positivExposure June 28th 2009
music • art • community
In This Issue:
An exclusive photo-shoot with
Anthony Green An interview with
To Write Love On Her Arms creator
Jamie Tworkowski Paramore Envy On The Coast
The Almost Person L Circa Survive Good Old War PlayRadioPlay! Ladybug Landslide
positivExposure music • art • community
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We are very honored to bring you the very first issue of PositivExposure. We believe that art is a community, not an industry. We look forward to building this from the ground up with you, not in spite of you. PositivExposure is a webzine that features bands, artists, non-profit organizations, and other creative minded people, exposing what we like, not bashing things we don’t. We understand the importance of giving todays “little guys” the recognition they deserve.
PositivExposure is very interested in sponsorship opportunities and eventually moving into print. If you can help, please contact us. Please note that all of this content was obtained in 2007 and 2008. This issue is merely an example of how we will look and operate when our next issue full of brand new content is completed.
we are
Sunny Landon General Manager
All other contributors are listed individually throughout the magazine.
Your Name Here PositivExposure is always looking to expand our list of contributors. If you are creative and think you can add to the pages of this magazine, contact us!
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All photos by Sunny Landon unless otherwise noted. All materials ©PositivExposure 2009. No part of this publication may be reproduced or reprinted without the permission of PositivExposure.
contents Ladybug Landslide
Expose Yourself! 4
Jamie Tworkowski
Non-Profits 6
Person L Good Old War Envy On The Coast PlayRadioPlay! The Almost Paramore Circa Survive
Recommended By:10 Featuring 20 Cover Story 16 Cover photo by Sunny Landon
Got an awesome idea for a section? Editorial@positivexposure.com
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Ladybug Landslide PositivExposure got the chance to talk to Marshall Lee, the guy who, well, is Ladybug Landslide. Ladybug Landslide is a one man unsigned band from Nashville, Tennessee. Marshall is currently working on 4-7 song EP that he hopes will be in the works soon. Stay tuned... you won’t want to miss it.
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Interview conducted by Megan Maurer
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To start off, I’d like to ask how you came up with the name Ladybug Landslide? When I was in high school 2 of my best friends (who were twins) and I always wanted to start a brutal hardcore band with a sissy name. When Evan (the oldest twin) got cancer at 21 years old it really affected me a lot. So when I stopped playing drums in bands and started doing my own solo band I couldn’t think of anything that would fit better than Ladybug Landslide. It’s my way of kind of remembering the good days. It’s also about how small things in life can turn into something much bigger, be it good or bad. So you played drums before you started playing guitar? Yeah, I played drums for 8 years in everything from hardcore/metal bands to pop rock. Why the switch from drums to playing solo on acoustic? Well, I finally just got tired of dealing with unmotivated people and having to work around their schedules. Like now if I want to do something, I do it ya know. I also didn’t like having to rely on other people to get me where I wanted to be.
So this album you just released- Live Your Lie- it’s your first album, right? First full one. I did a small EP thing that I sold at shows prior to this. It was just songs I recorded at home. It was called “This Motion is Making Me Sick”. How long have you been writing music for this album? Well, like 3 of the songs were on the previous one, but they were more like demo stuff. It took me about 6 months to get 9 songs that I felt were good enough to represent what I’m trying to do. Now the music I’m writing for the next one is kinda darker lyrically and instumentally. I have one song that is done (minus recording) and another I’m still working with. It’s just going to have a more minor sound to it. Minor meaning not as upbeat and not as happy sounding I guess. Most bands have other bands they somewhat idolize. Are there any bands in particular that you draw inspiration from? I try not to “idolize” anyone because at the end of the day they take off their clothes the same way I do... that sounded weird... haha... ya know, they’re just human. I do draw inspiration from Dallas Green of City & Colour a lot.
That’s understandable. What do you think sets you apart from other solo musicians? I have had a lot of people tell me that I sound different than a lot of other solo guys. So maybe that. Maybe the fact that I try to write about a variety of things in life and not stick to the typical sad love song.
You seem to have a pretty strong opinion about bands that cheat to get higher play counts on Myspace. Why do you think bands do that? Because as a society we want things now. We want fame and money and all that crap now. I mean just having big play counts won’t get you signed. It won’t Have you always lived in Tennessee? hurt but it’s not the end all. I mean I’d rather see a For the most part. I’ve lived in Alaska for 3 months a few band who works their butts off but has low play counts years ago and in New Zealand for a month. on tour than someone who just sits on Myspace all day. I guess a lot of people just use it as bragging Does your location influence how you write your rights maybe? I think it will make it a joke. People who music? do deserve the recognition won’t get it because no one Yes. will care anymore. I mean if the music is good enough just keep promoting with legit means and people will How do you think living in Tennessee affects your take notice eventually. style of music? On one hand, I’m around music so much here in Music What do you do to get yourself noticed without City that it’s constantly on my mind. It keeps me on my cheating? What advice would you give to other toes to keep trying to write, and not only to just write, unsigned musicians? but write things that are the best possible for me. On the I’d say to make up fun things to do such as contests other hand I personally don’t like it here. The weather, for your fans. A big thing that I do is reply to every sometimes the people get really big egos because comment or message I get unless it’s something like everyone is in a band. The scenery is not amazing and “Hi” and I sometimes respond to those. Tour, play that is one thing that I need to write songs at my best. shows regionally. Make friends with other bands, form It’s weird, I know. band alliances, help each other out.
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www.myspace.com/ladybuglandslide
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An interview with Jamie Tworkowski
Was there anything else besides Renee’s story that help your organization come about? I wouldn’t see anything in terms of the organization or a project, but I think in my own life, there were some people that struggled with especially depression, and I felt like I saw the people around them just doing a really bad job of loving them through that or walking through that, and I think I just hoped for better. I hoped for better in my own life, that I could be a better friend or son or brother. I just had a sense that we could do more. In a lot of ways when I met Renee, it was my first encounter with a situation like that or with someone who was struggling with those issues. Especially with her it was really all of the issues that we talk about, she had a history with all of those. Have you ever struggled with any of the things your organization helps fight? I would definitely say that I’ve struggled with depression. I wouldn’t say self injury or that I’ve been close to suicide. I think something that everyone can relate to; pain, and everyone can relate to living with questions and things that are difficult and things that happen, whether it’s some loss or failure or regret, just really difficult things that we have to walk through, just as humans. I definitely find that in my own life.
What satisfaction do you get out of being involved with To Write Love On Her Arms? I think it’s great, I mean, it’s just exciting to get to do a job where there’s a sense of purpose, you know? Where it feels meaningful, and to be able to really believe in the work that we do. I know a lot of people would like to live there, but a lot of people don’t have that opportunity, so it’s like a privilege, you know? How does it feel to know that you’re getting a message across to so many people? It feels great, you know? It’s exciting to be a part of something that feels a lot bigger than myself or even our team. A lot of the stuff we talk about is actually really simple. Just the idea that people aren’t alone if they deal with these things, the idea that we believe in community, the idea that we need other people who know us and people that we can be honest with and do life with. It’s amazing as well to see people respond to very simple ideas and it’s been exciting to just continue to say those things and believe those things.
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Is there anything that you find really helps make you happier or helps get you through a hard time? Any techniques or things you think to yourself? I think there are a lot of things really, the first is just not being alone, just knowing that I have friends that I can talk to and be honest with. I’ve been going to therapy for the past few months and I think it’s been really great to sit across from someone who is trained and educated to understand these things and talk about these things, that’s been really something powerful over the last few months. I think those are two huge ones. If you’re talking personally, my own faith definitely affects how I see the world and what I believe. And then just doing things that I love. I love being around music and I love surfing. Those are things that I find encouragement and inspiration in, just things that help me feel alive. When you were younger is this was your imagined doing? Or anywhere in the ballpark of what you thought you’d be doing? [laughs] That’s a really good question. I really just wanted to be a sales representative. I did that for a while and then I realized there was a lot that
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was great about it, but I began to realize I wanted to bring my heart to work but it didn’t feel super welcome as a sales representative. My mom laughs and says TWLOHA is a picture of everything I get excited about all in one place.
doesn’t often go, and I think that’s really important. I think it’s pretty crazy that we’ll do over a million dollars in sales this year.
Is this what you imagine doing for the rest of your life? Yeah, I mean, I think the only additional thing would be the element of writing. I didn’t mean to start a non-profit. I meant to write a story and invite people into it. As the organization gets more and more established and organized, personally outside of TWLOHA I’d like to How much money have you raised write books and commit to that as well. I feel like we’re just getting so far? started with the organization, there’s a lot of things we’d like to do I don’t know, we just went through a transition. We were under the umbrella of better, and a lot of things we’re just stepping into that we’re excited another non-profit, but now we’re out on about and committed to. our own, so that makes it tricky, the two Do people come up to you and tell you that you’ve made an impact on their life? Yeah, that happens. It’s exciting because I think I know it’s not about me, it’s that people are finding hope. People have been so kind, whether it’s emails or people that we get to meet, just sharing their stories and sharing what it means to them. I think that’s a big part of it, the story we wrote about Renee, I think that story really belongs to a lot of people. I think that’s why a lot of times people have this personal relationship with TWLOHA that’s unique and surprising. It’s been exciting to be a part of that. You guys won the MySpace Impact Awards, right? Yeah, definitely. How does it feel to have that much support? It feels great. The cool thing was that it surprised MySpace, I think that they noticed the support that we have and I think they realized that there’s something to it, the way our audience is responding and just how much the work that we’re doing means to a lot of people. It also reminds me that it’s not about our small team or about me or our writing, and it feels like a privilege to get to try to lead this thing and try to lead this conversation and be creative and try to do some things that aren’t being done and to me that feels like such a seasons of it. I think we’ve sold close to privilege to be such a small part of this. 60,000 t-shirts, maybe more. I think it’s tricky because people get excited about Is the prize that you won from MySpace going to make a huge difference in the the 25% we give away to other amount of people that you can help or is it organizations. I think we also try to remind people that we see a lot of value only going to make a small impact? in the work we do outside of that as well. We pass all that money along. We’re Not just the money we give directly to giving away 100% of the 10,000 we won from treatment and recovery, but MySpace. We’re not even going to touch that believing there’s an element of treatment because it feels like something special that we and recovery when we invest in our team wanted to do. We’re going to invest that in the in terms of writing back to people or channels we currently support every month. creating events or invest in events and tours that we get to be a part of. We reDid you ever imagine that this would help ally believe in taking this conversation so many people, or was it just for Renee? to places that it hasn’t been or that it
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Obviously, in the beginning, it was just an attempt to help one person, but when I saw how 10 people or 100 people responded, there was some part of me that naturally believed that if this got out that maybe other people would be moved or encouraged by it. I think we’ve seen that. We’ve seen a lot of the same comments and responses and dialogue over the last year and a half but now we’re seeing it on a much bigger scale. I think to me, it’s exciting because, it’s simple. I think I touched on this, a lot of what we say is not rocket science, it’s a simple thing. It’s been amazing to see those things mean a lot to people. So, you accidentally started helping more people? Well, I’d just say that the organization grew out of the response to the story and to Renee’s situation and in a way it’s almost like the organization is a response to the response. [laughs] We realized we have this amazing growing platform to talk about these issues and to try to help people. How does she feel about you guys getting so big? She’s excited about it. She told me when I asked her if I could ask her if we could write the story was that she loved the idea that there could be a purpose for her pain and that people could find hope in her story and her life. Obviously now, those words have come true in a pretty big way. I talked to her a couple of days ago, and I think we both feel humbled by it. This is just her life and her story, which at the time, just a few people knew. I hadn’t done much writing before this and just felt moved to try to capture this, even for myself at first. This has been amazing and surprising to see what it’s become. How is Renee doing? I think someone who deals with the things that she’s dealing with, I think it’s a
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process that lasts the rest of her life. I think in a way her recovery will never end because she’ll continue to walk through these things. With that said, she continues to be sober. She’s healthy. I think she’s the healthiest and happiest she’s ever been and it’s been amazing to see the progress and just how much her life has changed. Since she’s been sober is she a different person or has it always been her underneath everything? It’s funny because I didn’t know her back in that season. Obviously I met her at a time that was intense but, I could see it right away that she was really special and unique and had so much to offer. I could also see that she was really trapped and in a lot of pain. I have some friends that knew her prior to when I met her and I think people saw those things in her, you know, that she was such a special girl.
So, you just met her the one time and decided to help her? I met her through a friend and he was really committed to her and to trying to help. I was really just a part of that, like, I was a part of a few friends that basically when she was denied entry into the treatment center she lived with a few of us for 5 days and so I was one of a few.
Why was she denied entry? It was a smaller facility and they didn’t have a detox element, so basically she had a lot of drugs in her system, and she had a fresh wound on her arm so they said that she was too high risk.
How old were you when you met her? It was two year ago, so I guess I was 25. Actually, I was 26 because it was after my birthday. [laughs.] I don’t think age really had a lot to do with it. I’d say I noticed it a lot more for her than for me. I noticed like, ‘wow, this girl is
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young and yet she’s been through so much for so long.’ I definitely noticed it her life.
logic that if the first 10 people that found out about this responded the way they did that maybe the next 10,000 would and the next 100,000. I think that’s a lot of what What is TWLOHA up to right now? we’ve seen because all of these people we’re talking A lot of things. I think we’ve set a few different about is just one person at a time, one person, with their things in motion and taken some first couple steps own story, reading this story. I’ve had people remind me in a few different directions and we just want to that we’re really only talking to one person at a time, remain committed to doing a good job in those we’re speaking to individuals. As it started to happen I areas, whether it’s our street team or the events started to get excited about it that people would find hope that we create or that we’re a part of, we just want to and would know that these are things that we can talk do a great job. Most important of all is the MySpace about and that we need to talk about and know that there and the emails we get every day, to me that is the is a lot of hope and help that exists in the face of these heart of what we do…the dialogue there when issues. people are sharing things with us and asking questions, and to me we have to have a team in If you could be remembered by one quote, what place that’s answering every message every day. would it be? There’s also an element of live help that we’re Woah, that’s a good one. Man, I should know that. That’s working on, we’re not sure logistically what it will a tough one. Let me think. That is a good question. Hang look like or if it will be something we control or on, let me think, I’m trying to make it good. I’m just trying something that will be controlled by a third party but to think of something that I say. Maybe just, “you’re loved, we really love the idea that we hear from a lot of you’re not alone.” It’s really simple but, it’s been a people and we love the idea of them privilege to say those things and to see people respond. connecting with counselors through our website, even if it’s brief, if it’s 10 or 15 minutes, just that they would connect with someone for the first time in a setting that is anonymous and private and free. That’s something that we’re committed to seeing come to live. Other sites that do it, and a group we support in Australia does it, and we would hopefully just be another outlet.
TWLOHA.COM
How did you guys come up with the idea for shirts? I was working for Hurley at the time, so it was kind of my background and that was just the world I was living in. I just knew for myself and most of my friends that people like shirts. I think it was just an easy place to start. I also had the idea of a tasteful billboard. Something that was creative and clever. Something that’s been amazing to see is all of the conversation that has started from people wearing the shirts and the funny title that people always ask about. “What does that mean? Is that a band?” I think it just gets people’s attention and it’s neat to think that all of that can come from a t-shirt design. I always see people wearing the shirts everywhere I go. Did you think that it would just be a few people wearing them or that it would blow up like it did? I think as it started to happen that I just started to hope and daydream, and like I said, it’s just the
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Photos from Roberto Chamorro and Jess Banard
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Recomme Envy On The Coast recommended by Josh Hubberman of Pacific Sunwear
Good O recomme Colin Fran of Circa S
ended By: This issue’s recommended bands are:
Old War ended by angicetto Survive
Person L Recommended by Anthony Green
An interview with Envy On The Coast’s Ryan Hunter. also wanted to create an interesting way of keeping our fans updated because I have no patience whatsoever for blogging about the mundane details of our lives. What’s in the future for Envy On the Coast? More records, more tours, and more love. How did you get added to the PacSun line up? We actually didn’t find out the true origin of our invitation until we jumped on the tour. Josh, who plays in Another Day Late organized the entire tour. I believe it was his girlfriend who showed him our band and he sent us the invitation. Has anything weird happened on this tour so far? I’m currently answering these questions from a hotel room in Brisbane, Australia. We arrived here yesterday morning and went straight to a koala/kangaroo farm which was absolutely unbelievable. I think the weirdest thing thus far is that every band we’ve ever befriended on the road is in our hotel with us. What made you decide to do the Love From The Road episodes? Love From The Road was my idea. There was a few things that inspired me to begin that series. The first was my love boredom in the van. The climax of my day is when I’m on stage for that 45 minutes a night, but the rest of the touring experience can grow to become monotonous at times and I tend to feel like I’m not learning anything or being creative during the day. I started that series keep my mind flowing with ideas. I
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How does it feel to get such great reviews, like being in Kerrang! As one of the 10 New Favorite Bands, and one of AP’s 100 bands you need to know? To be one hundred percent honest, we don’t read our reviews. That’s not to say we don’t appreciate any praise we receive, but we have our reasons for straying away from reading that stuff. We don’t want any critics opinion to taint our creative flow. If you read and believe all the good stuff, you’ll start shoving that stuff in the back of your mind when you sit down to write…and I don’t ever want to write for anyone but myself. If you read the bad stuff, you’ll start having anxiety attacks, which are no fun at all. You’ve had some vocal troubles in the past. Tell me about that. Well first of all, I’m doing great. I’m feeling better than I ever have. It’s a very long story but I will try to deliver you the abridged version as best as I can. My vocal troubles started back in July of 2006, when I began to wake up on tour with no voice and was baffled because I knew I wasn’t pushing too hard so there was no rational explanation. I visited a vocal doctor who diagnosed me with a very severe case of acid reflux that was burning the areas around my vocal cords. He gave me a shotgun of medication that got me through for a
www.myspace.com/envyonthecoast
few months, but didn’t cure me (which it was supposed to). So, I struggled for months trying to push through the acids and mucous that clouded my cords. In doing so, I developed a small polyp on my cords. This was a very minor issue, and after 10 days of complete silence, the polyp vanished. With that, we headed out for a tour with From First to Last that was supposed to cover a good portion of the U.S. We had one college show before the tour started, and that was to be my first show back after my vocal rest. The doctors told me I was at 100 percent as did my voical teacher. I made it through half of our set before apologizing to the crowd and walking off stage. My vocal teacher ordered me to come off all medications and to come home immediately. I saw a new doctor who diagnosed me with a stress disorder that was causing a blockage in my throat. He told me the only way to tackle that was with Valium…which is very, very scary drug. Instead of taking the Valium, I went to my vocal teacher who spent a week with me attacking all of my confidence and stress issues and getting to the root of the anxiety. She built be back up and I feel great. It’s crazy how the mind can cause physical ailments, but it’s real and it’s fucking scary as hell. I guess that should explain why I don’t read our record reviews anymore. I’m glad you’re doing well. You’re doing a lot of guest vocals, is that fun to branch out like that? I’m a huge hip hop and r & b fan, and that is one of my favorite things about that whole world of music. Collaborating with like-minded musicians is one of my favorite things to do.
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Answered by Kenny Vasoli Person L sounds a lot different than The Starting Line. How long have you wanted to pursue this different style? I’ve always liked a different assortment of music and liked to keep an open mind when it comes to songwriting. I guess once I hit my 20’s I really started to feel an urge to branch out more. Is The Starting Line officially dead and never coming back? I don’t think so. How did you decide on the name Person L? I always liked the word ‘personnel’ for a band name, but it was taken. I got the idea for the play on words partially from the title KID A, putting a noun and letter together just seems to look neat. Do you notice a difference in the type of fans compared to TSL? Yes, definitely older folks that share more of our musical interests. A lot of people who work in music also seem to respond positively to us, we’ve gotten a good deal compliments from the crews who work the clubs we’ve played. How about critics and ratings… is there a difference there? I have really only seen 2 or 3 reviews for the record and they were rather positive. I definitely don’t keep track of that kind of stuff as much as I did with TSL. I don’t really care what critics think, I’m too proud of this band to be dissuaded by anyone. How about touring… is there a different energy? We really are in our own place on
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stage. With this band I see us smiling and looking at each other all the time, feeding off one another’s energy. We try to adopt that jazz mentality of looking at each other for cues and to really get a feel for what we are playing. Its always such a delight. Is your wish to experiment with musical styles the reason TSL broke up? I’m sure it was part of it but I would not say that’s why we broke up. It’s easy to put it on me, but I think that everyone in the band started to checkout in their own way towards the end. You have some pretty intense vocals… what happens if you get sick and you have to play a show? I just play sick. For this band it’s kind of cool, I like having some grime on my voice for these songs. It’s only a downer when my voice is lost completely but that hasn’t happened in years. Singing is all in the breathing, anyone should be able to sing sick if they know how to breathe.
Answered by Ryan Zimmaro Person L has a sound very different to “the norm” of today’s music. Is this an accident or a purposeful collaboration of different influences to create something unique? When this band started we all had the understanding that we wanted to experiment with sounds and instruments. We never really sat down and said ok, this is what we’re going for and this is what we’re going to sound like. We just started playing music together and this is what came from it. Is the current line-up permanent? The idea at first was to have a revolving band, but,I think it’s safe to say that were all permanent members now. Is it hard to have two drummers? It’s a lot of fun and we both get to be really creative trying to work off of each other whether it be on the drumset or the percussion side. It really adds another dynamic to the music.
www.myspace.com/personl
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Answered by Dan Schwartz, who puts the WAR in Good Old War.
Good Old War
musical style. Why did you? We just did what came out of us naturally. Keith had been pushing for an acoustic thing with me for a while, and I loved playing and singing with him, so the sound just came out of us sitting in a room together. We were very lucky in that way.
I saw you on the I Still Feel Like a Child tour… you guys played two very long sets (yours and as Anthony’s band) with just a short break in between… was that challenging or just really fun? More fun than any of us had ever had. We got to do so many things in that show. I for one was singing all night, playing acoustic solos, ballads, and folky stuff, twelve string bluegrass, slide, and rocking big electric guitar Did you expect Only Way To Be Alone to be solos. Keith was singing and playing acoustic, electric liked by so many generations? (I personally guitars, know people from 2 - 83 who like your music.) keyboards, and god knows what else, and Tim is just a That's crazy! I don't think you can ever do mad scientist behind the drums, with his keyboard and anything but HOPE your music will cross age and vocals as well. We loved every second of it. We were style boundaries. We've been incredibly lucky that remarkably hungry by the end of every show though! the end result of our collaboration has been so well received. We love doing it too. What’s the story behind recording Stay By My Side? We sat around Keith’s dining room table with a guitar and Why did you choose the lyric “Only Way To Be mapped it out. Then we all took turns singing in a Alone,” as the title of the CD? microphone we set up in the bathroom. The next couple I can only speak for why I thought it was a good days were spent adding stuff to it, like guitars and album title, and that was that Keith and Tim were glockenspiel. It was an amazing collaborative experience. just leaving Days Away, and I was also feeling Ali and Claire really did amazing things on that song, as distanced from my other band, Unlikely Cowboy, they always do. and we had made this really joyous sounding record. We felt like we’d all found what each one Do people expect you to sound like Days Away? of us does well individually in group setting that Haven’t had too much of that kind of pressure. there’s alworked. So I thought, it said something about how ways one guy that can’t let go, but in general, things have our individualities had been able to come to the been very easy as far as this transition has gone. forefront, and still be a really group oriented effort. Does playing your music make you feel as uplifted and optimistic as it seems to make listeners feel? Yes. We do it constantly because of that. I feel like you guys took a big risk with your
When/how did you decide to form Good Old War? We decided to get serious about it after we toured with Anthony Green the first time, last december. We went up there without much of a plan and tried our best. Every day of that tour, we worked harder to get an idea of our sound, and we had it by the end. Anthony has been there since the very beginning.
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TWLOHA.COM
ANTHONY GREEN PositivExposure got the chance to talk with Anthony during his solo tour. Check out the article and the exclusive photo-shoot. Article by Megan Maurer
ANTHONY GREEN
“I’ve known Keith [Goodwin] and Tim [Arnold] (Good Old War) since I was a freshman in high school. Ya know, we lived in the same area. The guys I was in Audience of One with went to school with them and they were all incredible musicians and our bands all played together for a few years. I’ve known Kenny [Vasoli] (Person L) since before high school. We weren’t sleeping over at each other’s houses or anything, but I used to go see his first band play and he would be at Audience of One shows sometimes. He was always at shows as a kid and we both went to the same shows, didn’t really know each other that well. Then when I moved out here [to California] and joined Saosin, I went to a Starting Line show where they were playing with SUM 41 in a huge stadium. We both looked at each other and were like, “Holy shit, we’ve known each other a long time.” One night [Person L] were playing at Siren Records in Doylestown, and I maybe had a drink or two and was like, “Dude, we gotta do this tour together sometime.” We made the lineup and it seemed kind of like it would never happen, but we made it happen. It wasn’t actually that difficult either. I love Person L so much, and Good Old War- they’re amazing.” And the long-awaited “I Still Feel Like a Child” Tour featuring Anthony Green was born. Since Anthony Green’s High and Driving days, his loyal fans had anticipated the day he recorded Avalon. “I didn’t really have any time to ever do it,” says Green. “I had things that I felt were more important to focus on before I focused on this, but I knew it was just something I wanted to do eventually. Timing-wise it wasn’t right, so I’m doing it now.” And now is as good of a time as any since Circa Survive are in between tours and albums right now. He isn’t known for taking breaks as much as he’s known for burning the candle at both ends, so he took the time as an opportunity to record his solo album and marry his long-time girlfriend, Meredith.
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If you stopped by the merch booth at all on the tour, you may have met Meredith Green. “She’s loving [the tour],” says Anthony. “She’s good at selling merch, but that’s not really the point why she’s out. She’s out because she always wanted to travel around the country and she always wanted to do that, but while working jobs. And since we’re recently married, it’s nice to have her be able to not work really and come out here and see everything and have fun.” Meredith doesn’t always join him on tour though. Like most touring musicians, Anthony is away from his significant other quite often. “We do it all the time- every tour pretty much. I leave her for an amount of time, but I never let more than two weeks go by without flying her out and hanging out for a couple days, especially if we’re in a bus and she can fit. She’s so tiny.” For Anthony’s solo tour, however, they’re not in a bus. The three bands on the tour are traveling via vans, staying in hotels (or on friends’ couches), and kicking the extra expense of renting a tour bus and driver. “You don’t really need a tour bus,” admits Anthony. “Even with Circa,
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the only reason we take tour buses is because we have a sound dude, a merch guy, a tour manager and all these people. We need space. If you can afford it somehow, it’s a necessity and it really benefits you. But for a tour like this, and for a lot of tours, it’s really not necessary. It’s just an extra expense. Sometimes it comes in handy having a bus when you have so many people that need a place to sleep. This tour I think I haven’t slept as well, but we’ve gotten hotel rooms so that’s really nice. You get to sleep and save money.” Luckily for everyone, there’s plenty of room for Meredith to travel in a van too, so the happy newlyweds can be together for the whole tour. Everyone knows Anthony Green is the vocalist of Circa Survive, he has his recently released solo album, he does vocals for experimental/indie Sound of Animals Fighting, and he’s also a popular backup vocalist in the indie music scene. Will he ever have a family? “Yeah I really want to have children. That’s one of the reasons why it’s important for us to do things in a van and it’s important to save moneynot that we make very much money doing this,” explains Anthony. “The point is doing it because you love it. But eventually someday I want to have a family with Meredith- little niños. But I want to be able to take care of them. Unfortunately that desire requires me to make sacrifices in ways of making money. I would never compromise my ethics artistically to make money, but if I couldn’t do this anymore, I would fucking shovel shit to take care of her and take care of my family.” Aside from driving and playing shows, they try to relax, enjoy traveling, and “do stuff,” according to Anthony. “We do whatever we can to take care of ourselves, make sure we’re eating right. I brought my bike with me on tour, so I ride my bike around a lot. I ride my bike everyday pretty much. I brought a little guitar that will fit in the van when I play so I’ve been playing a lot. I’ve been writing lyrics for Circa stuff. This isn’t really like a job sort of thing where you go and you drive and you do it. You’re always doing something. You can always be inspired to write or create or just feel the essence of everything that’s amazing. You can always allow yourself to do that wherever you are, no matter what you’re doing- whether you’re a band on
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tour or a fucking shoe salesman or you’re doing whatever. You can be inspired and pass it along- live your life like a true artist.” Touring and playing shows may seem like a dream job to some, but it’s no secret that it can be stressful. It wears on you mentally and physically, and it seems the internet is a bad place to be when you’re worn out. “I choose to not pay attention to certain things in order to keep myself in check I guess. Certain things just aren’t real. They’re just perceived to be real. They may seem real or you can attach yourself to something that feels real about it, but it’s just a feeling. That’s all it is.” A lot of musicians, however, do not see it as “just a feeling”. Even though bands sometimes seem like they can take on the world, they’re still just human. In fact, a lot of songs nowadays seem to have a common theme- depression. “I know that if someone is feeling [depressed], they should talk to somebody and try to connect with people about it immediately- maybe not via blogs, but somebody personal and close to them that can see through all their bullshit so that they can get help and actually have it figured out. I would say that if someone is having a really hard time with depression and doesn’t want to be around, the last place they should fucking talk about it is the internet. They should go talk to their closest friends- the people who they care about most in their life because those are the people that’ll save you when you can’t save yourself.” [PE]: When you do have kids, what do you think will happen to Circa? [AG]: We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I mean I would never stop making music… ever. As long as I can do this, I will do this. It doesn’t matter whether I have kids or have boils growing on my face or whether I have nobody listening to me, I’m always going to make music and write. [PE]: Do you write more on the road or at home? [AG]: It’s all around you. [PE]: How is it living with Circa Survive? Does it help to be living together? [AG]: Yes, it helped build the foundation of Circa Survive extremely strong. We’re like one person. We’re like Captain Planet.
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Answered by Josh Farro Answered by Jeremy Davis How did it feel to be signed at such a young age? is just...weird. I still haven’t thought about it that much. It felt amazing. It was scary at the same time though, you know? I was like working at a pizza place. What is the meaning of life? It feels like you have a lot of shoes to fill, though. We The meaning of life? were really nervous that we would fail to make a Behind us, a girl drops her sunglasses. record that sold. Whoa. That’s the meaning of life right there... broken glasses. Do you like the grape or the strawberry [nerds] That’s deep. The meaning of life? that’s a weird question, better? [They were eating nerds] I’ve never been asked that question before. Normally, I would go with strawberry, but I like grape Me either. better I think. I guess it’s different for Strawberry. everybody. Josh likes the strawberry. I mean, for us it’s like to follow Jesus Christ. He’s our savior. How was getting signed so young for your self-esteem? Describe your shows Really, I didn’t change much. I didn’t feel confident at musically and visually. all. I was like ‘great, I’m signed now. I guess it was Musically... I think we pull it off more of like a shock sort of thing. It didn’t really settle okay. I mean, sometimes we in until we started touring and everything. have our mess ups but I think It was a while before we were really confident for we do okay. I think we sound everything. a little heavier live than we do It really took like all the way up to last year before we on our records. Visually, we do were really confident in everything we did. lots of head banging and stuff. It’s repetetive. What did your friends think? Some friends were really supportive and some friends Any choreographed head were a little bitter. A few of them have come around. banging? We might do that today, just for Riot! entered the US Billboard at number 20. you. Describe that feeling. That’s awesome. Do you feel that you are a I don’t think you can describe that feeling. traditional band? When we all heard about that, I didn’t want to believe I think we have traditional it. I felt like I had to see it first ‘cause maybe it was elements about us, but I don’t like a rumor or something, and I didn’t want to get too feel like we’re strictly excited about it. traditional. I feel like we have a Yeah, it just doesn’t feel like our band would ever do new sound. You can see there something like that. I guess, we just feel like regular are so many reviews about people and the fact that our music made the billboard us that say “they sound just
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Photos by Ryan Russell
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like Fall Out Boy with a girl singer, ” but, maybe our music sounds a little bit like them, but, I think Hayley can sing a lot better than a lot of bands out there. What do you think you guys would’ve done if Hayley had never moved to Nashville? We’d still be playing music, I just don’t think it would be on the same scale. We’d probably be like a heavy hard-core metal band.
a whole and it doesn’t bug us. I don’t even know what I was trying to say. I got lost in my train of thought. Do you guys ever get compared to No Doubt ‘s early days? Yeah, we do, a lot. We love No Doubt.
Are you ever afraid Hayley’s gonna run off like Gwen Stefani? [haha] Do you think you would be I think one of us guys is more likely to do that. She’s all signed without her? about being in a band and so are we and that’s what Probably not. Definitely not. makes it cool. We’d be working at the pizza I’m gonna go off and start singing by myself. Haha, that place... a hard-core band. would be the worst thing ever. That’d be worse than Paris Hilton. What’s been the biggest obstacle so far for you How do you guys balance touring with family and guys as a band? friends? I’d say proving ourselves It’s hard. Usually, we record, and we go home for a as a band. It’s really hard couple of days and then we leave again. We try and get to make it a band. It’s really our girlfriends out on the road with us as much as hard to make it a band. It’s possible. My dad and my little sister are here today. It’s really easy with Hayley tough being away for so long. being our singer, being a It’s really hard. It’s something that you can’t always girl, she’s already gonna get control, so that kinda sucks, but, you make it work. You enough attention. A lot of learn how to make it work. people really focus on her strictly. So I feel as a band At this point, our tape recorder ran out of tape (it had been a we’ve had to step it up. long day) so we said, “WAIT! STOP TALKING!” Ever feel overshadowed? The only thing that would ever make us feel like that is if someone really pushed it on us. Hayley is very... she hates so much whenever she stands out. She’s very supportive of the band as
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Are you satisfied as a band or do you think your music will evolve into better over time? I think we’re satisfied now, but I think we’ll definitely grow and mature, and I hope we do. I I guess we’re that sort of band that doesn’t really have any limits and in the next few years who knows what we’ll come out with. It’s all about what we experience on the road and how grow as a band together.
www.myspace.com/paramore
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With the extreme conditions that come with The Van’s Warped Tour, from the blazing heat of the sun, to crazy rainstorms and wind, tons of interviews, signings, and not to mention the long drives to make it to each venue on time, we’re lucky if we even get to say “hello” to our favorite bands. Fortunately, we got to sit down with the guys from Circa Survive at the Pomona Warped Tour. It started out with Colin Frangicetto, Nick Beard, Brendan Ekstrom, and Steve Clifford, but their tour manager kept pulling them away for other interviews, so it dwindles down to just Colin, but that’s alright with us! If you’re wondering what the name “Circa Survive” means, then you’re looking in the right place! The name means “about survival”, but since the band has grown into their music and as a band, they believe that “it’s taken on all kinds of different meanings, but we like to just let people make up their own meaning to it.” Some other band names before deciding on Circa Survive were “City Surrender”, “Kick Like Crazy”, and many other names that fell through, due to legal issues. No matter what anyone thinks, “Cirque Du Soleil” is NOT the name of the band! They are a group of “interesting” people, but
they’re definitely not a circus. Throughout our conversation, the guys all shared a sense of closeness within the band. The band had tried creating music with other people before forming Circa, but those experiences have helped shape the band into what they are today. Frangicetto and Ekstrom were in another band together, Frangicetto being the drummer and Ekstrom being the lead guitarist. While in that band together, Frangicetto and Ekstrom would work on a lot of different guitar parts together. By the time they joined Circa, Frangicetto decided to further the guitar-writing process by stepping out from behind his drum set and now, playing rhythm guitar for the band. When Ekstrom and Frangicetto were practicing at the beginning of Circa’s reign, they noticed that they instantly had a chemistry, working off one another’s talent. “I love playing with Brendan [Ekstrom],” Colin says to us, “I feel like anything he plays I can think of something to put underneath it and make it sound cool. Anything that I
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think of he can write something to really spice it up.” Prior to recording Juturna the band had been together for six months and had put off touring while in the studio. Once finished, the band felt as a whole that their only option was to go on tour right after for over a year. Of course some days on the road are harder than others, but for the most part, as Frangicetto blatantly states it, “we’re like a team. The most important thing we try to focus on is our relationship with fans and the people we feel really care about us.” When Frangicetto started touring with Circa, he lost a lot of friends and relationships due to the lifestyle. “That’s when the bottle of whiskey is necessary on the rider,” admits Frangicetto, “when at the end of the day you know that no one really gives a fuck whether or not you’re out on tour for six months, that’s when it it gets really sad.” Now, Colin realizes that there are people who care about him: his crew. The band recognized that basing touring on a family vibe gives each member something to feed off of in order to keep going. Feeding into the family vibe is Esao Andrews, the cover artist of all of their albums, including their newest, On Letting Go, and much of their merchandise. Because of his connection with the band, they didn’t even feel the need to contribute that much to the cover art. “The artist has a much better handle on how to represent us visually than I think any of us ever would,” explains Frangicetto. “He kind of just does things, and it sort of just seems to morph into what we need to represent us visually.” Clifford and Frangicetto both agree that out of collaborating with various artists, working with a friend like Esao that totally understands the band and their music is the best fit for their music,
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visually. Growing up in Pennsylvania, the Circa boys admitted to us what music was oozing out of their stereos. Their listening frenzy ranges from Pink Floyd, Yes, Jane’s Addiction, and Led Zeppelin to… James Brown? Frangicetto divulges that “James Brown and Hall and Oates really help with [creative writing blocks]. If I can’t think of anything new, I’ll throw on music that’s way out of the realm of what we do and listen for little things like a beat or rhythm or anything that gives me inspiration”. Overall, Radiohead seemed to be the band’s favorite music choice. They really respect what the band does, on all levels; from every decision they make musically to every album that the band puts out. Frangicetto really aspired and strives to have the success and longevity that Radiohead has obtained over the years.What else has all this influential music inspired? Their daily lives, of course! According to Clifford and Frangicetto, their daily lives while not on tour, or doing press conferences, or talking to their ever-adoring fans is pretty normal (for a growing band). Their day consists of waking up at their own leisure, people making food all day, as if it’s a revolving door in the kitchen, rehearsing or writing in some fashion, and watching plenty of movies. “Trips are made to places to eat” Clifford chimes in (we can’t forget wonderful take-out food!). See, they’re just like you and me, right? Getting into the mechanics of On Letting Go, we found that while recording they demoed over 30 songs, just for this record. One of the songs “Living Together” states, “Attached means identity erases things, so how can we record?... Attached means identity erases things so why should we?” “To me, that song is about someone that’s kind of losing hope and wondering what the point of everything is.” He goes on to explain how we as humans go through our mundane lives and call that “living”, but one day realizing ‘why am I doing what I’m doing?’ The song amplifies the necessity to go out and actually live life to the fullest and needing people in one’s life to help comfort and be there to share life with. While the verses of this song take on a more pessimistic persona, the chorus is a positive reinforcement to keep on going and keep on living, no matter how hard it gets or how much people hurt one another. “I love the lyrics,” Frangicetto confesses, “I think that line especially makes you feel like, vulnerable, like ‘fuck, I know what he’s saying, you know? Why bother?’” If you’re thinking this means that they wonder why they even bother recording and writing music, and making tons of teens feel happy and accepted, this is not the case. “We’ll always bother until there really isn’t a need to anymore.”
Written by Breanna Lafferman
www.myspace.com/circasurvive
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PLA Y RADIO PLAY! You seem like a happy person despite your past. For what reasons did you change your attitude? That’s a hard question. I was in rehab for a long time, longer than most people are. It was more than just drugs and stuff, so, I had a lot of time to work things out with my family. When things are going good with your family and you’re happy with how your life is going it’s hard to be upset. Why are you a vegetarian? It’s a recent thing. It is more than the animal rights thing, it’s more like an eating healthy right now thing. Why did you decide to become straight edge? When I stopped I kind of wanted to do more than just not doing it. I wanted to take a stand against it and show people this is what I believe and stuff like that. Can you explain the Bob Saget fan art? Some kid sent me something that was hilarious and I posted a bulletin and I got like 500 more pictures. It sort of just blew up. You’re 17 right? Yeah. Do you still go to highschool? Actually, I graduated early. I just graduated like 2 weeks ago. I did the second semester of my senior year with online classes so I didn’t really have to go to an alternative school.
What have been the biggest obstacles for you? I think when you kind of blow up on the internet people don’t really think you can pull it off live or think you can sell records or get big numbers, especially in the music industry the way it is today. I’m kind of still having to prove myself even though I’ve already experienced a certain amount of success, more so than others just because people don’t believe that Myspace numbers can always translate to record sales. How do you feel about your fan base? Good. I really have great fans. If I’m bored and I post a bulletin I get a crapload of kids trying to talk to me. I wish I could talk to them all. What song of yours are you most proud of? The ones that I’ve written lately are probably my favorite. That’s always how it is though. You’re always in love with the one you just wrote. Do you ever censor your writing? Uhm, I’ve written especially lately a lot of stuff that pushed the boundaries more than my other stuff, but, I don’t censor myself. I’ve never not wanted to record something just because I thought it was too harsh. I had some big problems with this tour manager that was a good friend of mine and we had a really huge thin happen while we were on tour. That’s one of my most recent songs that I think people I showed it to have said “You shouldn’t release that.” But it’s how I feel so, music is how I feel, so I’m going to release it.
How long have you been with Madison? A year and like a week.
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Have you ever heard of a drummer who can drum live Travis Barker yet sing like Bert McCracken? Well, what happens when that man starts his own side project in which he records almost all of the instruments himself? That’s right my friend, you get The Almost. Drummer and vocalist of Florida based screamo band UnderOath, Aaron Gillespie decided to start his own side project back in 2005. After seven years playing in UnderOath, Aaron wanted to be the front man in something new that would reflect his spiritual and life values. Kenny Bozich, the drummer of The Almost, chatted with PositivExposure about Gillespie’s latest (and greatly accepted) side project. Kenny made his way into the band at the age of fifteen when he met Aaron and his wife, Jamie, on the UnderOath tour bus after a show. Jamie cut his hair which led to a jam session between Kenny and Aaron and boom! The magic was there, so Aaron asked Kenny to be a part of his new band. The other members of the band, Jay Vilardi, Dusty Redmon, and Alex Aponte, come from Florida and North Carolina, while our man Kenny currently resides in Utah. The Almost recorded their first full length album, Southern Weather, this year on Tooth and Nail Records. The songs on the record had all been written a year earlier by Aaron in between recording sessions for UnderOath’s Define The Great Line. Aaron single handedly recorded all the tracks himself with the exception of a couple bass tracks. For these he received help from The Starting Line’s Kenny Vasoli. While everyone in the band is extremely happy with the outcome of their release, Kenny (from the Almost, not The Starting Line) told us that they do not know how the music will evolve from here. Since Aaron has proven himself through The Almost to be a great song writer, Kenny informed us that the band would like to take part in the writing and recording of the next record. He told us that “if we get to add our own little twist to it, I think it’d be fun.” But Kenny is definitely not complaining. He is enjoying the life of being on the road and being in a successful band. One of the things that will be most exciting is playing live on Jimmy Kimmel. Kenny and the band are extremely anxious to play on live T.V. for their first time. The young drummer could not hold back his excitement as he told us “I’m so excited… I just hope I don’t get too nervous.” As a newbie to the whole music industry, Kenny gets really pumped up by watching the crowds at Warped Tour. He loves how “they are just so into the music that they just don’t even care” about the heat and the dirt at shows. He even admits, “I just can’t do it.” In recent years at the Warped Tour there has been quite some tension between the new generation of emo and indie bands versus the old generation of punk bands. Fat Mike of NOFX has continually been noted for poking fun at the Christian bands on Warped Tour, saying that their beliefs are inaccurate or false. But Kenny and The Almost do not seem to be afraid of being laughed at. In fact, they would rather play big shows with a variety of people than play pure Christian festivals because they want to reach out to more kids. He made it clear that they love all their fans, not just the Christian ones. “We totally love them… those are the ones we are trying to reach.” So you see my friends, you don’t have to go to church with mom and dad every Sunday to be a true fan of the Almost. Article by Dustin Hayes
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www.myspace.com/thealmost
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