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| ::Interviews:: |
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| review & interview content, as well as web site graphics & design, copywrite 2003-2004 Euphonia Online. use of materials granted only with reasonable purposes. |
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| interviewed by robby sumner |
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| Interview with Scott July 24th, 2004 |
Lee Crocker - Vocals, Guitar Scott Frederick - Guitar Drew Fulk - Bass Chris Dillow - Drums |
| E: Scott, your band has been impressing fans everywhere as of late... how long would you say you guys were together under the name Ashwin before people started to take notice? Scott: We have been under the name Ashwin for about a year now. We all came from various harcore bands. We played our first show and it took us about three months to even build a fanbase. Since recording our CD and playing on some major shows and touring, our fanbase has continually grown, and it's been awesome. PureVolume has been a great help in promoting our music�we would like to thank Mike at PureVolume for all his help. E: What changes occur as you become progressively more popular? Scott: A lot of pressure has come on us. We are now building quite a fanbase and it really makes writing tough sometimes. We always write music that we like and feel, but at the same time we never want to let the fans down. We stay in tune with all our fans because they are the reason we play music. I get a lot of instant messages every day from kids listening to our music and enjoying it... that is the reason why I play music for a living. I want to inspire and share experiences with kids. E: Are a lot of your own actions inspired by bands from when you were a kid? Scott: Oh yeah. I have been all about music since I was in middle school. I grew up going to see local bands from my middle school and highschool rock out, and it really, really made me want to be in a band. There was this one local band called Retro Down Fall�they were some sort of punk/emo/ska mix from my high school. They were so freaking awesome, I thought, and I wanted to be just like their guitarist. So I bought a guitar. E: Is Ashwin's style of music similar to your influences? Scott: Oh, definitely. We all used to listen to hardcore bands. We definitely aren't hardcore. *Laughs* My favorite band still is Hopesfall. Our lead lines on guitar have a lot of Hopesfall influence, even though we aren't a hardcore band. A few bands that I really love are the Early November, Spitalfield, Madison, Senses Fail, and the June Spirit. I'm lucky to say that those bands are also some of my best friends, but they are also huge influences on my guitar writing. I have always said Ashwin has a New Jersey sound even though we are from North Carolina. E: How much of a chance has the band had to play away from the East Coast? Scott: Not much. We are definitely going on our first West Coast tour this fall. We are extremely excited. We have played a few shows, mainly in the midwest, and they were awesome. We have been stuck to the East Coast pretty much, but Ashwin is a bunch of East Coast gangsters, so we like it like that. E: What have you been doing most recently as a band? Scott: Writing, writing, writing. We take our time writing songs because we want to have quality material. Sometimes it takes us a month to write a good song or two. We are also booking a tour for September and getting ready to go into the studio to put out another EP, which I think will blow kids away. E: So what do you think will have improved since the stuff you recorded last? Scott: Oh, that's a tough one. I love our first EP�we plan on re-recording all four of those songs some point later this year and putting them on our new five-song EP to make a full-length. But our singer, Lee, has made great improvements. Kids who thought he was incredible on our first EP will flip when they hear him now. His voice is much stronger and so much prettier. I love that kid. *Laughs* The music is also catchier and, as I say, it's more rock. I think the vocal melodies overall will make this next EP something to watch out for. E: Where should the EP be available for fans? Scott: As of right now, probably only internet order, but we are doing a lot of secret talks with some labels, so who knows. It's all still up in the air. E: Are there any plans for a full-length soon? Scott: Oh, definitely. We are definitely re-recording our entire first EP, which is up on PureVolume, and we are recording that new five-song EP. There are talks that we will just put them together and make a nine song CD. We aren't really one hundred percent sure as to what's going on just yet. E: What exactly are you hoping to have achieved by this time next year? Scott: I want to have toured the entire country, have an awesome full-length out, and be signed to a major label. That would be a dream come true if all that could happen in a year from now. It takes a lot of work, but we are definitely up the the challenge, and I think we are one of the hardest working and most dedicated bands in the country. E: How full-time has the band experience been so far? Scott: It's been awesome. We all just recently quit school to focus on nothing but music. We are all working full time jobs when we aren't touring. I have a lot of extra time now to just write and not have to worry about turning in a homework assignment. This is about to be the funnest party of my entire life, and I'm excited to share it with my three best friends. E: Do you feel at all worried about the possibility of the band's career not going to where you hope it will go? Scott: Honestly, I really don't. All of us are so focused and dedicated to this band. The most improtant thing is that we believe in this band, and we feel someone will notice and help us get to the level that we want to get to. E: How many sacrifices should a band expect to make before it gets smoothly rolling? Scott: *Laughs* Where do I start on this one. I have a motto�any person must be willing to make a sacrifice in order to make any progress, ever. Ashwin has made so many sacrifices in the past year. We have pretty much gone poor in order to play shows. We sometimes have to borrow gas money from our friends just to make it to shows. We were willing�and still are�to play in front of one kid, and a lot of bands don't understand that. In order to get "big," you have to be willing to do almost anything. We dropped out of school... that was a huge sacrifice for me, personally. I had one more year until I graduated from college. In order to make a dream succeed, you have to take a risk, and the biggest risk is always not taking one. E: Do you plan on doing this band for a large portion of your life? Scott: Ashwin is the last band I'll ever do, and I plan on doing this band for the rest of my life. I want to be always writing music and putting out CDs. It's who I am and it's the most important thing I've ever done with myself. I want to be a band until I'm, like, ninety years old and I have a sweet grey mullet, but I'll still be rocking out and swinging my guitar at our shows, even though I'll be in a wheel chair. E: What are the parts of being in a band that you enjoy the most? Scott: Watching something grow from just an idea to something so great. I have enjoyed watching us grow from this tiny speck of nothing into something people care so much about. I enjoy the friendship I have with my three other bandmates. They are my brothers and I would do anything for them. I enjoy touring�it's the most fun thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. Thank you to Madison and Kick Over the Traces... I freaking love everything you did for us. I love playing shows�there is nothing like getting onstage in a different city in a different state and sharing your music with other people. And once again, I enjoy the fans, because without them I would not be doing this. E: How well documented has the band's life been so far? Scott: We have written down a lot of stuff just to keep records. But as far as video tapes go, we do not really have anything. The only footage we have of Ashwin is when we went on tour with Madison last month, and the footage is nothing but naked kids, ninja turtles blowing up, fruit salads, the "O" face, and running from the police. E: So would you say the band's lifestyle is a lot like that of most other bands? Scott: Yeah... we work, write music, and just have fun. It's the best lifestyle there is. I don't know of any other lifestyle out there where all you do is hang out with your best friends. E: If you had to sum up all of the band's goals, what do you think are the most important things you have set yourselves upon doing? Scott: We don't really have just one main goal. There are really two of them. The first one is to be doing this for fun and nothing else. We all play music because it's fun and we enjoy the effect it has on us as people. Another main goal of this band is to be an inspiration. I want to be that band that helps someone relate to problems or issues they are having, or be that band that kids will put in the CD player to feel better. We want to be a part of people's lives. E: How do you think a band can form a connection with a fan aside from just being the makers of music they listen to on a CD? Scott: Ashwin has made it a goal to stay very personal with their fans. We always hang out in the crowds at shows and introduce ourselves to kids. We talk to every instant message we get on AIM. You can make a kid's day sometimes just by talking to them. The connection between the fan and the music maker is the most important bond, and it's very special. We love getting to meet people and staying in touch with them. You can never have too many friends. E: That should do it�thanks a lot, man. Scott: Heck yeah. |