Taylor Raymond, guitar/vocals
Thursday, January 19
Caitlyn: So, you go to TVCC?
Taylor: Haha, unfortunately. This year only. I am transferring after semester. Very lame. Picture high school minus the trends, and hella lame teachers.
C: Where are you transferring to?
T: Boise State. That way my band can all be close and stuff. Cause I want to pursue the band the most.
C: So is it hard going to TVCC and still finding time for your band?
T: Umm, I guess. But not really, I've been used to balancing a band and school work for about a year. When i was in this old band called The Blood Between Us, I had to do that.
C: So it took some getting used to?
T: Not really. I just kinda did it because I wanted to. I really don't have to apply myself that hard right now at school. It's really not as terrible as they make it seem. Last semester I pulled A's and B's, besides my d in math, but that was because they stuck me in math 65 and it was complete lame shit like pre-algebra when I knew calculus. So i didn't apply myself to it. So in other words, I wasted a couple hundred bucks. Ouch.
C: So are you really close with your band mates?
T: Of course. We actually just got a new guy. He's way rad.
C: That's awesome. How long have you been together?
T: well ahaha. it's hard to explain, but in this band, since about mid-May of last year.
C: Yeah, I know how bands go through cycles.
T: Most the people in it were in our old band, The Blood Between Us, for about a year before that.
C: What are your band's main influences? Hardcore?
T: Definitely not. We listen to a lot of stuff, and I would say that personally, my only "hardcore" influences would have to be Poison the Well, Botch, and maybe some Everytime I Die, on certain days when they don't annoy me.
C: Haha. Do you think the hardcore scene is overpowering in Boise?
T: Overpowering, I wouldn't really say that. I'd say kids are just into going into hardcore shows because they are more intense. The kids listen to a lot of stuff, but there are a few "breakdown fiends" (as Thomas from FBBH would like to call them) and those kids are kinda lame in my opinion. I think the amount of tough guy moshcore bands in Boise is ridiculous.
C: I agree.
T: My band is a lot lighter than that crap, and can produce a song without ten breakdowns and a bit of two-step. Not trying to sound lame, but it's honest.
So our influences would
definitely be a lot of different things. Buddy Rich is a freaking god on drums,
for old skool bands, I would say stuff like Rush and Queen. But then Mike is
obsessed with Metallica (even if he wont admit it) he has all their sheet music
in his closet and even owns that new piece of crap CD. Sam listens to a lot of
math, like Dillinger and Number Twelve Looks Like You. We all like Between the
Buried and Me, and Poison the Well is definitely up there. Thrice. Blindside.
Definitely At the Drive-In, they own. Beloved is rad, Ben Gibbard is a musical
genius. Refused is awesome, oh man don't get me started. Fear Before [the March
of Flames]. Minus the Bear. They shred. Lots of emo, too, I'm not gonna lie. We
all like the Appleseed Cast a lot, except Micheal. Get Up Kids, umm, Thrice,
Thrice, Thrice, and more Thrice.
We are all pretty much pop-punk rooted. So, haha, we dig catchy stuff too.
C: Haha. That's awesome. I glad you aren't all "tough guys".
T: I don't think we really are at all. We all love breakdowns though, don't get me wrong. Music is awesome, I dunno what else to say.
C: Regardless of the genre, I love music. YES EVEN COUNTRY.
T: Ok I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a country fan. I'm pretty open though, to most things but that.
C: Haha. None of you 'hardcore' kids are.
T: Oh, thanks so I'm hardcore now? I'm actually probably more emo than you will ever know and I'll be the first to admit it.
Oh did I forget to say As Cities Burn in our influences? Cause if I did, they should be towards the top. That band is incredible. Probably my favorite besides anything with Ben Gibbard or Minus the Bear.
C: Minus the Bear is amazing.
T: Definitely.
Oh you might want to throw Fred Durst in there, too. Mike still listens to that CD, too (at night when nobody is around). Oh and I'm sure Derek does too.
C: Haha. Limp Bizkit?
T: Nope just Fred Durst, that man is amazing. SIKE!
C: Hahaha. That's tragic.
T: It would be tragic if it was the truth. I was a Limp Bizkit fan at first. Mike can still recite the whole album, along with Eminem.
C: Okay, I'm an Eminem fan. Kanye West, Bow Wow, Eve, Missy Elliot.
T: Also, I was thinking if I didn't add Thursday to the list, and Glass Jaw, and Converge to the list of influence then I'm lame. I will stop influencing now. I think you get the picture.
C: You can go on if you'd like.
T: mewithoutYou. Bright Eyes.
C: Ahh I adore them. And Conor Oberst.
T: Yeah, that stuff doesn't really come through in the music, but we love them and they make us want to be better musicians.
Oh, and OLD yesterdays rising. Enough.
Our bassist Joe is a really big 90's rock fan.
C: So who is the new band member?
T: Joe.
Yeah, I would like to add that I also forgot old stuff we used to listen to, more like Saves the Day and such. Ok and maybe Underoath too. Enough. No more influences.
T: Anyway, Joe Newman is the new-man. Yes. Fernando has pursued Fighting Bears full time. Joe is pretty nineties rock as you'll see.
So we are re-writing a lot of our songs right now. Who knows, maybe we could end up sounding a little different. It's hard to tell.
C: More or less hardcore?
T: We don't really write to be a hardcore band in the first place. We just kinda channel our thoughts and emotions into our music and it comes out how it comes out. I've heard some of the local kids call us "Wierdcore".
C: You've started a new genre.
T: I wouldn't say that. That's practically impossible. Some kids just don't know what they are talking about, or haven't heard enough tunes to know. I would say if I had to think we sounded like anything out there it would be a bit of old Hopesfall. Even though we don't really listen to them. But we have a little bit more, ummm, pop sensible sound... not like pop music, but when I say that I mean we tend to write some parts that can be sang along with as well. For example a breakdown. For example, a breakdown every now and then.
C: I like that. I sing too much...
T: I try not to. But I am taking vocal lessons next semester. So maybe it wont have as much of a problem with it after that. For now I'll stick to guitar.
C: Haha. I'm sure you're not that bad.
T: Trust me, I could definitely use some work. It's not something I would put on a CD.
I'd like to think that Randy Newman has a better singing voice than me, and well he actually does. I mean have you heard his work on the Toy Story Soundtrack. He sings "You've Got A Friend In Me". That guy sounds better then me. Hence, the reason why my band has a "lead singer".
C: Haha, that song is adorable. It's emo for children.
T: Sure. It's for anyone who needs a friend! How about that.
So yeah, maybe our new sound will surprise some people. I mean last time we went through a change, we went from being a tech-metal band into a post-hardcore-ish sounding band. Who knows. We don't even know yet.
We're still kinda developing what we want our sound to be, I mean we have been for a quite a while, and we are getting to what actually seems real to us, so that's good. It makes it a lot more enjoyable to play.
C: That's good. Someday you'll find it.
T: I'm sure we will. Maybe we already have. I mean we haven't started writing the new stuff yet, and all we are really trying to do is lean towards the edge of the new songs we had before Fernando left. It's all about making tunes, so it's all good.
Ok I lied, maybe we will all dress up in tight outfits and sing in high voices to a backing track.
C: Laughs. I'd probably pay to see that. At least the tight outfits.
T: Yea, I would run.
Hopefully when we get our new stuff down we will get some more shows, that would be nice. We are also planning on recording soon, about damn time.
C: Hella!
T: We've just gotta save up some money into that band bank account (which at the moment sits at about $15, wow.)
C: Haha... wow. So, any plans for the future? Tour?
T: Shiiiet. Soon soon soon, we will record some tunes, since our song we have done right now is a horrible representation of the band, even if kids like it. I mean we have a different vocalist and stuff, and that song really isn't our style. It's one of the first and more undeveloped/unthoughtout songs we have written. I still like that song though.
Then we will all live in Boise by next year so that will be rad. Two of us live in Boise and the rest are like 30-40 minutes away. So it makes it kinda tough at times.
C: So is this band something you hope to pursue or just a "phase"?
T: Oh it's definitely something we all want to pursue. If music were a phase I would have backed out of listening to anything but rap when i was in middle school.
It's like... I choose to play music. I mean I love it to death and it's more like music has chosen me to play it and spread the way I feel about it towards others. Not like it makes me do it or anything, hahaha. But there's more to it than there seems.
C: Maybe not physically, but who would you be without it?
T: I wouldn't be the same... That's about all T can say. Like my life would be way different. I wouldn't have anything I really loved. Besides my family, friends, and girls.
C: But those are people. I'm sure if you never really grew to love it, you wouldn't ever know what you were missing. But without it now, you'd be lost.
T: It kinda makes life a lot better. It's always there for you in a sense, I guess.
Sam Raymond,
drums/vocals
Friday, January 20
"It's not like were losing any of our hardcore edge, we just like more melodic sounding music, we want to sound different, we won't lie. We're not going to say we're a rock band, because in all honesty, that's bullshit. If we were rock, we would sound like Jet and trust me, we don't sound like Jet. I would also like to say any band that just list themselves as "rock" is ******* lying.
Basically, the new sound will be a lot more Post Hardcore. There will be breakdowns, oh yes there will be breakdowns. We just want to feel that we made a good song instead of throwing shit together really fast and playing a show (or 10)... because that's basically what we did up until now."
Interviewed by Caitlyn Peterson, head of The Boise Insider.