By: Kevin
     http://www.acclaimedpunk.com

Kevin: Can you introduce yourself to the readers?

Kevin: "Catch For Us The Foxes" comes out next Tuesday. Can you tell us a little bit about the writing / recording process?

Aaron: Sure. It was kind of a stressful time for me. We had about a month and a half before the recording and very little written, so we decided not to play any shows and stay home and write like it was a full time job. The guys got a lot of their writing done during that period, but I didn't come up with too much, so by the time we went out to actually record the album, there was still a lot unfinished on my end. While they were tracking their instruments or going out at night hanging around the city, I was pretty much set up alone in my room trying to finish the words. For a while I didn't think I was going to get it done, and the other guys didn't think that I would either. They were kind of stressed out because I hadn't shown them any of what I've been doing. I wanted to wait till I was finished, but there we were at the studio and I wasn't finished. My procrastination kind of made us a all a little on edge, but it all worked out.

Kevin: Musically, how do you think this record compares to "A --> B Life"?

Aaron: Fortunately, I like it better. It's not too different. Rather than starting off with a guitar riff, a lot of the songs would start with the drums or the bass and it would form the foundation of the song, and the guitars would kind of be layered on top of it. Some of the songs have a lot stronger rhythm section. The record is more experimental. Dancier beats and some British pop sounding stuff. I think it might turn some people off. I don't know. Some people won't think we're as heavy as we used to be or that this record is more diverse. Maybe some people will like it better. There are still some songs that are just as heavy as the older stuff that we've done, but on some of it there's more singing and more melody.

Kevin: Did you take a different approach in writing the songs for the record this time around, and if so did you make an attempt to do so or did it just come naturally.

Aaron: The way it was structured around the drum and bass coming together first was sort of an intentional change because when we wrote the majority of the songs on the last record, we didn't have our bass player, Daniel. We were a four piece with no bass player. I was playing bass, but I didn't want to be because I'm not a bass player. My brother, Mike, who plays guitar in the band wrote most of the bass lines on the first record. We tried out a bunch of guys before Dan, but it never seemed to work out. As soon as Dan joined, we all new immediately that he was the guy that we were looking for. The last record was almost entirely put together by my brother. He would come with a guitar riff a lot of the time. He would write Chris' guitar. He would sometimes even tell Ricky what to play. It was more of a collaboration, but it was more Mike than anyone else. With this record, we all pulled our own weight. Ricky and Dan collaborated together on the drum and bass. Chris did his thing and Mike did his thing. Understandably, it turned out more colorful than the last one that was mainly one guys idea.

Kevin: What type of success do you hope to gain as a band with this release?

Aaron: I don't have any. We've already surpassed any of my expectations, and that alone makes me happy. To be able to go on tour and play in certain venues with certain bands, and meeting new people, you get a sense that if you achieve your goals, you'll be satisfied, but then it always seems like there's a higher goal. "We've signed to a label, but now wouldn't it be cool to be signed to a major label?" I'm trying to learn and be content with where I am and be greatful everyday with what I'm doing. I'm really not looking into the future with what's going to happen with the record. I don't really have any high expectations only because I'm really not making any plans to put any stock in whether or not people like it, or it gets any good reviews, or how many copies it sells. I'm happy that we did it. I'm happy that all of the other guys in the band like it. That's enough for me.

Kevin: Do you have any personal favorite tracks from the record?

Aaron: I like the last one. I like it because there's a lot of singing. I don't usually sing very much. I like almost all of them the same. It sounds strange, but I'll listen to them and be like "oh, this is my favorite" and then I'll listen to the next one and I'll say "no, this is my favorite". There's only maybe two songs on the record that I'm not crazy about.

Kevin: I think "Torches Together" was a great way to start off the record.

Aaron: Thank you. Yeah, I like that one too.

Kevin: That's the song that stuck out most to me because I remembered hearing it at a few of your shows before it was recorded.

Aaron: Yeah, I thought so too. It seemed like the catchiest because it started off with that beat. It kind of has a standard, reverse chorus set up, you know? I thought maybe the label would push that one as our song and we'd make a video for it and all that, but it turns out that they are pushing the second song, "January 1979". I think that maybe they're right because people seem to have responded best to that one. A lot of our songs don't sound that catchy at first, or radio-friendly.

Kevin: That actually leads me to my next question. Are there any plans to shoot a video for one of the songs on the record?

Aaron: The label said they wanted us to do a video for "January 1979". They didn't set up a date yet and I personally don't have any ideas as to what it would be about. It might be a long way off before we actually have one. We all want to do one.

Kevin: What do you have planed as far as touring goes?

Aaron: We have a tour coming up that will be starting in November with a couple of bands, Desaparecidos, The Snake The Cross The Crown. It's going to be put together by a group called Radio Takeover. We don't have a booking agent right now, so they're going to set it up. After that I guess we're just going to play it by ear. We'll probably go back on the road after that. I don't think we'll have any plans to just tour for tourings sake.

Kevin: You recently toured with Blindside. How did that go?

Aaron: Awesome. I like those guys. There was another band with us called The Kick as well as another band called Mamur. They're from Sweden. They're friends with the guys from Blindside and they came along for about the last two weeks of the tour. They're really great. The whole tour was awesome. It was good hanging out with the bands. It's actually nice to have a tour where you want to watch the bands every night.

Kevin: Your lyrics are very insightful and thought provoking. Where do you look to find inspiration when writing?

Aaron: Usually from whatever I'm reading or whoever I'm hanging out with. You can find inspiration for a song almost anywhere. I just like to talk about something in my life like what's happening with my girlfriend and I or where I'm at with God or even my family. I write about things I know. I don't write a whole lot about political issues or the lofty concepts that I can't really understand other than that of God. I like to read from other people that believe in God or who are trying to anyway. I read a lot. Nothing too obscure. It's kind of a combination of stuff and reading and what's going on in my life.

Kevin: What have you learned about yourself personally from being on the road all the time?

Aaron: I've learned that I like standing still. I've learned to appreciate a normal routine like if I ever have to go and work a 9-5 job, which may or may not happen. I don't know. I think I'll at least be able to appreciate the fact that I can see the same people on a regular basis and actually develop a relationship with them rather than meeting strangers upon strangers every night, or seeing different faces. Some of them I remember, some of them I don't. It's hard. I think I've learned to appreciate the normal things because our life is so abnormal. I've learned how to work through problems. Don't just bottle things up, talk them out as they come. There are other things that are silly like how to deal with a wheel flying off your van at 70 miles an hour or other unexpected or unwanted situations. You just keep on going.

Kevin: What sort of feeling would you like a fan to walk away with after attending one of your shows?

Aaron: There's a verse I like in the bible that says the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. It seems like a good description of what people would act like if they had the spirit of God in them in a strong way. I guess that's how I'd like people to feel, but on the other hand there are scriptures that say we are to turn our laughter into sorrow and our joy into gloom. I think the idea is that the things that make us laugh and make us happy and fulfill us are not good things that help other people or show love to God. Maybe it's not good that we're just happy and peaceful. I should hope that if I was a mass murderer and that was what gave me peace, in that sense I would hope that God would take that peace away. That's an extreme example. It's different. It's hard to know what to say from stage if I want to explain what one of our songs are about or what I think people should hear that's beyond rock music.

Kevin: What would you like to contribute to music?

Aaron: I don't care so much about contributing to music. There's already a lot of great music, and much better music than we're writing. If we could further along our genre or try to make a new style, it's not going to amount to much. There's going to come a day where nobody cares about our band, or who we are, or what we've done. For the most part, today, most people now don't care what we're doing, but there will come a time when nobody care's and our efforts musically wont have come to anything. There's a verse where Jesus says the world will recognize that you're my disciples by this that you love one another. That's been lost. People recognize Christians by a bumper sticker or a bracelet that says WWJD or that fact that they don't use curse words or smoke cigarettes or have promiscuous sex or get drunk. There's really only a couple of things that separate, generally from what I've seen, of Christians and non Christians that are followers of Jesus or not. That's what I'd like to try to change. I'd like to bring God, who is love, back into the center of what it is that we're doing.

Kevin: Where do you see the band going from here?

Aaron: I don't know. I don't have any plans. We're just taking it one day at a time.

Kevin: That's a good place to end. Do you have any final words for your fans and readers?

Aaron: Hello everybody. Thanks you for reading and listening. ~acclaimedpunk