Boywunder Interview 11-25-01

Lauren: Describe your sound.
Eric: How do we sound now? How did we sound three months ago? How did we sound a year ago? It's always different.
Andy: Hardcore, with a hint of metal.
Eric: Yeah, I would say metalcore with occasional emo influences.

Lauren: Would you say that your music falls into the categories of straightedge or Christian? I know these are labels you've been pegged with in the past.
Dale: Well, we're definitely not straightedge. Ray's straightedge, but we're not.
Eric: That's true. As far as a Christian band, I guess whoever is looking at us would have to make the judgment on that. We're all Christian, and half the time our lyrics are about God, but we don't write songs and think about, "OK, how are we going to fit Jesus into this song?" With our lyrics, we don't have propaganda, or an agenda or anything. I just write about whatever happens to me and hopefully people can identify with it. Usually it's about God or girls.
Andy: I think it would be awesome if there wasn't a separate Christian scene and a secular scene. Because that sucks, cause as soon as someone says "They're a Christian band" then you're peg-holed into all these different things.
Eric: And 30% of the kids won't come to your shows.

Lauren: There was a recent post on your message board where someone criticized you by saying that religion has no place in punk rock or hardcore music.
Eric: That's not true.
Dale: I think everything has a place in hardcore.
Andy: That same kid would probably say that straightedge has a place in hardcore. And what's that? That's just a belief system. It's retarded to be like, "Your certain belief system doesn't have a place in our scene." What else are you going to have your lyrics about, or what are you going to be about if you don't have a belief system?
Eric: Cause whether or not you're a Christian or even profess another religion, you still have some sort of world view or belief system. I mean, even if you're agnostic, then you're going to write about agnostic things.

Lauren: You've played with some pretty awesome hardcore bands, such as Zao, The Commercials, and Shai Hulud. Who would you say was the coolest band you've ever played with?
Eric: Darkest Hour was my favorite.
Dale: Yes, those guys are really funny. And also Anne Hutchinson.
Eric: They're all easy going and relaxed. The kids in smaller bands that are nice, and the big bands are the "rockstars".

Lauren: What type of venues do you usually play?
Eric: We've played more fire halls and VFW's more than anything else.
Andy: It also depends who we're playing with. If we're on tour we'll play actual venues, but if it's just a show here and there, it's usually a firehall.
Eric: The best sounding shows have happened pretty randomly. Like, one fire hall will happen to rent a $30,000 sound system or something.
Andy: My favorite place to play is a place in Philly called the Killtime. They have the worst PA system ever, but it's cool because all the kids there don't care and they still go crazy. That place is hard to find too. Good luck, there's no address on it.

Lauren: I'll be going there to see Converge next month...
Eric: That's going to be a crazy show...
Andy: Yeah, last time I was there, there were broken bottles being thrown around.
Dale: I got my glasses stepped on... bent the frames. (laughs)

Lauren: What would you say defines hardcore as a type of music? Many people believe it has to do with the music itself, some people believe it's the lyrics, other people believe it's more of the scene that makes up the crowds at the show.
Eric: A lot of its musical style I think. I've heard some hardcore bands where the lyrics are just gibberish. I would say a lot of that stuff is the scene too or whatever.
Dale: The people in the scene have their own agenda...
Eric: And if their scene ever got popular, they wouldn't like it anymore.

Lauren: Were any of you in other bands before? I know Eric, you were in the Skanking Buvas. What about you guys?
Dale: I was in a really sucky punk band before this one. I don't even want to talk about it.
Andy: Yeah, we were all in really bad bands before this.
Dale: Eric's band was pretty good though.
Eric: Yeah, kind of cheesy though.
Andy: Ray was in a screamo band in Jersey, and I was in sort of an alternative rock band back home. A long time ago...
Eric: Back in the days we don't care to remember... (laughs)

Lauren: What else do you guys do besides playing in the band?
Dale: I go to school and work.
Andy: I go to school and work.
Eric: I go to school and work at a day care center. It's really cool.

Lauren: Your latest EP is a 4 track CD. Where did you record that?
Eric: We recorded it in Hanover with the drummer for this one band we know.
Andy: It was a small studio, in this guy's basement. But it's really nice.
Eric: All pro tools. I think we're going back there again before Christmas to record 3 more songs.

Lauren: What's your favorite song on the CD?
Andy: On our CD?
Dale: I don't like any of them! (laughs)
Andy: I'd say "To the Tune of Indifference".
Eric: Yeah, "...Indifference".

Lauren: Are you guys looking for a label right now?
Dale: We will be using the new 3 tracks we're going to record.
Eric: I don't know if we're going to sell those songs or not, and if we do, we'll put them with the 4 songs from the newest EP.
Andy: We're not going to sell it unless we record some of the older songs.
Dale: We're not going to sell it.
Eric: (laughs) How about we talk about this later!

Lauren: Are there any labels in particular that you guys would like to work with?
Eric: I'd like to be on Trustkill or Eulogy. But they don't like Christians. (laughs)
Andy: I would say any label that ends in "Records".
Eric: Yeah... (laughs) Or maybe Revelations too...

Lauren: What would you say is your best achievement as a band so far?
Eric: I think touring and not breaking up is a good thing, actually. (laughs) Because there are a lot of bands that go out on tour and can't deal with it and break up. I was pretty proud we made it through the summer without killing each other!

Lauren: How often do you usually play?
Eric: Well, when we go out on tour with other bands that lasts for about a month usually.
Andy: And that was playing shows pretty much every night.

Lauren: So you've played all over the country then pretty much.
Dale: We've played as far west as Green Bay, and we've been down as far south as Alabama and Florida.
Eric: We'll get to the West Coast somehow! (laughs)
Dale: Yeah, and the Midwest and the dirty south... (laughs)

Lauren: My band is more mainstream, and mainstream bands don't ever go on tours like that unless their definitely signed somehow or have an awesome management company.
Dale: Yeah, but if you guys get signed you'll make a thousand times more money than we'll ever make!

Lauren: That might be true, but sometimes I still wish I could be the position that you guys are in, and go and play shows with bands I look up to every night.
Andy: There is an advantage to being indie in the fact that there's the whole indie scene. If you're playing somewhere, the kids might not even know you, but they'll still come out, because that's what they do is go to shows all the time. But if you're playing in a bar somewhere in rural Idaho... (laughs) I mean, who knows!
Dale: Remember the drunk lady?
Andy: Oh yeah! We were playing this Christian show in Delaware, and she wandered in from the bar next door. And she got up on stage and was all grinding on Eric. (laughs)
Eric: That's not funny...
Andy: Eric got scared and we all stopped playing! (laughs)
Eric: I think the best thing about the music industry is relationships, because if you know other bands, you can go places. If you're just a single band trying to make it on your own, you're not going to get much accomplished.