Issue 6

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founder/ editor in chief/ photographer & designer SHANA MYERS

co-designer & photographer BRANDYNN LEIGH

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PHOTOGRAPHERS

abby gillardi, abby griffey, amanda jensen, amanda puglisi, anam merchant, brandynn leigh, brian baker, cassie deadmond, chelsea gresh, evgeniya, kait rairden, kelli coyne, kim cisneros, kylee gregg, lauren zaknoun, lindsy carr, lori gutman, maeva valbousquet, meaghan brown, melanie jacknow, mika schmeling, penelope martinez, priten vora, sami wideberg, shana myers. taylor novak, victoria george

WRITERS

branda cavanna, candace carter, caitlyn tanner, josie adnit, lu lu green, maisie king, mike martin, mila hrisimova, naomi lugo, sarah kempster, scarlett grant, victoria george

contact us

symphonaticmagazine@gmail.com

follow us

twitter.com/symphonaticmag facebook.com/symphonaticmagazine instagram.com/symphonaticmagazine symphonaticmag.tumblr.com

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JANUARY2014

Album Reviews 9 romanticide 9 cease & desist

Gallery 32 blue october 34 devil driver 36 issues 38 sleeping with sirens 40 the front bottoms 42 you blew it!

Interviews 10 when we were enemies 14 chasin crazy 18 romanticide 22 la bella charade 24 drop the act 26 northlane 28 knuckle puck

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on the cover 28

KNUCKLE PUCK

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CONTEST WINNER Cubby C. Knox Congratulations! You’ve won: 1) Exclusive early access to two free songs from Emily and her band off their upcoming record & 2) A signed print of the photo of Emily on the page to your right!

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Emily Otnes

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ALBUM REVIEWS

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artist: romanticide album: start a fire ep release date: january 4, 2014

Intro – sets the tone nicely with sincere preparation for the songs that are to follow.

The band is by no means subtle, and the music sure does set ablaze recent hard rock and metal artists.

‘Devil’s Advocate’ sets up the sound that the band brings during the EP. A classic take on the metal music scene; how we lose ourselves in it but for a place to ‘fit in’.

The tone is strong with an electric guitar breakdown that could arguably challenge Slash. My word, watch out for Sean Rodewald, there’s some serious shredding going on. Alongside the pure old rock vocals of front man Matthew Vehemety the band will have your attention from here on out.

‘Straight No Chaser’ allows for the drumming skills to be shown off beautifully, carrying a strong beat throughout, interchanging from crashing cymbals and up-tempo rhythms. There’s a lot more metal vibe to be brought out here with the backing shouts, knowing this would be an exciting one to see live.

‘Holy Wars’ is an interesting creation. Cleverly starting off with a slow intro allowing for intensity to build, then smashing it with aggression and a well thought out composition.

Finally we have ‘Waltzing in Hell’ very A7X-esk! Which has a very catchy rhythm, securing a perfect combination of Rock and Metal, pleasing a variety of fans I’m sure.

Then the band has been wonderfully kind as to release a bonus track, ‘Innocence, In a Sense’. Ending with a bang the band have got our stamp of approval for creating a unique development for the hard Rock market. Never faulting in their musical skills, providing a tight sound overall. review by: sarah kempster artist: cease & desist album: haven release date: january 13, 2014

After months of updates and anticipation, Cease & Desist have finally released their first official EP titled “Haven.” This album features relatable and emotionally submerged songs such as “Never Said Goodnight”, as well as catchy rifts and a heart filled beat.

Being As An Ocean and La Dispute come to mind while listening through the album. It certainly holds its own separate merit from these bands, but the meaningful lyrics and attention to the music are easily inspired.

In its entirety, Cease & Desist have skillfully crafted an album that works together cohesively. Both vocalists are able to support the other in their juxtaposition. They are able to project their words with clarity. This makes every song easy to sing along to, especially in their anthem-like opening “XIII”.

Its creeping entrance into the EP is melodic, and then thrown into the aggressive vocal mix that collocates soundly.

Songs such as “Floating Away” and “Ruins” particularly shines in the treatment of the guitar and how the drums create a perfect frame work for the song. For “Floating Away” it’s introduction gets it stirred to flow into the interaction of vocals and instrumental. In “Ruins” following the lyrics “This is a wake up call” there is a strength in how the instruments are played together, creating a melodic rift. Each has it’s own descriptive sound that makes each song on their own significant. Opening to “Conquer” there are is that feeling of reaching the top of a mountain at the beginning of the war. How the words chant together before it breaks down into the rest of the song is like a battle call before running into the masses. This, of course, is just a descriptive idea of how the song has a cinematic structure to it, outside of the content of lyrics itself which have their own unique merit to bring. Often when the concept of burning bridges is brought into a song it is filled with regret for having done such, but the twist of the story makes it more interesting of a track.

Featuring Fall City Fall’s Nathan Zorn, “Lost” has a sway feeling in comparison to Haven’s other tracks. It works in its static position as a middle song, changing the pace in regards of the previous songs, without acting as filler.

Emotionally stirred, “I Never Said Goodnight” is a thoughtful tribute to the loss of a loved one. Anyone who has personally experienced this hardship can feel it in the music and further with the lyrics. The delivery is what is most striking. The lyrics are not just simply being spoken, but actually being felt as they are being expressed.

This is reminiscent of Letlive.’s musical delivery. It is one thing to speak or sing the words, but to feel them in such an invested way is what makes this song even more powerful than the lyrics behind it.

There is a maturity in the album speaks to a large demographic. Each song is a story of its own that holds its own likeability. As stated on their social networks “To anyone who has ever struggled, who have had people do nothing but tear them down, or anyone who has lost someone. This EP is for you.” This message is evident in their music, relatable, and worth getting your hands on. As a first EP for this band, Cease & Desist has proven themselves to be a review by: brandynn leigh symphonymagazine.net 9 band to watch out for.

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INTERVIEWS

WHEN WE WERE ENEMEIS With roughly 1,400 followers between three social media networks, one of the most fun bands coming out of Indianapolis right now is an electropop duo called When We Were Enemies. They’re new enough: anyone from the Midwestern town who goes out to see a show will probably be discovering them for the first time. But they’re covering ground quickly, making their way into the music scene with full, poppy arrangements and a sound that could easily be the soundtrack of your summer if it weren’t guaranteed to be on your playlist the year round. Right now, they’re in the studio recording a handful of new songs for their first EP. A scroll through their Facebook page reveals photos of that whole process, and a quick Google search brings up their SoundCloud, which already boasts three songs from the upcoming release. Symphony was lucky enough to snag a photoshoot and an interview with the band between appointments.

songs? Are you working with a producer to get the sounds you want?

We do have an EP on the way! Getting to record all of our songs as a full band was a great experience.

It was a learning curve. Making music at your house on keyboards and a computer is one thing but to perform them in a studio was an amazing thing for us to do. We were lucky enough to record at Threshold Studios in Indianapolis with Bone. He was able to add a lot to our music that we never would have come up with on our own.

Is there anything with the recording of your ep that’s frustrating to you? Are there parts that you wish you could have spent more time on or had a little bit more control over?

In an attempt to save time and money we would try and record one song per day in the studio. It was a little frustrating because we had to spread the time To start off, your music is great. It’s interesting, and out over several months. When we would return to it’s got the sound of something that could be around the studio to touch up a part or two our initial plans for a long time. But maybe just as interesting is the for the song were usually different. We were very name when we were enemies. Is there a backstory fortunate to get everything recorded the way we that goes along with it? wanted and were able to experiment with different We got the name from the Bible verse Romans 5:10. ideas.

I thought it was a powerful verse and loved the way it sounded.

The sound, by the way, is great; it’s poppy, it’s electronic and it’s really fun. The full band element is Before you really got serious with wwwe, were great too, but it seems like that’s still kind of a recent you active with any other bands? If so, what kind development. Have you guys been able to take the of music were you making before? What history do fuller sound to the stage yet, or are you doing more you guys have together? of a duo arrangement at your live sets?

Winston and I played heavy music together in Thank you! We have not been able to play live yet. highschool. When everyone headed off to college I We will be bringing in other musicians to perform started playing piano and synth for ForeveratLast. with us live. Which we are beyond excited for. We While on the road I started making instrumental will all be taking on multiple instruments and adding music on my own as WWWE. I decided to persue different aspects to our songs. other musical styles so I left ForeveratLast and began playing for Consensus where Winston and Indianapolis is a cool town, and it’s going through I became bandmates again. When the band ran quite a cultural development right now. Part of its course Winston and I decided to make music that means that it has a budding music scene, but together as WWWE. that’s still not quite something the city is known for yet. What have been some of the biggest obstacles So on your facebook and twitter pages, there are in getting the ball rolling outside of the indy lots of posts about your new ep. You’ve got a track community? list uploaded, and the single is up on itunes and I have had the priviledge to play in Indianapolis spotify. What’s it like finally getting to record these more times than I can count and it was a wonderful

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experience for me while I was playing heavy music. Indy was many amazing bands playing heavy music. I believe the biggest obsticale for us will be finding shows and bands for us to play with now that we aren’t playing heavier music. As a pop band it is a scene we haven’t been introduced to yet.

see more of you guys? What are some of your plans for performing in the near future?

We plan on hitting 2014 very hard. You should see us realease our EP very early and play as much as we can to promote it.

If the local scene is hard to get into, you’re certainly not showing it. You’re pretty active on all the major social networking sites, and you’re starting to make it Out into doing more shows. How are you finding most of your fans? Who’s really helping support the band these days?

The internet. It is wonderful! We haven’t been able to be a live band yet and we are able to show our hard work and music to anyone who will listen online.

Bands are supporting bands these days.

I have seen great relationships between bands in Indy. If one band is playing a show you can count on other bands showing up just to watch them and hang out. That is a very encouraging thing to see.

We can’t get all the way through an interview without talking a little bit about writing. For big bands it seems like there’s either some kind of system or the frontman brings in the songs that he puts together. But for a duo, how exactly does it work? Do you ever find yourselves stepping on each others’ toes or do you collaborate well together?

For the most part I would approach Winston with partly written material and ideas. We would talk about what we would like to achieve with what I had and I would go home for a few days and write what I could and show him again. A lot of trial and error. Expecially in the beginning because we had no idea what specific direction we wanted to go.

Tell us a little bit more about the songs you’ve put together. Are there any big themes that tie the ep together? What do you like writing about the most?

I don’t think there is a reoccuring theme on our EP. I think a lot of our music is personal experience just dressed up to sound interesting.

So far, at this point in the band’s history, what’s been your ‘definitive moment’?

Anything really memorable that’s happened to you guys as a band yet?

Does this magazine interview count? We were absolutely blown away to be able to work on our cd at Threshold. That was very memorable for us.

photos by: shana myers photos by: lake markham

Before we go, i have to ask: if we just can’t get enough wwwe, where can we go to

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CHASIN CRAZY photos & interview by: sami wideberg

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10 CRAZY QUESTIONS WITH CHASIN CRAZY

Three years ago, Jimmy James Hunter found himself at a concert put together by producer David Malloy for teens looking to further their careers as singer/songwriters called, Teen Hoot. Forest Miller and Travis Fincher had the same idea. Little did they know that that night they would be brought together and become best friends and bandmates.

This was the start of Chasin’ Crazy. Fast forward to 2013 and the band had all that they needed, Jimmy on guitar, Forest on bass, Travis on drums, and all of them can sing, until they heard what Landon Parker and Creigh Riepe had to offer.

With Landon’s deep, dreamy, country voice and Creigh’s fast finger’s on the key’s, Chasin’ Crazy was complete. World, say hello to the first country music boy-band with chops. Chasin’ Crazy is gearing up to head into the studio in the next few weeks. They have a single out now called, “All Kinds of Crazy” and the official video can be viewed on YouTube and the bands website, www. chasincrazy.com. Keep an eye out for Chasin’ Crazy as they plan to head out on the road at the end February!

Who was the cruel person to put an ‘s’ is the word “lisp”?

Creigh: Probably the same guy that came up with “stuttering.”

Landon: It wasn’t me.

Travis: The same person who invented Mondays.

Jimmy James: I have no idea, but he thounds like a bathtard.

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Forest: The guy who made the word “bed” look like a bed’s evil twin.

Why did we pass up the opportunity to call astronomers, “sky- entists”?

Creigh: Because then there would be way too many skyentists.

Landon.

Landon: Probably me...

Travis: Landon Jimmy James: Landon or Forest for sure... love is blind Forest: Or me...

Being an astronomer sounds really tough, but who wouldn’t want to be a sky- entist?

Landon: Wait... They aren’t called skyentists?

Travis: So you could ask us this question.

Jimmy James: It sounds so close to “scientists” Forest: I DON’T KNOW!

If you had to choose one member from One Direction to kick your ass, who would it be and why?

Creigh: Probably Niall. I don’t know, for some reason I feel like it would be kinda awesome to get pummeled by an Irishman.

Landon: I wouldn’t want to get Nialled in the face... so Liam.

Travis: Zayn, so I could at least meet the guy Jimmy James: I guess if I had to, I’d say Harry...heard he is a boxer and then after we could go for mock tails Forest: Liam - he seems like he’d do something nice for me afterwards

Does 2 Chainz ever wear just one chain?

Creigh: I’m pretty sure false advertising is illegal. So no.

Landon: No, I’m sure he can afford way more than that.

Travis: “Used 2” Jimmy James: lol yes Forest: Yes, but only in the summer months.

Out of the five of you, who is the most likely to date a criminal and not know about it?

Creigh: Well, Jimmy James and Travis both have cops for dads, so I wouldn’t say either one of them. Forest would probably do a background check before he got in too deep, so I’ve got to say

Pick two celebrities to be your parents. Gender and age do not matter, however you will probably be judged by your answer.

Creigh: Leonardo Di Caprio, because who wouldn’t want that badass as a daddy! And Jennifer Aniston; I think we could get along pretty well.

Landon: Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert Travis: Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan, long live the O.C. Jimmy James: Jay Z and Beyonce

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Forest: Ian Mckellan and Cate Blanchett.

You’re on an airplane and there is a baby next to you that wont stop crying. What do you do?

Creigh: Cry louder.

Landon: Crank up that Jake Owen in my headphones Travis: Give it a pair of drumsticks.

Jimmy James: Serenade the baby until it falls asleep.

Forest: Just look them in the eye and say “dude, it’s gonna be fine!”

If you had a theme song playing wherever you went, what song would it be and why?

Creigh: “I’ve Got The Power!”

Landon: “Country Man” by Luke Bryan Travis: “Could You Be Loved” - Bob Marley Jimmy James: “Who Wouldn’t Want To Be Me” - Keith Urban Forest: “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles. It just makes me feel like every step I take is the right one.

Travis: I’d hit them with both Jimmy James: Twerk... with a cheerleader Forest: I’d say jazz-hands, but in the moment I’d probably end up twerking.

If you could only eat one meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Creigh: Ceasar salad, lobster, filet mignon, mashed taters and top it off with a big ole piece of cheesecake.

Landon: Wendys Baconator Travis: Whataburger number 1 with cheese and Jalapeño.

Jimmy James: Chipotle...same thing every time easy. Forest: Sushi

You are a football player in the NFL and just scored the win- ning touchdown for your team. Your victory dance choices are either, twerking on another player or jazz-hands. Which do you choose?

Creigh: Jazz hands, I’ll leave the twerking to Jimmy James Landon: Jazz Hands

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ROMAN

photos by: shana myers interview by: sarah kempster

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NTICIDE

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 Hey guys! So, first can you tell us a bit about how romanticide came about as a band?

Romanticide has been together for 3 years now. We started out with Sean, Collin (now ex guitarist), and Matt going in and out of different bands and projects. We were great friends and we always talked about forming a band. Finally we all left our projects and became committed to making Romanticide a reality.

What would you say are your musical influences?

As far as musical influences we’d have to say we draw from bands we grew up with like Bullet For My Valentine, Alice Cooper, Killswitch Engage, Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy, My Chemical Romance, and The Used. Recently we’ve really pulled influence from the scene we hail from so we’ve been starting to embrace a heavier and modern sound.

At the end of the day I think we’ll always be a “hard rock” band at heart but we think its fun to surprise people with breakdowns and screaming.

an album. We’re constantly writing though so when we get ready to record there will definitely be enough material to work with!

We will say that our following releases might have a little electronic influence and more positive and energetic songs. We’re always experimenting.

What was the most difficult part of recording the ep?

The most difficult part of recording an EP for an independent band is definitely money. We’ve had awesome fans donate to help make our dreams happen and that’s an amazing feeling but a lot of the money comes from everyone in the band working our asses off to make it possible to do what we love. It can be hard sometimes but it’s totally worth it!

The intro and the title ‘start a fire’ go handin-hand, how did the name come about?

The title is inspired from something Matt’s father had told him. He said “son you need to find something you want to do with your life, light a fire in them pants and stick with it”. That obviously wouldn’t fit as a title so we shortened it to Start A Fire. The intro track Also, congrats on the ep! How are you feel- is inspired from Matt’s dysfunctional family ing about it? and childhood. The spoken lines are exagThank you for the congratulations! We are gerated for theatrical and dramatic effects feeling very stoked about it. Recording at but the emotion it represents is important Studio D with Don Debiase was a great ex- and we hope fans connect to that. All in all perience. He’s worked with bands like Along it means that no matter what life you come Came A Spider and Farewell My Love which from, it’s never to late to start a fire and do are both really cool bands so working with something positive in your life and change it him seemed like a great fit. The EP is getting for the better a really positive response and it just came out so we’re really excited to see what hap- What do you hope comes from your music pens with it over the next couple months. for your fans?

We really hope that our music inspires our Which song would you say you are most fans and helps them with their problems. proud of?

The thing is, we don’t always write songs I think we all agree that the song we’re most that have an obvious positive message but proud of would be between Straight No the music and the lyrics definitely relate to Chaser or Waltzing In Hell. On one hand you hardships that we hope people connect with have a song with a great hook (straight no and sometimes just knowing that someone chaser) and it’s great to play live. Waltzing In dealt with Hell is such an emotional song though and a problem enough to write a song about it we all put a lot of feeling in to it. It’s pretty makes much about a guy yelling at the devil. How you feel less alone. We also try to have a rock and roll is that! personal relationship with our fans. Matt always accepts every request on sites All the songs feature a very strong sound, like Facebook and talks to every fan that do you feel it’s different than what you did messages him asking for advice, help, or before? just someone to listen. We just really enjoy Well the EP is more mature than what we’ve making people smile with our music. done before. Our previous works however were more What are the future hopes for the band? like demos that we threw out to the pubic to Our future hope is to get on a nice tour show people we were working up to somepackage soon with bands we enjoy performthing bigger. This is our first actual release ing with. We’re all serious about what we do so we’re Can fans expect an album anytime soon? excited to see the world, perform for every An album? Well we really hope so. We really person we can, and meet tons of people by want to tour this EP a little bit and build up a doing what we love. bigger hype for

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La Bella Charade

interview & photos by: cassie deadmond

How did you come up with the name La Bella Charade?

Patrick: The story behind the name La Bella Charade goes back to when Ian, our original guitar player, Matt, and I were in college. We had just started the band and we couldn’t decide on a name to save our lives. One day, Matt and I went over to Ian’s apartment to write some new songs and have a few beers. It was then in a fit of excitement that Ian told us about this new concept he learned in one his psychology classes called “La Bella Indifference”. To this day he didn’t tell us what the term meant, but he thought it would be cool to take out the word “indifference” and replace it with “charade”, to have it be the name of our band. To this day we have no idea what “La Bella Charade” means exactly.

Describe La Bella Charade’s sound in three words.

Ian: Passionate. Dedicated. Perseverant.

What are some of the band’s musical influences? Non-musical influences?

Patrick: My three biggest influences come from three lead singers: Jim Morrison, Adam Lazzara, and Freddy Mercury. To me, these are the three best front men to have ever taken the stage. The passion and presence that these three singers bring/brought to their live performances is unlike anyone in music. Though I don’t try to emulate their styles of music per say, I do try to emulate the way these singers play live. I believe that the live show is the most important part about being in a band and I feel that it is my duty to give anyone who comes to see one our shows the best performance I can.

Ian: Personally, I grew up on a lot of heavier music. One of my favorite bands was/and still is Underoath. I really enjoy the songwriting behind heavy songs and how intricately structured they are. Another band I draw a ton of influence from is Cartel.

I think they are by far some of the best song writers out there.

I’m not very genre specific when it comes to well written songs.

What makes the local scene in St.Louis a scene that other’s need to keep an eye out on?

Patrick: The talent. The bands that come from the are seriously comprised of some of the most talented musicians in the country. Bands like Heavy Breather, Scouts Honour, Choir Vandals, Secondary, Equal Squeeze and The Weekend Routine are all great examples of this. It’s also a very eclectic scene. The bands here are more friends than anything, so it’s very common to see a show that features a variety of different genres of music. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these bands reach national success. It’s truly the place to be.

Ian: I think the St. Louis music scene is pretty close knit.

Everyone knows everyone. There’s definitely a feel of community. It’s nice to be a phone call away from getting on a show. I think a lot of scenes are way too dog eat dog and St. Louis isn’t like that. We all look out for each other.

Do you have any musical guilty pleasures?

Patrick: Too many to count haha. I would say that my current guilty pleasures are Def Leppard, . Don’t ask why.

Ian: I’ll put on pop radio to see what new EDM jam is big. I think electronic music is really interesting and I love how dudes like Daft Punk are incorporating real instruments into their songs.

It’s an interesting genre and I love to pick it apart.

Favorite album of 2013?

Patrick: letLive – The Blackest Beautiful. The record is mind blowing. Lead singer Jason Butler is one of the most talented singer/songwriters that I’ve heard in a very long time. If you

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haven’t already, go check it out.

Ian: Into It. Over It. – Intersections I really look up to Evan Weiss as a singer/ song-writer. This album is artfully crafted and it’s just one I can’t put down. Definitely pick it up if you’re into mid-tempo beats with pretty guitar melodies.

The new EP is called Sleepwalkers and it has 6 incredible songs, which one is your favorite?

Patrick: I love every song the new EP, but I would say “Ever Upwards” is my favorite. It was the last song on the record that we wrote and it’s the most passionate. It’s also the best example of how much our writing style has changed since the release of our first record “All Friends, No Fans” in 2011.

With this EP, we wanted to stay true to our roots but also venture in to some new territories with our writing. With “Ever Upwards”, we experimented with a more emo/punk style as opposed to the pop rock style that we had been known for.

It’s a catchy and emotional song. Definitely check it out.

Ian: Midwestern Heat – I love the structure of this song and all the instrumentals. It also is deeply personal to me lyrically.

Our old drummer Johnny Matheison wrote some of the lyrics, and so did I. It’s cool to share a song with someone and have to different perspectives lyrically, but also achieve the same theme or point.

What is the one song you would recommend to new listeners?

Patrick: Our single that we released last year called “Holland & Grand”. It is the best example of both the new and old La Bella Charade. It’s the most popular song that we play without a question. But please, check out all of our tunes. You won’t be disappointed Ian: Check out Midwestern Heat. I think that songs best represents how we sound. It’s fast and catchy as shit.

Any memorable moments while recording the EP that you would like to share?

Ian: The entire recording of the EP was completely unorthodox. It took easily over 6-months to track. Usually you

want to go into the studio for a week and knock it out. But we didn’t do that, because of the producers schedule and our schedules. It was a difficult process to say the least. Honestly, the entire time was memorable. You should never take that long to record 5 songs. But I don’t regret it and wouldn’t change a thing. I think it’s always interesting to record/write songs throughout different seasons in the year. I think you can totally tell when a song was written. It was a long, grueling, frustrating process, but in the end we got it done and we love how it sounds and represents our band.

What does music mean to you?

Patrick: Music to me is a way of life. Music brings people together. It’s there when people fall in love. It’s there when things aren’t going so well. And it’s there through every major event in our lives. Music is about sharing our experiences with others and it’s about being a part of something bigger than you.

Ian: Music is everything. It’s a part of my life now and will be forever. The feeling I get from crafting a song is unmatched.

To me, I don’t care if people listen or not. Unfortunately, it’s easy to get down on being in a band because you don’t sell.

Or you get a bad review. Or you play to the bar tender on a Tuesday night. I do this for myself. And from time to time I have to remind myself of that.

Do you want to say something to your fans and to our readers?

Ian: To fans, Sorry it took so long for us to release new music.

And thanks for waiting. Be on the look out for a CD release.

And...more new songs. We don’t plan on stopping.

To readers, check us out! You don’t have to “like” our Facebook page to listen to our songs. We don’t believe in that.

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interview by: caitlyn tanner

DROP THE ACT

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What inspired you to start playing together?

Each of us grew up watching and admiring our favorite bands.

When we met each other, it wasn’t long before we realized that we all shared similar dreams and aspirations to one day have the same opportunities to do the things we watched our favorite bands do as young kids. That was definitely one of the biggest factors that drove us to begin creating music together and help define our sound.

Who started the band?

The band was originally started by our drummer Adam Alfano.

Adam introduced the rest of the guys to Matt, our lead vocalist, and eventually came up with the name “Drop the Act”. We chose the name because we felt as if it could give off an important message to people. Don’t try to be anything you’re not in life.

Stay true to what you love and the people who made you who you are today.

Who has been your #1 supporters through your growth as a band?

We have had so much support from day one, whether it would be from close friends, family, or just anyone who heard our music for the first time and believed in us from the start. Overall, we’d have to say that all of our parents have been our biggest fans, and supporters. Without their support and guidance throughout this ongoing journey, we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.

What are your goals for the upcoming year?

As of now we are continuing writing new music for our full length which we hope to begin recording some time during mid to late spring of 2014. We are also in the works of creating a music video for a particular song off of the EP which we are waiting to officially announce. Also, we are planning a 10 day US east coast tour with our friends Worth Our While from Baltimore, Maryland.

Dates are yet to be announced. Can’t forget the most important goal of all, having fun, playing shows, and spreading our music and message to as many people as we can!

passion that gets delivered into a song and just seeing that emotion and passion transfer over to the audience. When you can capture an audience with your music, it’s a feeling like no other.

If you could say anything to your fans what would it be?

Don’t listen to the non-believers. Believe in yourself, and do what you love to do, no matter how different it may be. If you put enough of yourself into something that you love, there will always be someone out there who will accept it and love it just as much as you. Oh! And always have fun and laugh. Life isn’t fun without a good laugh and great times.

What do you want your fans to feel when they hear your music?

A connection; we want our fans to connect with us as much as possible, so they know that they are not alone out there. We want our emotions and energy to flow through our fans like it does through. Even if it’s just one song of ours that they can connect to, just one, we have accomplished our mission.

Favorite song that you’ve written?

Since we all could not come to the same conclusion, each of us is going to say what our favorite song is and why!

Chaz: It would have to be Stay Close or Would You Like to  Eat My Candy Paw? These songs just pump me up, and seeing the crowd getting rowdy and singing the songs back to us when they hear these songs gets me even more pumped up!

Adam: I would have to say I’m Not a Gentleman, I’m a Sellout would be my favorite song. I connect with it the most you could say. Plus it’s groovy.

Josh: My favorite song would have to be Stay Close. It makes me think of a sappy love story, but with really cool music in the background.

Jacob: Hmmm. That’s a toughie. I would have to say, Hometown Zero. To me, it’s so in your face and full of energy, that I feel like I can take on the world. I connect the most with this song on a personal level. We’ve all been put down, and to me, this is a song where I take my stand against them through my music. I will crowd surf to this song one day!

Matt: “Would You Like to Eat My Candy Paw?” Would have to be my favorite song. To me, it speaks volumes of what we are all about. It’s personal to me. Even if the name is silly, it still speaks our message.

If you could tour with any band who would it be and why?

This is a tough one. We’d have to go with All Time Low, The Wonder Years, or Yellowcard. You can’t make us choose one because they are all too amazing! These bands have had such a positive impact on our lives growing up and continue to inspire us to do what we love each and every day.

Favorite thing to do together when you aren’t playing music?

Oh that easy! Play video games and watch cartoons! Some Where have you preformed and where has been your favorite of the cartoons that we like are Adventure time, Dragon Ball Z, show? or anything that is weird. As for video games we like RPG games We’ve performed at Pittsburgh’s Altar Bar, Beardstock Music (Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts), sports, or anything that Festival in Newton Falls, OH. And many other great places! Our involves button mashing (More DBZ!!!!). We are like really big kids, favorite show so far would have to be the Battle of the Bands minus the naps. Most of us are in college or have full time jobs, show at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. The venue so life gets stressful. So playing video games, watching cartoons, wasn’t prestigious, but the people who carried out the event and and pranking each other makes us feel like kids again. It’s good the fans that came to support us during our set were more than to be a kid every once and a while and act like fools. It takes anything we could have asked for. That’s what makes a memothe edge off. Speaking of acting like fools, one prank that the rable and all around great show! twins started, (Jacob and Josh), back in the summer is called “Mr. President”. The rules of the prank are simple, just put your Have you pulled any pranks on each other or other bands while fingers to your ear like you are in the secret service or somepreforming? thing, and the last one to realize what is going on gets tackled by We have yet to carry out a good prank onstage but don’t count all the band members as they all scream, “MR. PRESIDENT!” Life us out! Usually we just crack jokes and try to embarrass each is supposed to be full of fun, so we like to have fun as much as other in-between songs as much as we can! But we do it out of possible whenever we can. love! Now off stage is another story.

What is your favorite part of preforming?

The best thing about performing has to be the emotion and

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AC/DC, Jet, Silverchair, and INXS. What do these bands have in common? They’re all huge Australian based bands, all have left a mark on the scene, and will always be remembered as some of the most influential bands to date. Each day, more and more international bands are taking a step out of their home towns and into the bigger world of the music industry. From touring to different continents to creating a worldwide fanbase.

From Sydney, Australia, Northlane has finally come to the United States to tour. They were received with a warm welcome from fans, not so warm welcome from the weather. The band is made up of Jon Deiley (guitar), Adrian Fitipaldes (lead vocals), Alex Milovic (bass guitar), Josh Smith (guitar), Nic Pettersen on drums.

“We started unofficially in mid-2008. I met Jon and we started playing music. I played in another band, but that ended. Then I said, ‘let’s start a band.’ We recruited more members and that was pretty much it.” Says Alex about the beginning of Northlane. Since then, the band has released one EP and two full albums. With these releases, the band has grown as musicians and continues to do so every day.

“If you go back to our EP, it doesn’t sound anything as uniquely as Northlane’s latest material. Every release we put out, we more and more become what we want our band to be. In that respect, Singularity is more mature,” says Josh regarding the band’s sophmore album.

Apart from the fact that the band is growing up, another factor that influenced the album was their producer, Will Putney (Lamb Of God, Suicide Silence, Fit For An Autopsy). “On our first full length, Discoveries, we did an instrumental song called Discoveries. We wanted to do that again because people liked it and so did we.

Our producer thought it’d be cool if we added a speech to it. We found something that sort of incompassed the theme of the album’s lyrics which was the excerpt of Terence McKenna on our track Singularity.”

Their newest album has gotten a lot of

attention from media and other bands. From doing European tours with bands like Blessthefall, August Burns Red, and Parkway Drive to topping iTunes charts in March, they have also had a few bad memories. “We almost broke up twice.

The first time when we recorded Discoveries.

No labels were interested in us and we had to pay for it ourselves. We recorded it and thought it sounded it great. We booked our own tour because no one was interested, we were playing like 10-20 kids a night and we had to drop out of Uni and lose jobs. Just as that was happening, Unified, our label, reached out and things have been pretty good. Things have been great.” On top of labels not being interested, releasing an album/EP is economically hard for everyone.

One usually ends up investing everything they have in the music. “When you release an album by yourself you have to pay everything. Being on a label they give you an advance to help you pay for the recording. You get a small amount of money for it. Once a band gets to a certain scale, it’s becoming pretty unrealistic for them to self release but what bands could do these days is now bandcamp. It’s a great thing.” 2013 was great for Northlane.Finishing off the year by touring with Veil of Maya, Structures, Vildhjarta and Here Comes the Kraken. This was their first U.S tour and although they enjoyed it, they were one member short. Nevertheless, some of their favorite memories include doing their album tour.

“To see how the band has grown from our album tour; it’s a highlight. It’s been tough doing the U.S tour! There’s a lot more shows in American tours.

But we’re touring with Veil of Maya and we grew up listening to them. We also met other great bands. The crowd has been very receptive. It’s surprising. I hope we can keep coming back.” They definitely will be coming back on their own headlining tour and then hopping on The American Dream Tour with Bring me the Horizon, Of Mice and Men, and Issues. Make sure to check out their latest music and attend their shows. This is one band that will definitely take over in 2014.

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NORTHLANE photos by: penelope martinez

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ON THE COVER

KNUCKLE PUCK

photos by: anam merchant interview by: lauren craddock

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Who’s who in the band, and how did you guys get together?

Joe: Vocals Nick: Guitar/Vocals Kevin: Guitar/Vocals John: Drums Ryan: Bass Nick: Kevin and I have known each other since third grade. When we were 18 he contacted me and told me that Joe, John, and himself were trying to start a band and were looking for a fourth and fifth member. I decided to jam with them which is when I met Joe and John for the first time. We went through a slew of fill-in bassists for the first couple years of our band’s existence. It just seemed like no one was the right fit on a personal level which is a huge deal to us being the close friends that we are. It wasn’t until this past year that we found Ryan who has been the perfect fit.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Nick: My 5th grade piano teacher Jim. He said I would never amount to much.

experience it with.

What was the first show you ever played like?

Nick: It was pretty typical of what you would expect from a brand new local band. Not a lot of people, and everyone just standing there nodding their heads, but it was still a blast.

What has been your best experience as a band?

Nick: This is an extremely tough question due to all the incredibly humbling things that have been happening to us since the release of The Weight That You Buried, but if I had to pick one experience, it would have to be the show we played at The Beat Kitchen in Chicago a couple weeks ago. It was the last day of our week-long run with Light Years and Real Friends, and the reaction was unreal. I never thought I would play a show like that.

There was a stupid grin on my face for the entirety of our set.

What has been your worst experience as a band?

Nick: Nothing too crazy comes to mind. We’ve actually been pretty good at dodging bad luck. I guess the biggest thing that I would consider to be the worst experience is going outside to Where do you draw your inspiration from in your songs? move the van a few days ago when the engine finally called it Nick: When I sit down and try to write a song, it always starts quits. I started it up, and before I could go anywhere there was with an acoustic guitar. I never found writing “happy sounding” a very loud rattling so I shut the van off. It was at that point I music or lyrics to be my style, so I feel like in order for me to heard a splash, so I stepped out only to find that our van had convey my feelings, it has to have a mellow acoustic foundation. spilled every drop of oil it had onto the street. So now here I grew up listening to a lot of Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard we are, van-less, a month and a half away from our first full Confessional, so I feel like that sound comes easiest to me.

US tour. We’re already in the process of looking for a new van Once I feel like I have a solid jumping-off point (even if its only though, so no worries. We will still be able to tour.

10-20 seconds long) I’ll take that idea, sit in front of my computer with my SG, and continue to build a song around it. Joe has What are you, as musicians, trying to improve? a very similar approach to writing songs as well. It sounds lame, Kevin: Everything. How we sound live, how we write songs, how but I think about the people who have come and gone through- we individually can become better at our craft, etc. There’s alout the course of my life. Most of my share of our lyrics are ways this constant room for improvement, especially in music. drawn from thinking about someone I miss very much, or the We like it that way, though. It keeps things interesting. complete opposite.

Who would you compare yourselves to?

I see you guys have a pretty extensive tour coming up, how are Kevin: I would compare ourselves (sound wise) to bands such as you preparing for it?

The Starting Line, The Movielife, and older-sounding Taking Back Nick: We have to find a new, reliable van that’ll carry us across Sunday. the country. We’re already looking into it extensively, so I’m fully confident we’ll have a new van before the tour even starts.

Where do you guys see yourselves in 5 years?

Aside from that, we’re just writing and rehearsing extensively.

Kevin: Still touring and writing new music. None of us have a set We even rented a practice space on the North side of Chicago deadline with this band, so to still be doing in 5 years what we’re so there would be no issue with practicing during late hours. doing now would be ideal.

Since Kevin will be finishing his degree at ISU during the time of the tour, our friend Zach Garza will be filling in for him. So in If you could play with one musician, living or dead, who would it addition to preparing ourselves, we also have to be making sure be?

Zach is prepared by rehearsing twice as much with him.

Kevin: I would love to play with Blink-182. Very influential band to me.

Is this your first big tour?

Nick: Without a doubt. We did a couple tours and several small OK. How do you describe yourself as PEOPLE? Void of the “muruns of shows over the past year, but we’ve never been on the sician” title. road for more than two consecutive weeks. Needless to say, a Kevin: I would describe us as a collection of like-minded people full US tour spanning the course of over a month seems pretty who strive for the same goals. overwhelming at this point, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that none of us have ever been more excited in our lives.

I read on your Tumblr that Kevin goes to Illinois State University while being in a band. What are you majoring in? How do you What are you most excited about with the tour? do it? Tell me a little more about that. That must be hard work...

Nick: Making new friends, seeing places I’ve never seen before, Kevin: I am majoring in Sociology. Honestly, balancing the band and playing shows that people have been waiting for on the and school work can be extremely stressful. It especially has edge of their seats for months. I can’t wait to get to know the been lately, due to me being a senior and being busier than guys in Neck Deep. In the past I’ve looked at bands we’ve toured usual with my major, and with us being able to tour more and with (Light Years being one of them) as a family, so I’m beyond such, but the stress of balancing the two will soon be over as stoked to develop these friendships that I know will have such I graduate this May. I am extremely grateful for my education a unique bond. I really haven’t seen much of the United States and I love the process of learning and school, but I can’t wait to by any means, so I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to focus on the band full-time after graduation. symphonymagazine.net 30

What are you most thankful for?

Kevin: My family. I cannot put into the words the amount of diligent support they have given me over the course of my life, especially with supporting Knuckle Puck. It is something that I will always be extremely grateful for. I am also thankful for literally every single person who has ever invested their time into our band. People going out of their way to support something you love is almost unfathomable to me, so I thank everyone who has done so for Knuckle Puck.

What is the most interesting thing you could say RIGHT NOW as your LAST words for this interview?

Kevin: If you look directly into our drummer John’s eyes, your bones will turn into Pringles cans.

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ďżź BLUE OCTOBER photo by: shana myers

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ďżź DEVIL DRIVER photo by: penelope martinez

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ďżź

ISSUES photo by: penelope martinez

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SLEEPING WITH SIRE photo by: penelope martinez

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ENS

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THE FRONT B symphonymagazine.net

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O BOTTOMS photo by: anam merchant

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YOU BLEW IT! photo by: anam merchant

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