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Estrella: Could you please state your name and what you do in the band.
Itchy: I'm Itchy, I play drums.
Danny: I'm Danny, I sing and dance.
Estrella: You released your album, Life on Life's Terms in July. What was the recording process like? Who recorded it and where was it produced and recorded at?
Danny: We recorded in Atlanta, GA at Tree Sound Studios with Zack Odem and Kenneth Mount, they're popular for Cartel's first record Chroma, their new record, Mayday Parade. The recording process was awesome, we couldn't have asked for better guys to help us record the album. It was a really easy process. We worked really hard to get to that spot. And we had a lot of fun. The songs on that album mean the world to us. It's just one of those things where we went down with the right group of guys and they helped us portray what we needed to portray.
Estrella: And Dave Collins?
Danny: Well we didn't necessarily get to meet him but he did a really good job on the mastering and stuff like that. We couldn't have asked for a better guy to do that.
Estrella: The video "Michael", who came up with concept, where was it shot at, and how long did it take to shoot?
Danny: The concept was from these guys who do Grey Sky Films, they came up with the concept.
Itchy: It was shot in Northshore Recording Studio in Madison, NJ.
Danny: And then various places in Madison, NJ, and the concept was partly us and partly them. It's kind of something we wanted to do before tour so we could let people know how real the CD is and how real the feeling on the CD is and hopefully that video got that point across. I know it's doing really well on our views and stuff like that. We are really proud of anything that comes out of that record.
Estrella: When it came to signing with Trustkill, how did that come about?
Itchy: We recorded a demo at Nada Recording Studios and Josh (owner of Trustkill) was looking at Trustkill shows and he noticed that we were playing with Hawthorne Heights and another band who's name I can't remember. And he sent us an email and we didn't believe it because we didn't know why Trustkill would want to sign a pop band and we called him and it was really him, so he came out to the show and brought us some t-shirts and told us he'd talk to us in a couple of days and he did and the rest is history.
Estrella: How has your current tour been?
Danny: This is only the third day of our part of the tour. We have 5 days left of this, we only had a few days on it because this is our area. It's been amazing, for me it's a dream come true and for most of the guys in the band, I mean who doesn't own a New Found Glory record and who hasn't heard a New Found Glory song and you know the guys in Senses Fail are great and the guys in The Receiving End of Sirens are great and it's just been a really really great time so far and we're looking forward to the rest of the shows.
Estrella: How would you describe your music to someone who's never heard it?
Danny: I would describe it as straight up rock with all good pop influences, we like to kick it back to when rock was good. We're tired of the screaming, we're tired of the whining, we're tired of the who's girl broke who's heart, we're tired of the who cheated on who, and we're so into real feelings and we're real people, we're tired of talking about how boys like girls and who's crying. We're just keeping it real and keeping it rock.
Itchy: That was huge.
Danny: I know.
Estrella: Who are some of your personal influences as to why you wanted to become a musician?
Danny: For myself, you know people like Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Queen, Journey, Boyz II Men, Kid N Play, A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie.
Itchy: Aww Biggie, Rest In Peace.
Danny: Third Eye Blind, Jimmy Eat World.
Itchy: Goo Goo Dolls, Gin Blossoms, fucking Boston, Boston! C'mon, two times!
Danny: GWAR!
Estrella: Who would you say influences your band?
Itchy: Everyone we just mentioned.
Danny: Yeah, everyone we just mentioned and Biggie.
Itchy: ...Rest In Peace.
Estrella: Who are you currently listening to?
Danny: Personally, I'm currently listening to this new group called Just Friends, they're a ridiculous dance group that's really good. They're underground right now. I just listen to The Receiving End Of Sirens new CD, we just kick it old school most of the time. I know a lot of us don't really listen to new music but I have listened the new Say Anything is really good, the new Coheed is really good. For me, that's about it right now.
Itchy: Today, I listened to Jackson 5, Jamaraqui, Young MC, Black Eyed Peas.
Estrella: Sketchiest venue you've ever played?
Itchy: The Creepy Crawl is mad sketchy and places in Jersey...
Danny: Victorville because there's people just chillin outside your van.
Itchy: Mad crackheads. Places like that, I don't know, they're crazy.
Estrella: And your favorite venue?
Danny: Right now, for me being only two years into the band - The Electric Factory, right now this is an insane show, I'm pumped on The Electric Factory. And also School of Rock, Sparks in Bridgewater.
Estrella: Any crazy tour stories, that you're willing to share?
Itchy: There was this one time, on the Scary Kids tour. It was us, Scary Kids, A Static Lullaby, and Halifax. Our old singer Christian was acting a fool on the whole tour and it was like the last night and he was stepping on everybody's pedal. So our guitarist Derek pushed him into the crowd because he was tired of it, so Christian came back and started choking and strangling him, so after the show we kicked his ass in the hotel and then he quit and his new band sucks.
Estrella: Best and worst subjects in high school.
Danny: Math fucking sucks, I don't care what your mom or dad tell you, math sucks. My music classes were my favorite, math sucks, I've never did well at math, math can die, rest in peace. I loved gym.
Itchy: Gym and anatomy.
Danny: Anatomy too. Sex Ed is awesome. I took Forensic Science, we watched CSI all day.
Estrella: Best Halloween costume ever.
Danny: I was Charlie Chaplin once.
Itchy: Our tour manager, little Steve, he rocked a leopard speedo once and he's a big dude, but it looked good, he worked it.
Estrella: Name 3 things that you'd take with you on a desert island.
Danny: All I really need is Itchy... But I'll take Itchy, a never ending pasta dish with parmasean, and a couple nude shots of our guitarist Dan and I'm good.
Itchy: Endless supply of orange soda and mozarella sticks, and uhm... Hayley from Paramore, what up girl? You know my number, don't front.
Estrella: Any bands you'd like to plug?
Danny: Crash Romeo, Roses Are Red, Haste The Day, A Static Lullaby, The Higher, Scary Kids, New Found Glory, Senses Fail, Biggie Smalls.
Itchy: Irv Gotti, the return!
Danny: Head Automatica. Daryl, take us on tour!
Itchy: Motley Crue, Drop Dead Gorgeous.
Danny: Motley Crue, what up guys? Get back together, we need you! Valencia, Boys Like Girls, All Time Blow, Sound The Alarm, all the people we've toured with. Scenes From A Movie. Permanent Me.
Estrella: What can we expect from you in the future?
Danny: After this tour we have a run with Sullivan from Tooth & Nail, God loves you. We're actually playing this sweet festival in CT with All Time Low, Valencia, Just Surrender, and you can just expect the realest rock out of us. We're just going to tour our asses off with this record and hopefully bring some hot shit in the future and give you some dope music listen to, not that whiny, screamy crap.
Itchy: For real.
Estrella: Any closing statements?
Danny: Buy our record and come to a show, not even just come to a show and just hang out with us and buy some merch.
Itchy: If you can't afford it, download it, we're not haters.
Danny: We're not haters. Yo, give to diabetes, our merch girl needs it.
Itchy: For real.
Danny: Rest in peace Biggie Smalls.
Itchy: Always.
Danny: Always and forever. Peace, one. Bedlight for Blue Eyes. Trustkill.
Itchy: One, Trustkill. Peace. Josh we need a new van. Peace.
Danny: Josh, we need a van.
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