Today’s interview from the DIY Interview offered to any and all bands comes from Almost Legendary.
Official: www.almostlegendarymusic.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlmostLegendary
Twitter: www.twitter.com/almstlegendary
1. How did you get your band name?
Aside from the fact that we thoroughly enjoy being at the top of every alphabetically sorted list of bands, this name came from Mark and we all agreed that it’s a pretty cool name. It has also given us that goal of one day contradicting ourselves.
2. How did this band get started?
The band started out with Mark and Ryan, former members of a punk band called Lollygag. Mark started pulling all of us in, everything really connected and the dynamic of the group has been fantastic for the last two years. We’ve become a really close group and consider each other family now.
3. What bands are you influenced by?
We come mostly from a pop-punk background - think bands like New Found Glory and Blink 182. Taking that sound and moving more towards the modern array of music we’ve tried to focus on building our sound to be more fun and dance oriented. You can definitely hear Mark Hoppus and Kesha making love in the background of Tonight Becomes Tomorrow.
4. If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
I think we can all agree that touring with Paramore would be fantastic - we’ve spent half of a practice talking about Haley before.
5. Best food to eat on tour?
There’s this awesome gas station as you go further up the east coast, they’re pretty abundant around Virginia. It’s called Sheetz and they have some awesome stuff especially when you have to make a long drive to the next show.
6. Why should people listen to your band?
Simple, we’re awesome. But seriously, we have a lot of fun writing and playing it so we’re positive that our listeners and fans can hear that coming through in the chords and melodies.
7. Did any of you guys think your life would turn out this way? What did your parents say about your band?
All of our parents have actually been really supportive; they know we love nothing more than to play music.
8.Who are a few bands that you feel everyone should be listening to right now?
All Time Low and We Are The In Crowd - they’re both stellar bands and we love their sound. It also doesn’t hurt that we think our songs belong on the same iTunes playlist. We just recently recorded our EP with the same producers so we’re a very natural fit.
9. If you could change something about the music industry, what would it be?
We love playing for larger crowds; we really feed off of the crowds energy. If we could change one thing about the industry we’d push for more festivals.
10. Memorable tour experience?
We were playing a show up in Staten Island, NY; it was our first time in the area and it was actually on St. Patty’s day. Brian, our guitarist and keyboardist, was transitioning between his guitar part and the keyboards and often throws in a guitar swing around the neck when doing so. Well we didn’t really inspect the stage very well and when doing so he caught his guitar in the air duct.
11. If someone was to check out your “Recently Played” playlist on your iTunes, what would they find?
Mark: Laday Gaga
Chris: Bad Religion
Ryan: Rancid
Brian: Something Corporate
12. What is your favorite song to play?
I’m not entirely sure we can pick a favorite but our audiences feed off of Ready Or Not so that’s always been a fun song to play.
13. What were some of your music influences and how involved in music were you growing up?
All of us have been in bands growing up in some fashion or another, but nothing was ever this serious. We think we’ve really taken it to the next level and we’re ready to keep getting bigger.
14. What music reminds you of your childhood?
I Saw The Sign - Classic
Tubthumping - I still don’t know what that means, not sure I want to.
That song with “Chica Cherry Cola” by Savage Garden because I don’t know any of the words.
15. If you weren’t in your current genre of music/position, what else would you see yourself doing?
Wishing we were involved in music.
16. Any pre-show superstitions or rituals?
We have a couple handshakes that we’ll usually throw in after a practice or before we go onstage.
17. What is something that most fans don’t know about you?
We actually started as an emo-folk band called Jack Beam Jill.
18. What is your assessment of the current state of radio? Do you think it’s a place where your band could flourish?
Radio has been going in a cool direction - a lot more is digital and through a recommendation engine like Pandora or Spotify. We definitely think we could flourish on radio in it’s current state but we’re really looking forward to watching our fanbase grow with the ever changing way fans find new music.
19. What do you like to do in your spare time?
Each of us really is into different things - Mark is huge into basketball and football, Chris is big into art, Ryan spends most of his spare time sleeping, and Brian is kind of the nerdy one out of the group spending most his time on a computer.
20. What kind of hidden talents do you have?
There’s a reason they’re hidden.