Six people coming from Orange County in California : Marta (Keyboards), Derek Youngsma (Drumms), Ryan Rombacher (Bass), Brandan Schieppati (voice), Brian Lepke and Scott Danough (Guitars), three albums out, performed at the Ozzfest in 2004, in the middle of a tour in England…what else can they ask for! I had the chance to speak to Scott a couple of hours before their show...
R13: You’ve been touring for more than a year now...
SD: More than that...Yeah we’ve been on the road pretty consistently for the last 1,5 year or so...
R13: So are you fed up with touring now?
SD: Ermm not fed up with touring as we are...having to play..I mean not that the songs don't have a meaning to us that we don't enjoy playing them... we just wanna go home to our country, writing and recording our next record and start playing new stuff. We've come to a point where we wanna be different creatively.
R13: Best memories from your tour so far?
SD: It was pretty cool that we played on the BBC yesterday. That's kinda cool. I'll be able to come back home and tell my mom and dad “Hey I played on the BBC!”. That's a really cool thing.
R13: Worst memory?
SD: Errmmm... you know what… there really hasn't been any bad memories so far...it's just bad cigarette smoke but its not just like a bad memory...it's uncomfortable.
R13: What is it that you enjoy the most while touring?
SD: Meeting dirty old men like this guy,(laughs) yeah just meeting with people, going out and playing in front of, you know, the crowd. They come to see you- it's good ...and girls and the free beers!
R13: You also played at the Ozzfest, did you enjoy it?
SD: I enjoyed it for the first month but the second month was a different story. It was really long, hard day. You really have nowhere to go, you know what I mean. You're stuck in the bus. It gets really monotonous but I mean it was still an enjoyable thing.
R13: It was a huge thing for you to play on the Ozzfest...
SD: Yeah I think the best show was in our hometown like outside LA and there were like 15,000 people at that show. Kinda cool.
R13: What do you enjoy the best : being on a festival or in a place like here (Underworld in Camden), a smaller venue?
SD: We kinda prefer the smaller venue, like no barrier. It's just fun to have the interaction with the crowd, I think it’s a little more personnal, a little more intimate.
R13: Do you see any difference between your fans in the US and those here in the UK?
SD: I think, actually I think in the UK it's much more like in the US than it is in Europe. Here and in the US there is much more interaction, jumping on the stage. They don't really care they just jump all over each other.
R13: And you like it!
SD: Yes it's definitely more interesting to watch people and you don't know where they gonna jump or whatever. In Europe it's more like people looking at each other, not much going on.
R13: Will you be present at any festivals this summer?
SD: We’d really like to. We are talking about it. It’s just a question of opportunity.
R13: Greatest achievement for you so far?
SD: So far…I've seen part of the world. I never thought that I was gonna get anywhere being in a band and now we're on the other side of the world playing in the UK. It's a really cool feeling.
R13: Do you have a new album in preparation?
SD: Yeah. We started writing and we have five songs completed. When we get back home, we're gonna take the next 3/4 months off just to be home and write, record... and hopefully we're gonna get our next album out by next fall.
R13: What will the atmosphere on the new album be?
SD: It's gonna be angrier, faster, heavier. It's gonna have all the themes we are touching right now but more extreme.
R13: Do you all get involved in the writing of albums?
SD: Yeah. We all contribute...as far as the basic song structure goes, Me, Ryan and Brandan handle all the basic structure and then all the people will put their input in and we’re happy with that.
R13: Main influences?
SD: Main influences for me are hardcore bands like Brainstorm, metal bands like Slayer, Pantera, Crobard but we are also inspired by other things you know there’s everyday situation, I mean there could be a certain movie that could influence me in writing a song and different kind of music..
R13: How did you get into music?
SD: I was probably 10 or 11 years old when I started getting into music. All the kids there were into music so it was a natural thing for me to get into it too. I come from a family where my grandfather plays drums so I was brought up around music
R13: For you at the moment who are the worst and the best bands?
SD: Worst band ..do I really have to answer that ?
R13: Yes!
SD: Worst band … I would probably have to say Disturbed. I'm not gonna say Korn even though I don't like their new stuff, but Korn were one of the first bands on that scene and all the bands that followed just copied them. The whole new metal scene started okay but it's just ridiculous now. As far as the best goes, it's really hard to pinpoint that. I like a lot of the old classics- Slayer and Iron Maiden to bands that don’t even exist anymore like Pantera but I listen to other stuff like Catatonia.
R13: If you wanted to perform with one band, who would it be?
SD: Pantera, but that would never happen... or Iron Maiden- that would be amazing!