Across Five Aprils Interview
How would you define your sound?
STEVE: Energetic with catchy vocals and sick breakdowns. or maybe sick vocals and catchy breakdowns. something like that.
JOSH: a metal onslaught of guitars and blast beats ...well, no not really. It's just some good catchy melodic music with a few "breakdowns" ...heh.
ZAK:catchy music that everyone can identify with at a certain point
What defines a good song?
JOSH: headstrong, never losing momentum, catchy, and beautiful to the ears.
ZAK:i dont know... i'll let you know when i hear one
STEVE: A song that does one of two things. either amplifies whatever emotion your feeling at a certain time or completely reverses it. Basically a song that
leaves an impression on you.
What defines a good show?
JOSH:a good show is totally made by the crowd. so to
define a good show, i'd say "crowd interaction"
ZAK:the crowd make the show to us. if the crowd has a good time, then i Do
STEVE: It has to be at least 100 degrees in the room and no on-stage monitors! Oh yeah and a smoke machine and strobes! haha
What's a funny road story that you must tell?
JOSH: haha, oh man ..here we go. So we were driving down the road to whatever state it was we were supposed to be in that night, when i decided i need to use the bathroom. well being as it that we are on the road, and don't ever feel like stopping, we usually just "go" in a bottle of some sort ...well for some reason i thought it would be a bright idea to pee in a cup from some fast food place, put the lid on it, then throw it out the window. idealistically ...this is a brilliant idea, but realistically, it has been proven to not work out as smoothly as thought. so after filling the cup, i told jarrod to slow down a bit so i could throw it out the window ...of course after much contemplation on which method would be most practical, as to not make a mess. so i put my hand over the top (yanno, to hold the lid on ...duh) and release it out the window ...only for about half of it to fly back inside the van and all over zak (who was sitting up front) ...after i saw this happen, i knew i was done for. Zak turns around and just starts wailing on me, and smacking me on the head, on the back ...punching my legs ...i mean he goes at this for a good 5 minutes until he stops ...all the while the rest of us were cracking up. haha, that is quite the story to tell, we laughed about it for days and days afterwords.
What are your plans and goals for the next year?
JOSH: hop onto a more prolific label for the band. writing new stuff for another cd ...and playing shows as often as we can. we hope for big things to come.
ZAK:release another cd and tour
How challenging (if at all) has it been living a life of faith in a world of rock and roll? Why?
JOSH: Not challenging at all as i pretty much do my thing, and others do theirs. i like to keep it mutual like that.
STEVE: I don't feel that it has been challenging at all.
Favorite songs from your new album? Please explain why...
STEVE: Saving Seats which is track 1 on the new EP would have to be our favorite song mainly b/c of how energetic it is to play live. It's definitely the best live song on the new release. Track 4, "Against the Pane" is also a very nice song to listen to b/c it's a bit of a change from the heaviness on the other tracks plus Corey from A Farewell to Arms sings on it with us and he has a great voice.
JOSH:Saving Seats. for some reason it just has sooo much energy when played live. everyone always gets into, and as we play it we all have a great time.
ZAK:i really like "saving seats" and "answers in the eyes". i just love playing those songs
What you like to see when you look out into the audience? What do you hate to see? Please provide examples or stories of each, if applicable.
JOSH:girls, lots and lots of girls. haha, just kidding ...i like to look out and see kids singing along. that is the single most amazing thing that could happen to a band ...to know that the crowd is singing along with you to your songs, and having a great time. thats and of course a frenzy of arms and legs flailing around wildly.
STEVE: I like to look out into the crowd and see a lot of representatives from major labels haha. The more people that are singing along and dancing the better. It's all about having lots of fun and the more fun I see others having the more fun I'm going to have and it just makes for a better show. I don't like seeing anyone purposely kicking or punching anyone in the pit. that's not what a show should be about.. I don't care how sick the breakdown is. ha
ZAK:i like to see kids having fun... nomatter if youre just hanging out and enjoying the show or dancing or whatever else.... i hate to see kids that are too "cool" to have fun.
How influential has Dashboard Confessional been to the music scene?
(if you think it's been significant at all, explain why... skipping this answer will be okay, i'll skip the question if that's the case)
ZAK:i dont know.... i'll ask my little sister and i'll get back to ya
STEVE: DC has definetly influenced a lot of artists as any well known act has i'm sure.
Zak or Jarrod: When composing guitar lines or melodies, what theories or thought goes into your decision on where to go? Please elaborate on any scales you prefer or thoughts that guide this process for you.
ZAK: umm... we used to just write a bunch of riffs and put them together.. but now we're a more picky about staying the same key at least and were not worried about how many "breakdowns" we put in a song.
How has non-stop touring been for you guys last year?
JOSH:non stop touring was amazing until it stopped. all i ever wanna do is just tour ...forget about everything else, just leave and go play shows for months at a time.
ZAK:it was fun while we were doing it. i sure would like to go back out... i miss it alot.
STEVE: It has been amazing. right now we are on a break from touring.we are writing new material and we will be going back out in early 05'
Anything else you'd like to add?
JOSH:dude, totally add us up on myspace !!!!
ZAK: buy polly'o mozzarella... its good
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