Nevermind The Posers

See ya in the pit.

Vans Warped Tour – 22 Years and Going Strong! July 4, 2016

Filed under: Music Festivals,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 12:13 PM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vans Warped Tour is in its 22nd year and has become America’s longest running music festival!

VWT 16

“It’s fun to see so many people excited to be back on the road together. Warped continues to be a community that makes it all worth while.” says tour founder Kevin Lyman.

With a back-to-basics lineup that signals a return to the tour’s roots, the 22nd edition of Warped Tour welcomes back several fan favorites, including: American Authors, Atreyu, New Found Glory, Tonight Alive, Less Than Jake, Yellowcard, We The Kings, Sleeping With Sirens, Falling In Reverse, Four Year Strong, Reel Big Fish, Sum 41 and Pepper, to name a few.

NVMP is excited to check out some of the new talent hitting the tour this year like Dash Ten, Capsize, Mother Feather and Reckless Serenade (this year’s BBQ Band), as well as classic punk rockers like Less Than Jake, New Found Glory, Ballyhoo!  and Reel Big Fish. We’re also beyond excited to check out The Interrupters!  We’ll see you on the tour in New Jersey on Sunday July 17th at PNC Bank Arts Center – hopefully it won’t be recorded as the hottest day of the year again.

Since the band schedule is released daily for each tour date, here’s a list of bands and the stage that they will be playing on.  This should hopefully help you plan ahead.  Don’t forget to find the dude selling the full line up when you enter your venue – that thing is a lifesaver and well worth the couple of bucks.  Or, you can fight your way to the inflatable schedule and take a picture.

Journeys Left Foot Stage

Falling In Reverse 6/23-8/13

Four Year Strong 6/24-8/13

Good Charlotte 7/19-7/28

Less Than Jake 6/24-8/13

New Found Glory 6/24-8/13

Reel Big Fish 6/24-8/13

Set It Off 6/24-8/13

Sum 41 6/26-8/7

The Summer Set 7/30-8/13

Waka Flocka Flame 8/5-8/13

We The Kings 6/24-8/13

Yellowcard 6/24-8/13

Journey’s Right Foot Stage

3OH!3 7/21-7/31

ISSUES 6/24-8/13

Mayday Parade 6/24-8/13

Pepper 6/24-6/29, 7/1-7/22

Real Friends 6/24-8/13

Sleeping with Sirens 6/24-8/13

State Champs 6/24-8/13

The Maine 6/24-8/13

The Story So Far 6/24-8/13

Tonight Alive 6/24-8/13

Monster Energy Party Zone North Stage

Atreyu 7/19-8/7

Bullet For My Valentine 7/19-7/22

Crown The Empire 6/24-8/13

Every Time I Die 6/24-8/13

Ice Nine Kills 6/24-8/13

Motionless In White 6/24-8/13

The Color Morale 6/24-8/13

The Word Alive 6/24-8/13

Volumes 6/24-7/17

Whitechapel 6/24-8/13

Monster Energy Party Zone South Stage

Chelsea Grin 6/24-8/13

Coldrain 6/24-8/13

Cruel Hand 6/24-8/13

From Ashes To New 6/24-8/13

Gideon 6/24-8/13

In Hearts Wake 6/24-8/13

Oceans Ate Alaska 6/24-8/13

Vanna 6/24-8/13

Veil Of Maya 6/24-8/13

Poseidon Stage

Emarosa 6/24-8/13

I See Stars 6/24-8/13

Knuckle Puck 6/24- 8/13

Masked Intruder 6/24-8/13

Prof 7/26-8/13

Roam 6/24-8/13

SECRETS 6/24-8/13

The Heirs 6/24-8/13

The Interrupters 6/24-8/13

Young Guns 6/24-8/13

Cyclops Stage

Against The Current 6/24-8/13

Assuming We Survive 6/24-8/13

Ballyhoo! 6/24-8/13

Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! 6/24-8/13

Ghost Town 6/24-8/3

Sykes 6/24-8/13

Teenage Bottlerocket 6/24-8/13

Too Close To Touch 6/24-8/13

Waterparks 6/24-8/13

Full Sail Stage

Avion Roe 6/24-7/21

Bad Seed Rising 6/24-7/27

Broadside 6/24-8/13

Cane Hill 6/24-8/13

Capsize 7/17-8/13

Dash Ten 6/24-8/13

Hail The Sun 6/24-7/16

Like Pacific 6/24-8/13

More To Monroe 7/28-8/13

Mother Feather 6/24-8/13

Old Wounds 6/24-8/13

Palaye Royale 6/24-8/13

Reckless Serenade 6/24-8/13

Safe To Say 6/24-8/13

SayWeCanFly 7/22-8/13

Silent Planet 6/24-7/17

The New Low 7/19-8/13

Wage War 6/24-8/13

With Confidence 6/24-8/13

And here is a list of the remaining tour dates:

7.5 CHARLOTTE, NC

7.6 VIRGINIA BEACH, VA

7.7 SYRACUSE, NY

7.8 PHILADELPHIA, PA

7.9 NEW YORK, NY

7.10 HARTFORD, CT

7.11 SCRANTON, PA

7.13 BOSTON, MA

7.14 BUFFALO, NY

7.15 PITTSBURGH, PA

7.16 COLUMBIA, MD

7.17 HOLMDEL, NJ

7.19 INDIANAPOLIS, IN

7.20 CLEVELAND, OH

7.21 CINCINNATI, OH

7.22 DETROIT, MI

7.23 CHICAGO, IL

7.24 MINNEAPOLIS, MN

7.26 MILWAUKEE, WI

See you in the pit!

TNT

 

Interview with New Beat Fund on the Van’s Warped Tour 2013 August 20, 2013

Filed under: Interviews,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 11:14 PM
Tags: , , , ,

DSCN0465

Button:  My name is Button I play guitar.
Benny:  I’m Benny Baker the hit maker and I’m lead vocals and guitar.
Silky:  My name is Silky and I just burped.
Snapz:  I’m Snapz and play funky bass.

TNT:  How has your experience been on Warped Tour?
Silky:  Warped Tour has been absolutely amazing. This is our very first tour as a band so being thrown    into Warped Tour specifically has been absolutely insane. We feel like if we can get through this type of tour, we’re set.

Klone:  Kind of hit the ground running, right?
Silky:  Exactly. We just got thrown in.
Benny:  Like boot camp.
Silky:  We started out with three weeks on the tour and then got added to the whole tour.
Button:  Glad to be here in New York.

Klone:  So what’s the eye-opening experience of boot camp like then? What’s the first shocker you experienced on your first tour?
Snapz:  I would say the shocker was playing in Vegas and on stage it was like 120° and I almost passed out.
Benny:  He almost passed out, I put a water bottle on the black top and it literally melted the water bottle and all my water poured all over the ground. That’s how hot the blacktop was.

Klone:  Was that because you guys were playing on the blacktop?
Button:  Yeah! We brought the heat! We turned it up, we’re like “this shit ain’t hot enough let’s turn this shit up. Bam!”
Silky:  Before we started playing, it was a cool 72°.
Button:  As Vegas normally is.
Snapz:  With a chance of showers. Then the clouds parted, in came New Beat Fund.

TNT:  Tell us about the new album.
Silky:  It’s actually a six-track EP called CoiNz. We released it right before Warped Tour. It’s available for free on our website.
Button: Please enjoy and spread to friends!
Snapz:  And actually, our site is hot-boxed! So you go on our website, you can clear the smoke with your curser and then you can hotbox other people’s websites.
Benny:  Yeah, there’s a little button on the bottom right-hand corner. If you click “hotbox it,” it opens up a little thing and you type in anybody’s website, like your buddy’s website or whatever you want to hotbox. It can be the NYPD website.
Silky:  Everybody please hotbox the NYPD’s website.
Klone:  Freedom of choice and freedom of speech, so I think we should stand up for it.
Benny:  And then post it on Instagram for all your friends to see.

TNT:  I love the song “Scare Me.” How did the video shoot go?
Silky:  It was a great time. Yeah it was awesome. We basically kind of produced the entire video on our own.  It was the first song we ever recorded as a band and the first video as a band and we did it all on our own, we just want to keep it real, show people our lives in LA and along the way we picked up a crazy-ass ghost friend.
Benny:  Ghost amigo.
Button:  And to be honest with you, it was all really fun until ghosty, he got a little too…
Benny:  He started smacking girls’ asses at the end of the party and bitches got cray, he got cray, a couple people lost some limbs and a couple people got stabbed.
Silky:  It got real.
TNT:  Shit went down.
Snapz:  Actually, a girl got hit in the head by a giant cock.
Klone:  Well, it’s not a party until that happens.
Snapz:  I’m actually referring to a rooster that fell off the roof. But she did get hit by a cock.

Klone:  Do you think the fact that there are so many things that are really scary out there, is that sort of a common plane for you guys when you started to come together as a band? Is that why that’s the first song you recorded?
Benny:  Yeah, we were coming out of some shit when the lyrics to that song were written, a lot of turmoil I suppose. We like to make light of it as a comedian would, I mean obviously we spill out what we think and how we feel, but  we don’t want to be like ‘this is exactly how you should feel’ and stuff like that. A lot of kids love the song, but maybe haven’t even caught on to the full message of the song yet. So, I think as time goes on, the more music we produce in a similar light, more people will catch on to it.
Silky:  Definitely as people we observe what’s going on in the world and observe what’s going on around us and just being alive is crazy in itself, so we just kind of bring it to music.

TNT:  We appreciate you not being posers.
Snapz: We do pose for photos.
Benny: We’re actually great posers in that sense.

DSCN0466 DSCN0469 DSCN0467 DSCN0468

TNT:  What has been your craziest experience with a fan?
Silky:  There was a weird moment on Warped Tour; our goal was to hustle our stuff and get it to as many people as possible. I was handing out round CoiNz stickers one day. This girl came up to me and kind of bumped into me and I was like “Wow, you wanna have sex, huh?” It turned out she did want to have sex.  But before that, I noticed she wasn’t wearing a bra and I was like “Well, if you take your shirt off you can put these stickers on your boobs and it will look great.” She did and she was dead sexy in them.  It was the most amazing promotion we could ever get as a band, two CoiNz staring right in your face.
Klone:  The perks of being a rock star.

TNT:  What is your definition of a poser?
Snapz:  It would be someone who doesn’t express themself truly or honestly. I think with anything you do there is a level of honesty that always has to be put into it, especially things creatively. If you’re not speaking from a true place, then I would consider you a poser.
Silky:  I feel like it’s somebody who’s trying to be like somebody else and not following what they’re passionate about. Every time you try to be like somebody else, there already is that person, so you’re never going to be that. So stop it.
Benny: Someone who fakes the funk. If you’re truly funky within, you don’t have to fake it. Don’t fake the funk kids.
Button: We love to write produce record our own music all ourselves, the four of us because it is us, it’s what we love to do and that’s who we are. That’s what NBF is. And that’s why people love us because we’re honest, because of that fact. I would say if someone is doing something for the wrong reason, then they’re a poser.

After finishing up the entire Van’s Warped Tour, New Beat Fund will be tour with Blink 182 in September!
9/06 at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ
9/08 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT
9/10 at Starland Ballroom in Sayerville, NJ
9/11 at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY
9/12 at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, PA

 

Interview with Itch – Van’s Warped Tour 2013, 7/13 July 30, 2013

Filed under: Interviews,NVMP's Poser-Free Podcast,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 11:16 PM
Tags: , ,

Click on the link below to hear our interview with Itch on the Van’s Warped Tour at Nassau Coliseum, NY.
DSCN0653

Poser-Free Podcast_2013_Ep. 1 – Artist Interview: Itch – 2013 Vans Warped Tour.

DSCN0768     DSCN0795     DSCN0810

 

 

Van’s Warped Tour 2012 – Photo Pit Scrapbook August 6, 2012

Filed under: Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 12:12 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Check out Dave The Klone’s photos from this year’s Warped Tour at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on July 21st, 2012.

 

Vans Warped Tour Review at Monmouth Park Raceway in Oceanport, NJ September 20, 2011

Filed under: Music Festivals,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 10:33 PM
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Review by Angela Blasi

The 2011 Vans Warped Tour made its annual summer rounds and I was fortunate enough to have the chance to check it out.  I found myself one gray morning making my way to Monmouth Park Raceway ready to see the likes of A Day to Remember, Big D and the Kids Table, Less Than Jake, Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds and a whole host of others.

It would be next to impossible, or just a painfully long read, for me to sit here and list every single thing about each band that I liked and disliked.  I will tell you however, that I had the opportunity to catch the set of all but one band I was able to interview and that each group successfully stood and delivered both on and off stage.  With that, I’ll delve into some of the highlights of my experience at this years’ Vans Warped Tour.

Upon arrival and waiting in line to enter the venue, the crowd found the one and only MC Lars walking along the massed youth promoting his set.  I had no idea who he was yet, but I liked his DIY approach.  In just a few short hours I found myself sitting face to face with him and Josh of Weerd Science (formerly in Coheed and Cambria) as the two would be performing together as part of the tour.  In interview, Lars was quiet and thoughtful while Josh was the more animated of the two, energetically expressing his love and enthusiasm for music.  However, when it came time to catch the actual live performance, MC Lars seemingly crawled out of his shell and was absolutely spectacular.  Both performers gelled well together on stage, each with his own musical prowess.  It became clear quickly that the two were by no means all talk; they did in fact love every second of performing and creating music.  It was refreshing to see the happiness and passion still very much alive in artists who are no strangers to the music industry.

I ran into Patrick Salmon from Tomorrows Bad Seeds in the crowd and had a few minutes to catch up since I spoke to him last and his band mates the previous year.  Casually, we talked and he is still just as cool as he was last year and he brought me up to speed with the last 365 days and their continuing success.  I was able to catch their set and I’m pleased to report that they’re doing great.  Their live performance and sound quality coupled with the energy that is so unique to the band has not fizzled out despite rigorous touring and overall momentum.

The rest of the day consisted of back and forth from press to stage areas, interviewing bands I was familiar with and some I had never heard before.  I came out of this years Warped with a few new bands tucked away for further research and some of whom converted me to an instant fan.  From Sick of Sarah, who I might add are absolutely awesome, funny and badass on stage both in personality and musical styling, to the very theatrical and unique Venetia Fair, to one of my long time favorites Big D and the Kids Table, I was not disappointed with this year’s lineup.

Maybe it was just me, but I felt like this year’s show was more solid and musically diverse than last year’s event.  Did I mention Mr. Dee Snider of Twisted Sister himself paid a visit to this year’s event?  Yup, he did.  I have no idea why, but suddenly there he was surrounded by press conducting a group interview.

 

Vans Warped Tour 2011 Review September 8, 2011

Filed under: Music Festivals,New Music,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 7:32 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sick of Sarah

On July 23, 2011 I said screw the heat wave and headed to Nassau Collisuem in NY for my 9th Vans Warped Tour.  Complaining about the tortuous temperature was not bring relief, however, huddling in the shadows of merch tents and chilling on the air-conditioned Monster Energy truck did.  The first band I checked out was Sick of Sarah.  I am not usually a fan of female rock bands, but these chicks can play.  I enjoyed the live set more than their recorded tracks for the fact that there was more energy and less harmony.  The songs I recommend are “Bittersweet” and “Not Listening.”

Next I headed over to the Nintendo 3DS stage to check out Moving Mountains.  Before their set started, I caught the last couple of songs from Simple Plan.  I was slightly shocked to see them on the tour, but their new album is not too shabby.  Lyrically, the band grew up.  I really enjoy their single “When I’m Gone.”  They ended with crowd pleaser “I’d Do Anything”.  Oh high school, oh reminiscing.

Moving Mountains

I’m happy to now cross Moving Mountains off my list of bands to see.  When previewing the band, I was reminded of The Get Up Kids (think On A Wire) with a touch of Brand New, which is extremely rare.  The band owned the stage and their performance was nothing less than phenomenal.  “The Cascade,” “With One’s Heart In One’s Mouth” and “Where Two Bodies Lie” are my favorite tracks.  I can’t wait to check out their albums.  Emo music used to be good back in the day when it first became a popular, yet it is still a misunderstood and undefined genre.  This band reminds me of that; like when ’emo’ wasn’t such a shameful word.  I deem this band mandatory to check out.

The Narrative


The Narrative was up next at Kia/Kevin Says stage.  Local natives to Long Island, NY, the crowd filled rather fast, and more were gathering as each note played.  I loved “Fade” and “The Moment That It Stops”.  Their voices (Suzie Zeldin and Jesse Gabriel) are just so pleasant to hear with melodic hooks and lyrics.  When I take my next train ride, I know “Trains” will be on my iPod.  The music paints a great picture of the best train ride you’ll ever take; like you’re 5 years old and it’s your first time on one.  I get Tim Burton vibes from this song, but that’s probably just me.  The band may not have been something I would expect on the tour, but hey, the times they are a changin’.  We’re All Warped.

Finally.

A break between bands to check out the sites and find some shade.

I love the cloths from Sooshi Clothing Company.  They have these adorable plush wasabi/ginger duo and sashimi.  Sadly, they’re only up for raffle, so I opted for a shirt, this one.  Skull Candy was selling head phones for $10 on top of throwing some free pairs into the crowd.  There were giant drinking water trucks with “durkin water” to fill up your water bottles and misting tents to cool down.  The Monster Energy truck was on site providing air-conditioned seating and free Monster drinks.  I love the Absolutely Zero; it’s energy without the guilt.  Oh, and of course I couldn’t forget to catch some skaters!

Middle Class Rut

I have to admit, I had no idea Middle Class Rut consisted of only two members Zack Lopez (vocals/guitar) & Sean Stockham (vocals/drums).  Before there set, I had only heard their single “New Low,” which I love.  I wish I could say the same about their other tracks, but didn’t care for them.  Was it lacking something?  It still felt like a full sound on stage, but it got repetitive after a while, and this coming from a gal who loves her jam bands.  I didn’t stick around for the full set and of course, “New Low” was played last.  I heard it half way across the venue and thought to myself “Fuck,” but sang along to the chorus anyway.

Lucero

When I was checking the lineup of the tour this year, I knew I had to make a stop and hear Lucero.  Again, a sound I thought I’d never experience on Warped Tour.  This alternative/country/punk band from Memphis had just enough punk rock in their veins to spark my interest.  I’m picking up Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bruce Springsteen and at times and Gaslight Anthem.  It’s something that everyone can enjoy and I appreciate them being on the tour.  “The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo” is a must hear.  Listen here.

Roger Manganelli, Less Than Jake

The highlight of the day was watching Less Than Jake perform while standing on stage left.  Taking pictures in a photo pit is awesome, but stage shots just rock harder.  Less Than Jake takes to the stage like a fish to water (or the smell of weed at The Expendables’ set); they are natural performs and there was never a dull moment on stage.  They were fast to point out some visions of Long Island; Chris Demakes told a young girl who flashed her tits to “Put them away!”  Rightfully so, good move Demakes.

Less Than Jake

Another issue/concern they pointed out was the haircut choices of the crowd; lots were sporting the Justin Beiber do and that was not going to fly.  The band pulled up on stage one of the look-a-likes and made it a point that this had to change.  JR revealed the mohawk strip and buzzer.  The original kid chickened out, thus proving the wimpy look and demeanor the Beiber cut holds, and a true punk rocker was selected.  He let JR and Buddy shave his head into a mohawk.  Not over yet, the band pulls a girl from the audience for the freshly mohawk rebel to make out with on stage.  Only downfall to the onstage mohawk was my location and the direction the wind.   Thank God for giant speakers to duck behind to dodge the hair.  “Mr. Personality” from their new EP Greetings From… was a big hit, as were all the classics.  They deliver so many songs in one set it feels like they covered everything I wanted to hear.  I was happy to hear three tracks from TV/EP released back in October 2010, the theme songs to Animaniacs, Spongebob Squarepants and i-Carly.  Before I knew it, we were asked to leave the stage and the band was performing their last song.  What a great experience!  Coming soon, NVMP’s interview w/ JR!

Big D

Big D & The Kids Table was up next, another Warped veteran on bill.  I wasn’t able to catch their entire set, but still had a great time.  They played some tracks off of their new album that dropped on 7/5/11, The Damned, The Dumb and The Delirious.  Ska music is getting scarce these days, so you have to appreciate the classics.  Sure, there are new bands coming out w/ brass sections trying to keep Ska alive, but remember your roots;  both LTJ and Big D have been around since the 90s.  Ska is a genre of music.  If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to listen.  Fact is, the sound has never changed; ska music is known for having a horn section to tie together the elements of a rock/punk band.  Ska music will always have a place on my iPod.

Go Radio

Another new band I’m happy to have discovered this year is Go Radio on Fearless Records.  Hailing from Tallahassee, Florida, these rockers have some dangerously addicting songs that had me practically paralyzed at the stage.  The lyrics are catchy and the hooks are strong enough for me to have just used the word “paralyzed”.  This is Jason Lancaster’s band since leaving Mayday Parade.  I got a good taste of this band to make me definitely dig deeper into their music.  “Goodnight Moon” was #8 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and sold more than 15,000 copies in 2010 off of Do Overs And Second Chances.  “Any Other Heart” was great live; lots of passion and energy, and definitely a song that drags you in and leaves you wanting more.

The Expendables

Blacklist Royals

No strangers to the tour, up next were The Expendables.  Ryan DeMars made a quick statement before their set, something to the tune of ‘light ’em if you got ’em.’  A minute later, the audience smelled fantastic and the mood mellowed out.  I love reggae.  I love punk.  I love The Expendables.  “Down Down Down” and “Sinsemilla” are my favorite tracks.

Another new band to check out was Blacklist Royals.  I hear Rancid and the Ramones with a taste of Gaslight Anthem, which means it grabbed my attention immediately and deserves a fair listen.   Their stage presence was pure energy and they knew how to keep the attention of the crowd.  Great set and will definitely be checking out more of their music. 
“American Hearts” and “Sick of Sin” are great tracks to start with.

illscarlett


The last band I was able to catch was illscarlett.  These boys are certainly no stranger to VWT, and this year, Lyman selected them to play the entire tour.  You’ve come a long way illscarlett, from playing your music at the gates of Warped Tour to rocking out on the whole festival!  Dub rock is a type of music that is extremely hard to hate, or at least that’s how I feel.  Yet again, their live set was able to get the crowd to unite and puff, puff pass.

All in all, it was another successful year at the Vans Warped Tour.  I can’t help but to feel that the theme this year was fusion bands.  With acts like Larry and his Flask, Lucero, Lionize, Peelander-Z, MC Lars and Weerd Science, River City Extension, all combining different elements of various genres, it lets us hear music we might have never listened to.  IE- I’m not a fan of country, but Lucero is pretty damn sweet.  In River City Extention there are eight members and that alone is enough of a fusion to create a unique sound.  We’re all warped, see you there next year!   Thanks for everything.

Here is a slide show of the best pictures I took at Warped this year, enjoy!

Review and Pictures by Tina Nicole Teresi

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Interview with MC Lars and Weerd Science September 7, 2011

Filed under: Interviews,New Music,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 12:17 AM
Tags: , , , , ,

Interview by Angela Blasi

Ang:  So for the record you are…
WS:  I’m Weerd Science.
MCL:  I’m MC Lars, how are you?

Ang:  Tell me a bit about what you guys what you do.
MCL:  We do independent hip-hop music.  We’re two different acts and on Warped, we teamed up to do a set together.  We have a label called Horris Records– punk based independent hip-hop music; really passionate, really independent and really dope.

Ang:  How did you get into doing something that isn’t mainstream and makes you unique?
MCL:  I played in punk bands and then started MCing electronic beats and hip-hop beats.  In 2003 I started touring and have been ever since.  It was kind of an accident.
WS:  I was always a musician.  I was a drummer; that’s what I did as a kid.  I’ve been in a band my whole life.  I played in a band called 3 that was signed to Universal and like most young drummers, all I cared about was drum fills.  With hip-hop I always wrote rhymes as a joke; real gangsta shit.  I was a 13 year old fat punk kid and it started to become a real creative outlet.  Mobb Deep and Wu Tang’s records taught me a lot about the drums.  Then I went on to play in a band called Coheed and Cambria for nine years.  Hip-hop always played a big role in my creativity.  Coming from New York I guess that’s what kids did on the bus.  Once it became a real creative outlet, I took it seriously and it was a natural progression to make a record.  Eventually Equal Vision, Coheeds’ first record label, wanted to put out the first Weerd Science album and we did that still playing in bands.  I’m actually in another band on Warped Tour called Terrible Things.  I play drums and I try to work as hard as I can.  You know Lars heard Sick Kids my new record and put it out on his label Horris records.  Were one of the only groups that’s true DIY.  Lars has taught me a lot about that and I really believe in it.  What artist wouldn’t want to own their own record?  I might own pieces of 3 and Coheed and Cambria, but never do you own your own.  Horris Records are all about DIY.

Ang:  What’s one thing you’ve learned from each other in this hybrid of a team?
WS:  Here we are on the same stage as bands with major labels, only we get to do what we want with the money and we funnel the money right back into the art.  I think Lars taught me that it’s very possible to take care of your art, do what you want to do and believe in yourself on the same level as the big boys but do it on your own.

Ang:  Is it more liberating because you’re able to take your music places you might not have been able to without that kind of creative freedom?
MCL:  When you have someone investing in your music, that’s external; they always want to have the creative input, then they wanna make you feel small if you’re not delivering in a way that is profitable to them.  There’s a lot of manipulation.
WS:  With a major record label, you can never win.  I remember with Coheed we sold 100,000 records the first week and that it just wasn’t good enough.  The disappointment I felt from that felt like we let everybody down.

Ang:  What do you find more satisfaction-wise in your own art, more personal gain or more personal satisfaction?
WS:  I definitely do every record solid.  It’s another person whose going to put it on and hopefully it touches their hearts.  That is deeply personal to me and I think it’s the way it should be.  I think the whole DIY thing can really be a convenient stance for a band.  It’s a lifestyle and it has more to do with art and creativity then being about a product.  It all comes down to creativity and I think that’s really important.  I could not believe in that more whole heartedly.

Ang:  What can I expect to see on stage?  What kind of message and vibe do you try to send through your music?
WS:  For the Warped Tour set it’s short, so we try to keep it really high energy, do a nice mix of both our stuff and try to have fun.

Ang:  Is it just you two on stage?
WS:  No it’s a full set; we’re trying to keep the rock alive.  We believe in this stuff and hopefully that translates to the crowd.

Ang:  Do you guys have any influences that you draw from?
WS:  I mean, I still draw some of those records that became the foundation for me as a musician.  Wu Tang is a major influence and Snoop Dogs’ Doggiestyle got me into pfunk.
MCL:  I really like the independent people, like Atom and His Package.  He’s a huge influence and his stage show is so engaging.  He’s funny, tells stories and his songs were great.  Wesley Willis was this big keyboardist and his art was his sanity and his peace.  He was happiest on stage and everything is normal on stage.

Ang:  What is your definition a poser?
MCL:  I feel like a poser is someone who buys into mass media and a corporate way of being different and maybe not authentically follows what’s in their heart.  I don’t think that kids are always trying to find themselves, so I don’t know if you can judge someone who’s trying to find themselves.  A poser is someone who is not true to themselves.
WS:  Especially out here with Warped Tour- it was supposed to be the sub culture and not pride itself on following the trends.  I really dig what Lars said, that kids are trying to find themselves.  It’s an evolution.

MC Lars

Weerd Science

 

Venetia Fair at Warped Tour August 17, 2011

Filed under: Interviews,New Music,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 7:36 AM
Tags: ,

I ran into Mike and Joe from Venetia Fair and talked about how things are going for them.

Mike:  My name is Mike; I play bass in the Venetia Fair.

Joe:  I’m Joe Brown; I play keys in the Venetia Fair.

Ang:  So how’s the tour treating you guys so far?

Mike:  Tough and awesome and hot and dirty.

Joe:  Definitely been dirty.  I’ve been wearing the same shirt for 32 days today.

Ang:  Is it lucky perhaps?

Joe:  No, more so that I have refused to acknowledge my body telling me that it needs to be washed and I’m ignoring any health signs more of a personal thing I have with myself.

Ang:  So tell me, what makes your music so different and great?

Mike:  A lot of people say our music has a burlesque kind of theme or a rag-timey feel.  The music is very intense, but it’s also very catchy.

Joe:  It’s definitely heavy and theatrical; cabaret-esque piano and waltzy parts that reminds you of a circus.

Ang:  Where do you draw your influences from?

Joe:  That’s an interesting question because none of us listen to the same thing.  I know when we used to do interviews we would always take people who would compose scores from movies and stuff.

Mike:  Like scores from Tim Burton films.  Any weird stuff that grabs people’s attention.

Ang:  Where are you from and how long have you been together as a band?

Joe:  Boston

Mike:  The band existed for about four years.  We started touring two years ago and this is our first year playing Warped.  It’s also the first time we’ve been on a tour that we’re playing everyday like a festival.

Ang:  What can we expect to see from your live show?

Joe:  Here’s what I tell people when they haven’t heard us: “I guarantee you our live show is the wildest set you’ve ever seen and we go crazier than any band.  If I’m wrong and you can honestly tell me that there’s a band that goes crazier, then I’ll just stand there and you can punch me in the head as many times as you want.  We pride ourselves on our live shows.

Ang:  How does that crazy energy translate into the crowd?  How do they respond?

Mike:  Our fans are awesome.  They’re the wildest people in the world, and we make sure they’re all wild too.

Ang:  Would you describe your music as high energy and up tempo?

Mike and Joe:  Yes!

Ang:  What type of message are you trying to convey to your listeners?

Joe:  Nothing matters.  Life is a toilet, deal with it.  Don’t be a baby, don’t let anything bother you.

Ang:  What is your definition of a poser?

Joe:  A lot of bands think that they want to be that band, so they’re posers.  I don’t think that’s true.  I think they just want to play music.  A poser would be someone who’s pretending to be someone that they’re not.

Mike:  I haven’t heard that term in a while.  I think it changed to hipsters.

Joe:  Poser used to have like a negative connotation to music in general.  You could just call someone a poser and they’d be like ‘fuck.’  I feel like now it’s actually turned into the word it’s supposed to be.

Ang:  What do we have to look forward to from Venetia Fair?

Joe:  We’ve got a couple of things we just put out.  A new EP, it’s called The Pits and we got it on iTunes, Amazon and on our Facebook.  We just put out a music video for “A Man Like Me.”  It’s on YouTube and all over the internet.

Mike:  We’re also putting out a whole bunch of tour dates soon.

 

Larry and his Flask Interview August 13, 2011

Filed under: Interviews,New Music,Vans Warped Tour — NVMP @ 12:36 PM
Tags: , , , ,

By Angela Blasi

I had a few minutes to catch up with Ian Cook and Jesse Marshall of Larry and his Flask Vans Warped Tour in Oceanport, NJ.  Check out their new album All That We Know that just came out on Tuesday 8/9/11.

Ang:  How was your performance today and the turnout?

Ian:  It was cool, we’re kind of one of those bands; we’ll start out with a small gathering of people and by the end, people walk by and they’re like “what?”  They see this guy jumping around with this huge standup bass, and there are banjos and mandolins, so they stop and want to watch.

Jesse:  Today a lot of parents came up to us and said “Thank you so much, I hate all the music on this tour, I’m in pain being here.”

Ang:  How long have you guys been together?

Ian:  It’s kind of a weird story.  We’ve been together for seven years and started out as just a straight up electric punk rock band and it kind of evolved.  In the last three and a half years, we’ve been playing more traditional instruments, more like a full gear sound.

Ang:  How’s New Jersey been treatin’ ya?

Jesse:  The Saint in Asbury Park was awesome and we played The Wellmont Theatre in Montclair with Dropkick Murphys; it was really great.

Ang:  Are there any bands your fond of touring with?  Any bands here you’ve hit it off with?

Ian:  Foxy Shazam.  They’re off the tour now and left at the Montreal date.  They were amazing.  We made really great friends with them, nicest guys.

Jesse:  We bonded immediately.  Our van broke down in Michigan and they let us ride in their tour bus, they’re great guys. Also, the Aggrolites are awesome.  We’re definitely going to be playing with them in the future.  We’ll be touring with Lionize in the fall.

Ang:  For someone who’s not familiar with your music/stage show, what is something the new-comers can expect?

Ian:  I would just say come prepared to have a party.

Jesse:  It’s an explosion of energy.

Ian:  We just try to play at every show like it’s the last one we’re going to play; give it everything and see if we get anything back.  If we get twenty percent back from what we’re giving out, then we’re happy.

Ang:  As far as your music and song writing goes, is that something done collectively as a band?

Ian:  It’s different from time to time.  Most often one person will bring the song to the table and it’ll change drastically once we get it into the practice space and start hashing out things.

Jesse:  There are also things we’ve written completely collectively, the lyrics and the music, but a lot of times one person will write the lyrics, bare-bone skeleton of the song and then we’ll all go in and add.  Maybe a horn pop would be cool here.

Ian:  Kind of throw it around.

Ang:  Do you guys have a method in getting together and writing, or do you find that your influences have any sort of bearing when you get together and write?

Ian:  Yeah, definitely.  Me personally, I write a lot of songs by myself just with my acoustic guitar and definitely my influences have an effect.

Ang:  Same for you Jesse, is there a particular kind of music that brings out a flare to the music?

Jesse:  I don’t know, punk rock and gypsy music; a lot jazz.

Ian:  We listen to a lot of music.  We’re huge fans of music in general from metal to hip-hop to jazz.

Ang:  Are you on for the entire duration of the Warped Tour?

Jesse:  The tour ends in Portland, which is like two hours from my house.

Ang:  Aren’t you guys from Oregon?  That worked out well.

Jesse:  Yeah.  Everybody else is like ‘I have to drive back to New Jersey.’  Luckily, we go home, do a couple of shows and a couple of festivals.  We do a festival in Seattle called Soundfest, a couple of home-town shows, then we go to play Riot Fest in Philly and Chicago and FEST 10 in Florida.  Finally, we do a full US/Canada tour, go home for a little bit, then we go to Hawaii

Ang:  Sounds like you’re always touring, how are you physically enduring all the traveling?

Ian:  It’s how we all grew up.  We started touring while still in high school and we got used to it more and more.  The first time we went out, we were out for two weeks and played like four shows.  Then it got bigger and bigger and we got used to living on the road.

Jesse:  Luckily we’re all younger, our twenties and stuff.  None of us have any kids.

Ian:  None of us have any ties at home other than girlfriends.  We kind of built our lives around the band.

Ang:  What’s your favorite area to play?

Ian:  I like Florida a lot.

Jesse:  I really like Colorado and it’s always fun to go to the city- New York or San Francisco.

Ang:  It seems like you guys have been everywhere.

Jesse:  Yeah, we’ve played in 44 states.  We haven’t done North Dakota, Alabama, Hawaii or Alaska.  We are playing Hawaii and Alaska coming up soon.

Ang:  Anything else you’d like our readers to know?

Ian:  We just released a brand new album.  It’s called All That We Know.  It’s available digitally now on Amazon and iTunes and released in stores on 8/9/11.

Ang:  Finally, what is your definition of a poser?

Ian:  Somebody that’s lost in any sort of false idea of what should be true.  Somebody who should be following their heart and they’re not.

Jesse:  Kind of just pretentious, trying too hard to fit in I suppose.