E: Gio, your band, New Atlantic, has been promoting a collection of great songs for the past few months while preparing to get set up for some great shows. What do you think has taken up more of your attention over the past couple weeks... getting booked onto good tours, or getting the new material ready?
Gio: We've definitely spent the majority of our time the past few weeks writing new material. We're lucky enough to have a great booking and management team, so they've really taken the load off us and allowed us to completely focus on our writing and bettering our music.
E: You've made sure to call the songs released recently "demos"... do you think they'll stray far from the new stuff?
Gio: Well, the new material we'll be recording will also be a batch of "demos"... but they will definitely stray far from our old songs. I think we've become better writers over the past few months, and I definitely hope everyone will agree we've "stepped it up.� I�m not going to say that we've completely changed "our sound," but to be perfectly honest, I don't think we've actually found "our sound" quite yet. And these new songs are just another step closer.
E: When you talk about the idea of progression as musicians... what would you define that as? What more is there to growing as a band besides simply "writing better songs"?
Gio: Well, besides growing as musicians... I think it's really important as a young band like us to learn as much as you can about the road and gain as much tour experience as possible. When we haven't been home writing, we've been on the road... and I think that's really important to growing as a band. You learn so much about each other and the music business in general, and you learn a lot from the more experienced bands you tour with. From our first tour last February with Cartel to our most recent run with Copeland, I think we've learned something new from each and every band we've spent time on the road with.
E: Being from New Jersey, I�m sure you're surrounded by a lot of more experienced bands that have helped you learn the ropes... but has it been a problem at all, being constantly influenced by how the other guys are doing things?
Gio: Actually, I don't think it's been a problem at all... it's definitely been more of an advantage. From taking others� advice and from the past experience of my bandmates, I think we've made a lot of good decisions in the past year and have definitely been very fortunate. Because of the constant influence, you will often question yourself... but when it gets to that point, you just have to go with your gut.
E: Lately you've been playing with a lot of really well-known artists, so there have no doubt been some fairly large crowds. Because you'll no doubt be collecting a lot of new fans as listeners who have never heard you show up at shows, do you try to do anything special for fans at concerts who already knew and liked you?
Gio: We always try to make an effort to play songs that those fans request of us. There actually was a show in NJ where a fan missed our set and was literally crying in the back of the venue. A friend of hers explained to us what happened, so we played an acoustic set for her outside our van after the show. It felt really great to make that girl�s day, because it's fans like her that make us smile every day of tour. It feels so great to go back to a city and have someone who's come back to see you, even if it's just one person.
E: While you guys are writing your new material, do you find yourselves doing it more song-by-song, one at a time? Or will you work on a bunch at once?
Gio: Well, every time we've taken time off to write, we've experimented with a different process of writing. Most recently, we each spent time on our own writing the basis of songs and then got together as a group to work on each song together, one by one. Once we got through all the songs, we recorded them for ourselves and began to pick them apart. It�s safe to say that each song has changed 3-5 times since we first wrote it a few weeks ago, and they will probably change a bit more by the end of the recording process.
E: What are your plans for your next few releases?
Gio: Well, these new songs we'll be recording soon are basically the next batch of demos to go out to interested labels... so we don't exactly know our plans for the next few releases just yet. I do know, however, that we are anticipating writing and recording a full length record just as badly as our fans are.
E: Have merch sales so far done a good job of paying for your expenses as an active band?
Gio: Well, to be perfectly honest, we are in debt like the average band at this stage in our career, but merchandise sales have most definitely helped us survive while on the road. We won't be seeing a profit for quite a while... I have noticed however, that our expenses have been decreasing tour to tour. I can only see things getting better in the future.
E: So what sort of things are really reassuring you right now�keeping you optimistic that the band will take you where you need it to?
Gio: Our manager Matt, more so than anyone else, has been our main moral support.. Sometimes I think he believes in us more than we do in ourselves, and we couldn't thank him enough for that. Also, the response we've been getting from fans has really pushed us to work harder. It gets better every tour and they really make me feel like we're are going to accomplish something one day... so we have them to thank as well.
E: Thanks so much for taking the time to do the interview. Anything you feel like adding?
Gio: Anyone reading... please be on the lookout for some new demos on Purevolume and Myspace early next month, and if you haven't come out to a show already, please do. It's a good time 60 % of the time, every time. Haha, thank you so much for the interview! |
