys.  Again, thanks for your time.  I guess I’ll direct this one first to Mike.  Like you say, you’ve done several editions now, I’m curious how you think the character and the vibe of this year’s Projekt Revolution will be different from, particularly, the one you had last summer.  I’m also curious how you’re going to approach your own set differently, because I’m sure a lot of people who came last summer will come out and see you guys again.  So I’ll start there.

M. Shinoda                 I don’t know what to expect as far as what’s going to be going on backstage with all the different bands.  I enjoy the music of the bands that are on the bill, and I’m looking forward to see everybody play.  But I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer for you as far as knowing what’s going to happen.  But that may be one thing that’s great about this year’s Project Rev, it’s kind of unpredictable.  I’m not sure what our set is going to be like.  I’m not sure what to expect as far as the whole show. 

                                    In fact, just to give you a glimpse into a little bit of the behind the scenes, we have a group called the Street Drum Corps that’s on the bill and Chester has been talking to those guys about actually how and when to play.  I’m not sure if we’ll sprinkle them throughout the show or maybe they might play with us a little bit, you know we’re not sure.  So that’s just one example, I mean overall if you like the music of the bands on the bill, then that’s where we’ll start.  And after that we’ll try to build on that and make something even more exciting than just coming to see the bands play.

A. Sculley                   I think part of what I was curious about was just whether you feel that the musical mix this time is markedly different from what you had last summer.  Obviously, we don’t have the rap element as much as you had in the early years.  I think that’s what I was kind of getting at was whether you feel like there’s a different kind of …

M. Shinoda                 I would say as far as the rap element, it’s not gone forever.  I think maybe in the future we’ll have some more hip hop artists back on the bill, but last year and this year just didn’t seem like — we didn’t find the right rap groups to put on the show, there weren’t any that we felt would mix well with everything.  And I think for this one, it’s pretty much an all rock bill and there’s a ton of variety this year.  I think this is a really diverse bill, as far as rock goes.

C. Cornell                    If you need me to rap, we can talk about it.  We can negotiate.

S. Endicott                  We can take a guy from each group and make like a sub group and go full hip hop and just pick like seven or eight rap beats and so forth.

C. Cornell                    Yes, we could bust some flow over the Street Corps.

S. Endicott                  A freestyle tent, maybe.

C. Cornell                    A freestyle what?

S. Endicott                  A freestyle tent, just like ….  And like anyone from any one of the bands or from the audience can just show up and freestyle.

C. Cornell                    Like if there’s a pimp in the audience, we can get him on stage.

S. Endicott                  Exactly, someone could just go off.

C. Cornell                    It’s going to be amazing.

A. Sculley                   That will work.  It will be fun.  Alright, thanks again, guys.

Moderator                   We’ll go to the line of Gary Graff with the Oakland Press.  Please go ahead.

G. Graff                      Hello guys, I’m wondering, each of you and your bands are at kind of a different point in your cycles with currents or your latest albums.  Is anybody going to have anything that’s going to be new to perform during the summer?  I know, Chris I think you’re working on something now.  How is all that going to play out in your individual live sets?

C. Cornell                    I’m going to try to work in a couple, I’m not sure exactly how many songs, but probably two or three new songs.  And I’ll probably have a new single out by the time we go out there.  But I’m not having mixed yet or having any idea what singles are or a song choice yet, I’m not sure what that will be.  But there is definitely going to be something new.

G. Graff                      Do you expect to have an album out by the tour?

C. Cornell                    Not by the tour, no.

G. Graff                      Okay.  Then Sam and Mike, you guys are obviously in different points in your cycles, so anything new or how are you going to approach just repertoire for your sets?

S. Endicott                  We just put out the second half of our last album, like the Moon half of the Sun and the Moon, and so we’re going to start putting in these new versions, kind of like remixed versions of the songs.  So we’ll start busting out a bunch of those on this tour.

M. Shinoda                 As far as the Linkin Park set goes we’ve been trying to build in as much wiggle room for improvisation and kind of screwing around with existing songs, as much of that as possible, and we’ll continue to do so.  We haven’t actually, at this point, figured out what the set for the summer is going to be.  But I feel pretty confident saying that we’ll be working more towards that end.

G. Graff                      Can anybody give us a preview of, I guess maybe the production of your sets for the summer, what kind of staging you’re thinking about or it’s going to look like?

S. Endicott                  We’re all going to fly in on surfboards, hung from the air.

M. Shinoda                 For Linkin Park it’s going to be kind of like Reading Rainbow, I think.

S. Endicott                  We’re going Fraggle Rock.

M. Shinoda                 Yes, I think all of our sets are going to be kind of in that 80’s kids television kind of thing.

C. Cornell                    That’s just Panic Attack for me.  My heart is starting to speed up right now; my palms are getting sweaty just thinking about that.

M. Shinoda                 Yes, you got the memo that everybody on the tour is required to have an 80’s kids theme.

C. Cornell                    Yes, and everyone’s road crew is going to have to talk in a high Teletubbies voice.  “Hi, I need a 24 inch cable.”  Everybody.

G. Graff                      Alright.  Well thanks so much, guys.

Moderator                   Next we’ll go to the line of Christina Fuoco with Live Dailey.

C. Fuoco                     Hello guys.  This question is for Sam, you mentioned a little bit about how you were going to start — you said you were going to start playing some of the more remixed songs during your set, is that true?

S. Endicott                  Yes, we just sort of put out a new album, it’s like a redone version of the last album.  So we’re incorporating more of those new versions into the live show.

C. Fuoco                     Is that what you’ve been doing during your headlining deal as well?

S. Endicott                  Yes, that’s what we’re doing, we’re touring right now and so we’ve been bringing in some of the new stuff.

C. Fuoco                     How has it been received?

S. Endicott                  It’s great.  It’s awesome, it’s a wide range of stuff that we have now, ranging from very rock, to very disco-y and then even some more like acoustic, like mellower stuff.

C. Fuoco                     Great.  Thanks.

S. Endicott                  You got it.

Moderator                   Next we’ll go to the line of Kevin Johnson with the St. Louis Post Dispatch.  Please go ahead.

K. Johnson                  Mike, you said earlier in the interview that with Projekt Revolution you guys wanted to fill a niche with this tour.  And I wonder if you can kind of go back to that point and kind of elaborate, Mike, if you will, on what niche you feel the tour is fulfilling.

M. Shinoda                 Well obviously, just to mention a couple other tours, this is obviously not an Ozfest; it’s not a Warped Tour.  Some of the bands on this bill have played those tours, but I think that really what Projekt Revolution what it started out — when we started this tour, our idea is to showcase groups that were doing something revolutionary, something original, something different, either now or they’re known for that over time.  And obviously, that’s something that we’ve always tried to do. 

                                    We definitely hope that our fans see in our music something that is new and original, and obviously the other bands on the bill, we try to pick them based on that kind of criteria.  There is no arguing that obviously, Chris Cornell has been doing this for longer than we have, he’s got one of the most original voices in rock, original style and has done many different things that I think a lot of young kids look up to and say “That’s really cool, that’s really different and I want to do something like that some day.” And that’s really the spirit of the tour, even if you’re the first band on the bill, we hope that some day fans can look back and say, “Oh, I remember the first time I saw so and so, this is a band that I knew was going to be doing something really great and different in the future.”

K. Johnson                  And Mike, when you say it’s obviously not a Warped Tour and obviously not an Ozfest, can you just tell me what you mean when you say that it’s obvious that it’s not either of those things?

M. Shinoda                 Well I see Warp Tour as being a more kind of a screamo-emo-punk thing.  And I see Oz Fest as being a more metal tour.  And those words I wouldn’t use to describe this tour.  I think although there are elements of those things in some of the bands on the bill, consistently over time Projekt Rev has showcased a lot of variety.  And to be totally blunt, I think this is the kind of music that our band listens to, that’s why we reach out to these bands in the first place to put these bills together.  You know at one time we had Snoop Dog and Korn on the bill, and that was what we and it kind of goes without saying that a lot of our fans were listening to. 

                                    Also, actually I want to mention it’s not all about Linkin Park fans.  On this tour, there are a lot of bands on the tour, and we like the fact that people may be coming who aren’t familiar with Linkin Park, who aren’t familiar with The Bravery or Chris Cornell and they come for other bands and then they get to see everybody.  To come from the beginning to the end of the show you get a lot of different sounds and you get a lot of different experiences, and that’s what makes it fun.

K. Johnson                  Thank you, Mike.

M. Shinoda                 Actually, I do want to mention one other thing, just from a behind the scenes kind of perspective.  And I hope, Chris and Sam, I hope you guys have this experience too.  Last year we heard a lot about how well the tour was put together from a production standpoint, and that’s not on us.  I mean I can say that, because that’s the team of professionals who work behind the scenes in the production office and those guys have been really great about making sure everybody is comfortable and really running a clean operation, which is not always what you hear.  If you guys have played some of those other festivals, you know what a cost rip off they can be.

C. Cornell                    Yes, it can be great or not great.

M. Shinoda                 Say again.

C. Cornell                    It can be great or not great.  I think when you look at just the different brands and compare it to other festival tours, it’s kind of the least genre oriented.  Like Lollapalooza originally came out that way, it wasn’t genre oriented at all; the whole idea of the tour was mix it up as much as possible.  And that’s the point.  I think a tour like Ozfest is pretty specific in terms of the kind of music that gets represented, and that’s the difference.

                                    But yes, the way that things happen behind the scenes too, just in terms of pulling off a production like that, boggles my mind, because my brain doesn’t work that way.  And I think when it goes off great it will also open up opportunities for the different bands that are out on this tour to kind of interact, play on each others stages, do songs together, screw around or whatever, that kind of thing.  When that happens that’s always good.  When it turns into we didn’t really know each other in the beginning of the tour but now it’s like a family and we’re all doing different songs with each other on stage, that’s something that these tours can kind of open up and things that you don’t expect to happen.  It’s great for fans and the bands alike.

K. Johnson                  Alright, thank you.

Moderator                   Next we’ll go to the line of Scott Mervis with Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  Please go ahead.

S. Mervis                     I guess this is sort of like two follow-up questions on things that were already talked about.  The first one, as it looked like in the past you had some overlap with Oz Fest, but now it looks like the Rock Star Mayhem Tour is the one that you’re going to be out around the same time of.  And I’m wondering if you see competition for fans with that tour.

M. Shinoda                 Well I suppose in any situation where these tours cross paths that’s a concern on that end.  But if you’re a fan of the bands that are playing you’re going to go to the show, that’s how I look at it.  I mean for me when I was growing up going to shows like Lollapalooza or just going to different tours of bands, when bands were playing in town, it wouldn’t matter if they were playing days apart, if I liked the band and I could afford the tickets, then I would do that.

                                    And as far as being able to afford tickets, we’ve been making efforts to make sure the fans who want to come see the show are able to.  We try to keep the ticket prices down to the best of our ability. And in fact we just let our fan club know, the LP Underground, that for the duration of the presale anybody who is in the LP Underground fan club will get their ticket service charge free, because our band is actually going to pay for the service charge on all their tickets during the presale.  And I believe, if I’m not mistaken, we just extended that program.  That’s a savings of roughly like $8 to $11 per fan, so we’re just doing our best to make sure that the fans who want to come see the show can.

S. Mervis                     Okay, and the other one, if I could just ask the other follow-up question was does it say anything about music trends right now that there weren’t any rap groups that really were appropriate to work with or not necessarily appropriate, but that didn’t really work out for the tour?

M. Shinoda                 Well I can let the other guys speak on that too if they want to say anything about what they think about the trends in music.  But as far as my tastes go I really enjoy hip hop groups or hip hop leaning groups that kind of push the envelope, groups like Lupe Fiasco, Gnarls Barkley, and Kanye, these folks are out on the road doing their own things.  I think if there had been a place for those guys on this tour maybe that would have worked out.  But with other schedules and other commitments going on, hopefully we’ll be able to do a show with some of those guys at a later time, but that’s not going to be this year.

C. Cornell                    Yes, one of the things that I’ve seen happen on these different festival tours, when you’re trying to put together a diverse group, it’s just sometimes hard to get who you want or hard to get it to all come together.  You might have two or three or four different ideas of a band that could fill a particular slot or type of music and it just doesn’t come together, because they’re working on an album or they’re already committed to another tour or they want to do their own thing, that kind of thing.  So often it’s not necessarily so much just what’s popular right now or what are the trends, but it’s just like who’s doing what and it just didn’t happen.

 

M. Shinoda                 Yes, Chester and I talked about Linkin Park touring with Pennywise and touring with Rise Against, I don’t know how many times it has come up where both sides of the conversation, their management and our management, their agent and our agent all want to do the tour, but timing doesn’t work out.  And it’s like, “Okay, well at some point we’re going to get it done.”  And that’s just how it works.

S. Endicott                  Could I say that for me the important thing about a tour, a traveling festival like this, is that there is a lot of diversity.  You’re not seeing the same exact kind of band over and over and over again, but instead you’re seeing a wide range of style.  And I think that although there may not be, specifically a rap group involved this year, I think that there is a wide range going on this year.  And so I think it’s really good for that reason.

M. Shinoda                 Agreed.

C. Cornell                    Yes, me too.

S. Endicott                  So I think they’ve done a very good job of diversifying.

S. Mervis                     Okay.  Thanks.

Moderator                   Next we’ll go to the line of Patrick Douglas with Great Falls Tribune.  Please go ahead.

P. Douglas                   Hello fellows.  This one is for Chris.  This kind of reminds me a lot of kind of European style festivals with the diversity that you guys have already been talking about, and you’ve been on the three Lollapalooza’s and you’ve experienced this kind of deal before.  Tell me a little bit about how you were approached to do this project and how excited you are to be able to play to a diverse audience, because those audience members, like you guys were talking about earlier, are there to see numerous different styles of bands and you almost get to perform to not only your fans but other people’s fans.

C. Cornell                    For me it’s kind of ideal, because being a solo artist after all this time and having two bands, three bands really that I released records with as well as a lot of solo material, it’s a lot of diversity.  And I noticed in the last year playing festivals worked really well for me because I can mix it up and do some of the heavier rock that I’ve ever written, as well as turn around and do songs where I’m just singing and playing acoustic guitar.

                                    I did, I think, six or seven shows with Linkin Park in Australia, when they did their Australian tour this last year, and it just was great.  It was a different audience, it wasn’t my audience, and I had to go out basically and do what I do and earn the respect of these people every night.  And it was really a great, refreshing feeling, it wasn’t preaching to the choir.  So the idea of putting the two together, where it’s a festival and also I’m getting to tour with Linkin Park, I think was just something that really appealed to me.  And once we did those shows in Australia I was already asking my management about trying to hook up for a full length tour, because Australian tours are usually pretty short.  This one is kind of a normal length one.

                                    To me, for what I do personally, it’s important to be able to mix it up and have an audience put up with that.  If it’s my own show they might put up with more, but I think for a guy to be able to mix it up as much as I do, this type of tour is ideal.

 

M. Shinoda                 And I have to say, just from a fan perspective, that watching Chris’ set, knowing all his music, it’s really enjoyable for me to see him play all these songs, put all these songs together with a band that’s capable of representing all the different types of sounds that he’s made over the years, whether it’s a Soundgarden song, or an Audioslave song or a solo song.  It’s almost like a greatest hits set, which is great.  It’s a lot of fun to watch.

 

C. Cornell                    Yes, and it can be different every night, a different version of greatest hits.

 

P. Douglas                   And Mike, kind of elaborate on that a little bit too, as far as how excited you are to be bringing someone like Chris Cornell out there and knowing his history, because you’ve no doubt been a fan of his for years.

 

M. Shinoda                 Absolutely.  For those who know the history of my band, before Chester — well when I first started the band with a friend of mine, his name is Mark, Mark, we’ve been friends since we were like 13 years old, and he turned me on to rock music forever ago.  I was listening to mostly rap music at that time and eventually it was like, “Hey, check out this stuff, check out Alice in Chains and check out Soundgarden and check out these bands,” and I remember getting Bad Motor Finger.  I really was not listening to almost any rock at that point, but albums like that album was just something that was so universal and had such a great sound that it kind of — those were the exceptions to the rule for me.  So it’s exciting to hear.  I love hearing those songs, I love hearing those songs live.

 

P. Douglas                   Thank you, guys.

 

Moderator                   We’ll go to Jay Lustig with The Star Ledger next.  Please go ahead.

 

J. Lustig                      Hello.  How are you doing?  With tours like Projekt Revolution and things like Bonnaroo and Coachella, obviously these multi-band shows are really starting to dominate the summer and in a lot of ways that really started with the early Lollapalooza tours.  So I’d like to ask Chris what it was like to play on those early tours with Soundgarden.  I thought maybe Chris and Sam could comment on what it felt like maybe to attend those shows or at least know they were going on.  I mean did it really feel back then that something revolutionary was going on?

 

C. Cornell                    Where I seemed to notice it all starting was a tour called Gathering of the Tribes, which the singer Ian Astbury from the Cult started.  And it was three shows only and Soundgarden played them.  It was very diverse and it was basically the prototype and I don’t remember what the bill was, but it was pretty nuts, it was like Soundgarden and the Cramps and Joan Baez, and I can’t remember everyone but there were two or three shows. 

 

                                    And the following year was when Perry started Lollapalooza, and Soundgarden didn’t play the first one, but I went to the first one.  And then Soundgarden played the second Lollapalooza, which was with Ministry and Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jesus and Mary Chain and Ice Cube and a band called Lush, and it was one of those moments where we kind — a lot of us knew each other anyway, but just going out on the road, if we didn’t know each other, there was just that kind of dynamic where everyone just sort of got along.  There were a couple of people that just didn’t really want to be part of the program and have a good time, but it didn’t bother anybody else. 

 

                                    And that to me was kind of where I sort of saw, oh this is like a European festival except for it’s the same bands all the time.  And we started playing on each other’s songs and it just became like the most fun kind of tour that I could see having.  And I think a lot of it has to do with the bands out there.  I think I’ve played shows with The Bravery, with Sam’s band before, where we haven’t actually talked to each other because it’s like a radio festival, and I’d come in, play the show and then had to leave.  So that didn’t give me an opportunity to see you guys …

S. Endicott                  Yes, that happens all the time, you don’t even know what bands you’re playing with.

C. Cornell                    Yes, I’ve seen The Bravery on numerous festival shows on cable, because I live in France and I have British cable, and so every festival in every country does like a live showing in the middle of the night of those different shows.  So I’m psyched to go out and see that every night.

S. Endicott                  I can say for me, I was pretty young when Lollapalooza was happening and it was really kind of a formative thing for me.  It was a really big deal.  And I feel like Lollapalooza changed the face of music, because I remember going early on and thinking how can you have a rock band and then like a rap band and then an industrial band right next to each other?  That’s just crazy, you can’t do that.  And all these different fans showing up and mingling.  I think that is taken for granted now.  I think it’s very normal that you have a bunch of different styles of band play together.  But back then it was like it blew my mind, it was like unheard of.

                                    Also, I remember hearing the term “alternative” for like the first time.  The only thing that these groups have in common is that they’re alternative, whatever that meant.

C. Cornell                    Yes, there was a time when it wasn’t a genre; it just meant an alternative to the garbage commercial rock music.

S. Endicott                  Exactly and now that term alternative means like mainstream music, like an alternative rock station plays whatever is the current sort of mainstream rock.  So it just shows you how Lollapalooza created a complete shift in the musical landscape or whatever.

J. Lustig                      Alright, thank you.

M. Shinoda                 Chris, I like the fact that you mentioned that Lollapalooza tour that you guys did with, I’m looking it up on line because it caught my interest.  I think just thinking back on it that was probably one of those tours that this tour is in part is inspired by, because at least for me, that was one of my favorite concerts I’ve been to.

C. Cornell                    It was an amazing combination of bands.  We were on our second major label album, so it was like our fourth album.  Pearl Jam was on their first album, but it had blown up.  But when they signed up for the tour they were sort of unknown, so they played second.  So the place was pretty much packed by the time it was noon and there was 20,000 people or whatever.

                                    And for me it was formative, because I was still young in my career and I’m going out there and I’m having a big ego and I want it all to be about me, and I want the world of rock to check out what I’m doing, and I’m on a tour with Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ministry and Ice Cube.  And it’s like, guess what, it’s not going to be all about me.  In fact I’m way down on the list and I’m going to have to like suck it up and learn about what I do and learn about the craft, and learn about just enjoying playing music and just getting involved in it on that end. 

                                    And that part of it where there was the camaraderie is what I’m looking forward to on this tour coming up, because I think it’s always an opportunity and it’s always a possibility.  That ’92 tour is one of the most memorable periods of my life because of that and that can happen again.

S. Endicott                  I remember, I saw that tour and I remember Body Count had this song Cop Killer and I remember Soundgarden and Ice T both played Cop Killer.  I thought it was awesome.

C. Cornell                    Yes.  Ice T did Cop Killer with Body Count and he came on stage with us.

L. Taylor                     Can we go to the next question?

Moderator                   Yes, we’ll go to Andy Herman with Metromix.

A. Herman                  Hello guys.  This is a question for Chris, and since we were just talking about Ice Cube back in the day, I know that on your new album you’re working with Timbaland.

L. Taylor                     Can we keep all questions tour related?

A. Herman                  Well I guess I’ll ask it this way then, maybe I don’t know with Timbaland you’re taking your music in a more hip hop direction and maybe Mike is going to give you some emceeing tips on this tour.

C. Cornell                    I don’t know.  I’m always down for tips. 

M. Shinoda                 I’ve hung out with Timb as well, not with Chris, but we did that thing on MTV with him (VMAs).  I’ve met him a few times and he’s a real character.  Maybe Chris, do you think there’s any chance that he would be coming out to one of the shows or possibly getting on stage with you?

C. Cornell                    I hope so.  That would be great.  You never know.

M. Shinoda                 He’s a riot, that guy.

A. Herman                  You guys were just talking about there not being any hip hop on this tour, but maybe there will be after all.

C. Cornell                    Yes, you never know.  That’s like trying to keep an open mind, like a cool attitude towards it, who knows.  We could make anything happen.

A. Herman                  Yes.  Just one other real quick question.  I know that one of the co-sponsors of this tour is Major League Baseball and I was just wondering if you guys are fans of any particular teams this year or if you’re baseball fans in general, maybe not.

M. Shinoda                 I always feel like that’s a lose/lose question, because if I say anything, some of our fans are going to be like FU man.

C. Cornell                    You can get into some trouble just wearing the wrong jersey on stage or even wearing a jersey on stage, even if it’s the team that is the town that you’re in, somehow that can be a mistake.  I’m not sure why, but you want to be careful how you answer that.

A. Herman                  Alright.  Thanks, guys.

Moderator                   Next we’ll go to Roxy Myzal with United Stations.

R. Myzal                     Hello, gentlemen.  I wanted to ask, let’s see, let’s start with Mike.  I really think it’s cool that you guys continue to give back the way you are with all of your concert tours, and especially this one where you’re going to give money back to Music for Relief in support of the victims around the world.  So I would like you to talk about that a little bit and what this tour will be supplying.

 

M. Shinoda                 Well just to be clear, in case anybody is unaware of the organization, Music for Relief began after the Tsunami in Southeast Asia and then we continued to do work in Katrina, a few other events like the wild fires in California, I mean the organization does what its name implies.  Essentially with these tours, ever since, over a year ago now we’ve been trying to make our tours a little more green.  We’ve also been trying to donate money from the tours to different organizations that we think are helping out.  So with American Forests, for example, we’ve had this longstanding relationship where basically for every ticket sold to a Linkin Park concert, which includes this one, basically every ticket, a dollar is donated to American Forest and trees are planted for those dollars.  Hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted, it’s been a great program and we hope to keep doing that.  In addition to that we’re running a majority of the bus and truck fleet on bio-diesel and doing things like donating the leftover catering to homeless shelters and other organizations that can use it.

                                    There are a lot of things the bands can do.  Basically, if you want any more information about Music for Relief, when you come to the show you can go to the Music for Relief booth or you can just go to musicforrelief.org and check out all the things that MFR is doing.

R. Myzal                     Cool.  On to the digital package, how was the response to your last arena tour and what extras will you do maybe this time that you didn’t do last time in the digital package?

M. Shinoda                 I love when people ask how the tour was, because am I ever going to say, “The tour was okay, it kind of sucked.”

C. Cornell                    Oh, you mean the sucky tour, it was great.

R. Myzal                     No, no, no.  I wasn’t asking about that.  I was asking how the response was to the digital package.

M. Shinoda                 You’re talking about the digital souvenir package, right?

R. Myzal                     Right.  Sorry.

M. Shinoda                 The digital souvenir package is — I mean basically when you buy tickets online, you can opt in for it.  And then after you go see the show in your e-mail inbox there will be a link and you download the MP3’s of the show, of the Linkin Park set, that you saw.  Fans love it.  I mean if you go to our Web site and you check out the message board we have a whole section dedicated to the fans who want to talk to each other about swapping those files and sharing their experiences of the show.

                                    For us, and you can kind of get a sense with the other bands as well, that for us and this whole tour it’s kind of about like let’s just see where it goes.  We’re keeping our minds open to what happens every night, we try to make the set — more and more often we make it flow and feel, we feel out what the crowd wants us to do, we kind of jam a little bit.  And with all that said, you know each show is a little bit different, sometimes a lot different.  And that just makes for a better experience for the fans and it’s one that now, with that digital souvenir package that they can actually take home.

R. Myzal                     Great.  Chris can I ask you, who is going to be in your touring band?

C. Cornell                    The same group that I’ve been touring with over the last eight months, since I went solo again and started touring for Carry On.  They’re a group of people that I’m trying to keep with me as my band.  So I’m not changing anything.

R. Myzal                     Okay.  Thank you very much.  And last, but not least, if Mike could answer this one.  I know when you guys were here in the city at Madison Square Garden, Brad and Phoenix were mentioning that you were making a trip right after that down to the gulf coast on the Music for Relief bandwagon, as it were, to work with Habitat for Humanity.  Can you tell us a little bit about what you guys did down there?

M. Shinoda                 We’ve had an ongoing interest in what’s going on in Louisiana, in New Orleans, and I’ve done a couple of trips down there with different groups, one of them being — well in general just representing Music for Relief.  And one of our interests down there is with Habitat for Humanity, they’re just such a great organization and they’re building a bunch of homes down there. 

                                    They’ve got this whole new neighborhood called the Musician’s Corner, where they have built these homes for basically musicians who were displaced by the hurricane and they’re now created an actual community where they can all come and live.  And people that fit their — I forget actually how it works for somebody to be able to be considered for one of these homes, but it includes not being able afford a home yourself and you have to be self-sufficient.  They actually have some crazy tests that you have to pass to be able to do it and this whole community service program, which is actually all really great. 

                                    And we went down there and we funded Music for Relief and the fans who donated funded two homes so far.  And hopefully we’ll be able to do more.  But we went down there and built on those homes, took hammers and did what we could for the day.  But it’s tough work and it’s a lot of fun.

Moderator                   We’ll move on to Chad Childers with Westward One.  Please go ahead.

C. Childers                  Hello guys, quick question for you.  I know you’ve talked about planning the show and you guys are all on the main stage, but you have a great Revolution stage lineup as well.  Can each of you talk about an artist on the revolution stage that you’re really excited to see and check out.

C. Cornell                    I actually don’t know who is on the revolution stage.

S. Endicott                  Hawthorne Heights is playing, right?

M. Shinoda                 Yes, it’s Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights, 10 Years, Armor for Sleep and Street Drum Corps.

S. Endicott                  We actually played with Hawthorne Heights a couple of nights ago at the Bamboozle Festival.  And it’s really cool, their guitarist has the best guitar rock moves I’ve seen in a long time.

M. Shinoda                 And Street Drum Corps is just like improvisational rhythm, describe what they do, because that I have seen.

M. Shinoda                 You know, originally when we saw them — when I was doing Fort Minor shows, we played with Street Drum Corps and Chester came to that show, he saw them play and that’s kind of where he first got interested in them and that’s why they ended up on this tour.  When we described them to the rest of the band I think we called them a Punk Rock Blue Man Group.  It’s almost like Stomp.

C. Cornell                    Yes, like they take cigarette cellophane and do like a rhythmic piece out of it and like anything that you can make a rhythm out of kind of thing.

M. Shinoda                 Right, but it’s obviously a lot less Broadway.  It’s way more street than any of those Blue Man Group or Stomp or anything like that.  These guys are little punks, which is great.  I love their attitude and their look is just so cool.

                                    I do also, just to mention, I think all the groups on the Revolution stage are really great.  Last year we had Medina Lake open the show, and I’ve never seen so many people show up so early for a show.  The Revolution stage area was packed when the doors, as soon as the doors opened, it was like a flood of people came in from the very beginning. 

                                    So the good news is that the fans love the lineup and they want to come out early and I think that that’s going to happen again this year with Armor for Sleep opening up.  At the same time it makes it a little trickier for the people who play later, because now all the fans have been there since 11 o’clock, they’re tired and we have to work extra hard to get them into the set and keep them excited, which we are happy to do.

C. Childers                  Very good.  Thank you, guys.

Veins of Jenna Interview 10.06.07

VAINS OF JENNA, formed in the small town of Falkenberg, Sweden in January 2005, has accomplished in a few short years what most bands dream to achieve in a lifetime. 

During the summer of 2005, they were offered a chance to play the Whisky in Hollywood. They stunned the crowd with their raw energy, young bravado, and sleazy throwback appeal. Just days later, the band was cutting tracks with Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N’ Roses / Rock Star Supernova guitarist) at his Redrum Studios.

As if that wasn’t enough, in the Summer of 2006, VAINS OF JENNA were turning heads on Sunset Strip when they attracted the attention of skateboarding legend Bam Margera (Viva La Bam / Jackass). Bam signed the band on the spot after seeing their bombastic live show at the “Cat Club.” The band subsequently had just finished touches on their self-produced debut full-length CD, “Lit Up / Let Down.” Margera, eager to get their record to the masses, partnered with two-time Super Bowl Champ Trevor Pryce’s Outlook Music label.

Just off of the road after touring with Poison, Vains of Jenna can now be seem on the Viva La Band tour with CKY, GWAR and Cradle of Filth.

From the Crowd had the opportunity to sit down with Vains of Jenna before their set at the Marquee Theater on October 8, 2007.

From the Crowd: Hi guys, thanks for taking time to meet with us!To get started, please tell me who you are and the what you do for your band.

Vains of Jenna:  Hi, I’m Jacki Stone and I play Drums, I’m Lizzy DeVine: and I’m the singer and rhythm guitar player, I’m Nicki Kin and I play lead guitar, I’m JP White and I play the four stringed bass.

FTC: How are you enjoying being on the Viva La Band tour, it seems to have a very different line up from what you are used to.  For example, you recently toured with Poison.  How does this line up compare?

Lizzy DeVine: Every tour we’ve been on has been featuring different type of genres.  We’re used to it.  People came out who like to see us.  People always try to label us like “Glam-Metal” and whatever, but we’re not, we’re Rock’n Roll!  To be on a tour like this, with different bands with very different types of music makes it better, because you can broaden your audience and get new fans from different genres.

Nicki Kin:  Yeah, being with all of these different bands that don’t sound like us at all, so it just shows that we’re a Rock’n Roll band.  Anyone can connect to us and the crowds have been really good on this tour too.  We’re really happy with this tour.

FtC: What do you do to get the crowd involved in your performance?

Lizzy DeVine: We just do what we do best, play our music.  If they like it, perfect!  If they don’t, well, you can’t please everyone.

Nicki Kin: We don’t have anything like, props or anything like that.  We just play our music.  We’re a great live band so that’s is what benefits us.

Jacki Stone: We play our music and if they like it great, if they don’t they can fuck off

Lizzie DeVine: Too many bands rely on stage props and other shit.  They only band that can pull that off is GWAR, because that is what they are all about.  I like to let the music talk.

Nicki Kin:  I think a lot of bands can pull it off, if it’s their thing, its just not our thing.

FtC:  You had brought up that you often are placed into media stereotypes say… how would you describe your music straight Rock’n Roll?

Lizzy DeVine:  I hate to be labeled and people try to label you all of the time. It’s like, why do you have to try and put us into a tiny box and not be able to do anything else?

Nicki Kin:  We right different stuff all of the time, and it can be whatever we want it to be.  It’s just better to call us Rock’n Roll

Jacki Stone: We’re influenced by so many bands, so its not like we’re just any one thing.  People think we just are influenced by the 80s, but we listen to everything from the 60s to now.

Lizzy DeVine: People see us and they think because the way that we look we’re an 80’s band

JP White:  Just because of our long hair.

Lizzy DeVine:  It’s not what we’re about.  People just look

Nicki Kin: We don’t try to look a certain way, we just look like this and it’s not who we are.

Lizzy DeVine:  We were all born blonde and I just got tired of it!

Nicki Kin: (Laughing) I just got tired of some of the blonde hair

FtC:  I was looking through a lot of your past interviews and there seems to be a lot of comparisons to Guns and Roses, now do you guys like that, or is it another stereotype?

Lizzy DeVine:  No G&R is not a band thing to be compared to  we think they are a really cool Rock’n Roll band.  They could pull their music off in any decade.

Nicki Kin:  Yeah, I don’t see them as an 80’s band, just as a Rock’n Roll band, they did the right thing

Lizzy DeVine: And they’re a really respectable band

Nicki Kin:  They did something really good for the music scene back then.  There was just way too much hair spray and all that shit. 

FtC: Yeah and all that hair-spray released your tourmates GWAR from their Artic Shrine!

VoJ:  Yeah!  (All laughing).

FtC:  Your new single “Enemy in Me” was recorded for the Viva La Bands VOL2, does that song provide any insight to the music we might expect from you on your follow up to Lit Up/Let Down?

Lizzy DeVine: Not at all.  We right whatever we like and people never know what to expect from us.  Our musical influences change all of the time

FtC:  Who are you listening to right now, or who are your major influences at this point in time?

Lizzy DeVine: Pantera

Nicki Kin: Beethoven 

FtC: Pantera to Beethoven that is quite the mix!

Lizzy DeVine:  Yeah, we listen to all types of music, that’s what we’re talking about.  People may think that we are one thing, but we are not.  We listen to anything that is cool.

FtC:  How do you guys write your music for Vains of Jenna?  Do you all collaborate or does a specific person take the lead?

Jacki Stone:  Anyone that comes up with something good, we all work together.  Most the time it is probley Nicki that comes up with a rift and then we all get involved.

Lizzy DeVine:  Everyone gets involved.  We’re not just a band, we’re four best friends so we try to get everyone involved and do it together.

FtC:  Your band originated in Sweden, do feel there is any type of stereotype that you have to fight or you run into when people learn this about your band?

Lizzy DeVine:  No, not really.  We thought it was going to be harder to be here, but people really seem to like our music.  People think so many different things about Sweden’s music scene, you know from ABBA to 80’s music.

(All the band mates laugh.)

Lizzy DeVine:  Sweden really has a great music scene.

FtC: What is your favorite song to play live and why?

Lizzy DeVine:  Different songs on different days.

Nicki Kin:  Right now I have to say “Enemy in Me” because we haven’t played it that much

Jacki Stone:  Yeah, All of the other songs you’ve played since day one.

FtC:  Is there any song that you have that you’re absolute tired of playing?

Lizzy DeVine:  No not really, because it depends so much on the crowds reaction to the song, and the crowds reaction can be so different

Nicki Kin: It can always be different, yes we play the same songs every night, but sometimes we play them different because of the crowd.  It always fun to play.

Lizzy DeVine:  There might be some songs that you hate, but as soon as your on stage its fun to play them again.

FtC: Which type of venue do you prefer to play in, a large arena, festival or an intimate club?

Lizzy DeVine:  It doesn’t matter as long as we have a place to play.

Jacki Stone:  I think it really depends on the audience.  If there is a good crowd it works.

Nicki Kin: Yeah, it doesn’t matter if it’s 5 or 5000 as long as they are rock’n out

JP White:  Yeah, I’d rather play in a small venue that is packed then an arena that is half full.

FtC: Lets talk a little bit about life on the road.  What are some of the tricks of the trade you have developed for survival while touring and some of the aspects of daily life that you sorely miss that we all too often take for granted?

VofJ(All): It’s easier to be on the road!

Lizzy DeVine: Yeah, it’s much easier to be on the road.

Nicki Kin:  When were at home, we have no idea what we going to be able to eat and things like that.  When we’re on the road, we know we’re going to be able to eat and do what we love.

JP White:  Everything is there for us on the road, food cigarettes, merch money (They all laugh)

Lizzy DeVine: And we get to play the shows and that is what we’re about, that’s what we live for!

FtC:  Do you have any pre or post show rituals?  Like a unique warm up or something, you always have to have in your dressing room?

VofJ (All):  Laughing, We don’t have a one tonight (referring to the dressing room)

Lizzy DeVine: Smoke a cigarette, that’s it.

Nicki Kin:  Yeah, there isn’t anything we really have to do before we go one every night.

Lizzy DeVine: Yeah it’s not like we have to have special underwear, because we only have one pair.

Nicki Kin:  Just jumping around for a bit to get ready and get in shape five minutes before we go on.  The rest of the group laughs at this.

Lizzy DeVine: There are a lot of singers that try to get their voice warmed up.  I try to do it when I can.  If I don’t have time, I just smoke a cigarette and it works!

FtC:  For the people that have come tonight that don’t know much about you, what do you want for them to take away from tonight’s performance.

Lizzy DeVine: They need to be honest about it.  If they don’t like it, don’t say that they did.  If they do, that’s fucking great and they should help spread the word.  You can’t please everyone.  If they don’t like what we’re, doing then don’t stand there and give us the fucking finger.  It’s your own damn fault for showing up early.  It’s good for us because we still got into their brains.  I hate it when people didn’t like a show and they’re all wow they were fucking great.  If you don’t like it, be honest so we can take it to heart and we can change something, or we can just not give a fuck.

Jacki Stone:  We’re not going to change our ways because some stupid motherfucker says something.

Lizzy DeVine: Some people have good things to say for the most part, but it could happen.

Jacki Stone:  Yeah it could happen.

FtC: Is there any question that you wished that I had asked today or something that you’d like to share with our readers?

Lizzy DeVine: after this tour, we’re going to be going back into the studio and cut a new album.  And to the people reading this, don’t be afraid to check out new music.  We’re not the only new band out there; there are a lot of cool bands out there.  Fuck mainstream radio and mainstream everything!

Nicki Kin:  Keep your eyes open for new things.  There are a lot of bands of there trying to make it.

Lizzy DeVine:  And don’t get stuck just listening to one type of music there are tons of genres out there that can offer lots of different perspectives.

FTC:  Well that is all of my questions, thanks for taking the time to speak to us today and we look forward to your sophomore records release.

Vains of Jenna:  Thanks!

Exclusive Eisley Interview July 16, 2007

From The Crowd had the pleasure of meeting all of the members for Eisley for a fast-paced interview.  It was easy to tell that this was a family unit, as they often completed each other’s thoughts. The interview took place on their bus a few hours before their performance opening for The Fray on Monday July 16 at the Dodge Theater. 

From The Crowd: Thanks for having us today.  For our readers and those they might not yet know Eisley, go ahead and tell me your name and the instrument you play for Eisley. (From left to right in the photo)

Garron: I’m Garron, I play the Bass, and I’m the cousin

Chauntelle:  I’m Chauntelle, I’m the oldest sister and I play the guitar

Weston: Hi, I’m Weston, I play the Drums, and I’m the brother

Stacy: I’m Stacy and I play the piano, sing and write

Sherri:  I’m Sherri and I play the guitar, sing and write.

FTC: Your new CD, “Combinations” is being released on August 14th.  Why did you decide on this name for the CD?

Sherri:  We just wanted to embody what the CD sounded like.  The music was a combination and a collaboration of a lot of things.

FTC: Was there a vote, or who came up with the name?

Sherri:  I think Stacy did.  We were throwing out names and we couldn’t think of anything we liked and then we were thinking about song titles songs title, and we didn’t think one for a long time and then we were like ok that works because we were running out of time anyways.

FTC: On this record, you partnered with producer Richard Gibbs, Sherri was quoted as saying the “You wanted to work with someone that would have a fresh perspective on how to record your band.  Now that you have finished the record, looking back, how do you feel this impacted the final result?

Stacy: I think it went well.  Definitely better than the last record.  On the last record we had quite a few different producers.  It was nicer just having one person.

Sherri:  Yeah, someone who could concentrate on the whole project, not just one thing.  Rather than this person working on these three songs, and then this person working on these songs.  Richard Gibbs has worked on symphonies and he is a composer, so he was able to bring those aspects in and help our songs breathe more musically than on our last album

FTC:  If you could pick your favorite track off “Combinations”, what would it be and why?

Sherri:  Mine’s always changing.      

Weston:  There are like different favorite songs.

Garron:  Yeah, there are like different flavors. 

Weston: (Laughing) It’s not like choosing your favorite gummy bear flavor, they are so different so it’s like trying to choose your favorite candy.

Chauntelle:  That’s too hard of a question.

Stacy:  I like them all equally.

FTC: Is there any one song that you enjoy playing live more than the others?

Sherri: Invasion is really fun to play.

Weston:  Yeah.  We feel really confident playing that one live.  Some of the newer songs we’re still learning.

FTC: Forget what the media stereotypes say… how would you describe your music?

Sherri :  We always seems to fumble around on that question and answer like melodic, vintage pop and we just end up combining it into a bunch of words.  We’re a whole bunch of different things.  We do write catchy songs, so that’s pop in a sense, but it’s not bubble gum pop.

Garron: Melodic, Fairytale, Unicorn, Seahorse rock.

Weston:  I like Seahorse Rock.  (The group laughs)

FTC: Which of your songs, if any, from any of your releases, do feel is the most misinterpreted by the public or your fans?

Sherri:  I’m not sure; I mean most of our songs are pretty self-explanatory.  They aren’t super vague.  We try to write them so people can relate to them.  Like, Invasion is about the movie.

Weston:  Yeah, I think most people know that.

Sherri:  Yeah, but sometimes people still wonder what it’s about.

Stacy:  Sometimes people think it’s political and it’s about body snatchers.

Sherri: (Laughing) Yeah, we’re not that deep.

FTC:  Do you ever run into any difficult audiences? Do you sometimes have to coerce the people in the crowd into interacting with your music?  How do you handle those situations?

Weston:  That never happens to us… (The others laughing).

FTC: That seems to be a problem here with Phoenix audiences for some reason…

Sherri:  It could be because it is so hot here!

Chauntelle:  Well, we try to say something.

Garron:  We just keep it real

Sherri:  Usually, I have to do most the talking.

Chauntelle:  Well, my mic is off, usually.

Weston:  We just try to stay positive and have a positive attitude

Sherri: We just keep smiling and be real with them.  We don’t want to be like oh were cool, because were the band.

Stacy:  We just try to be ourselves on stage and people respond to that.  Because, we’re not trying to force anything onto them.

Weston.  Yeah, when you’re like “Come on everybody Woo Hoo” and people aren’t into it, it’s just stupid

Chauntelle:  When people see us for the first time, they’re kind of taking it all in and they have to think about it.

Weston:  Its great in out headlining shows because we’ll have all of these kids come to our shows and then they’ll just sort of stare at us, but they come to every show and their really big fans.  They just aren’t jumping all around, but that’s not really our type of music.

Garron:  We’ll play and think that absolutely no one gets it, but then we’ll be signing or outside for like two hours straight after a show.

FTC:  What are some of the tricks of the trade you have developed for survival while touring and some of the aspects of daily life that you sorely miss that we all too often take for granted?

Sherri:  I don’t know…  We all get along well, so it makes touring great.  We’re all really good friends; otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it.

FTC:  In that case, what simple pleasures do you miss the most from home?

Sherri: My own shower!

Chauntelle:  For me its family, I really miss seeing my daughter.

Stacy:  Yeah, family.  I mean we all still live at home, so it’s not really that much different, except there is a little more room in a house the on the bus.

Weston:  Mine would be family and Tae Kwon Do. 

Garron: Family

Weston:  (Laughing) Maybe Tae Kwon Do more than family!

Sherri:  My husband and my house.

FTC:  Which type of venue do you prefer to play in, a large arena, festival or an intimate club?

Garron:  I like theaters, like this is cool.

Stacy:  I like classy.

Weston:  Yeah, this is pretty big.

Chauntelle:  Smaller than this is good.  This is nice because this is indoors.  Amphitheaters, I just feel are so big.

Garron:  Yeah, I don’t like them

Chauntelle:  With Amphitheaters, you just don’t know what’s really going on with them because there are so big and you have people out on the grass.  It just feels weird.

Weston:  Ever since we became a band we’ve played all over the place.  We’ve done the punk rock clubs, where everyone is standing, and we’re not really a standing band.  We’re more of a sit down band.

Sherri:  I really like sitting down watching a band.

Garron:  Yeah my favorite concerts have been sitting down

FTC:  You guy started when you were all so young, now that you’re all older, how have the family dynamics influenced the music.  Are you still as close as when you first started, has touring made you closer?

Sherri:  Closer.

Stacy: Definitely closer.

Sherri:  We have to live in such a small space.

Garron:  Yeah, usually smaller than this.

Sherri:  Yeah, this is our first bus tour, so there is a lot of room.

Chauntelle:  This is just so normal for us.  We don’t even think, oh it’s kind of crowded.  You just keep your junk in your bunk.  (The others laugh)

Sherri:  I don’t really think the family aspect has changed out music.  I mean we’ve all grown older and started listening to other bands and been exposed to new things.  Just growing older has changed our music.

FTC:  We asked a few of your fans from Myspace what question they would like to have you answer and many of them would like to know how you (Chauntelle) feels singing on the record for the first time?

Chauntelle:  It was a really big step for me.  It was a really big challenge.  I had to build up the courage to do it.  So it was scary, but I really enjoyed it.  I really didn’t sing that much on the record, but gosh, I look back now and I wish I would have pushed myself a little harder to do more. 

Weston:  Richard heard her singing and told her “We’ve got to have you on this record”, so that was helpful.

Chauntelle:  Richard was really helpful, because he encouraged me.  Well, everyone did, but it helped hearing it from our producer.  It was nice to have him encourage me instead of hearing it from my family. I do look back and wish I had sang more, but…

Sherri and Stacy:  Ha there were times we had to force her into the vocal box.  She’d say “No… I don’t want to”

Sherri:  There were definitely areas on the record that needed a fresh voice.

FTC:  Do you think you’ll be singing more on tour now?

Chauntelle:  Well, I’ll be singing the parts I sang on the record.  Which will be a different type of challenge, because I have never sang on stage before and it’s really hard.  I mean its fun and after every show I do it, I think ok I can do this.

FTC:  July 24th beginning your headlining tour, why did you decide for it to be an acoustic tour?

Sherri and Stacy:  I don’t know! (Laughing)

Sherri: It’s something different and intimate for our fans.  We’re really looking forward to it.

FTC:  Another question that your Myspace fans wanted to know, was who inspired Vintage People, one thought it might have been your husband?

Sherri:  Oh no.

Weston:  Old People. (Laughing)

Sherri:  Wow, that song is so old.  No, the first verse of that song is actually from my younger sister.  When she was little she had a drawing book and had written this crazy quote in there and that is the first verse of that song.  I just thought it was amazing and used it to start the song and then the rest of the lyrics.  Sorry to disappoint anyone!

Stacy:  I really like that song, it’s really fun.  I think for a while we just wanted to write songs that were fun and happy.

FTC:  Is there any question that you wished that I had asked today or something that you’d like to share with our readers?

Sherri:  Just that I hope that they buy the record and give it a chance.  It is less adolescent than our first one, and I know some people might have thought that one was too young and girly.  This record (Combinations) is definitely more mature so I hope they give it a chance.

Stacy:  Yeah, otherwise we might be living under a bridge. (Laughing).

FTC:  Well that is all of my questions, thanks for taking the time to speak to us today and we look forward to your sophomore records release on August 14.

Eisley:  Thanks!

Vayden Interview 03.14.2008

By Stephanie Baldwin, FromTheCrowd.com Contributor

From The Crowd had the opportunity to sit down with Vayden (Vayden Myspace), a few minutes before their performance at the Last Exit on March 14, 2008.  If you have not had the opportunity to catch them live, you can easily correct that by checking their next performance, at one of their self-proclaimed favorite venues on March 22, at the Last Exit.  In addition to an insightful interview and entertaining interview, Vayden provided a performance later in the night that captivated the audience, and demonstrated variety in their style of music that appealed to all those in attendance.

From The Crowd: Thanks for meeting with us tonight before your performance.  Can you let me know who you are and what you do for the band?

Vayden: Hi I’m Curtis and I sing, I’m Bruce and I play drums, I’m Jason and I play the base guitar and I’m Armin and I play guitar.

FTC: Where did the name Vayden come from? Who came up with it, any special meaning?

Bruce:  Yeah, it actually has a very special meaning.  My sons name was Vayden, and about four years ago, he was in an accident.  As a tribute to him, we named the band after him.

FTC: That’s very meaningful.  Well, congratulations on being signed to SMG (Silent Majority Group), earlier this year.  How do you feel about the decision to re-release a re-mastered, remixed version of your “Children of our Mistakes CD?”

Bruce:  Yeah it’s super exciting.

Curtis:  The re-mixing sounds awesome, the re-mastering sounds awesome.  I think when we wrote this album we knew, no matter what, it was going to be released by a major, it would have its’ day in court.  We’re just happy its going to get its day in court and that it does well.

FTC: If you could pick a favorite track off any of your releases, what would it be and why?

Curtis:  Mine, personally is “Welcome”, it’s the 11th track on the CD.

Bruce:  Mine, is one I actually don’t even plan on and that’s the ballad.

Jason:  My favorite tracks are “Children of Our Mistakes” and “Karma”

Armin:  Those are my favorite tracks too…

Curtis and Bruce chime in laughing:  You’re such a clone!

FTC: Your MySpace, which also currently serves as the main website for the band and it states that you often respond to the question of what you sound like with the answer “Everything you’ve ever imagined yet nothing you’ve ever heard.”  What do you feel makes your music so unique?

Curtis:  (Jokingly) Haven’t you heard us?  Well what makes us different is we have a drummer, a bassists, a guitar and a vocalist… Ha… Wow…. That’s a great question… 

Armin: I think it’s our influences…

Jason:  Yeah, I was going to say that we’re four people but everyone in the band is so different.  Our backgrounds and the things that have influenced us are completely different.

FTC:  That actually plays into another question that I have for you guys.  Was there a particular artist or album that had a great musical influence on you?

Curtis: Not as a unit, but like Jason said, as individuals were all so driven by different influences.  I grew up listening to Motown.  I never even listened to Rock music until I was 16 or 17 years old.  That was the first time I ever started getting into rock and until this day, I’ll have more R&B stations turned in on my radio than Rock stations.  I love old R&B and that’s kind of how I approach my writing.

Bruce:  I’ve studied a lot of different types of music including Latin and I studied Jazz in college.  I’ve always kind of had an infinity for Funk and stuff like that.  Of course, I have always loved Rock, but it seems like the things I’ve pursued as a musician, were things other than Rock.  A lot of the Rock I listen to is a little more obscure too.

Jason:  When I was younger, even when I was really young, I listen to a lot of Rock and Heavy Metal stuff, that’s what I grew up on.  But when I turned 19, I got really heavily into Jazz and when I was in school, I played in orchestras, and professional orchestras, Jazz bands and things like that.  So there was all that Metal background and roots, that just kind of branched off into all of this other stuff and now, after doing all of that other stuff, I’m rediscovering my roots again.  It’s all of the things together.

Armin:  I really love all of the Beetles work, a lot of their late work, and Lennon’s solo work.  I like their song writing and everything.

FTC: Vaydens’ myspace also features an interesting story about how Curtis booked an hour-long lesson with Bruce to talk him into the band and it only took 5 minutes, what was the most convincing part of your pitch to create a band?

Bruce:  Well I would say, at the time, I had really been trying to get something together for a long time and I didn’t have anything going and I was really hungry…

Curtis:  I had brought Jack in the Box… (laughing)

Bruce: He knew I loved that Sirloin Steak Burger… (laughing)  It was just, the timing was perfect and I knew that if, well, once you have a good singer, the rest can fall into place.  I had known a little about him (Curtis) from before, we really didn’t know each other, but we knew of each other, and I was excited for the opportunity to be in a band with someone who could sing and write cool lyrics.  Those were really the primary things.  I was familiar with some of his writing and just a big fan of his lyrics.

FTC:  So Curtis, did you have to pay for the whole hour?

Curtis: Yeah, I never got my money back.

Bruce:  He did pay for the lesson, and he gave me a pair of drumsticks.  You know that was my time, I just can’t give that away (laughing).

Curtis:  Yeah, I gave him a pair of drumsticks, I kept a pair of drumsticks, and I still have mine.  He doesn’t.

Bruce:  I gave mine to a student, who really needed them; it was like a charity thing.

FTC: Before you started performing, what was your favorite venue to catch a show in the Valley?

Bruce and Curtis:  Big Fish

Bruce:  Big Fish was the place back in the day.

FTC: I think it is great that you continue to play local shows, what is one of favorite local venues and why?

All:  This place (The Last Exit), Martini Ranch, the Clubhouse.

Curtis:  Those are the three spots.  You know this place, the owner is amazing and it sounds amazing.  It just feels like a good Rock club.  Same with Martini, the people there are really cool.

Bruce:  Yeah, we get treated well; those are the three clubs where the people have actually become my friends.  They are set up well and the crowds that come out are really cool as well.

FTC: What is your favorite song to play live and why?

Curtis:  Favorite Song live is a new song “Just the Tip” which is a lot of fun to play live

Bruce:  Off of the “Children of Our Mistakes”, I would say, “Karma”

Curtis:  Oh yeah, I should say off “Children of Our Mistakes”, uh, “Karma”… no Kidding, I would stick with “Welcome”

Jason:  That’s a really tough once, as far as “Children of Our Mistakes” I like to play them all, but with the new ones, I think “Save the World” is my favorite.

Armin:  I think I’m going to start talking before him, because he is taking all of my answers!  Elysium…

FTC:  Now, your album is still coming out in May?

Curtis:  It’ actually June 3 and the single is going to drop April 22, so call up your local radio station and request, “Anthem of the Used”

FTC:  What are you all listening to right now?  Any up and coming artists, besides yourselves, that you’d like to recommend to others?

Armin:  Tantric new release is really good.

Jason:  Tool, Disturbed

Curtis:  I dig the new T-Pain and Mesmerized by System of a Down.

FTC:  I know you’ve mentioned a few new songs, what your creative process?  I know that the past guitarist, who can no longer perform is still involved.  How do you create?

Jason:  I think it’s a cross between two things.  Someone will just bring something in and we will just play it or everyone has their own recording stuff at home and will either come up with a few ideas or complete ideas and then we’ll just bring them in and it will just get completely changed.  That’s the great thing, everyone is so open and no one is too attached, we all compromise and when it’s all done, everyone’s happy with it, so the compromise is worth it in the end.

FTC: Well, that is all of the questions that I have for you.  It was great meeting with you and we’ll follow up closer to the release date!

Vayden:  Sure thing!

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