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Interviews for June, 2003
Ben of Yellowcard; Interview done by Chris Monigle
With Their new album only a month away and a stint on the Warped Tour, Yellowcard will sure be picking up new fans. The new album is being called amazing, incredible. I got the chance to talk to their guitarist, Ben, back in April and here it is. We discussed the new album amongst other things, so sit back, get a cold one and enjoy. Yellowcardrock.com, Capitolrecords.com
1) State your name and what you do in the band.
Ben: I am Ben Harper and I play lead guitar and I am one of the original members who helped start the band in 1997.
2) How has the band changed since its beginning?
Ben: We’ve gone through some member changes, you know we had a different guitar play and a different singer and then Ryan Key came in the band in 2000 and replaced that and then we started writing all new songs in 2000 and that’s basically what happened, but we’ve changed our sound a little. We have a different songwriter, but most of the original members. We’ve just progressed through the years.
3) What are some of your inspirations?
Ben: Mine or the bands?
Chris: Yours, the bands, whatever.
Ben: Well, we’ve had many inspirations from Ben Folds Five, Pearl Jam, Lagwagon, No Use For a Name... so many different bands. We love heavy stuff, slow stuff, anything that helps us write better songs.
4) How does the new album differ from “One for the Kids” and “Underdog”?
Ben: Well, it’s pretty easy to compare it to One for the Kids because it’s a full length and Underdog was only 5 songs and we had to do that really quick. It’s the same as One For The Kids in the sense that there are well rounded songs on here. It has fast songs, slow songs, acoustic songs, ballads. It sounds better than anything we’ve done before. It has better guitar, better violin, better drums. It’s a statement of where we are now.
5) How did you guys get hooked up to Capitol Records?
Ben: We moved out to California a few years ago and we were on an Indie label called Lobster. We played constantly and built our fanbase and began selling out clubs in Orange County. A friend of ours, our booking agent, told an A.R. about us and he started coming out to see us quite often and basically convinced us that we were the right band for that label and it was just by a total word of mouth.
6)What’s the one song that best describes the band?
Ben: I’d say the whole new record describes us, but one song from older stuff would be “sureshot”. The song’s about carrying on and making it in life and it best displays what we can do.
7) How come the band doesn’t play “Rough Draft” at shows anymore?
Ben: Well, every song we write is about something and that song that Ryan wrote was about a specific girl and his feelings for that girl aren’t the same as they once were. They are the complete opposite of what the song portrayed at the time and so he’s true to what he writes, so he’s not going to play it. I know it sounds weird and it’s cheating the fans, but Ryan doesn’t feel honest play that song anymore, but on the new record, we wrote a real fast song that answers “Rough Draft”. It’s the way he feels about the girl now.
8) What can fans expect from the band in the upcoming months?
Ben: Best record of the year (laughs). Seriously, a good rock record, the best record we’ve put out. Lots of touring, a lot of rock, be on the lookout for us.
9) What does the band hope to accomplish?
Ben: Well, we’re so happy now. We just want the record to be put out so the fans can hear it. We want our music to represent the kids. We just want to put out honest, powerful music. That’s what we want to convey to the public.
10) What’s currently spinning in your CD player?
Ben: Our new record. We just got it a few days ago mixed so we’re playing it constantly.
Chris: when will a new song be put out?
Ben: Probably in early June.
11) Well, I’m out of questions. So good luck with everything and any final comments?
Ben: Thanks so much! Thanks for contacting us and interviewing us. Good luck with your zine or newsletter (laughs). Take care. Later Chris.
The Starting Line; Interview done by Chris Monigle
Me and my friend did this interview back in March when they were on tour with Sum 41. Since then, they’ve been getting bigger and bigger so check them out if you haven’t already. Thanks to their publicist for setting it up. Thanks to Kenny, Matt and Tom for doing the interview, as well as The Starting Line's publicist for setting this up. Enjoy(the friend typed it up).
1) After the success of Say it Like You Mean It, what expectations do u have for your next album? Do you have any goals in mind?
-Our goal is to get more mature and developed songs
2) You guys are also putting out an acoustic EP. What songs are gonna be featured on it, new, old or both?
-Well its different. Originally this wasn't expected to be released, but the songs are pretty new.
3) When is it to be released?
-It will be released at the end of the summer
4) Many of us TSL fans can't wait for your next album and although it might be a bit early to talk about it, are all the songs gonna be about relationships, or are you gonna focus on other things experienced in your lives?
Kenny-"I'm trying really hard to not write about relationships, I mean not all of the songs are about relationships, but I'm still pissed at my ex-girlfriend so there will be some songs"
5) When writing songs how many times do you go over each song before you decide it's good enough to play or record?
Matt-"When we feel it, Ken will go home and write lyrics, sometimes we'll go over it 20 times, other times we won't have to go over it at all, it all comes down to when we feel the song is as good as it can be"
6) What was your relationship with Kick Start Audio?
Ken-"We met Colin and he was the first guy to offer a release."
7) Is the starting line cooler than homecoming?
Ken-"No kids would rather go to homecoming"
8)What's your opinion on the whole Drive Thru/MCA partnership?
Ken-"It's definetly got it's positive aspects"
Matt-"Yeah, it allows records to be in stores much easier"
9) Who has the coolest nick name in the band?
-"golla-gorilla"
10)What do you think of the term sellout?
Matt-"It's funny how in the music industry, if you get a promotion you're automatically labeled as a sellout, but if your mom comes home and says she got a promotion at work, everyone's happy for her and shes not a sellout.
11) Would you host TRL?
"If we were asked to do it, we would, we're not going to go to MTV asking to do it but if we get offered, sure"
12) What are your favorite cities to play at?
Philly, NJ, Southern California
13) Why don't you play almost there going nowhere live?
Ken-"Why is that?"
Tom-"That's defenately one of my favorite songs"
Ken-"Yeah, we all like that song, but no one requests it"
Chris-"Can you guys play it tonite?"
Ken-"No”
Matt-“It's just we haven’t practiced that song in a longtime so we can’t.”
14) Ken, whats in ur cd player right now?
-"Postal Service, Racing Daylight, Prize Fight, Desa Perados"
15)This questions for Matt, how are the ladies treating you?
-"(laugh) Well.."
Ken(inturupting)-"Shut the fuck up you lying son of a bitch, you know they're treating you pretty fucking good."
-Matt smiles
16) What do you think of your message board?
Matt-“It's pretty cool, I guess. The people criticize eachother too much. I check it out every one in a while.
Kenny-“I used to post there. This one time I started this message board revolution and then it got to ten pages so I was like lets keep it going so it got up to like 100-200 pages and then they ended it.”
Any final comments?
-Thanks for reading this and supporting us.
