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Estrella: Could you please state your name and what you do in the band.
Aaron: My name's Aaron Rothe and I play keyboard in the band.
Estrella: How has tour been so far?
Aaron: It's been really good. We've known Still Remains for a little bit because we were both on the Warped Tour, so we were already friends with them but Aiden and 1997 are awesome people so we've been having a great time with them.
Estrella: What was your first reaction when you had heard that you were named by AP as one of the "Bands You Need To Know in 07" and how'd you hear that you were in it?
Aaron: I was really honored. They had told us before because we had to do like an interview type thing with them but when I found out we were doing it for that, I was just like, "Whoa, cool."
Estrella: You recently released, Worse Than A Fairytale in August and it's a concept album and I want to know where you got the idea of Saylor Lake and how did it all come about?
Aaron: A lot of it was because of our singer was thinking of a lot of ideas and just the whole idea about having a concept album about a serial killer in a small town. It's about a town called Saylor Lake, that's made up, and it's like this perfect, quiet little town and just the decay of that town because the killings start happening and how something so terrible is so close to home. We grew up in Colorado and I can remember Columbine, and how something like that never happens and then it happened within like 20 minutes from my house and it just makes you feel sick and just a bad feeling, the album's about that. Also, diving into the mind of a serial killer or some kind of psycho like that and it was a lot of fun just researching it and making up our own story.
Estrella: What was it like when you went from Rise Records to Suretone which is partnership with Universal?
Aaron: It was much different because Rise was such a small label, it's grown a lot in the last two years or so.
Estrella: Did someone come to you and pick you up for Suretone?
Aaron: Yeah, actually Ross Robinson the guy who produced our record, found us and took over Suretone's ownership because Suretone was just starting up and we went from there.
Estrella: What was the recording process like with Ross?
Aaron: We did the record in LA. We were there for a month and a half, right in the middle of Hollywood. Tracked drums at his house, his 4 story mansion on the Venice Beach. It was a good experience, definitely but when we were doing it was awlful. Like it gets inside your head and it makes you totally miserable. I was so stoked that I could stay at that house for 4 months and then just be like, "Oh, I want to go home!" For the record, it's not personal that he's a dick to us, but he gets us in the mood of the song, like our album's really dark, like months and months of depression. Right when you're feeling good, he'll bring you right back down before your record and it comes out in the music, so it's awesome that it makes for a cool, good, real record.
Estrella: Do you have any crazy tour stories you're willing to share?
Aaron: Yesterday, our bus driver and the singer of Aiden got into a fist fight, outside of the venue.
Estrella: Was it like a play fight or a real fist fight?
Aaron: No, it was a real fist fight, right in front of the cop, so that was kind of intense. They're both usually nice guys and Aiden was pulling in and barely bumped into the bus mirror, didn't hurt anything but our driver freaked out and they were yelling at each other and it escalated. The fight got pulled apart but since Aiden fans were already there were outside kicking our driver.
We picked up a hitchiker once, who had a gun. We took him and his wife or his girlfriend to the closest gas station and they were just going to get a ride back with a police officer and the officer was patting him down and he had a gun tucked into his pants. So, we'll never do that again.
So much crazy, stupid stuff happens everyday, it's just normal.
We got stopped at the texas border patrol. Our guitarist tried to bring pot with him, we weren't even in Mexico, but he had some stashed in our van and didn't tell us about it and I was driving and he kept telling us there was nothing in the van. And he had it hidden in this little jar in a cabinet (when we were in a van), and when I pulled over all the dogs started freaking out, I just said, "Kyle!"
Estrella: While you were talking about Mexico, I remembered reading somewhere that there was 1,000 people at your show in Mexico City or something roughly around that. How was it to go somewhere new and have all those people there?
Aaron: Yeah, it was our first time there and all those shows are really good there and the kids are super super fanatics and not a lot of American bands go there, but when they do they just freak out. They're super excited, especially Mexico City. We weren't able to walk around or stand by the merch without getting noticed, but I mean that happens here in the US too but not as much out there. It's so good.
Estrella: Sketchiest town you've ever played?
Aaron: St. Louis
Estrella: Creepy Crawl?
Aaron: Yup, that place is sketch. The second time we played there, I forget who it was with, we might have just been by ourselves but we go to a hotel and we drove out of the city a little bit and we get to this hotel and everybody's like peaking through their curtains when we pulled in and we thought it was weird and there was like bullet shells all over the ground. We walked up to the counter and the guy was like, "You guys don't want to stay here, I'd get out of here if I were you."
Detroit is pretty sketchy when it gets dark. We played there like a week ago, we played at a club called St. Andrews and it's where the whole 8 Mile movie was filmed, it's actually the club where Eminem did that whole battle, so Detroit's pretty ghetto.
Estrella: What's your favorite place you've played?
Aaron: There's a place in Joplin, MO called the Foundry, that's really cool, they have a big arcade and a climbing wall and dodgeball, it's this brand new huge place, it's really cool. Anywhere in Florida or Texas is really fun too.
Estrella: Worst and best subject in high school?
Aaron: Worst ones? All of them. No. I don't know, there's stuff that I was good at, I just didn't go to class. I was obsessed with English grammar and spelling. Worst was probably Math and I think Statistics. I didn't understand that and all and Physics was really bad too, that was a bad idea.
Estrella: If you were stranded on a desert island, what are 3 things you'd take with you?
Aaron: I would take my Ipod, a piano, and probably a keg. Neverending supply.
Estrella: Best Halloween costume you've ever worn?
Aaron: Probably a few years ago, we played a show on Halloween and I was a deviled egg. Like I big peice of white cloth with a yoke in the middle and I had horns on.
Estrella: Any bands that you would like to plug that you don't feel are getting enough attention.
Aaron: Dance Gavin Dance, but I think they're doing pretty well now I think. Them and I can't think right now.
Estrella: Any closing statements?
Aaron: No, other than thank you for the interview and anyone who's reading it, thank you. Check out our new album Worse Than A Fairy Tale and worsethanafairytale.com.
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