In
the past they have toured with bands such as Sparks
The Rescue, The Morning Of, and The Secret Handshake. At present, they are on tour with Ace Enders
and A Million Different People and Person L on ‘The
BBQ Across America Tour’, which sees the band
playing over 30 dates until the end of July
I recently asked guitarist Cody Payne a few questions about
‘Reach For The Sun’, the history of the band, future plans and
the likelihood of coming over to the United Kingdom.
Tell us a bit about the history of the band. I understand you formed whilst still in High School?
Cody: Well we have always been in bands together since the
beginning of high school. We didn’t really play together at all
during junior year but in the summer before senior year we
decided to start this band. We didn’t play any shows until we
had an EP fully written and recorded and we sort of just jumped
right into touring, we figured there was no point establishing
yourself as a local band unless you want people to think of you
as a local band.
You’ve just released your new album ‘Reach For
The Sun’. You worked with previous producer Paul
Leavitt, how was it work with him again?
Cody: It was awesome working with him. He is from our home
town and we have been working with him for years so it was
naturally who we trusted with our first full length.
Are you surprised by the positive reaction the record
has been getting?
Cody: We were all really really nervous for the reaction we
were gonna get from this album since it was our first full length
and that usually is a crucial point in a bands career. It has been
amazing seeing such high praise on this album.
There seems to be a positive energy throughout the
album. What were the main influences when the album was being written?
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Cody: I think the main “influence” on this album was just us
wanting to write good music. We spent a year at home doing
pretty much nothing, so after a while we just needed to write
and record a new album and then hit the road. During that time
hope we started listening to a bunch of new music and it really
helped shape our sound, bands like Weatherbox, Tegan and
Sara, Death Cab, Rise Against and Polar Bear Club.
How did you become involved with Hopeless Records?
Cody: We met Rian from All Time Low at a guitar center and
showed him our EP and he liked it a bunch and showed the
rest of his band. They came out to a few shows and put us on a
couple shows with them, they sort of hooked up the whole thing
with Hopeless, cool thing for them to do.
Did you notice any differences at shows after the
album was released?
Cody: A lot more people have been coming out to the shows,
which has been amazing, we are just hoping it continues to go
in that direction.
How do you spend your time when you’re not playing shows?
Cody: For the most part we just spend a LOT of time on the
internet. We try to run to keep in shape, and we write a ton of
ideas for songs... most of them get forgotten.
Any plans to go over to the United Kingdom?
Cody: I really hope so, we have been wanting to come over
there for a while. We really want to establish ourselves over
here before we go over there, but hopefully sometime within
the next year!
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Cody: Check out the new album! Tell all your friends, and come
hang out at a show!
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