Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Tripp Rowe – Vocals, Guitar / answered Q's)

Brett Caldwell – Bass, Vocals / 

Noah Whiteman – Guitar / 

Phillip Wilson – Drums 

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Summer Wars? How long has the band been around?

Before we were in Summer Wars, me and Phillip our drummer were in a couple bands but probably the biggest of them was a band called The Fear of Falling that broke up back in 2011, Brett and Noah both played in a pop punk band called Monkey in Podship before joining Summer Wars.  Summer Wars is still a relatively new band we came together in early 2015 and released our first EP “Better Days in October. 

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

Summer Wars is actually the name of an awesome anime film, I’m into anime but my brother is super into it and mentioned that it would make a good band name so I went with it!  And no Summer Wars has been the name since basically the very beginning of the band. 

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

I write the basic structures of all out songs, (Tripp) and then bring them to Phillips studio and we build upon the ideas gradually.  I would say there are a couple main themes in our songs so far, songs like effortless deal with love and loss and how you reconcile it all in your head.  But songs like Weight of the World and Better Days deal more about life in general and how it’s easy to get caught up in nostalgia and always think the ‘good old days’ were better for some reason.  It’s also about dealing with the mundane things you have to do to get through the day to make room for the things you love. 

I could see our songs for our next album looking more towards the future instead of looking back like a lot of the songs on Better Days did.  I don’t want to lock us into that, but it seems that’s the direction the newer songs we are working on are moving towards. 

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

I’ve been listening to a lot of this band called Moose Blood, I think they are making some great music and I’m really looking forward to their new album year.  Some others would probably be the new State Champs record, I’ve also been going back and listening to a lot of old Jimmy Eat World, mainly futures. 

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Growing up I loved Blink 182, my first real concert was when I was in 8th grade I went to see them play at the walnut creek amphitheatre in Raleigh, NC.  I remember my dad drove me and this goth girl that I was ‘dating’ at the time if you can even date someone in middle school, I loved the show, I l loved how vulgar they were, even though my dad didn’t, and I knew that was what I wanted to do with my life. 

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …

Normally before a show I will do some small little vocal warm ups, nothing to extreme.  As far as stretches and what not, I don’t really do anything, that’s something I should probably look into. 

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

I would say the biggest thing so far would be getting back those first mixes of our EP “Better Days”.  Hearing how the songs all came together after months of writing and pre-production was amazing, it really got us motivated and put us on the path were on now. 

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

I would love to tour of course with Blink 182, I grew up on their music and it’s a huge reason I do what I do.  Their influence is spread so wide throughout todays pop punk, I think you would be hard pressed to find a modern day pop punk band that isn’t influenced by them in some way.  Some more modern bands I would love to tour with would be Knuckle Puck, Neck Deep, and All Time Low

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I just want to thank anyone who has checked out our band or told anyone else to.  Without a lot of money to spend on promotion word of mouth has been huge for us, so thank you to everyone for that.  But I think just in general if you love something be vocal about it, tell everyone about it and be passionate, not even just bands.  Support the things you like, and they can continue to grow.