L.A quintet American Eyes are in the UK for the first time supporting Thursday, so I caught up the David in Portsmouth for a little chat and to find out exactly why the band were banned from L.A's Knitting Factory.
R13: Can you introduce yourself and tell me what you play in the band?
David:Hi, I'm David from American Eyes and I sing.
R13: How did you all come together and who are your influences?
D:Three of us grew up together; Oliver, Brent and I have known each other since we were about five or six at elementary school; all of us played music on and off. We were influenced by the whole punk and skateboarding scene. We met Michael and Tyler at the end of high school; and we decided to stay playing music seriously after we graduated.
R13: For people who have never heard your music, how would you describe it to them?
D:That's always a hard one. I would say it's kind of like a mixture of punk rock and dance beats, just good times.
R13: Who's the girl with the broken heart that you guys sing about?
D:I wrote the 'Girl With The Broken Heart' EP right when I graduated high school; I was 17 at the time and had been in a relationship with a girl for about six years; since I was a little kid. When I graduated high school we broke up, so there were so many things going on, the whole album is like a concept of that time in my life, of that girl; of just finding yourself and thinking am I going to move on and get a profession.
R13: What comparisons do you get that you agree or disagree with?
D:We get compared to a lot of radio rock bands, like they don't get it, they write catchy songs, but just singles not albums, so that's the only time I get upset over comparisons.
R13: What are some of the topics of American Eyes' songs, and are there any topics that you wouldn't write about?
D:My topics are just life experience; how I'm feeling. I write a song when I have a feeling in me. I don't just sit down and go "hmm.... I'm going to write a song today about going out and having fun". If something bothers me then I'll write a song about the situation. I try to avoid politics and expressing my opinion because I feel music is part of escapism not preaching. I don't like they preachiness of some bands; and who am I to preach my beliefs to anyone?
R13: What are the best and worst things about being on tour?
D:The worst thing is down time. You sit in club for about five or six hours before you have to go on stage, so it's like six hours of boredom. The best thing is you get to meet so many new people; I get to see a new place everyday. I have never been to the UK and now I get to see every major town and that's amazing.
R13: What can we expect to see from you at a live show?
D:I just feel when we play live we always give 100% and we're just honest. When you see us you don't think we're faking or trying to hard, we just try and keep it as real as we can.
R13: From what you've have seen how does touring in the UK compare to touring the US and Canada?
D:I love the UK because the drives are shorter- nothing is far apart. It was funny because our tour manager said "We have a long drive tonight" and I was like "oh really, how long?" "Two hours". Normal drives for us are about four or five hours, sometimes even up to twelve hours, so that's different. A lot of the kids here are seeing us for the first time I love that, I love the feeling of playing to new ears every night, and a lot of the kids are really enthusiastic because we don't get to come here every other month like back in the States, because we are constantly touring the States.
R13: You've got your first UK headlining show coming up, are you excited?
D:Yes and nervous! I'm curious to see the turnout. I'm amazed that as a band we were asked to do this and I'm really flattered and feel really lucky. (The show is taking place on June 6th, at The Barfly, Camden)
R13: Where is your favourite place to perform?
D:In the UK my favourite show on the whole tour has been Liverpool; I think that was one of the most exciting shows I've played in a long time. I walked of the stage and I haven't heard a crowd respond like that in a long time, so it felt really good.
R13: What do you guys get up to, to make the time pass quicker while on the road?
D:I read a lot, I spend a lot of time just reading.
R13: You guys hail from L.A. What's your favourite club to hang out at when you have nothing better to do?
D:By fair the Key Club, any night were on were always drinking there, they have a little bar downstairs and we always hang out there.
R13: I hear you got banned from the Knitting Factory.
D:Yes, and a few others.
R13: What did you do?
D:Sometimes I just get a little too wild on stage. At the Knitting Factory they got pissed because I climbed up on these wooden planks and was hanging upside down, and I jumped back down and I broke a microphone stand, the kids were going crazy. So they said that they didn't want us back, but we're a pop band it's not like we were trying to do anything out there or crazy; they just didn't understand the energy.
R13: What band or artist would people be surprised to find out you like?
D:I love The Beach Boys!
R13: Tell me something not many people know about the band or a band member?
D:There's nothing I can really think of, we're pretty honest guys... oh, Brent our guitar player, his dad was an NFL football player, a super bowler.
R13: You're EP is called Never Trust Anything That Bleeds, where did that name come from and why don't you trust things that bleed?
D:It just basically grew out of the whole subject of me graduating school and realising everyone is kind of shady. Just because someone is nice it doesn't mean you should trust them; you have to earn trust, so never trust anyone right of the spot because they could always surprise you.
R13: If you could have one thing right now what would you have and why?
D:$1million... obvious reasons.
R13: What can we expect to see from you for the rest of the year?
D:We are going into the studio once we get home to record a new album which will be out by February.
R13: Do you have any final words for our readers?
D:Yes, buy our album and add us on Myspace, www.myspace.com/americaneyes.
R13: Well that wraps us up, thank you for your time.
D:Thank you so much!