Better Days – Interview (May 2015)
One of the biggest highs for me when writing this zine is when you get an e-mail asking you to check a band out and they absolutely blow you away! Sadly, this doesn’t happen all that often but in the case of Better Days they really did knock me for six. Playing a melodic hardcore punk rock sound, this St. Louis, Missouri act really are incredible! Think of bands like Avail mixing it with Gorilla Biscuits and you’ll be getting close to their sound. They’ve just released their latest 7” vinyl called “Nope” on Encapsulated Records and it’s a cracker! Instantly I knew I wanted to get this lot into the pages of Lights Go Out. I was able to fire some questions over to Travis and Kevin. Better Days are an amazing band, you really do need to check them out. Let’s find out a bit more about them…
Hey, welcome to Lights Go Out Zine, so let’s get the usual stuff out the way nice and early. Can you please introduce the band and what your role is please?
Travis- Yo dude, you’ve got Kevin and Travis here answering your questions.
Kevin – I play bass and do backing vocals, Travis plays drums, Chris does lead vocals, and Jimmy plays guitar and powerbombs cheeseburgers.
You’ve just put out “Nope”, a four track vinyl, can you tell us a bit about what people can expect to hear on there?
Kevin – 4 songs that blast by in under 7 minutes. It’s faster and looser than our first 7”. Between these releases, Jimmy replaced our original guitar player and this record is a result of the four of us writing together.
Travis – This was the first time I recorded drum tracks without a metronome. We chose to go live for a rawer sound. I think we’ll stick with that from here on out.
How would you describe your sound?
Travis – Fast as hell, raw as my ass after a diarrhea fit, and more attitude than a menopausal lady. Mix that in with some melodic/ catchy riffs and scratchy vocals.
I checked it out and loved the speed and passion on there, it reminded me of bands like Good Riddance, Gorilla Biscuits, Minor Threat and Avail. Which bands have influenced what we hear from Better Days?
Kevin – Our influences are all over the place. Bands like Lifetime, Saves The Day, Gorilla Biscuits or Kill Your Idols have played big roles collectively.
Travis – I agree with Kevin. Raeph from KYI and Sammy from GB/Judge/etc. are my biggest influences… Jimmy takes a lot of influence from Shook Ones, Poison Idea and Kid Dynamite… Chris is into H20 and Wu Tang.
You guys have been around for 5 years now, have you all played in bands before and do any of you still play in other projects?
Kevin – John (original guitar player) and I have played in several bands together since around 2000. Travis and I were in a band together right before we started. The list of previous bands is about a mile long.
Travis – My previous bands aren’t important enough to even mention. But the other dudes have been in some pretty legendary locals groups like Too No End, Hit List, SNAFF, Holding Tomorrow, and The Requiem. Jimmy is a band whore, he is currently in RUZ, The Warden, Big Blonde, and Cross Examination (in addition to Better Days). Check all of Jimmy’s bands out. They’ve got shit online, they are all rad.
You’re signed to Encapsulated Records, how did that come about?
Travis – “Signed” is a very loose term. We have never put our names on a contract, nor do any bands on the label. Mike Jones (owner/operator) is a close friend of ours, and probably the best dude around. He has put out some amazing stuff over the years, and we were lucky enough to have him help us with our records. We basically asked him if he was interested in throwing some money and effort (promotion wise) towards our band, and he agreed. I think or at least HOPE he likes our band, ha! Do yourself a favor and check out Encapsulated Records’ release list; then buy everything.
How are they to work with as a label?
Travis – Perfect. Like I said, he’s a close friend. Mike, if you’re reading this, we love you.
You’re from St. Louis, is there much of a hardcore and punk scene there?
Kevin – Currently the hardcore scene is small compared to the past, but the punk scene is getting stronger.
Are there any bands that should be on our radar from St. Louis other than Better Days of course?
Kevin/Travis – Breakmouth Annie, The Humanoids, Perfect People, The Haddonfields, The Chill Dawgs, Freak Out, Braddock, Horror Section, Eaten Back to Life, Better Off Damned, The Timmys, Guy Morgan, and Anodes… Our buds in Chaos Order (Memphis, TN) need to be checked out. On the metal side of things, Fister and The Lion’s Daughter are worth keeping an eye on.
OK, let’s get to the music, how does the song writing process work within the band?
Kevin – Jimmy or I bring in riffs and then we piece them together or write parts to go with them as a group. Having a drummer that helps with the writing process is a plus. When it comes to the lyrics, Chris handles all that. The song titles come from whatever stupid thing one of us says, haha.
Lyrically you seem quite posi, where do you draw inspiration from?
Travis – Chris is on a 19-day cross-country excursion, so he can’t really weigh in. I think he just takes things he’s learned from past mistakes and tries to apply them to the way he lives his life now. He’s pretty much the most posi dude I know. The rest of us are curmudgeons.
On the subject of your latest EP, is having a vinyl release important for the band?
Travis – It’s very important. Kevin and I are vinyl collectors, so it’s cool to have something tangible to give to people. The process of pulling the record out of the sleeve, placing it on the player, reading the liner notes, etc. is such an awesome thing. If we can afford it, or if someone wants to help fund it, we will always want to put out vinyl releases (with a digi download, of course). We have done cassette tapes in the past, but that was on a DIY tip. Kevin did all of those himself.
Are any of you vinyl collectors at all? If so, what’s the one record you would love to have in your collection?
Kevin – Oh yeah, I collect a lot of vinyl. Depending on the band/release I’ll get all the variations in the pressing. But I’m not like those OCD collectors who will get 5 copies of a record on the same colour because of the way the all 5 copies will have slight colour variations. As far as something I would love to have in my collection, that’s a hard one. I’ll say anything that I need to complete my collection of the bands who I get everything from.
Travis – I collect as well. Not on the level that Kevin does, I stick to buying single releases. The other two guys have vinyl, but I wouldn’t classify them as nerds, like Kevin and I. I’d like to get original pressings of Leatherface “Mush”, The Replacements “Let It Be” and The Rolling Stones “Aftermath”.
Do you still feel that the CD has a place in music?
Kevin – Not really.
Travis – Nope. I haven’t used the CD player in my car in years.
How do you handle the whole downloading issue?
Kevin – Operating at the level we do, not relying on the band to pay the bills, I get flattered when I come across one of our releases on somebody blog for download. I look at it like they were stoked enough on what we did that the felt the need to share it.
Music wise, do you offer free downloads for people and where is the best place for people to head online and check you out?
Kevin – We have everything we’ve recorded, except our demo, up streaming on Spotify and our Bandcamp page. Our first 7” and our self-titled cassette only EP are up on Bandcamp for “name your price” download. https://betterdays314.bandcamp.com/
Travis – We’re not in this for the money. Steal our shit, we don’t care.
Have you got any plans to make it over to our shores in the UK at all?
Kevin – We have no official plans, but if that something we could pull off, we would be very down to do it.
If you could play on a show with any three bands, which three would you pick?
Kevin – Kill Your Idols, H2O & Grey Area
Travis – Kill Your Idols, Gorilla Biscuits & Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
So, what’s coming up next for the band? Is there any new material in the works to get released?
Kevin – Half of our set right now consists of songs that are new and have not been recorded. We are constantly writing. We will be going back into Encapsulated Studios with Gabe Usery in the fall. Gabe is great to work with. Everything we’ve recorded has been with him.
Have you got any final words you’d like to leave us with over here in the UK?
Travis – Go Arsenal FC (coming from a Bayern Munich supporter)! Also, thanks for giving us Leatherface and all of the other amazing UK punk and power pop bands. Too many to list. Oh, and thank you for giving a shit to interview us.
And I always like to close out with quite possible the most important question I ask….so what I’d really be interested in knowing is who would have won in a fight between John Candy and Richard Pryor?
Travis – Neither. The ghost of John Belushi would kick both of their asses, high on hard drugs of course.
Go check Better Days out and pick up “Nope” here:
www.facebook.com/betterdays314
http://betterdays314.bigcartel.com/
http://encapsulatedrecords.limitedrun.com/categories/better-days
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