E: So A Change Of Pace is an Immortal Records band making it from out of Arizona. When your album came out in March, were you hoping for it to be received as something new and different for kids to listen to?
Kelly: We recorded the album about a year before it was released--we recorded it April, the year before that. By that time, when it was released, we already had a couple new songs, so it was kind of a bummer because those songs were so old. They were probably written even six months before that, so before they were released, the songs were written almost two years ago, you know? And we kind of grew past those songs, but you know... we were happy with them. We were happy how it turned out--we recorded them in three weeks, and we were pretty happy with the turn-out.
E: What exactly were the incentives for going with the older material for the new record and not simply scrapping those songs and recording fresh with newer songs?
Kelly: Well, the guy that was doing the album was named Elvis Baskette, and he's done a lot of bigger bands, like Chevelle and Incubus... and he had an opening, and he offered to record us and that was the only opening he had, and we had to take it. It was an opportunity we really couldn't pass up, you know? So we had some old songs, so we used the songs we had and just recorded them. It was basically the right place, the right time... we had to take it, you know?
E: You guys are signed to Immortal, a label made famous by bands with a very different sound from the music you've been playing... being on a label with such a different musical background, do you ever feel out of place as part of the record company's roster?
Kelly: I think it's pretty cool... it opened us to a little bit of a different crowd, somewhat, too. Because a lot of people that knew Immortal for those bands kind of listened to us, you know? It opened us to a new crowd--good or bad, it opened us to a lot of different people. But Immortal's restaffed, anyway--since those bands, it's pretty much a different label. The only person who's the same is the owner. They're starting over... they have bands that are more our genre, like Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and they just recently signed a band called the Finals, who are I think out of New York, and are really good. So they're slowly progressing into more our genre, which is pretty cool.
E: You and bands like Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Versus The Mirror, etc. share both a similar style of music as well as home state, Arizona... what do you think it is about Arizona that makes this sound the local favorite? Do you think you have to break out of Arizona to successfully establish yourselves?
Kelly: I think right now, as far as there being a lot of the same sound... I think the bands right now all have the same sound, all around the country. It just happens that Scaring Kids and Greeley Estates and bands like that are just doing well right now, so it kind of stands out. Like, there are a lot of bands coming from Arizona right now... like the Format, Greeley Estates, Scaring Kids... and there's many more that are going to be coming out of here--there are so many good bands around here. And that kind of music is just popular out here, you know? It's a good scene out here... it's grown tremendously in the last year.
E: When A Change Of The Pace was first getting serious, did any of you have a fallback plan in case things didn't work out right away? Or were you just diving in head-first?
Kelly: We really didn't have a back-up plan, to be honest... none of us really had jobs. So it was like, we had to get out of Arizona as soon as we could. We graduated high school and we immediately started touring--none of us had jobs, none of us really had money to go to college. So it was either this or nothing, pretty much. And one of us, our guitarist, dropped out of high school, actually--he got his GED, to start touring, because he's only seventeen years old. He's supposed to be a senior right now.
E: During what stage of a band's album release pattern do you find yourselves feeling the most comfortable and relaxed?
Kelly: I'd say recording. The actual recording process is probably the most relaxing. Just because the songs are already written--they're already there, you know? And it's just putting it together, and once the songs are written and stuff, a lot of it's in the producer's hands. He really helped us out with the structure of the songs and stuff, and it was in his hands to record it the best he can. And it gives us a break. Like, after I do drums, I have a month off. I kind of just sit back and watch it develope. Touring's stressful, and writing is really stressful... we're actually home writing right now for the next record. It's just really stressful, trying to live up to the last record but still progress at the same time, without changing too much and losing your fanbase. It's just a lot of stress on us right now.
E: When a band is playing aggressive, hard-hitting rock at a fast pace and a loud volume, do you think it becomes increasingly difficult to sound unique? Are there only so many ways to reach that level of intensity without coming out as generic?
Kelly: To be honest, not really. That's what we're trying to do on this next record. If you break down in the song, it's going to sound like every other. There's so many bands out there, you know? Everything you do is going to sound like another band, and we're going to try our hardest to step away and do something different, but it's not as easy as it seems. It's just the genre of music we play. But on this next record, I think it's gonna be a lot heavier, as far as guitar-wise... there's going to be a lot of really heavy, brutal riffs, but there's not gonna be as much screaming, I think. We're gonna try that, because nobody's really done that--really heavy riffs with just singing, without screaming over it. We wanted a rock record more than anything. It's really cool, though. We're not going to point where everyone's like, "What the hell happened?" on this record, but just try to give people something to listen to that's a little different.
E: Do you usually start thinking about ideas for your next record as soon as your previous record comes out? Or is there a period of time where you just don't give that any thought?
Kelly: As soon as we're done with a record, we're always talking about how "on this record we're going to do this and that," but we never actually start writing, you know? After the album's released, the band focuses on that record and how to promote it, and the best we can do to promote it. Because we don't leave it all up to the label to promote it, because shit doesn't get done that way. So a lot of promotion on the last CD was just us, and we just focus on that, and that's what we're going to do on the next record. After we record, we're just going to focus and hopefully get on Warped Tour and promote the shit out of the record.
E: As websites like PureVolume and Myspace make it possible for bands to release an endless number of demo tracks to impatient fans, do you think that the need for a band to release a demo CD or a sampler EP has been diminished in this day and age?
Kelly: Yeah, I think somewhat. I think that PureVolume and Myspace are the greatest thing to happen to music, you know what I mean? Especially Myspace--because you have an outlet to, like, 20 million kids on there now, or something like that. I think Myspace has just changed the face of music. That's half the reason we're selling the records we are is because of Myspace. It's just an easy way to create this giant street team for yourself, and it's great.
E: And do you think that with an increasingly digital age of music with sites like these making it easy for bands to get their music out to the masses, the once omnipotent Record Label is losing its importance?
Kelly: I think that labels are already losing their credibility. Because a lot of bands, like Greeley Estates... they did so much on their own through PureVolume and SmartPunk and Myspace, without a label... I mean, they were on the entire Warped Tour without a label, you know? They played on the SmartPunk stage with bands like Emery and Boys Night Out and they weren't even signed yet. So there's a lot you can do without a label these days because of that, so yeah, I'd say so. The only thing labels are really good for these days is distribution.
E: Well thanks a lot for taking the time.
Kelly: Cool, thanks man. |
