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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 Chris, Jared, and Torre June 16th, 2004 |
Rich Nalbandian - Vocals Chris Cangelosi - Guitar Nate Vaeth - Guitar Jared Moskowitz - Bass Andrew Torre - Drums |
| E: The Grand Finals have a sound that has been getting them a decent amount of attention from an audience from all over. How much of a band's musical style do you think is derived from their influences as opposed to that which is concocted within the band itself? Chris: When we were first starting out, we didn't really have a feel for each other's tastes or styles, so our music was based more directly on bands we were fans of. Jared: Like most bands, when you start out you first start to emulate your influences. Torre: But as we grew older and became closer friends and musicians, we had a better idea of what we wanted our own original sound to be. E: Are you as proud of the songs written at the start of the band's life as you are of newer material? Nate: Not really proud of the very first songs--the ones that we dropped before we recorded. Torre: I'm not nearly as proud of the old songs as I am of the newer ones that haven't been released. Jared: But the old ones are fun to play live. E: When you choose what songs to perform live, is it more based on personal or crowd preference? Chris: A combination of both, actually. We like to play the songs the crowd wants to hear, but also, we want to play our new material, because we're proud of it and we want feedback. E: Do you prefer performing for new listeners or old fans? Jared: Both, because it's fun to have our old fans know our words and sing along, but at the same time, it's great playing for new listeners, because it's a fun challenge to try to win them over. Nate: I like turning new listeners into old fans. *Laughs* E: Are family members of the band fans of the music? Nate: Mine are. They love it. Chris: All of our parents are really supportive of us. E: How many travel opportunities has being in a band offered so far? Torre: Last summer we started an East Coast tour by ourselves, but then we met up with our friends in The Prize Fight and toured across the country. In two weeks we leave for an East Coast/Canadian tour with a new band called When in Rome. Nate: We have also done weekends in New England. E: What other opportunites does the band allow you that you most likely wouldn't have otherwise? Jared: The opportunity to meet new people, to get my first lapdance in California, and to visit a lot of places I would not have seen otherwise. E: How many times do you think your band has eaten at a Denny's while on tour? Jared: We've actually never eaten at a Denny's. We went once in California, but by the time The Prize Fight showed up--they're always late--we just got water and left. Chris: We prefer anywhere with a dollar menu... generally Taco Bell, though. E: Does the band have any traditions that you've maintained during your career as a band? Torre: Ignorance. Jared: The only tradition-type thing we do is try to party after every show. E: What sort of experiences have you had within the band that seemed miserable at the time, but you laugh about now? Jared: Probably the time in Arizona when both our van and Prize Fight's broke down in the middle of the desert at two in the morning, and we waited there until eight o'clock to be towed to a place that ripped us of so badly, and made the problem even worse. Don't ever go to a truck stop in Arizona called Tonapah Joe's. Nate: *Laughs* I bought a Tonapah Joe's t-shirt. Chris: Also the time when we drove to upstate New York in October and we ran out of gas in the middle of the woods without reception on our cell phones, and we had to flag down cars. Jared: Looking back on those times is funny, because in Arizona our van broke down while turning around, so it was stuck between two intersections, and at any moment an eighteen-wheeler could have come by and killed us. That's funny now, but at the time we were little scared. Torre: Also, any times when we're writing or recording and we get stressed out but are then happy with the end result. E: When you're actually recording an album, how much of the time in the studio do you stay on task? Nate: When we're being charged we try to stay on task. But when we use Torre's studio we tend to have a lot of fun... and kind of stray from the work at hand. E: What's it like watching a song you'd been rehearsing become recorded in a studio? Are changes ever made to a song as it is being recorded? Torre: Yes, all the time. Even after songs are recorded, we're constantly changing them. Jared: Word. E: How often does the band experience creative conflicts when it comes to the development of a song? Torre: Pretty much every song we've written we've had minor disagreements about on parts of it. But in the end, we get something we're all really happy with. Jared: A lot of times we will play a song live right after we write it, and decide that a certain part didn't sound good live or flow well, so we'll go back and rewrite parts. E: Do you think that there is one collective message that you all hope your band's music will be able to get across to the public? Nate: Just that we try to write the best music we can, and have as much fun being a band as we can, and just to give us a listen and see what you think. Chris: Question authority. Jared: And that we don't bullshit anything. We care about our fans and our music. E: Well, that just about does it. Anything else you can think of to say? Recognition to give? Jared: I want to give a quick shout out to our boys in The Prize Fight for being down ass homies. Nate: Listen to Kansas and Journey. Torre: What up to Graz and Chunk. Chris: Thanks to anyone who has checked out our band, and get ready for some hot new jams. E: Well, thanks for the time. Torre: Thanks a lot, man. |