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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 James April 21st, 2005 |
James Dewees - Everything |
| E: James, you just released your fourth album with Reggie and the Full Effect--Songs Not To Get Married To--March 29th. Was your motivation for creating this album different than some of your earlier released?
James: Not really--it's always the same motivation, to just write a lot of songs... but just the attitude was really different on this record than it was on other records. E: Having worked with this project over a period of what now totals a little over seven years, would you say that the writing process for a Reggie song has gotten easier for you? Or does it just become harder to think up new material? James: Oh, no. See, I don't know why, but I write all the time--like, constantly. And it's even worse now that I have Garage Band, so I can just sit on my computer and write music all day. It's a lot of fun, though. E: Does writing songs for the Full Effect require a different technique than the composition you have done for other projects? James: It's not really that much different... I do it the same way, except with Reggie, I just write with myself, and with the other bands I write with other people. E: Were you trying to capture a whole new Reggie sound for this most recent release? James: I was just taking a little bit different approach, to make it a lot heavier... because when we play live, the heavier songs are a lot more fun to play live. I know I like screaming; I have a good time screaming. It's like the best way to release anxieties... you have to be on stage playing a really heavy song. Screaming. E: So you think that for the next series of tour dates, you'll mostly be playing new songs? James: Well, we're doing it half-and-half, you know? We have to play the old material, but playing the new songs live is a lot of fun. E: Reggie and the Full Effect is notorious for a lot of jokes and rumors being centered at the base of its history. Has this at all detracted from the seriousness with which the band is taken? James: It does, but you know... the kids who are into it know that it's just me being a jackass because that's what I do. I'm just having fun all the time. E: I've actually talked to people who were pretty much entirely convinced that Common Denominator, your parody of a heavy metal band from Finland, was a real deal. James: Oh yeah, see, that's the joke of it. Like, you know, when Promotional Copy came out and kids thought that it was actually a promotional copy of Greatest Hits. Somebody was trying to sell it on Ebay. He was like, "I've got a promotional copy of Greatest Hits"... no, that's a totally different record, you idiot. And New Found Glory's manager couldn't find the CD in his copy of Under The Tray, so he took it back to the store. *Laughs* And this is the guy who manages Blink-182 and shit--the dude's not an idiot, but he couldn't find it under the tray and so he got frustrated and took it back to Sam Goody. E: So you think you'll probably keep up Reggie as your main project for now? James: Well yeah, since you know, The Get Up Kids are calling it quits, so I'm going to have a lot of time to do Reggie and the Full Effect. It's like everybody that comes to see the live show--except for the little-little kids who don't like the staged blood... people walk away with a smile on their face. Always. It's just a fun live show. We have theatrics. *Laughs* E: I take it your live show with this group is a lot different from The Get Up Kids'? James: Oh yeah, the live show is completely different from a Get Up Kids show. It's like a three-ring circus on stage, dude. E: Do you ever get sick of the constant moving around on tour? James: Oh, no, that's easy. Like, that's the fun thing about touring--you're in a new place every day. E: Are you pretty positive this'll be the best release by Reggie and the Full Effect to date? James: This is definitely set up to be the biggest one. I've done more prep on this record and I've gotten more attention for this record than I ever have before for a Reggie record, so it's kind of cool. We still take it with a grain of salt, but we are handling Reggie a lot more seriously now--I have a freaking corporate account now, and a credit card that says Reggie and the Full Effect! E: Should new fans just now getting into the band take just as much pleasure from this release as those who have been involved since the beginning? James: The new kids should still like it just as much, because if you listen, really, not that much has changed. I mean, it's just like less stupid shit on the record and more music. The older records have more stupid shit, and this isn't going to be my last record that I record before I quit writing Reggie songs... and the great thing about Reggie is I can do whatever I want, because I'm the only person in this band. And I'll keep doing it, and just make it so, you know, maybe the next one will be all comedy and no music, or I could do no comedy at all. I can decide what I want. I can do whatever I want. E: With this now being your primary focus, can you see yourself branching out again to form other new side projects like this one started as? James: Probably. You never know. I like side projects a lot. E: Well hey, thanks a whole lot. James: No problem, man. E: Take care. James: You too. |