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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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Kevin Bryan - Vocals, Guitar Vinny D'Amico - Vocals, Piano Duane Okun - Guitar, Vocals Adam Swider - Bass, Vocals Tom Stratton - Drums |
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| Interview with Kevin, Vinny, Duane, and Adam April 24th, 2004 |
| E: Socratic is one of the two newest additions to distinguished label Drive-Thru Records. What did you directly after learning you'd been officially signed? Kevin: Well, they told us after coming to one of our shows in CA, at the Cobalt Cafe... and I puked, I was so happy. Duane: When I found out, I flipped my lid. I think we all had teary eyes. Vinny: I jumped up and down like a little schoolgirl. Adam: I didn't believe it... I had to hear it twice. After I kind of sped around the around the club, I didn't know what to do with myself, so I called my dad and began to cry as I told him... it was like 3AM there, so he hung up on me. *Laughs* E: Would you ever have anticipated becoming a part of DTR? Adam: No, not at all. We've always looked up at them, and wanted to be part of such a great label... but [we] had no expectation that we would be signed. Duane: We didn't anticipate anything with our new material. All we knew was that we loved the music we were writing, and [that] hopefully other people would, too. Adam: They heard our stuff and told us they loved it, and the rest is history. Vinny: Drive-Thru, to us, always seemed kind of untouchable... or any label, for that matter. We're just so excited. E: What do you plan on doing next as a band? Kevin: Touring, playing music, writing music... Duane: We are just waiting to record our CD right now. I feel that people won't get a real feel of us until until they hear our collection of songs, since they are so different from each other. E: How would you describe the style and sound of your band to someone who's never heard it? Kevin: We used to have a shirt that said "Good Music," and that's what I would hope it would be referred to as... I also heard someone say "Modern Classic Rock," which might be almost true. We write what we want. Duane: We all have heavy influences from more classic bands such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Guns N' Roses, so we always like to keep things musical but at the same time give it that catchiness that people love. Vinny: We have a "Socratic" sound, but nothing we can really put our finger on and call one certain thing. Adam: I wouldn't tell kids anything. Let them figure it out themselves--if they are given an explanation before they hear it, it might affect how they hear us. E: What would you say are some common misconceptions that fans might have regarding the band? Duane: We have an EP out which is from about two years ago. Although I think it is good, we have changed a great amount. It's the only thing out that people can hear, and it doesn't represent us as a band anymore. Vinny: It's not us, as people or musically. Adam: [They might think] that we're pop-punk... not that that's a bad thing at all, it's just untrue for us. We were along that genre on our EP on No Milk Records--awesome label--but we've changed our sound. If someone doesn't understand our sound just yet, they will once they hear our album. E: How did the band end up getting put together? Kevin: Mine! Duane: Go for it, Kev. Kevin: Well, Tom and I have been playing together since the 7th grade. Eventually we acquired Duane through my crush on his hot sister. Then Adam came along and temporarily completed the puzzle. After our release on No Milk, we wanted to do something different, musically... and that's where Vinny came in. Now we are what we are. Adam: I would like to add that these guys teased and taunted me to be in their band for about four years, and just as I had given up all hope they asked me to join. My response was, "Fine, jerks... but you owe me." E: What made you decide to play the instruments that you play? Adam: I played guitar for five years before I joined. They needed a bass player, and I was looking for something different... I just wanted to be in a band that was doing something. I also have always been in love with Eben from Saves the Day--he is someone I really look up to, musically. Vinny: I've been playing guitar since I was 12, and the piano I picked up when I was 10 but never really took seriously until these guys asked me to play with them in the band. I grew up on the Beatles, Carl Perkins, and Hank Williams. I knew I wanted to play music when I heard "Strawberry Fields Forever" for the first time when I was 5. Duane: I play guitar and sing. I got it from my dad, because he has always played guitar, and I grew up on a lot of Neil Young and mostly folk stuff. Kevin: We all really play a little bit of each other's instruments, so we understand each other pretty well. E: How has being a musician changed over the years you've been playing? Adam: For a long time it was a hobby--something I loved to do but never thought I could make my life. School was always an issue. So when I joined these guys, I realized there was a way and a chance to make this a life. So I started to take it more seriously... this is our life, so we have nothing to focus on but the music and everything surrounding it. Duane: When I joined the band, it was a great new thing that I always wanted to be a part of. But over the years we have gotten real serious with everything. Now this is our job, and even though it is the best job ever, we really take it seriously, and [we] want our songs to reflect that. Vinny: I take it seriously because I view it as a personal journal. It's like... strangers looking into your life and mind. E: When you write a song, what topics do you usually try to focus on? Kevin: Life. Most of our lyrics are incredibly personal, whether said bluntly or through a vague metaphor. Duane: We write about anything from girls to jobs to old women to drugs. We really write what we are feeling at the time. Adam: I did a small amount of lyrics, and they are about life, like Kevin said... but these guys really do have an awesome style of writing. They're each different. When they come together it's amazing... sometimes Duane will come up with the most impressive and craziest ideas. Vinny just blows my mind with the simplest but most clever lines. And Kevin just writes from his heart, and you can't help but feel every word. Vinny: There should never be a certain topic. In music, you're free to go wherever you or your heart wants to go. E: Do you think that a song tends to be better if it takes a lot of musician talent to play? Kevin: No. I feel it's all about taft and cleverness. The Beatles wrote songs with intricate chord progressions, and some one-chord [songs]. Adam: It's mostly about the feel of the song, and what it is telling us it needs. If it just needs a simple drum beat, bass line, guitar part--whatever, then we know it. But sometimes it calls for more. Duane: The quality of the song is the most important. If it's a song that has 1,000 chords or a song that just has one... as long as the song has an effect on people, that makes it a classic song. Adam: We're not out to impress anyone with how good or bad we are as musicians. We just want people to enjoy the song. We're a band, not individuals. Vinny: Yeah, exactly. We are one band, not five kids playing instruments. We are one sound. E: Is there any way to relate your band's name to its music? Duane: "Socratic" really has nothing to do with our sound. It's just a name. Nothing more, nothing less. Vinny: I think it's rather intelligent. Kevin: "Socratic" is nothing more than a name we came up with in the 9th grade. Although we happen to know a little bit about Socrates... the relevance isn't completely there. Adam: I had to write a paper about him in college and was trying to find some sort of connection between the name and our band. There are some things along the lines of our ideology... but besides that, it's just a name. E: Have there been any early signs of stardoms? Acts by fans? Duane: Not really... although I had a girl paint a picture of me, which I thought was very darling of her. Kevin: I guess the first sign was people coming to our shows, but to what level of stardom we've been at or are at right now, I'm not sure. Adam: Well, these guys can speak for themselves, but I've had stalkers since I was 2. *Laughs* Nah, our fans so have have been amazing... I guess the coolest "sign of stardom" is just having kids come up to us and tell us they like our band. That's all we ask--more than that is just gravy. Vinny: I haven't had the pleasure of having a stalker, but any kid who comes up and and says they like our band is amazing, and we'll always appreciate that. E: Do you think you'll become less interested in pursuing other bands as your own becomes more and more successful? Duane: Not at all. We are always searching for new bands to listen to. I would never stop trying to better myself by listening to all types of music. Even if something is not my cup of tea, I can still appreciate it, and I find that bands I don't necessarily like at first end up having the biggest effect on me. Kevin: We were never really on the forefront of what's new out there... if something came across us and we liked it, then we became fans. I don't see why that'll change. Lately we've been finding a lot of good bands out there, and it's very exciting to know we're gonna come up in the scene with a new wave of bands. Adam: I, for one, think Adelphi is an awesome band. You should all like them. Steel Train--if you don't like them, you should--and Maxeen, 'cause they're the next Police. Oh, and The Format. E: Are you still a fan of every song you've written? Adam: I'm sure we've all written a song that was just horrible... maybe not Vinny, but I know we all have. People grow and change--the important thing is to not forget where we once were so we can appreciate what we're doing now. Duane: Some of our songs go from being our favorite to just another song that we like a lot. But we never not like one of our songs. If we don't like it, then we get rid of it. Adam: Bands write so many songs, but only twelve or thirteen make the album. I wouldn't be surprised if we wrote thirty songs by the time we record the album. Vinny: I think that we are some of our biggest fans. We love the songs we write. [I'm] not saying we think they are the best songs ever... it's just, we take our songs very personally. We won't put out something that our hearts aren't in 100%. E: What does it take to make a song personal? Kevin: One word... honesty. Adam: Writing it for yourself. Duane: Just not being afraid. It's hard to tell people personal things about you... but I'd rather put myself on the line if it's going to help that one kid. Vinny: If it's yours, then it's personal. E: Well, you guys have been great. Thanks a whole lot. Duane: Thank you very much. Vinny: Peace and Love. Adam: Thank you very much for the opportunity. |