Aurora (MA)/Blank Youth Records Interview Special

Here is an amazing example of a community working together towards a larger common goal. Some friends in central Massachusetts decided to form a label in order to help out their other friends and colleagues in working bands. They’ve in turn created a small scene within a small community that has been created around them and are making a lot of headway. We need more people like this who are willing to work together instead of competing for advancement. Hopefully these interviews shed some light on the bands and labels that you should be familiarizing yourself with no so that you can get involved tomorrow.

The Aurora questions were answered by Sean O’Loughlin (Vocals)

  

LH: How long have the members of Aurora been playing together?

SL: Aurora has been a band since the summer of 2012. All of us are original members besides Ethan Cheesman, our new drummer who started with us in late 2013.

LH: You’re kicking off 2014 with a new acoustic single and accompanying music video. What was the thought-process that determined this?

 

SL: I was going to release Changing Winds on my own. It was a song that I had been working on for a while and wanted to do some acoustic stuff on my own. I recorded it and then showed the other guys in Aurora. When they all liked it we decided to use it as a full band release. In the end it worked out perfectly and we started the new year with a new track!

LH: “Changing Wind” is definitely a new step for this group and I was curious what the origin of this song was (if one).

 

SL: I really don’t know how to put it with this song. Everyone goes through hard times, I just wanted people to listen and relate to this song in any way that they could.

LH: Who produced your Changing Winds music video?

 

SL: Nick Parabicoli, from our new label Blank Youth Records laid out the idea with the dog. We all thought it would be funny to have a deep song with a video that had no true meaning. Plus, Scoobe (the dog) is awesome.

LH: Having never been to MA, I was curious what the punk scene was like in your area.

 

SL: It’s strange, there are some awesome punk, pop punk and indie bands that come out of MA. In our area, Central Mass there’s a way bigger hardcore, post hardcore scene which makes the shows really dynamic in genre.

LH: Any touring plans?

 

SL: This summer we will be doing a week or two around New England. We are working on getting another band to come along with us as well. Hopefully later on this year we’ll book another tour during winter break too.

LH: What else is in store for 2014?

 

SL: Were going to head into the studio soon to start recording our next EP which we’re planning to release in the Spring of 2014. Until then we will keep promoting ourselves, playing shows and anything else we can do to get our name out there!

The Blank Youth Records questions were answered by Matthew Perham (Owner)

LH: How long have BYR been in business?

MP: Well, I got the idea to start a record label back in December of 2012. I wanted to showcase some of the local talent in Central Mass and give them an outlet to build their careers in music. I started working on my own and released a 10 song compilation album featuring local bands. After the release I started to realize that I had a lot of close friends that were as passionate about music as I was and I asked them to help out with the label.

In August of 2013 I enlisted the help of four long time friends, Pat, Jon, Bryan and Nick. We discussed what goals we wanted the label to accomplish and started talking about which bands we would like to sign. In September of 2013 we chose a name for our label and started researching the first artist to join our roster. In late December 2013 we announced the signing of Aurora and Blank Youth Records was on its way!

LH: What types of music do you usually cater towards?

MP: At the moment we are catering to the Pop Punk/Alternative Rock scene. In our area there are a lot of Hardcore/Post Hardcore bands but we wanted to find a smaller niche to work with. Although, that doesn’t mean we won’t be branching out to different genres later on in the future.

LH: Besides Aurora, what other bands have you worked with?

MP: Aurora is our first and only signing at the moment but after we get our feet off the ground and release their third EP this spring we’ll be looking to sign other artists. When I released the 10 song compilation in 2012 on my own it featured some awesome bands from Massachusetts such as Atlas, Pathogenic, Kerrigan, and SuperStoker.

LH: What is your specific role in the organization?

MP: I’m kind of the ‘Jack of All Trades’ when it comes to the everyday operations within the label. I’m first and foremost the owner. I’m the guy behind the scenes making sure we get everything done. I (attempt to) keep everyone in line and on task. I figure out what needs to get done and then I make it happen.

LH: What are BYR’s plans for 2014?

MP: Right now we are really focused on getting Aurora’s EP out in the spring and getting them out on tour. After we get that release under our belt we will start seeking out other artists to work with and start the process of releasing awesome music all over again. 2014 should be a big year for Blank Youth. We hope your ready to hear some awesome music.

For more information on Aurora (MA) and Blank Youth Records, visit their Facebook pages:

https://www.facebook.com/BlankYouth

https://www.facebook.com/aur0rama

Luke Helker

Greylines

Over the past weekend, I have been in touch with Shane Dunlap of the band Greylines. These self-proclaimed “Lock Haven Bastards” have a unique blend of punk and hardcore in a way that is very accessible, but also doesn’t alienate them from that true-blue fan base.

The band just released a new EP entitled Night Terror. Be sure to check it out because it’s a great EP with wall-to-wall bangers on it including “Shudder,” the song that the band just recently released a video for.

Here is an interview I had with Shane. We talked a lot about the new video. Below that you’ll find the music video for their song “Shudder.”

LH: Is this your first music video?

SD: Yep this is our first music video. Some of us were never really into the idea of a video but a couple of our friends really pushed us and put the idea in our heads and basically got is psyched up to do it.

LH: Who produced the video?

SD: A friend of ours named Matt Spencer from Pittsburgh did the video. If you haven’t check out any of his work I suggest you do that; he seriously rules.

LH: How does it feel to have Alternative Press feature your video?

SD: It’s a really awesome feeling of course haha we’re all really excited about it and probably will be for a while.

LH: Have you been getting attention from any other fairly well-known publications besides AP? 

SD: A few other media sites have shared it and it made its way around the world of twitter or so I’m told haha.

LH: Did anyone actually jump off that bridge?

SD: Yes, our singer Russell did actually jump off that bridge.

LH: What inspired the home video footage?

SD: I believe that was our friend Anthony’s idea. I brought up the idea of Russ flipping through old pictures then the idea of old video footage was stemmed from that. We wanted something that would give the viewers a reminiscent feeling when watching.

LH: This is your third EP. Can you discuss a little about how the songs came together and what makes this particular EP great.

SD: Technically this is our third release, but only our second EP. We’ve put out an 8 song EP and a one song split prior to this release.  The songs came together in a rather unusual way; the song Night Terror was written as a full band pretty much immediately after we released the first EP, so we’ve had that one in our set for quite some time. I think we wrote Shudder after that but ended up scrapping the song for a while and then eventually re-worked it until we were fully satisfied.  Russ wrote Regal and Ode completely by himself then brought the songs to us where we then added our own twist to it. 40 was a collective effort in that we all wrote different parts then mixed them all together; then a good deal of it was changed and reworked while we were in the studio.  I guess what makes this EP great or at least why we think so, the songs are filled with a ton of emotion, we really try to show that with the music but Russ does a great job of writing lyrics that allow people to bring back memories both good and bad.

LH: Any touring plans? 

SD: We’re going to do some weekenders this winter and try to play some places we haven’t played yet. Then we’re getting things worked out to do a bigger tour this summer.

LH: Whats the next step for Greylines?

SD: We’re trying to play as much as we can in 2014 and really push the new EP as hard as we can.

Luke Helker

 

Fight For Your Friends

I had the pleasure of getting to talk to New Jersey’s acoustic powerhouse, Fight For Your Friends, the name George Brudermann has given himself. If you’re a Frank Turner fan then you’re in luck because FFYF has that very aggressive acoustic folk-punk sound and style that epitomizes Turner. However, FFYF has their own unique sound and an equally unique outlook on music, which you will read below. Please get involved.

https://www.facebook.com/fightforyourfriends

http://f4yf.bandcamp.com

 

Me:Have you always been a solo act or do you sometimes perform with a group?

FFYF: It started as just a solo gig but as of recently I have been practicing with a band and things have just meshed in the best way possible! It’s a really great blend of musicians coming together and I’m really excited to start playing shows with them.

Me: Where the name ‘Fight for your Friends’ come from?

FFYF: Fight For Your Friends that came from this moment of just pure, ridiculously irrelevant drama when I was in high school. Basically, an argument broke out amongst the members of my mediocre band we all are in when were in school and I tried to not get involved in it. In avoiding the conflict and not saying anything I made the situation worse and learned that sometimes fence-sitting gets you in even deeper. From that, I came up with this idea that you should always stick up for those who you care about and since that band broke up, Fight For Your Friends came to be… And the name would sound so cool if I ever started playing Pop Punk!

Me: Under the influence section on your facebook profile, you have mainly musicians but you also have author J.D. Salinger listed. I’m assuming he’s your favorite author…?

FFYF: Yeah, I am a huge Salinger Fan. I read “Catcher in the Rye” when I was younger and it had a huge influence on me. I just think Salinger is someone who wrote these amazing pieces of fiction but still puts so much of his own life into each story and creates a relatable experience. I kind of try to do that in my live show, bridge that gap between musician and fan, it’s why I don’t like using microphones or stages at small gigs. If I wasn’t playing I’d be standing right were they are, why stand above them? Also I hate heights… We were talking about Salinger, right?

Me: I like the idea of not utilizing a stage or microphone in small gigs, but what happens when you play larger venues where those items are necessary? How do you bridge that gap between performer and fan to make them one the same level?

FFYF: The couple times i’ve played bigger venues and had to use a mic, people still seemed into it and focused. You’re always going to have kids who come to the show to glare at the openers with their arms crossed until their band comes on, but I think the best way to get that undivided attention is to just be yourself. Cockyness is so transparent and when you act like yourself and not the ‘big shot’, you find you can really make that connection as human beings through music and not through the perimeters of some social hierarchy.

Me: You’ve branded yourself as “medio-core.” Can you explain a little as to what that means?

FFYF: “Medio-Core” came from a joke I made with my friend Nick from Forever Gold Clothing. We were hanging out and started talking about how pop punk bands make up their own vanity genres (i.e. Four Year Strong has Beard-Core, New Found Glory has Easy-Core), and I just came up with my own sort of cynical genre. I can be sickeningly pun-y.

Me: You seem to take a few jabs at Pop-punk as a genre. I take it you’re not much of a fan. How come?

FFYF: Oh no, don’t get me wrong I love pop punk! I wouldn’t be playing music without that genre, in fact I distinctly remember Mxpx’s Life In General being the first CD I ever bought. I mean I ripped off the Man Overboard ‘Defend’ logo for my merch (I have little pins that say ‘Defend Folk Punk’ with a little guitar in the middle). I’m only taking jabs at pop punk because i’ve been in that scene before and you sort of give ribbings to the things you love. However, today there seems to be a lot of bands popping up using a recycled template on “How to be Pop Punk”. I think The Swellers put it best when they posted on Intsagram recently, “Dear Pop Punk, I like pizza because it is good. Friends aren’t your family. Your town isn’t that bad.”

Me: You recently released you EP “F4YF.” How has the response been form some of your fans?

FFYF: Yeah! Fans who have reached out to me have said nothing but rad things! It’s great to hear such positive feedback from something with such a short run-time of just 3 songs. One person said I sounded like an ‘American Frank Turner’ and I was like “Well, time to stop making music, I’ll never get something that nice said about me again!”

Me: Any tours booked?

FFYF: Actually right now I’m trying to get something together for the Spring with some weekend tours tossed in in the mean time. It’s tough scheduling big tours when I’m finishing out my senior year at college, but I’d say expect local dates and weekend tours around New England and the Northeast and late March I might be heading out around the Midwest for a few shows.

Me: What would you say is the message behind your music?

FFYF: I think, all in all, I never write with a meaning in mind, I just sort of write what I’m feeling and if that connects with someone who’s feeling those same emotions or ideas, I’m beyond thrilled. Music can be this communal experience and I think, if anything, I write so maybe someone will hear a song of mine and think “Hey, I can totally get that”. Maybe I’m writing for my own validation, I don’t know, haha.

Me: Are you by chance a Frank Turner fan?

FFYF: Frank Turner is BY FAR one of the hardest working musicians in punk music today. I mean the man just broke 1500 shows! His work ethic is unprecedented and his records are amazing! Sorry, I just fan girl’d so hard, yes i’m a big fan of Frank Turner. I’m seeing him in Philadelphia the day after Thanksgiving.

Luke Helker

Couch

I had the pleasure of being able to talk to Mark, the drummer for UK’s own punk-rock upstarts, Couch. This is a band that know exactly where they’re going and their hard work is paying off. I think these guys are the best punk group to come out of the UK since Lower Than Atlantis. Their new album Johnny West is Missing is about to be distributed throughout Japan and have a spring tour lined up so get involved while they’re still hot. Below are links to their Facebook and sound cloud accounts.

www.couch.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/Band.Couch

Me: How did you guys come together?

Mark: We formed in February 2012. We had all been in previous local bands, and were already friends, and hung out a lot, so when our old bands ended, we all decided to jam together, and write some songs! Because we had been in bands with each other before, it kinda clicked really quickly, and we ended up writing our first album within the a couple of months of being a band! It all moved really fast, and we were getting tons of gig offers and recording our debut album, in next to no time, which was super fun! I think we had only been a band for 2 weeks when we had our first show! We only play 3 or 4 songs, because we had only practiced twice as a full band, but we went down pretty well! We only played the show because another band dropped out on the day of the gig, so we had like, no time to prepare! it was pretty good fun though and it encouraged us to get started recording our demo!

Me: Where does the name Couch come from?

Mark: It’s actually named after one of our songs! We didn’t have a band name, and one of our songs was called Couch, and I think Andy (Our Guitarist/Singer) suggested naming the band Couch after the song! No one else had any names in mind, so we went with it, and it stuck with us. We were originally going to be called No Problemo. But that name kinda blows, so we didn’t go with it!

Me: You mentioned before the interview that you are at a university. Which University and what are you studying?

Mark: I sure am! I am at Bucks New Uni, studying Music management and studio production. It’s really interesting and helpful, but it means that I’m 3 hours away from the band most of the time! It’s okay though, I still come back some weekends to play shows and stuff, so it works out.

Me: Hows the program at Bucks New Uni? Are you studying drums there as well of just music production? How much of the knowledge you’ve gained from Buck New Uni have you been able to apply to Couch?

Mark: It’s really good! I’m only doing music production, and learning about the industry. Haven’t had a chance to play any drums yet which sucks! What I’ve learnt so far from uni has helped us understand what to do with licensing our music to Hitting Bottom Records for our Japanese Release of the album! Before Uni I didn’t really know much about how record labels work and such, so it’s been really helpful with that. I believe the album will be out in early December in Japan through Hitting Bottom Records! To have our music out through a record label in Japan is nuts! When we found out that they wanted to release the album we were all super stoked! It’s probably the coolest thing ever to happen to the band, and we are really excited to see what happens when it is released!

Me: What message are you trying to convey with your music?

Mark: I suppose there isn’t a definite message, other than to have a good time! We are all pretty laid back guys, and I like to think that comes across in our songs. We just want to hang out with our friends and make music, and hope everyone likes it as much as we do!

Me: What is the state of pop-punk in the UK?

Mark: It’s pretty decent actually! From our own experience I can say that there are loads of really awesome people out there who are doing great things for the scene. Our local scene in Norwich has some really cool hard working bands, and, last summer we actually put of an all day music festival, and managed to raise £500 for charity. A lot of the bands in the scene turned up with all their friends, and we had a big old party! Seeing everyone in the scene come together like that was beyond awesome, and I know of similar things happening all over the UK, which is really exciting!

Me: I understand that your guitarist is currently training for the army. Does that mean his days numbered in Couch?

Mark: Not at all, we Love Andy too much to let him go! He has to go away quite a lot for training, and we miss him when he is gone, but by the looks of things, he is here to stay.

Me: Any tours on the way? 

Mark: Yep! We are actually working with a friend who books shows to help us get a UK tour sorted for easter 2014. Pretty exciting stuff. We booked our own mini tour earlier this year, and we had the best time ever, so doing it again, for longer is something that we’re all really pumped for!

Me: How can the angry youth of America get involved with your band?

Mark: Anyway they like! We have our new album out now, which is available online for download and on CD, so if anyone checks it out and likes it, spread the word! We can normally sort out some free stuff for people who really dig the band, so if they get in touch and we’ll try sort something! We’re also working on getting our album available in America with some independent distributors, so if anyone could help with that, we would love you forever and ever! But I think if you listen to our music and enjoy it, that’s all we can ask!

Luke Helker

Listen Close Interview Special

Some brief news on Radiohead stage collapse, Jack Osbourne, Deftone, some local band news, and an interview with the guys in Listen Close.

Luke Helker