On June 5th, Tiny Moving Parts played to yet another sold-out crowd while a part of Modern Baseball's headlining tour. Amidst all of the excitement of playing five sold-out shows in a row, including one at Webster Hall with 600+ people, Tiny Moving Part's Dylan Mattheisen took some time to chat with Keep Calm and Carry On about tour, an upcoming LP, and signing to Triple Crown Records!
If you follow Keep Calm and Carry On or even if you know any of us personally, you know how much we love Balance and Composure and how much respect we have for the vocalist Jon Simmons. For the second time in Keep Calm history, we had to chance to talk to Jon and catch up on B&C news as well as get some insight on his recent solo performances. Huge thanks to him for taking some time to sit down with us and CUBRat for putting this show together.
At least week's holiday show, Anthony Raneri, vocalist of Bayside, was kind enough to take some time to sit down with KCACO's Madison Ouellette to talk all about Spring tours and the upcoming release of Bayside's sixth album Cult.
Madison
Ouellette: We’re here at your holiday show tonight. This is one of three shows,
correct?
Anthony
Raneri: Mhm
MO:
And this is the middle one? You’re in Boston tomorrow and you were in Long
Island last night, right?
AR:
Yes, yes.
MO:
So how are performing at these venues specifically for holiday shows different
then when you go on tour for the big stuff?
AR:
We get to plan things. I mean- these are some of our bigger markets, you know?
And Long Island is very much a hometown show but Jersey sort of bleeds into
that hometown feel and Jack is from Boston.
Boston is a place we’ve been going to since the beginning of the band so
they’re all sort of like hometown feels.
Planning a show specifically for your hometown is definitely a pretty
unique thing compared to a tour where you’re trying to please like tons and
tons of people from all over the country, you know?
MO:
Right. So you just announced two big tours; you have your headlining tour just
announced for the Spring and it’s The Great American Cult Tour, is that
correct?
AR:
Yes.
MO:
With Four Years Strong and Daylight, right?
AR:
Yup and Mixtapes
MO:
So when you’re going on that, how are you choosing your set list? Is anything
going to be different, besides obviously playing stuff from Cult, which you’ll be promoting.
AR:
Yeah, we always try to mix it up as much as we can. At this point, we’ve been a band for so long,
we have so many records now with singles on them, with videos that we’ve made
for songs, and then there’s the fan favorites so every record, there’s new
songs that we have to play every night, you know what I mean? So we’re running out of spots that we can
rotate on tours.
MO:
That’s one of the best problems you can have though.
AR:
It’s true, yeah, it’s true. It’s funny,
like Warped Tour is always the best example of that because you only get like a
half hour so that’s like seven songs and that’s like, we just play our singles,
you know what I mean? And that’s all you
really have time for.
MO: I
mean, I saw you guys on Warped Tour, I think it was two years ago and being
from NJ, it was at PNC and you guys just packed the amphitheater and it was
really cool to see. But so, going off a
little bit, you’re also going to Europe soon. . .
AR:
Yup, yup in the Spring.
MO:
With Alkaline Trio.
AR:
Yeah
MO:
So how is playing in Europe? Is that different than playing the states? Do you find the fan bases any different?
AR:
Yes, it’s very very different. Our fan
base is very different. For us, Europe,
in a lot of ways, is a work in progress still, where we do shows here and it’s
very much you’re performing, you’re putting on a show, you’re entertaining
people who are fans, you know what I mean?
So it’s a little easier to get into their minds, you know what I
mean? Because I always say I’m the
biggest Bayside fan, you know what I mean? So when it comes to entertaining and
making our fans happy, I just do what I would be excited about, you know?
MO:
Right
AR:
Europe, especially supporting in Europe, it’s a lot more- we’re going to
countries for the first time on that tour
MO:
Oh, wow. Okay.
AR: So
it’s a whole other mindset going into a show with ‘how do you entertain people
who don’t know who you are?’ You know
what I mean? How do you just be generally entertaining?
MO:
Right.
AR:
So it is, it’s a totally different mindset.
And the fans- the fans there are very different.
MO:
Really?
AR:
Yeah, they’re very very different. In
some places, they’re much more rabid than they are here.
MO:
Haha really?!
AR:
Yeah, well they’re just so excited you came, you know what I mean?
MO:
That’s really cool, though.
AR:
Yeah, we’re a little spoiled here. There, they’re just so excited you came. And
in some places, they could just- they could care less, you know what I mean?
Not that they actually couldn’t care less but they- they’re a lot more subdued,
they don’t get as excited, you know? Like Scandinavians, you know, they’re
weird.
MO:
hahah they’re weird? Switching gears a
little bit, you guys just announced that you guys are coming out with a sixth
album Cult. So
something that was interesting with that way you announced this album
was much different than what we really see- it was a whole bunch of hints and
clues here and there. What inspired
that?
AR:
You know what’s funny is that was just an idea that Nick came up with like last
minute. We put all the symbols and stuff
like that that are a part of the record cover was because we felt like the
record, Cult- our new record, is
really a really good example of our sound from where it started to where it is
now, you know? So we wanted to sort of
pay a tribute to all of our past records on that album cover. And then Nick had
the idea of, you know, kind of throwing up something on the Facebook and to us,
it was just like ‘oh, let’s just do it. . . Oh yeah, cool, yeah throw something
on the Facebook’ and then it- then, people got really kind of excited like
‘what the hell’s going on?’ you know? So yeah, it was cool. I’m glad that it worked.
MO: I
was gonna say that it picked up a lot of steam and created a lot of buzz.
AR:
Yeah, it really did.
MO:
You released the first single off of it called “Pigsty” and from what I found,
it was little bit darker and little more cynical than what we found in Killing Time, which is especially
interesting because a lot of you guys are now married and you and your wife
just had your first kid-
AR:
Yeah
MO:
So why did it take a darker turn when all of you are reaching a really happy
point in your lives?
AR: You
know I think the whole record- I wouldn’t say the whole record takes that turn
but there’s definitely like- like I said just listening back on this record,
it’s like sort of the anger and the cynicism that has always been there but
it’s also- there’s songs that have the hope and all the places that we’ve been
kind of progressing towards.
MO:
Right, well we are all really excited to hear it! And you guys just. . . released is some way
to put it- the second single?
AR:
Sort of, yeah.
MO:
But, so it’s, for any listeners that haven’t heard about it yet, you released
the lyrics and the guitar tabs, correct?
AR:
Yes.
MO:
So again, what inspired that? So it’s
kind of for the fans to take their own take on the song but why release a song
like that? Or I guess release should be in quotes
AR:
We really wanted to see- I mean- we were really interested to see what people
would sort of imagine given the chords and the lyrics and I think there’s also
the, like the melody of the vocals are in there too that you could read. We just wanted to see what people would do
with it. It’s really for our own
enjoyment. We wanted hear people just
sort of like kind of come up with whatever they could, you know? And the only way to truly do that is by
having them do it without ever hearing the song they’re covering, you know?
Because it could go anywhere.
MO:
I’ve heard very different renditions of it so we are really excited to see
where people take it and everything.
AR:
Yeah, me too!
MO:
So that pretty much wraps it up on my end.
Is there anything else you want to say?
AR:
That’s about it. The record comes out
February 18th. It’s called Cult and The Great American Cult Tour
starts March 5th and January 9th- the tickets go on sale.
Big thanks to Anthony for taking the time to meet with KCACO and thanks to you for listening!
Last Thursday, Jon Markson and Devan Bentley of SUCH GOLD were kind enough to sit down with Keep Calm and Carry On at the TLA to talk about tour, their upcoming 7" split with Placeholder, and new music. Devan also gave us the inside scoop about leaving the current tour with The Story So Far to fill in for the drummer of Trash Talk. Click the link below to hear the full interview.
Big thanks to Jon and Devan for sitting down with Keep Calm and Carry On! Check out the blog later this week for a review of the show.
Our Madison Ouellette
was lucky enough to sit down with Ned Russin from Title Fight before the band’s
show at Union Transfer and discuss a number of topics, including the band’s
tour with direct support from Balance and Composure, their new EP Spring Songs,
and what happened to the crowd-funding effort for one of their local venues.
MO: We’re here at Union Transfer. This is the second
to last night of the tour for you guys. How was the tour so far?
NR: This is probably the best tour we’ve ever done,
honestly. We’re with some of our best friends. We’re playing great shows. The
shows are packed, kids are going crazy. It sounds really corny, but it’s just
been a really good time all around, you know, besides a couple of long drives,
I really don’t have anything to complain about.
MO: Awesome. So tonight’s show is basically a
hometown show for your guys, since you guys are from around this area. So do
you prefer the hometown shows from anywhere else in the country.
NR: Yeah, it’s a little bit different. It’s really
cool to travel and to play different places and to play to different places.
But when you’re close to home and you get to play and see your friends and your
family, people that, when we sing about things in our songs, these people
actually know what we’re talking about because they are from the same place. We
reference specific places and specific things to our area all the time, and the
fact is when you’re from where we’re from I think it makes the most sense. And
I think it’s a special bond between the listener and the band.
MO: So kind of going off of that, you guys are
touring with Balance and Composure right now. So how’s that dynamic, because
you guys are both from the Philly area and grew up in the Philly scene. Is that
different than other people, or does that give you a special bond?
NR: I don’t know, you know, we’ve know the guys in
Balance since we were like 15 years old so it’s second nature to us. So our
relationship and our friendship, I don’t know what else to say besides its
second nature to us. I think we do have a special bond, because we literally grew
up playing music together. It’s not only cool to be out with a band, that, I
like their band. I enjoy watching and
listening to them- I love their new record and I love their old records- that’s
really cool; but to be out with them and just be close friends with them, and
to have that connection, it just makes everything better.
MO: You guys released through social media back in
July a fundraiser for the Redwood Arts Space and trying to get location and
equipment. So how’s that going?
NR: It’s kind of up in the air. It sucks right now,
to be honest. We had a spot, we put a down payment on a location. Everything
was seemingly good, and then the owner of the building was just a sketchy guy
and kind of screwed us over in a lot of ways. We raised all this money and put
it all into this venue, and it’s kind of in limbo right now. We’ve been doing a
bunch of shows at local halls, fireman halls, VFW halls, places like that. It’s
been going fine, but we’re still trying to find a stable venue.
MO: What can you do sometimes.
NR: Yeah, it sucks not having good news to report.
We’re working on it.
MO: Well, we’re crossing our fingers. Want to
support the local venues, obviously. Well, going into something not so local.
You guys recently announced you will be playing your first show in Brazil. So
tell me a little about that.
NR: We’re fortunate enough that we get offers like
that, and it happens more often than you think. People will send us emails,
like, “I’m from wherever. I like your band and I’d like to bring you guys to
play a show here.” We finally found a guy who was a legitimate guy. He booked
bands that we knew and they vouched for him. He was cool and friendly, and he
just wanted to bring us down. So it worked out, and our schedules worked out.
It very much is just a right time and a right place for us. It’s exciting.
MO: So has anyone (from the band) ever been to South
America.
NR: No not us, but our friends have been. He’s
booked a bunch of hardcore bands down there, and I think he’s stepping into the
next level of music and doing some more professional stuff. Just even in the
past year, Razzledazzle went down there, and they barely even tour in the
states so that’s cool, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of the Day went down there.
Touring bands are going down there all the time.
NR: It was cool because it was so easy. We just
recorded a song, they recorded a song. Everything was pretty stress-free. The
release date got pushed back a few times, but we just didn’t stress about it.
It was a long time coming I think, to put something out on Record Store Day,
cause that’s a day that I look forward to every year. I’ve been wanting to do
it for so long, and it just happened that we could finally work it out. I would
love to do it again, but I don’t know if we’ll have something ready in time.
But there’s always next year.
MO: So was it strange at all because you were
covering their song “Faceghost” and they covered your “Crescent Shaped
Depression.” Was it weird to have someone cover your song and do it on the same
thing?
NR: No it was cool. They approached us. They were
trying to do three or four splits. They had the split with Pianos Become the
Teeth, they had the Casket Lottery split, and then our split came out last. So
it didn’t make it in the same year. So they were trying to do all these splits.
They wanted one split to be a new song, they wanted one split to be a cover,
and one split to be each band covering the other. We didn’t have any new songs,
so we said “We’d really like to cover one of your songs.” They thought it’d be
a great idea, they were into it. It was cool, I love their version.
MO: It was really cool to have it all in one.
NR: We get along really well with those guys, and
we’ve toured together a couple times and we’ve always had fun with them. But
it’s cool cause when we come together and talk about music, our music tastes
and influences come to the same point, when we come from different places. So
to put that into perspective and hear their song and our song in a different
way, I really liked doing that.
MO: You guys just released your first single, “Be a
Toy,” off your new EP, Spring Songs.
It kind of had a different feeling compared to Floral Green. Floral Green was
more heavy and raw, while this had a more “Head In a Ceiling Fan” type sound.
Did you aim for a similar sound, or is that where you guys think going with
your sound?
NR: I don’t know where we’re going, and this is a
question we’re frequently asked whenever we put out something. “Is this the
thing we can look forward too?” I don’t really have the answer to that. We
write songs, and when we like them, we record them. So many things happen in
our lives, whether it’s checking out a new band, or going through a serious
life event that affects the way you want to write a song. Those things all come
into play. We never write the same song twice, because every day you’re a
different person. That song was one of the first songs we wrote for the record,
and we weren’t sure it was going to make the record cause it was so different.
But we came to the conclusion that we wrote it, and we really like it. It may
not fit the rest of our material, and it may even stick out as a sore thumb on
the EP itself, but it’s a song that we like. And that’s really what we care
about. The coolest thing about the record too is it’s four songs that we wrote,
that didn’t fit together when we recorded them, but that’s why they fit
together. They’re different. But the EP doesn’t have the musical thematics of
our past releases.
MO: Reading through some reviews, people are saying
that each album has been about a significant age in people’s lives. Do you
agree with that? Do you think that Spring Songs is going to be the defining
album of the next stage of your life?
NR: I can only speak from my own perspective, but
these records are clearly definitive periods of my life, and stuff that I’m
going through. It’s capturing what I was listening to at the time. Cause when
you write a song, even if you’re not consciously doing it, influences come out
in what your listening to and what you like. And as I grew up I liked different
things. Everything about the records that we released is so period based to
that time in my life. But this record, maybe it can be a defining moment in
people’s lives, but that’s such a hard question to answer. I don’t like
answering for other people. If people feel that way, that’s really cool and I’m
happy to be a part of it. If people don’t feel that way, that’s all good too.
But we put a lot into this stuff, and for me it’s really important for us to
capture how we’re feeling at that exact moment, and I think that’s why music is
so important to us. I hope people kind find it that way, but it’s definitely
that way for me.
You can listen to the audio from this interview by clicking here!
Thanks for listening to Keep Calm and Carry On. You
can purchase Title Fight’s new EP Spring Songs here.
You can listen to Keep Calm and Carry On on Fridays from 9-11 PM at www.wtsr.org
or by listening to 91.3 FM in the Greater Trenton Area.
