Blake Interview

Blake are a five piece pop punk band from Florida. They have already supported fall out boy, we the kings and cobra starship on their tours aswell as gainging recognition from celebrity fans such as Pete Wentz. They are one of my favourite bands right now and have such a bright future ahead of them. They put some time aside to do an interview with us. Here is the result.
1.First of all can you tell us a bit about how you started out and began playing music with each other?Well, all of us grew up in the south florida music scene. We were all really into our scene and going to shows, and eventually started playing in different local bands. We've all been really close friends for years, and our previous bands would play together almost every weekend. We're all super passionate about our music, and really want to make this our lives, so it only made sense for us to come together from our previous projects and form Blake.
2. How did you come up with the name blake?Blake is actually Cassadee's middle name. :)
3. You guys have already got celebrity fans such as pete wentz from fall out boy. How has that felt and do you feel you have gained a lot more attention because of this?It's still insane to us that we have people like Pete Wentz as fans of our music. Having people like that, our mentors growing up as kids say that they like our band and our music is one of the most amazing feelings ever. And having people like that behind us has definately helped us out a little bit, and helped us get our music out a little bit in ways we wouldn't have been able this early on in our careers.
4. Who are your musical influences?Our musical influences is what really makes this band special. We draw from so many different people and from so many different bands, and put all that into a blender, giving us that unique Blake sound ;)if you were to look at the music on our ipods, you would find everything from every time i die to sigur ros. we love music, every aspect of it, it's our lives.
5. Can we expect more tunes on your myspace up soon?You sure can! Without giving to much away, we are in the studio and in the process of writing our debut album. We will have some brand new tunes for everyone to rock out to very soon!
6. You guys will be playing warped tour this summer How does it feel to be asked to be a part of that?It's honestly a dream come true. To tell you the truth, it still has not sunk in yet. Everyday we go to Warped Tour's page and see our name on that line up card and just flip out. We've gone to every warped tour for the past 4 or 5 years, and have always dreamed of playing it, never thinking it would ever become a reality. And know we're actually playing it, and its just the craziest thing ever.
7. Are you guys signed yet?hahaha keep posted to our page. we've got "some breaking news" for everyone that we'll be releasing really soon. p.s.- is it lame to quote your own bands lyrics? probably. hahaha!
8. Can we expect an album coming from you soon?Yes. We're in the studio as we speak, working out asses of to bring you guys the best album ever. We're really proud of what we have so far. Expect our debut to be out late summer.
9. What are you plans for touring for the rest of the year?There's been a few tours and ideas thrown around, and we're really reallly excited about them. Warped tour is all we can confirm at the moment, but we've got some really big things in the works for the rest of the year. Basically you'll be seeing Blake everywhere.
10. If you could tour with any band in history who would it be and why?Blink 182, hands down. i mean who wouldn't want to tour with them? i think every kid ever grew up with enema of the state being one of their top 5 favorite albums. Blink 182 is the reason why half of us even started playing music!
11. Will you ever come to the uk?YES. :)
12. Where has been your favourite place to play so far?Hmm thats a great question. we've had the opportunity to play some really awesome places and venues. thats a hard question to answer, but some of our favorites have been opening up for fall out boy at sound advice amphitheater, the masquerade in atlanta was awesome, and we had the opportunity to play a show in new york city not to long ago, which was definately a life changing experience for us! ;)
13. Who is the best band you have played with?Wow. another great question. look at you guys! haha. Fall Out Boy was amazing, and we've actually had the opportunity to play with We the Kings and Go Radio, both two amazing bands from florida. a nice little three way tie.
14. What can your fans expect in the future from you?tour tour and tour!
15. Would you like to add anything else?Yes! Here's some more inside info on the members of the band! We would like to say for the record that elliot, our drummer has only one oddly shaped testicle. tragic tragic boating accident. if you see him dont be afriad to ask him about it, hes very open about it! Petie is actually related to the bunny goddess. look her up on youtube, theres a striking resemblence! Alex is actually one of the founding members of the backstreet boys, but they kicked him out right before they hit it big because alex he refused to part his hair down the middle and would get anxiety before every performance and proceed to soil his white backstreet boy pants. Mike has this weird ritual that before everytime he plays a show he listens to "always be my baby" by Mariah Carey while rubbing baby oil all over himself, and Cassadee was at one point the frontman for the band Fuel, but due to the recent success of paramore the industry said he would be more successful in the industry as a female. so he made some changes, got a younger band, and vwa la! Blake was born!

Second Function Interview

Second Function came to us at Fueled by Music Promotions looking for someone to promote their music. Once we heard their music we had to get the word out! They’re music is incredible, and for me great head bobbing music. They sound like something you might hear at a bmx show or a skateboarding video game; that hard rock sound that gives you a rush. Because I loved their music so much, I offered to interview them, and with permission from my boss (Sarah), I emailed them the questions.
First off, how did the band get started? Flo (Vox / Guitar) and I (Bass) started a band in 1995. We started the band with a drummer who quit in 2002. The reason for the start was actually at a birthday party. After that party we had so much fun playing together that we decided to keep the band going. How did you find your sound? We started playing some rock and grunge cover songs for that party and so the direction was kind of given. We started early to mix up our influences to create a special character for the band. After Luki (Drummer) joined us in 2003 we were able to improve our own sound that is a combination of lots of musical influences. What does your band name mean? Do you know the button "2nd Function" on a calculator? Well this button is used for functions that are not the common ones. So these are the more special functions that are not used every day, but they are more specific and more important in some situations. We are kind of that function. The more important, the more specific and definitely not the common one. It can be that this doesn’t mean a thing to other people, but for us, it means a lot.
Interesting, I say to myself while I look for the second function button on a calculator. Not your every day band name. Still can’t find that button, moving on! How did you feel on your first gig? I can still remember that first gig, even it is pretty long ago. I was so nervous I nearly shit my pants -smile- It was a very special moment for all of us to perform our first concert. I think that is a moment we will never forget.
First gigs can be memorable. I still remember mine…I refer not to talk about it. How do you generally attract more fans? Usually we get naked and sell a lot of CDs that way -smile-
I laughed so hard when I read this. I’ve asked several bands this same question and I’ve never got that answer before. Personally I don’t know if that would attract me to a band, I’d have to see. –grins widely-
That was the past. Recently I asked them a few questions about their new album.Is there a title for the album, if so what does it mean?The album is called “Time Stops Running”.It kind of means, that we worked a very long time on our music and on the album and we think that it is the right time to release the album. It’s the meaning that our “new” time starts running while the “old” time stops running.
What would you say is the main theme of the album?
The main theme of the album is “what happens every day”. We don’t have a political message or something like that what we want to bring out. It’s about our lives, or daily business, our advantages, our disadvantages in life.
How long did it take to record the album? Was it overall worth it?
The recording itself was not a very long process. It took us around 3 weeks. But we spent a lot of time for the pre-production and also the mixing process was very long. We started the recording of this album in October 2007..It was definitely worth taking time for the recordings. I think what was really worth the time was working hard before we went to the studio. All the pre-production helped us to work free in the studio.
Do you think this album will be successful?
We do hope that it will be successful. I think the album contains a lot that could make it successful in some ways. But what is really important for us is, that we are satisfied with our work and with the album. We can 100% stand behind this album and I think the people out there will “feel” that.
Personally what is your favorite song from the album and why?
My favourite song of the album is “Family Affair” and “The Speed Of Impact”. These are two of the “youngest” songs and we worked a little bit different on them. That makes them special to me.But there are lots of other songs that I really like. For exemple “Burning Man” means also a lot to me, because it is a song about the Festival in the desert in Nevada. I once was there and it was very special.
When will the album be released? (just to let everyone know)
The album will come out at the end of August / beginning of September 2008. First we will release it in Switzerland and over iTunes. Currently we are checking the possibilities of a release in other countries.

KOOPA Interview

KOOPA a 3 piece rock/punk band from Essex, with there blend of musical style, energy and outgoing personalities they have built a solid fan base throughout the uk and worldwide. They recently announced they will be recording there first major album and it would be produced by no other than Mark Hoppus (Blink 182/+44) himself.They also made music history when they made it in to the top 40 while still unsigned via downloads alone making them the first unsigned band ever to make it into the uk top 40. They took some time from there busy schedule to answer some questions for fueled by music.
So how did Koopa come to start out? And how did you come up with the name?
It kind of just happened really. Stu and I have been best-friends for over 10 years and Ollie & Stu are brothers, so we've always known each other and been close. I had a recording studio and Ollie asked if he could come in and record a song or two when he was about 11 or 12. I agreed and we got Stu to play the drums and I laid down some bass etc. Listening back to the recordings once they were done, we realised it sounded good and should probably do a band. We had to wait a few years until Ollie had left school and was old enough to get into clubs before we started taking it seriously. We got the name simply as it's Stu & Ollie's surname (Cooper)... we just changed the spelling!... I say it's because Stu doesn't know how to spell his own name!
Your fan base has been growing and growing in the last few months how has it felt to have so many people appreciating your music?
Well... it's been growing steadily for a few to years now to be honest. But over the last few months with 'The Crash' hitting the Top 20 and the recent news about or album has attracted more people to our websites and most seem to like our stuff... which is ACE! It's hard to take in that people like what we're doing and we try to kind of ignore it and get on with writing etc. We notice it more at gigs etc, when loads of people are there going mental and it's amazing. That's my favourite place to be in the world... on a stage with people in front of me dancing! It makes what we do worth-while!
You guys make a point out of interacting with your fans something that a lot of bands don't do. Do you think this contributes to the success you guys have been having?
To be honest, it's just something we've always done and thought it was the normal thing to do. We certainly intend to keep it up, it may get a bit harder as we get busier, but I'm sure there's enough of us to keep up. As for it contributing to the success, I'd have to say it probably does. We didn't realise that it was rare for bands to get back to their friends/fans, we usually get told by our fans... we get comment/messages/emails saying "WOW!.. You actually reply!", but we just think it's rude not to.... and we certainly read them all and check other bands out when they ask us to etc.
You recently announced that you would be working with Blink 182 and +44 famed Mark Hoppus, this is such a big achievement, how has it felt? And were you guys already big fans of him?
We are honoured really. We're all Blink & +44 fans, especially Ollie, so we know a lot about him and the main thing is that I think he's the right person to produce KOOPA; young, but with experience. It's hard to take in though.... the fact we're going to be going to LA to record is enough.... but to be recording with Mark Hoppus and Chris Holmes is even better! I guess we'll believe it when we get there!
What bands have been your influences in the music style of Koopa?
There's quite a lot of influences, bands that people tend to hear in us are Green Day, Blink 182, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Oasis & Guns N' Roses..... which would all be big influences as we listen to all those bands.... I think you put all that together though ad you get a new sound.... KOOPA!
How has it felt to finally be signed to a record label?
It's ACE on all levels! Obviously there's the relief that we are actually good enough and someone has It's ACE on all levels! Obviously there's the relief that we are actually good enough and someone has shown faith. We're also very happy with Pied Piper, the label. We had a few labels interested at the end of last year and went through having meetings etc with them, but Pied Piper Records stood out a mile. They we talking about things we wanted to hear and have proved their worth getting Mark Hoppus on board. It's also great not have to do everything ourselves anymore!
Tell us a little about the band members of Koopa and your roles in the band!
There are three of us in the band: Me (Joe) - I play bass and sing, Ollie - Plays guitar and sing and Stu - drums. There's also our manager Gary, who's an honorary fourth member. We all muck in with the general running of the band though. Gary would be at the helm with regards to advertising the band and stuff.... and me and him deal with most of the promo etc. Stu looks after the van and equipment and me and Ollie are always writing and producing songs. We work well as a team!
What are your plans for touring?
At the moment that's all being sorted out. Other than playing South By South West (SXSW) in Texas March 15th and possibly a couple of warm-up shows, we're taking a couple of months off touring to concentrate on the album. But we'll be back in the UK June time for festivals etc. I think a FULL UK, USA and Australian tour is being planned at the moment!
How did it feel to be the FIRST unsigned band ever to get into the top 40?
This is a question we get asked a lot and still don't have the answer really. Like with a lot of stuff we've got going on, it's hard to take in. But there's a lot of feelings it conjures up really. It's very exciting of course, but we also feel proud as it was hard work to get there. I would say, one a whole... we're all dead chuffed!
You guys are headed for a lot of success. How has the journey felt from being just a small band from Essex to being able to have all these amazing achievements?
Thank you very much... I sure hope so *crosses-fingers*! It has been a lot of hard work and we've still got the hardest work to come.... but we wouldn't have it any other way... we like it. It's going to be an exciting few years hopefully and I just want to enjoy it as it happens. If (or should I say when) we get there, it'll be nice to be flying the flag for both Essex and the UK. It'd be good to inspire a few other bands not to give up because you can get there in the end.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard of you guys before?
Good to listen to!! HA! Well... I'd say in essence it's Punk/Rock music with catchy choruses and loud drums!
Would you like to add anything else?
Erm... No... I think that's covered a lot... and I'm not very good at adding, or maths in general!... See I'm a comedian too! Interview by Sarah

Fueled by Rachel

Hi everyone! Rachel has her own Fueled by Rachel blog so go check it out: http://fueledbyrachel.blogspot.com