We recently got sent a copy of the new album from skate punk band Everything We Left Behind and to say it impressed us would be an understatement. How these guys haven’t crossed paths with us before is a real surprise. So what better way than to get them to tackle our “10 Questions With” feature that we have in the zine. Unfortunately I didn’t have the space to fit this one in the next issue and I don’t wanna leave it ages till you lovely readers get to see it. So here we are as an online exclusive. I give you “10 Questions With”…E verything We Left Behind…
1. So who are Everything We Left Behind?
4 guys, 2 of which are brothers. Josh Rees, plays guitar and sings. Joel Rees plays guitars. Sam Cureton plays bass, John Yard plays drums.
2. How did you guys get together?
Josh started the band way back in late 2005/early 2006 through his love of pop-punk and playing guitar. Several member changes later the band found a solid lineup in 2008. Joel is his brother, John was a childhood friend and Sam happened to leave his old band just as we were looking for a new bassist.
3. How would you describe your sound and which bands have been influences on you?
To sum up, we sound like a British punk band that has been on the warped tour through the mid-90’s and picked up a few tricks and tips along the way. Our biggest influences are NOFX, Captain Everything, A Wilhelm Scream, The Flatliners, Blink182, Capdown.
4. Your album “Our Ears Are Bleeding” is out now, can you tell us a bit about it?
Is a collection of songs from the past 2 years of writing. The running theme is that we have had enough, the music industry is collapsing and the only thing that seems to survive is manufactured pop music, and for some reason people are still buying into it. Pop punk music has become generic and noone seems to care, people buy it because they are being sold it daily through extensive radio play and marketing. We felt the name summed up the 11 songs and gave the whole project meaning. Some of the songs deal with how we have been cut from our local scene because we don’t choose to play the same music as other bands and other songs deal with the way that bands will seamingly do anything to get signed.
The album took us 3 weeks to record last summer, but then we decided to re-record the vocals at a lovely studio in London which took far longer to afford, and book. This process dragged out but we feel it was the best for the sound of the album.
It is a fast, honest record that represents the last 2 years for our band.
5. If you could play any one song from it to every person in the world, which one would you choose?
A Place Called Nowhere
6. Are there any central themes running through and what do you chaps like to write about?
As mentioned the main theme is just disgust at the industry. I know a lot of people say “if you want something enough you can get it”, but I think that phrase should be “if you can afford something that you want enough, you can buy it”. There’s a reason certain artists do so well, yes, some are highly talented and deserve all the success they gain, but many aren’t.
7. What are your aspirations for the band?
To tour, couldn’t really ask for much more. Right now we’re just glad to have the record finished and we wanna get it out there for as many people to hear as possible. Be great to start work on the second album but these things take time.
8. How would you describe a EWLB live show?
Our shows are quite typical punk shows – fast, sweaty, and dirty. We typically play smaller venues which is awesome, the atmosphere is better and the pits are usually more frequent. We like to have a good time with our audience though, people pay money to see a show, if they wanna hear the CD they can play the CD at home, or in the car, but to come to a punk show and see 4 unfit men run around on stage for 20 minutes, you gotta do something a bit more than play songs.
9. Is the internet a massive help to you as a band?
Not particularly. 4 years ago bands used MySpace to generate a whole hype machine for themselves. Now that’s gone Facebook has filled the void to an extent but it’s not the same. Yeah the nets great for a spot of promotion or for fans to order our merch online if they can’t make a show, but in general we don’t need the internet as a band, we’re not a good-looking bunch of guys with catalogue poses to attract the female fan-base which is where a lot of bands gain interest.
10. And finally, who are your favourite Simpsons characters?
Homer. Homer or the doctor who laughs a lot.
Check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/everythingweleftbehind
Our Ears Are Bleeding is out now – check it out!
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