First off can
you state your name and what you do in the band?
I go by the name of A.J. and I play guitar.
You just released "Alphabet. Alphabets". How was the recording process for
that?
It was great. We recorded all the music at Jon's studio at his house in
Georgia so it was a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. We then
finished the vocals, extra instrumentation and mixing with Chris Badami of
Portrait studios who we have worked with on the prior two EPs. He seems to
know just how to work with Jerry and he makes the whole process as easy as
it can be.
What is the typical writing process like for you guys?
John and Brian write most of the music together at their studio down in
Georgia and then they send the tracks over to us to write parts to. We also
take a few weeks to go down to Georgia as a group and write together.
You plan on doing a video for "Assistant. Assistants.". Who will you be
working on that with?
We actually recorded the video with Drew from Fall out studios.
You hit the road with Vena Amori. How was that?
It was great. Those guys rocked hard every night and knew how to have a
great fucking time. There are a bunch of great memories as well as a handful
of crazy stories that I'll be taking home with me from our tour with Vena
Amori.
Do you have any touring plans for the fall?
We are leaving for a 3 and a half week tour throughout Canada and a few
states in the U.S. on the way home till mid October. After that we are
taking a short break to work, write new music, and Jon has a few bands lined
up to record albums in his studio. As of now we are planning on hitting up a
rigorous touring schedule starting in January unless any big offers come
before then. But not to worry, we will still be playing weekends in the
Jersey and Georgia tri state areas.
If you could play a show with any three artists, past or present, who would
they be?
Converge, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles would be pretty far up there on my
list.
How do you think the band has grown from the release of "Goodnight Alchemy"
to the release of "Alphabet. Alphabets."?
I would say that with the new release we have allowed ourselves a lot more
room in our writing style to experiment with every style of music that we
enjoy. It's nice to know that we can throw in influences from punk to hip
hop, classic rock to hard core. And with the reaction we have seen so far it
seems that our fans are really into it which leaves us room to mess around
and focus on writing music that we like rather than trying to fit in to one
focused style.
What is the typical day on the road like for you guys?
Lots of sleeping in the van, chain smoking cigarettes and things, repeating
way too many family guy and anchorman quotes, telling hot girls to maybe not
where a bra next time, having a few cocktails before a good show. having a
few more and a few more and a few more after the show, hanging out with our
new friends that we meet every day and hopefully getting a place to stay and
hang out with everyone till the next drive.
Who are some of your biggest influences?
Good music of any kind is influential. Every day I hear something new that
inspires me so it's hard to pin point it.
Who did the artwork for Alphabet. Alphabets.?
Jerry came up with the concept and Mark Iantosca, Jerry and I worked on the
photography and layout.
When you aren't on tour what do you do for fun?
when I'm not working I tend to spend my time at Bars, having parties, going
to parties, going to shows, being lazy by the pool, going to the diner way
too many times, driving around blasting good music and spending as much time
as I can with my friends.