This year’s birthday has felt different than any other. This is the first time I’ve actually felt like I’m aging. To put it in the most frightening terms, I turned a quarter of a century old.
My mind doesn’t feel any older, apart from an occasional realization that my childhood dreams are slowly not coming true, I mentally feel the same. But, these dreams were always meant to die. It’s just a sad and disconcerting realization that I’m too old to pursue a different version of my life. But, it doesn’t concern me that a child’s view of how my life should turn out is slowly dissolving.
Never has the sensation of getting older affected me but I feel like I’m aging. I like to think of myself as that old pair of sneakers you love and even though they’re slowly dissolving with every step you love them regardless. You always stand by an old pair of shoes.
This all may seem like an overstatement for a 25 year-old but my sudden enjoyment of black jellybeans concerns me. The once outcast of all beans is now delivering a sweet but musty shock to my candy cravings.
But, my newfound appreciation for ostracized candy is the least of my concerns. With every sneeze there’s general disarray that I might fall apart.
I’m learning how to creatively endure the anxiety of tickle filled nostrils. The feeling always flows through my nose and grazes the passages to release a full throttle splattering of snot.
Trying to combat the urgency of the pressure building up in my nose I brace myself for what could be the end. Each sneeze is chiseling away at my youth. I grabbed a hold of the table, that is now working almost as a sneeze seatbelt, took a big lean back and wound up for this overwhelming expelling of debris.
With a quick rush to my head a galaxy of snot and spit exploded into orbit and gracefully landed on the sneeze seatbelt. But on the reflex, a sharp pain rocketed up my back, almost like a tail of this new galaxy, trying to find its way out. I was quickly paralyzed and gripped even harder onto the seatbelt.
I stood up, hunched over and tried to stretch my back to relieve some of the pain. Luckily, this time I remained in one piece. My biggest fear of my old withered body blowing into pieces had been averted. But, there will always be more sneezes and I won’t always have the sneeze seatbelt to hold me in my chair to support my aging self.
I guess for now, it’s time for me to take my place in adulthood and strictly use my weekends for department store shopping. Using my spare time catching up with a good book containing adult themes. And finally, I won’t feel so intimidated by the parental warning during commercials of the vast demographic of primetime dramas.
But as I mature, there’s always one thing to keep in mind; no matter how old I get I’ll always take the time to truly enjoy my birthday because the older I am the less days I have that solely revolve around me.
Archeo Trattoria greeted me as I walked into the ever tongue twisting Distillery District with a fresh wave of traditional Italian cuisine. As I entered through the old wooden doors, which hold behind the history of the district, the décor doesn’t exactly hold true to the Italian theme of the menu.
I sat down to an empty restaurant as the first guest of the lunch service. The staff was quick to greet me and start my Italian cuisine journey.
The Distillery District is quickly becoming one of Toronto’s tourist hotspots endearing the historic quality of this district sitting smugly in a vast, ever growing city.
Since I decided to indulge my Italian cravings during a chilly February lunchtime I didn’t get the full effect of the outdoor patio atmosphere Archeo Trattoria boasts on their website. Instead I had to sip my Okanagan Spring Pale Ale ($6) eagerly scanning the menu, perched in my lonesome corner hoping someone would join me with every head I saw bounce passed the front window.
The menu outlines a variety of traditional Italian food including common pasta dishes and a list of pizzas that cross the line of ordinary passing my eyes all the way down to the overpriced mains. Lacking the direction of purely Italian cuisine littering the menu with North American dishes such as meatloaf and hamburgers.
Excited for a delicious array of fresh pastas and raviolis I had to compensate with the lack of well deserved Italian notoriety. I had to settle for a common Sausage and Pepper Penne Arrabiata ($13) and Mushroom Linguine ($14).
A basket of fresh bread greeted my early day pint sopping up the weightlessness that ensues on an empty stomach killing time waiting eagerly for my pasta driven winter lunch.
Soon after my demolition of fresh bread accompanied with a variety of oils, my pasta based dishes arrived. With a sprinkling of spicy Italian sausage, bell pepper and a dash of goat cheese floating in a base of chunky tomato sauce the dish seemed to defeat the purpose of an upscale Italian cuisine. The Mushroom Linguini was a generous tossing of double smoked bacon and snow peas glazed in a porcini cream sauce.
Archeo Trattoria sits prominently in a location where it should strive but with the selection of pastas and pizzas some fresher more complicated dishes would have been a highlight. Maybe I’m missing the point, but a definite direction of the menu could make for a more certain theme to a restaurant that already has overwhelming competition in Toronto’s Distillery District.
My food preferences are changing. I feel that my taste buds and palette are growing and evolving beyond better things than a lackluster fast food joint.
But, everyone once in a while a craving overcomes me. It possesses me like the demon of Ronald McDonald embracing my body as its new home. I turn into a drooling, ravishing dog destroying everything until I get the exact taste that’s plaguing me.
This food craving filled my veins and slowly started to eat at my brain, chipping away at my self-control. It’s been festering in my mind, like every bad idea does, but there was something drawing me to it.
The possession overcame me with every meal I had, never triumphantly shocking my taste buds into an orgasmic revival of life. It was time to feed like a zombie on flesh, like a snake on a rat, like a shark ripping apart an unfortunate feast.
I remember it perfectly. It was a dark winter evening. It seemed much darker than any regular night. The streetlights led the way through the tapestry of roads to the closest fast food establishment.
It felt like it took forever. Driving in silence, nothing but the rev of the engine and the muffled sound of cars rushing by. I was too distracted to lose myself in the radio. My mind was fighting a battle of disbelief that it had come to this point in my life. That I was going to sink into a sea of bad ideas.
I slowly passed other cars innocently driving in the opposite direction not knowing of the disgusting travesty that was about to occur.
I finally pulled up to the restaurant drive thru. The glow of the menu beamed into my driver’s side window and sitting smugly, right under my usual order, was the sandwich that had no idea it was about to become a legend.
I pulled up to the window to receive my order, a secret shared between the employee and I. I looked at their judging eyes, thinking this is the face that greets this life changing meal, with a fake and over enthusiastic smile. The passing of glares knowing one of these grins will soon be covered in shame and reminisce of a Double Big Mac.
The brown paper bag weighed down my out reached arm. I quickly countered the weight and wrangled the meal through the window and into the passenger seat.
The drive home felt non-existent. My mind was fully on destroying this life force sitting as a passenger with its four patties, bun and generous slopping of secret sauce.
Upon arriving home I quickly ran to my dark room and quietly pressed the door shut. I took my position in my seat and slowly raised the heavy but satisfying sandwich out of the bag. I opened the box to see this leaning tower of beef and bread with a scattering of lettuce decorating the container.
I slowly picked the sandwich up and raised it to my mouth. The smell wafted up through my nose, grazing my taste buds as my mouth started to water.
I slowly sank my teeth into the sandwich and took a generous sized bite. The burger descended into my taste buds and danced around my mouth as I chewed. This eventual heart attack jolted my pallet awake and the demon was flushed out.
I quickly devoured the remainder of this life changing experience and quietly sat there thinking of the inhumane acts that had just occurred. I pondered my life up to this point and felt a new chapter open. Chapters where I can’t let the demons of fast food litter my brain with cravings of self-abuse.
I’m slowly becoming a walking disaster. My life has begun to revolve around this concept of not washing my jeans. This takes an incredible amount of concentration and commitment, dodging the debris of everyday slop.
The idea is to buy an expensive pair of well fitting, fresh denim jeans and not to wash them for at least six months because it will fade the dyes, personalize the fade and stretch the fit.
I bought a fresh pair of Levi’s about two months ago and I have yet to throw them on top of the never-ending game of the laundry pile. I’ve attempted this before but something always happens where I need to wash my jeans. This time I’m committed. I’m going the distance and will let this pair of denim endure whatever life throws at it.
The journey of these jeans began almost two months ago. This valiant pair of denim began as a noble citizen waiting within the racks of the shop anticipating its guidance into a knighthood of everyday spillage and wreckage.
They saddled onto my legs fitting softly and gently resting upon my waist, narrowly following my legs to my ankles. I slowly tightened my belt through the loops circling my waist finding the appropriate hole and sliding the brown leather through the buckle crowning the newest jeans arming them for battle against the onslaught of punishment they were about to endure.
As we made our way through life my denim slowly earned its shield until one day they met their greatest challenge. As time slowed down, our life together quickly flashed through my mind and I watched as a cold, bubbly waterfall of beer rush towards my thighs.
Through the air it marked its path towards my denim-covered legs. The beer hit my upper thigh with a cold jolt and goose bumps quickly scattered underneath the thin layer of jean.
The beer slowly and efficiently soaked into the fabric gaining size and momentum as it started to flow down my legs like a babbling brook on the first warm day of spring.
The cool liquid jolted a thought into my head; this not washing your jeans business is gross. But I must protect my friend, the raw denim, so he doesn’t turn into a shriveled, light blue pair of everyday jeans.
After dabbing what I could off the soaked denim our journey continued and despite the smell and the knowing that this may be a legitimate reason to finally launder my newest jeans.
It left an unfortunate stain, not only on my crotch but also in my mind. Through all our times together I quickly understood this is a disgusting train of thought. To not wash your jeans is keeping a whole different wavelength of thought that I may not have. Being constantly on guard, protecting my jeans from everything is too stressful.
But we have a goal in mind, to work as one to make it six months. The fit will always last being perfectly narrow through my leg to my ankle.
The blue will never fade in this valiant warrior of my legs and may the journey continue.
Today I lost a part of me. It was something that took me a long time to get used to and come to grips with. It annoyed me at times but it also meant something to me.
It has been a part of me for the better part of a year and now it’s gone. I’ll have to get used to it not being there. I know that all this seems like it should add up to something huge and something important but to most people it isn’t.
Today my bracelet broke. This stinky piece of string that has been physically stuck on my wrist has finally snapped and I watched this worn out old stinky bracelet crash to the ground like a trey of ice cold drinks on a summer’s day.
This tiny piece of string has probably had more experiences than the average person. It’s become something much greater than a stench ridden, germ filled piece of twine.
This piece of string has been in the Pacific Ocean. It has been buried in the sands of Fiji. It has been bludgeoned with beer and drowned in spillage of all sorts. It used to slow me down by getting caught on anything and everything. It has kept me up all night because it has been so uncomfortable. It has been pulled on, ripped at and torn through.
It’s strange to have an attachment to something so small. Something so pointlessly stupid that if I were to ever tell anyone it made me sad that this Spartan of my wrist has been slayed they may think I’m crazy.
But, the real thing is what it stands for. I bought it in Australia on a beautiful sunny day reflecting off the ocean. In a small store in a harbor that was probably ran by gypsies or hippies.
It has been everywhere I have been over the last couple of months. It grew on me like hair on your chest appallingly uncomfortable at first but it’s something you come to accept. It’s not going anywhere and you don’t want it to.
Goodbye old friend. May you forever be remembered as the crumpled up old piece of stinky black rope that graced my wrist through some of the best adventures of my life. May you be replaced by another braided circle of twine and live on through your friends wrist hairs and shirt cuff.
For over 10 years New Found Glory have been releasing solid albums that have been stuck in my stereo for weeks. But now its 2011 and my stereo is old, and probably broken, and digital music has taken over. But with all the advances in digital media there’s one thing that never changes New Found Glory.
Their new album Radiosurgery is something that brings me back to the days of racing to the record store to buy a new album. Begging my mom for a ride as I wait patiently for her to come home from work.
Radiosurgery is an important album in two ways. Firstly, it gets old NFG fans excited about pop punk and its new beginnings. Second, it opens the ears of new listeners to an array of amazing acts gracing the genre over the last couple years.
The album opens up with the title track and lays an onslaught of catchy rhythms and guitar. But in my opinion, the album doesn’t really burst through the speakers until the blazing second track Anthem For The Unwanted. In typical New Found Glory style the track blazons a trail of pop punk power tunes that rattle through your head like a punch to the skull.
Star tracks like Drill It In My Brain, I’m Not The One and Ready, Aim, Fire! show NFG has come full circle since their self-titled album in 2000. Mixing the sounds of the self-titled and the ravishing hooks of Sticks and Stones the album never lets down and puts New Found Glory right at the top of pop punk ladder which has formed around their existence in the last couple years.
Radiosurgery never falters especially when it hits the catchiest song on the album Summer Fling, Don’t Mean A Thing. From here on out the record makes me feel like I’m 10 years younger erupting into crazy rock outs in my room destroying anything in my path.
The album finishing with one of the strongest tracks Map Of Your Body ringing out with a 50s style prom feel bringing it back around to finish Radiosurgery in NFG style and just leaves me excited for whatever comes next.
This album thrills me again. It inspires me to dust of my old stereo, race to the store to buy the CD and light this house up with some already classic New Found Glory.
While growing up many bands would agree one of their major goals as a group would be to play their local Warped Tour. For a punk band being apart of the summer’s biggest tour would be a dream come true.
When Warped Tour passed through Toronto early July local punk quartet Junior Battles got to fulfill that dream playing the show of the summer. Riding off their newest release and debut full-length on Paper+Plastick, Idle Ages, Junior Battles rose through the Earn It Yourself Program to find them selves playing alongside such heavyweights as Paramore, A Day To Remember and Against Me.
What is the experience of playing the biggest show of the summer like for a band like Junior Battles?
Playing Warped Tour was definitely a notch on our belts. Even if we just played one date, it was cool to be included on this massive festival that we thought was the ultimate punk event when we were younger. Now, I don’t really perceive it as the biggest show of the summer for a band like us. It was a bizarre experience taking in some of the bigger bands on the tour, and realizing what a circus sideshow of grossness the tour has become. But still, a part of me thinks it’s kind of cool, like a childhood dream somewhat fulfilled.
How does a band like Junior Battles get onto Warped Tour even just for the local date?
We were lucky enough to get a spot through the Earn It Yourself Program. The way I understand it, EIY gives independent bands, promoters, and other music industry hopefuls a chance to submit for one spot on the Kevin Says Stage per date. Our good friend and booking agent Adam Kreeft from Kreeft Booking submitted us for the spot, and we got it. Also, because we are very handsome. That helps.
Which stage did you play on and what was the turn out like?
We played the Kevin Says stage and we were on first. Which means we went on 15 minutes after the gates opened. Kids were still kind of streaming in as we started.
What other bands were playing at the same time maybe taking away from or adding to your audience?
I’m not totally sure. I think playing so early was probably the biggest factor that affected our crowd. We pretty much played to as many people as we would have at a normal show. But they were spread out over a gigantic sprawling empty concrete parking lot, so it wasn’t visually overwhelming.
How were you guys treated at the show and maybe explain the process of the day before and after you played?
I felt like we were treated fairly and kindly, especially by the crew at the stage we played. You have to show up super early, around 9:30 am on the day of. You know what stage you’re playing in advance and then you find out what time you’re playing which is decided based on a lottery. After that, you can set up a merch tent and basically just wait around until it’s your turn to play. They have a full backline on every stage so you really only have to bring your guitars. One of my favourite parts of the day was the catering. All of the bands get a meal ticket and it’s this delicious buffet style catering spread.
What’s it like to share a show with some of the biggest acts in the industry today and who did you get a chance to see?
I saw Woe, Is Me, Dance Gavin Dance, Blood On the Dance Floor, Attack Attack!, Black Veiled Brides, Paramore, August Burns Red, and A Day To Remember, so basically all the huge heavyweights on the tour. Those bands just mostly made me feel old. I did get to see Lucero, who made everything better.
Over the years with the growing popularity of Warped Tour and the bands on the tour do you think the concert has grown beyond local bands like yourselves? Did you feel over shadowed by some of the bigger bands?
I’ve always thought that festivals were a good shot at exposure for independent and unknown musicians. I know a lot of bands on the Warped Tour sacrifice a lot just based on the amount of exposure to new audiences playing Warped Tour give you. The fact that there are huge bands on the tour only helps the smaller bands because they’re bringing in tons of kids. If you happen to sound like some of those bigger bands then, chances are, a few kids are going to stop and check out your set. I think kids who go to the Warped Tour are going with an open mind and they’re ready to discover a few new bands. They’re not just going to park themselves in front of the main stage all day long.
Warped Tour has changed so much over the past couple of years. Do you feel Warped is getting too big and almost in away sold out as to how it used to be?
It is sort of weird, because when I was young Warped Tour was all about the biggest skate punk bands. NOFX, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Millencolin, those were the biggest bands and since those are the bands that I grew up on the state of Warped Tour in 2011, I’m not going to lie, kind of horrifies me. It’s not the fault of Kevin Lyman or Warped because that’s the way the genre has evolved. I guess I’m just an old man; I’m not into synchronized crab-core stage movies, autotuned vocals, and all that stuff. I find it fascinating, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy it.
Being a punk band you must see some of the other teenybopper bands coming throughout the day. Do you think Warped has grown too far from its original parameters of a punk tour?
It’s hard to say really because I don’t know whether or not Warped was founded on any kind of moral high ground or not. It is and always was a festival designed to make money so you can’t really fault the tour for catering to what’s popular among kids who are into aggressive music.
Warped is the biggest show a local band could play all year and used to be a major showcase for punk acts. Do you feel it’s the same or has it started to take a different avenue reaching out to a younger audience?
Depending on what kind of genre you play, maybe Warped is the biggest show you could play all year. For us, I don’t really think that’s necessarily true. If we were a metal-core band and we were playing right before Dance Gavin Dance, then I could see it being huge. For us, it was just kind of a weird wild experiment. I won’t completely deny the festival because I’m sure we did make a couple of new friends and fans that day. But Warped is geared towards the new breed of metal-core that is super popular right now and that’s not really somewhere I feel that we belong.
What do you think of all the current controversy surrounding some of the bands that have been on the tour such as 3OH3! and Brokencyde?
I’m not really sure what controversy exists, but if it’s the assertion that electronic or dance music doesn’t really belong on the Warped Tour, I think I would disagree with that. I like that I can watch Set Your Goals, Lucero, MC Lars, and Bad Rabbit on the same tour. Diversity is good. What I can’t really get behind is the way that bands like Brokencyde, Blood On the Dance Floor and Dance Gavin Dance communicate with their fans, in terms of lyrical content and stage banter. Much of the time its vulgar and hyper-sexualized. I just don’t think that’s an appropriate way to engage your fans, especially when they’re that young and impressionable. It kind of made me sick to my stomach.
Your debut full-length album, Idle Ages, was just released on Paper+Platick. What was the recording process like working with this label and releasing a full-length?
The recording process was grueling but great. We recorded it over a period of about 3-4 months starting in November of 2010. We did it with our friend Steve Rizun at Drive Studios. Steve is great at what he does and he’s really patient which was a huge asset for us. Working with Paper + Plastick has been fantastic. They’re one of few mid-level punk labels that are actually investing in their bands. I couldn’t be happier with how things have gone.
There’s a common theme on this album of living pay cheque to pay and growing up trying to get through your adolescents. Would you be able to explain a little bit more about some of the concepts of the album?
In a nutshell, Idle Ages is referring to specific years in your life that are spent idle. When we were younger, still in high school, still living at home, those years were spent idling in one spot and it was out of your control. In a way, we felt stunted by our situation, and couldn’t wait to get out on our own. Now that we’re in our 20s, I think there’s a certain kind of comfort to intentionally idling and postponing the growth we once craved. It’s about examining and re-examining your mental state, your character and your morals along these important stages of growth.
With a debut full-length and your first appearance on Warped Tour what does the future hold for the Junior Battles?
We’re doing about a week of shows in Pennsylvania in late August with a band called Luther. After that we’ll probably start writing for the next record.
Vancouver-based pop punk band Living With Lions tear through their newest release Holy Shit slamming Canadian punk back on the map.
The long awaited follow up to 2008’s Make Your Mark rips into action with the pounding first track Pieces that sets the tempo for the rest of the album.
After a first listen, Holy Shit grows on you like an infectious sore that spreads to the brain where their catchy hooks and melodies rattle around for days.
Despite several member changes, Living With Lions can still bring a record that bruises your vocal chords as it glides through memorable tracks like Honestly, Honestly and Whatever You Want.
Living With Lions have certainly risen above their troubles as a group with the departure of bass player and, biggest blow, original singer Matt Postal. Luckily, new vocalist, former Misery Signals’ guitarist, Stu Ross resembles Postal’s rough and gritty singing style.
As the album edges towards its end Living With Lions establish themselves in pop-punk folklore with some of the most meaningful tracks on the album.
Maple Drive Is Still Alive and Wake Up truly show how much this band has evolved since their previous releases 2007’s Latter is Better and 2008’s Make Your Mark.
Living with Lions certainly isn’t reinventing anything but their tough, fast pop punk is enough to leave anyone bruised and broken in a ball on the ground.
Final track When We Were Young tones out the album with this up-tempo glimpse of what this band have to offer in the future.
Despite the fine tweaks in Living With Lions, Holy Shit leaves its mark on anyone with nowhere to go and nothing to do but scream and sing-a-long.
It’s up to you to pass the infectious disease that is Holy Shit’s catchy back to basics pop punk.
Vancouver based pop punk act Living With Lions have established themselves throughout North America bringing their rough and heavy style to their newest release Holy Shit.
The band is currently hot off their US tour with The Wonder Years and Fireworks barraging their fast, party style throughout the west coast.
After many member changes Living With Lions have returned with the long awaited follow-up to 2008’s Make Your Mark.
Living With Lions have been around for a couple years now. Could you give me a quick history on the band and its members?
I guess it all started with Landon, Shayne and myself (Loren) moving to Vancouver from small town Med Hat AB. From there we met Chase and Matt when they came over to a party at a nice east Vancouver house we were renting. From there the party never really stopped. Both guys moved in and our nice place soon became the east Van party house known to many as Dude Manor. With a Jam space in the basement we naturally started putting some songs together and then zip zoop, the rest is history. Only now Matt is Stu, and Shayne is Bill.
On your new album, Holy Shit, you’ve had a couple member shuffles so what was the recording process like and what puts the album apart from your previous work?
Shayne decided that he wanted to write and record the new album before leaving the band which we were stoked on. He’s a great bassist and gave the same dedication and hard work he’d given on the past recordings. So, that was the same. With Stu it was exciting to see new ideas and input come from him. He’s a great musician and had tons to contribute. Bill also got to do some back up vocals so everyone’s on there in one-way or another. Hopefully this record comes off as stronger than our previous stuff without losing the fast fun aspect.
What happened to the old members?
Both Matt and Shayne decided it wasn’t for them anymore. Shayne wanted to go back to school, and Matt wanted a more quiet lifestyle. We love and support both dudes and are still really good friends.
What do the new members bring to Living With Lions/the new record?
Both Bill and Stu came from amazing bands (a textbook tragedy, and misery signals respectively) so their obvious musical talents come through in the live show. They also have more tattoos.
Was it easy to settle into a new line-up after a long time touring and playing with the old members?
We’ve been good friends with both Bill and Stu for quite some time making it very easy to tour together. Bill actually lived at “Dude Manor” with us for most of its existence so we’re all comfortable around each other. Musically, it was very easy as well because we all love playing music.
You’ve recently completed a run on the Manscout Jamboree tour with The Wonder Years and Fireworks. How did this come about and what was it like touring with some of the biggest recent names in pop-punk?
It was great! We’ve been friends with both those bands for quite some time now and have been wanting to do a tour together, this just finally worked out with everyone’s schedules. It was really cool to see kids going off for both because they are great bands and they work hard for it.
You’re a Vancouver based band so what is your reception like when you were touring the States?
Fans are always great to us down here! We’ve done the west coast predominantly so that’s been a little more responsive crowd wise, but we’ve definitely set out to tackle the east more often.
Pop-punk has blown up lately with the popularity of different bands like The Wonder Years and Fireworks. Why do you think things have started to tilt that way in punk-rock and where do Living With Lions sit in this evolution of the genre?
I’d guess its popularity is increasing due to the abundance of bands that do it well! As long as the music is there I think the fans will be too, not matter what genre. As for us, we sit wherever fans decide to put us. We’re going to continue to write the music we love and hopefully people will love it as well!
After touring with Such Gold and a flurry of festivals this spring what’s next for Living With Lions?
More touring! With our new record “Holy Shit” out soon, we’ll be back touring it across Canada and the US as much as possible and hopefully even across the seas!
Cincinnati’s pop punk quartet Mixtapes adds acoustic hooks and a refreshing taste to the sound with their latest effort Hope Is For People EP.
Mixtapes have definitely started to establish themselves in pop punk with a staggering 32 songs released in the last 18 months and their newest effort, Hope Is For People, have cemented them in the genre for years to come.
The EP is a fast flurry of tastes pumping five songs out in under 10 minutes. The first track Taking A Year Off sets an up-tempo beginning of the all-you-can eat donut buffet that is Hope Is For People.
The title track eases into a more Mixtapes style with acoustic hooks and Ryan Rockwell and, female vocalist, Maura Weaver’s dueling vocals that sets the tone for the rest of the EP.
Riff driven You’d Better Bring More Dudes is the perfect blend that sets Mixtapes apart from some of the other plain donuts in pop punk.
Faster tracks Where I Live and, Weaver led, The New Ride The Lightning add some icing and sprinkles to the latter part of the EP ending it in a fast barrage of punk tunes.
Their newest release has put them in the right direction perfecting what was lacking on their three previous EPs Thought About Growing Up, A Short Collection Of Short Songs and Castle Songs.
Mixtapes have a long way to go before recording the follow-up full length to 2010’s Maps but the young foursome have the right edge to set them apart from some of the other generic pop punk acts coming through the genre.
Hope Is For People is a step in the right direction for Mixtapes as long as they keep releasing sugar and sprinkle coated delights they should settle in nicely.
Ever since their 2010 full-length debut, Maps, Cincinnati Ohio’s Mixtapes have established their own brand of acoustic driven pop punk that sets them apart from many of the other acts coming through the genre.
With their addicting acoustic hooks and front man Ryan Rockwell and front woman Maura Weaver’s synced melodies Mixtapes have created a sound that makes them all their own.
The quartet is currently touring with Dear Landlord in support of their latest EP Hope Is For People with even bigger plans this summer.
Now, there’s not too much information about Mixtapes out there on the web. Could you give me a little history of the band and the members?
We try to stay mysterious, it’s like Slipknot, we are just going for the image.
Here, I’ll give you the whole story for the first time maybe ever!
Maura and I were writing these songs acoustically and our friend was in town who plays drums in the band Fireworks. He liked them and said he wanted to play drums on the record and we kind of thought he was joking. Well turns out he wasn’t. He came down right before they went on tour and learned the songs in one night and we recorded our album Maps in two days and then he left for tour. So, on that album it was just Tim, Maura and I who played everything. When it was done we were really happy with it and it was a really personal record. So, we decided to play some shows and honestly when we first started our goal was literally to play a few local shows because we thought it would be cool.
Before Mixtapes started I was just very jaded and disenchanted with being in a touring band. So, I was just in a rap group and having fun, honestly, with no real plans. My dad unfortunately passed away about 2 years ago, and that’s when I started writing serious songs again and just writing honest and simple lyrics and songs. It was the only way I could deal with it.
We asked our friends Josh and Kamal to play drums and bass and booked some random shows. When we started playing our album was getting some good reviews so we kept playing and recording and eventually what happened was we were getting tour offers and Josh and Kamal have actual good jobs so touring for them was hard. So, we mutually agreed that it wasn’t going to work out.
Josh is my best friend and Kamal is one of my best friends and they are great dudes they just have actual jobs so touring for almost no money didn’t really make sense for them. So, we asked Boone and Michael who were in a band from Cincinnati called All Out Best if they wanted to play with us and immediately it clicked. We started writing more songs and playing, touring and have kind of just been touring ever since.
It’s been awesome so they are the permanent members, and we are having a great time! Wow, sorry that was long.
Hope Is For People is your biggest release so far. What was the recording process like and what puts the album apart from your previous work?
Hope is for People is our coolest release I think so far because the artwork was done by a girl named Cassie Podish, who is amazing and the songs are my favorite. Maps, honestly, was my favorite thing we had done up until now, but this new EP has surpassed it. I think it flows great and it’s some of our best lyrics and melodies I think.
Our last EP, Short Collection Of Short Songs, I really love but it was more mellow songs and we only play one song off of that record live normally.
This new record I think is just more us and we love playing it live and it has a lot of energy and we are just really proud of it.
You’ve recently completed a run on the Manscout Jamboree tour with The Wonder Years and Fireworks. How did this come about and was this your biggest tour so far?
This was definitely the biggest tour we have done and it has been awesome.
We have been very lucky in the way we can do tours with The Wonder Years and Fireworks, then do tours with Dear Landlord and then do a Red City Radio tour.
We don’t really fit in anywhere. Which in some ways makes it easier to fit in everywhere and it’s awesome. Everyone on the Manscout Jamboree tour was great. Four great bands and every single person was amazing. So, it was some of the most fun we have had. We actually just confirmed a tour for June with Fireworks so the madness will continue.
You have a couple dates in and around Canada coming up. Is this your first time visiting the great white north and what do you expect from this tour?
This is our first time there and unfortunately I have a felony arrest so we are figuring out if we can get in at all.
Pop-punk has blown up lately with the popularity of different bands like The Wonder Years and Fireworks. Why do you think things have started to tilt that way in punk-rock and where do Mixtapes sit in this evolution of the genre?
I’m not sure. I think different types of punk rock identify with different types of people. Growing up and now I was always into bands like the Mr. T Experience, The Queers and more of the Lookout Records type punk bands. It just suited my tastes more and even though I didn’t get into the newer wave of pop punk bands that much I see why a lot of people did. I think it just depends on what you relate more with. I think music has also gotten so dumb in this scene over the past 10 years that bands that are just more normal, as in no big gimmicks or images or anything, are starting to be more popular again. Maybe all those kids who were into bad music had younger brothers and sisters, and all of them thought their older siblings were dumb and now they are looking for something else? That’s what I’d like to think. As for where we are in there? We are at the Dunkin’ Donuts.
What’s next for Mixtapes after this upcoming tour?
Well we are doing a tour with Red City Radio this month. Then doing the Fireworks CD release tour also featuring Hostage Calm. Then West Coast in July and Insub Fest in August. So, we are lucky and have some amazing stuff coming up.
For full tour dates and news check out http://www.mixtapesohio.com
Now I reside in Brampton, Ontario. Compared to the Sunshine Coast there’s a lot less sunshine and a lot more Wal-Marts.
This is suburbia. To adjust from the lifestyle of Australia to Canada has been a very difficult process.
I’ve felt so lazy because Australians are so laid back and all Canadians are incredibly stressed out. I don’t know why, but everyone around here is stressed. It could be that you have to drive so far to get anywhere or it could be that we’re all miserable living in the grey flatlands of the Toronto suburbs.
Now, that I’ve done everything I’ve missed, I’m bored. All those things could never amount to the excitement of Australia. I complained and missed home but now it seems why did I miss it here?
The fact is there are much more interesting places in the world to live. There’s much more adventure out there waiting to be found.
In Canada we build our own adventure from being bored. Everything sprouts from the boredom of this place. It has become a place where you live out your life despite what goes on.
You have a bad day you go to work, you get bored you go to work even when there are things to be excited for you go to work. I know it’s important to work but that’s not all that’s out there.
You can work and live a life that you love in a place you love. It’s possible to go out there and get what you want if you put in the work and don’t mind grunting through all the tough times you can live a life you’re happy living.
We all only have so many years on this earth; why not enjoy the time we have.
Adjusting to being home has been difficult. I think of Australia, our friends and our adventures everyday. I think of everything that I’ve now come to miss. It feels like Australia was our home.
Every time I think of my apartment, the beach or the weather my stomach jumps with excitement. To think that at the end of all this I’m not going back to our apartment in Mooloolaba it scares me. It frightens me that I may get stuck here in a place where I’ll always miss the things I had.
Finding work and our way back into life here has been a big challenge. We’ve worked hard to live in Australia and the thought of it being over is haunting.
As the days slowly become similar to each other and the memories of Australia blur the only question left to ask is what’s next?
