Steve Henderson
08/21/06, 06:53 AM
On their recent headlining tour, I was lucky enough to be able to sit down with the guys of Saosin to talk about what has been going on with the band, talk about their new record, and get some answers to the questions everyone wants to ask. This is what they had to say...
For the record can you please state your names and what you do in the band?
Cove: I’m Cove and I sing.
Beau: I’m Beau and I play guitar.
Justin: I’m Justin and I play guitar.
So how are things going with the band in general? You guys are on a decent-sized tour right now and your record is finally about to come out. Are you guys excited?
Justin: We’re pretty pumped up, yeah…we have been waiting three years for this. I mean, we have been touring on an EP for three years…
Don’t you mean two EPs?
Beau: Well we don’t really count the second one. The second one sucked – let’s be honest. It was all demos, and they weren’t even finished.
So was that the labels’ decision to release that or what?
Beau: It was supposed to be something at first where it was going to be just a few demos that if you spent the money to go to Warped Tour and see us play, then you could only get it at Warped Tour. But then the label was like, “We need to put something out, so let’s just put that out!” And we were like no, they are crappy demos. They are only supposed to be for our fans – the ones that would go to Warped Tour and sit through a bunch of crappy bands just to see us. It was going to be a nice little “thank you” type of thing, but then all of a sudden it was taken to be another EP.
So people were then judging it like it was a full retail release then?
Beau: They thought that we were getting out of it, ya know?
It was just something to hold people over then until the real thing, yeah?
Beau: It was just the kind of thing where, hey you go to Warped Tour, and we haven’t done much lately, so here are some unreleased demos. But then Capitol wanted to press it and put it in full packaging and stuff.
In general, how has the relationship with Capitol been then? You seemed pretty gung-ho on the label when you first signed.
Beau: I think it is like any relationship, you know? The more you are with someone, the more you start to see their flaws and stuff. But in general, we are still pretty stoked about them.
Justin: Our record still hasn’t come out yet and all so a lot is up in the air, but so far it has been good, so we’ll see.
I read in an interview a while back that you wanted to be on Capitol since they didn’t have a band that sounds like you. What are some examples of a band that you think sounds like Saosin?
Justin: Let’s just think of a different label for a second – take Warner, for example - you’ve got The Used, Story of the Year, My Chemical Romance. Those are big bands that we have toured with and that makes Warner a pretty big rock label in general. Then think of Capitol – we have Yellowcard, that’s it. There is nothing really heavy, nothing darker.
So well, you guys got signed when a lot of “scene” bands were getting signed. Do you worry that this whole thing is just a trend and the bottom is going to fall out on a lot of these bands or is the mainstream just catching onto the fact that there is a lot of good music out there?
Beau: I think it depends on the band, really. I think that the scene is a trend, but the music that we are making is not really a trend. This is probably a really bad example, but think of back when the metal scene was really popular, and Ride the Lightning was the biggest thing at the time, and that had its own scene.
Justin: I think of nu-metal more. Nu-metal was huge, and then the scene kind of fizzled out – all those bands just started making shitty music. There are just some bands in a scene that try to change a lot and write terrible sophomore records. It doesn’t have to do just with the scene, but the band too.
So does that mean your next album won’t be a dance-rock record?
Justin: (Laughs) Yeah, it is going to be really influenced by The Killers and Bloc Party.
So I read a while back somewhere that there was talk about the album being delayed for Capitol to get ads out. Now here we are a month and a half before the release date, and I have not seen much press at all for the record, outside of the word-of-mouth hype generated by your fans. Do I not read enough music magazines, or watch enough TV?
Beau: I never heard the whole thing about delaying it to get ads out – it really has just been put off so long because we wanted to get it right.
Justin: We took our time making it, and there are a lot of things getting wrapped up, still. Like the artwork, that hasn’t even been finished yet, so it is tough to get out ads until the album art is finalized. After a while that kind of stuff started to overtake the focus on music, so we decided we just wanted to finish up the music and then worry about covers, and all that shit. I think it was just us worrying about making the record our best possible, and not worrying about time so much.
So when you say the artwork is not really in the can yet, does that mean it might get delayed again?
Justin: It’s done, it’s just not final.
Beau: One of the things we are dealing with now is that the label wanted to have a picture of the band on the back of the CD. And we were like, “No we don’t want that.”
Justin: And eventually we will get that point across, but it will still take a week to go back and forth. So, they kind of want to get all the stuff they want, and we just aren’t having it. So everything really takes a week longer than it should.
Beau: So the compromise to that is they will tell us to think about it for a week, and we will have to wait a week pretending that we thought about it before we get back to them.
So while we are on the subject of the artwork, we got a link sent to us with some of the artwork concepts, with the beetle – is there a story or an inspiration behind that?
Cove: Well we got sent this rhinoceros beetle idea from the guy that is doing the artwork, and we all agreed on that as soon as we saw it.
Justin: This guy just does awesome covers. He did the Turbonegro Party Animals cover, and we really like stuff that looks really clean and crisp like that. We didn’t like a lot of that clip-art looking crap, and a lot of the stuff right now is either strange artwork drawings or stuff. We just wanted to keep it super clean looking and kind of classy, really.
It is kind of funny, because we posted the cover art from Smartpunk, and everyone was like, “That artwork fucking sucks!” But until you see the inside, you don’t really know.
Justin: A lot of people didn’t know if it was a joke or not, so they didn’t want to take it seriously at first.
Beau: Let’s be honest, I don’t really care what people think about the artwork, so long as they like the music.
Justin: Yeah, it’s fucking artwork – get over it.
I think sometimes people just want something to bitch about.
Beau: Yeah, and I hate it when you can tell exactly what kind of a band they are just by looking at the cover. I mean, metal bands – they all have that same metal font…
Yeah, and a black horse riding over flames and lava with a skeleton warrior on top.
Beau: (Laughs) Same with all the scene bands now – they all have the same kind of art too.
They do all seem to have the whole abstract painting idea or whatever down cold.
Beau: Exactly. I mean I guess you could kind of lump us in with that whole group, but we try to distance ourselves from that.
With all the delays for the record, are you guys appreciative for all the fans that have stuck around and supported you for the last three years?
Beau: I definitely feel bad taking so long, but at the same time, minus the black EP because the label made us do that, we never want to release something that we aren’t happy with. You never know, I mean think of the white EP. We have been touring on that for three years. You never know how long we are going to be touring on this record.
Justin: It has twice as many songs, so we can tour on this for six years, right? (Laughs)
So, last time I checked your Myspace page, you had around 167,000 friends, and every time we post news about you guys, it just gets an insane amount of replies and response. Do things like that intimidate you that you won’t be able to live up to the hype?
Justin: Well, the record is done now, so we don’t have a fucking choice, really. But before, when the white EP did so well, we were like, “Fuck – we need to make an entire record that is better than that?” We all were really proud of the white EP – we really thought it was awesome. So when we went to do the record, we did not know what to expect, but it came out really awesome. So I am not intimidated right now – I am stoked.
Well, that leads right into my next question, actually. Are you guys grateful for the success of Translating the Name, or do you feel it is counterproductive to where you are going right now as a band?
Justin: I think right now it is, but the minute our record releases, I hope everyone just gets past the drama and focuses on that. So many people are worried about the Anthony situation and shit like that – it’s useless. We are this band now, so like it or not – it is that simple. It is half and half. I get sick of people bringing up so much stuff that is so old when we have something new that is so kickass.
Beau: The way I look at it is that the white EP was three years ago. People are trying to say we are a different band now or whatever – we are mostly just older. And so are the fans, though. Back then, I am sure they thought the white EP was genius, but since then they have been exposed to a lot of bands trying to make that same EP in a sense. So now, anything we make now, has to be ten times as good as the white EP to make the same sort of impression that did.
I think also, there is something that happens after a work has been around for a while, that people get nostalgic for something. No matter how good the new stuff is, the old stuff starts to get called a “classic” all the time, and people lose perspective.
Beau: I think there is an emotional attachment to it too. I mean personally, I thought it kicked ass over anything else at the time, and that is why we were so proud of it. I am sure when fans first heard it, they loved it too, so of course the are going to be skeptical of what we can do now.
Cove: When I first heard it, I was freaking out. I thought it was amazing.
Beau: We are definitely just as proud of this record as much, if not more because it is more songs.
Justin: And we are fucking sick of playing the same five songs for the last three years. Finally, we can choose what songs we want to play, and not have to play every song that we have out there.
Well, for what it is worth, I have had a chance to hear the record, and I think it is fucking awesome. I think it will shut a lot of the haters up.
Beau: But to me, those people that are like that, there are Anthony fans, and then there are Saosin fans. Those people that are haters, they are going to be the ones when Anthony leaves Circa Survive, they are going to say then Circa Survive sucks balls.
Justin: I would rather be in a band where it is actually a band, and not an Anthony thing, and not a Cove thing, or whatever. We just want to be a good band, you know?
So do you guys feel that you have a better band dynamic with the new lineup?
Beau: Well, it was always like we were a band, and Anthony was our freak singer. We never knew if he was going to show up, or anything.
Justin: And really, he was brought along later in the process with the white EP. We had all of those songs done, and he came along after that. It was kind of weird because we had all these different people playing on it. Now that we have this record done, I have never felt better about this group as a band – even with the relationships between people. I feel that we have come so far since doing the record, so I couldn’t be more happy.
Do you guys worry about the record leaking at all?
Cove: Yeah we are freaking out.
Justin: After the whole Underoath thing especially, we worry that shit like that just kind of happens, so we have been doing our best to keep it under wraps, but you can’t really prevent it, you know? I mean you guys put up “Voices” and it was ripped 15 minutes later. So we know it is going to leak, but hopefully it won’t happen until much closer to the release date. Each day that passes is big for us.
Well, I think Capitol has been pretty tight about who they give it to…it was a pain in the ass for me to get a copy just to check out before the interview. And so far as I know it has not leaked yet, because I was curious about that.
Cove: I have a friend who is searching for it daily. He is telling me if any songs leak or anything.
You haven’t hooked him up?
Cove: No dude, he hasn’t even heard it. He’s going to buy it, and everything, but he wants to hear it like everyone else. When “Voices” went up, we didn’t even know about that whole arrangement, so I got an IM from him that said “Voices is awesome.” And we were like, oh no, did it leak?
Did you guys hop online to see what the general reaction was to “Voices”?
Cove: Oh yeah – what was it like 290 posts right away? That was ridiculous.
I think in general, it was a pretty positive response.
Justin: Yeah, tell Jason thanks too. He had our backs - a lot of people were saying stupid shit and he called them out on it. I hate it when people say things online and get away with saying stupid crap. Someone said something like, “Yeah this song is okay, but I don’t think Cove will deliver on the entire record.” And Jason was like, “I have the record. He delivers.” It was really just shutting people up.
So let’s switch gears here for a second. How was working with Howard Benson? Did you ever think you’d be linking up with such a big-name producer for your debut?
Beau: We kind of go into it on this “making of” DVD that we recorded, but as soon as we started talking to Capitol about who we wanted to record with, at first, I wanted it to be me, and collaborate with someone else. But after I while we needed to bring in an outside ear on stuff.
Cove: We needed a referee.
Beau: We were all hating each other and stuff.
Justin: And Cove was the new guy in the band. He needed some guidance, and we couldn’t really give it to him. I think in the long run, Howard pulled some shit out of him he could have never done himself.
Cove: I definitely worked with Howard the most on the record. He’s a vocal guy, you know?
Justin: And we talked to some other big name guys like Ross Robinson and guys like that.
Cove: When Capitol brought up Howard Benson, we were like no way. Just based off the records he has done in the past like Hoobastank, All American Rejects, and cheesy pop bands like that. We thought he was going to steal everything out of our music.
I was worried about that too. I wondered if it was going to be crunchy, pop-rock sounding crap, but really, I am surprised how consistent it sounds with the production Beau did.
Justin: There were a couple things that he really had an opinion on, but those were really only at the point where the vocals weren’t done. So if there was a part with a shredding guitar riff, and the vocal was better, we might bring it back a bit. But for the most part, the music was done and he wasn’t really there. We just went in there and got to do our own thing.
Beau: That was actually pretty cool, because we could go in there and shred and play around and we didn’t have to worry about him breathing down our necks and stuff like that.
Cove: It was so sweet working with him, though.
So was that the only vocal prep you went through, Cove? Or did you take voice lessons?
Cove: I had vocal lessons that I would do about a lesson a week. If there was a song I was going to do that was in my lower register, I would go take a lesson, and then go back in the studio.
Beau: So for the three weeks of preproduction, we had our songs nailed. We were so prepared for the record that is was almost easy, really. I mean, I don’t consider us that good of guitar players or anything, but we can play our own songs really well. The engineer, though, was like, “You guys are the best guitar players I have ever seen!” and we were like, “Are you kidding me?” But we were all really prepared. Cove went through extensive vocal training and it goes back to Translating the Name being so good. We just wanted to really make that same type of impression.
Cove: And at the same time, be able to pull it off live.
Yeah, that is the worst thing, when you go see a band, and it sounds great on the CD and then the suck in their show.
Beau: A lot of the Benson bands are like that actually. And that is one thing that we were kind of skeptical about. There would be some things he would suggest, and we were like, “Dude, that’s retarded.”
Cove: He did do some crazy stuff.
Okay now, I gotta give you a tough question. In an interview with Breaking Custom in 2004, Beau said, “The new album is going to be all new songs. I always got bummed out when I would buy a record and I had already bought half the songs on it, when I bought the EP.” In light of this, why are there so many familiar songs on the record?
Beau: (Laughs) I’ll tell you why. I fought so hard to get “Bury Your Head” off that record, but the label will not have it. We have another song that we recorded, but they need one more to go on the overseas release. I wanted that song to be “Bury Your Head” because everyone already has that song. Besides that, the version of “Sleepers” that is out was never supposed to be released because it is a demo. We don’t even count that one.
That was one of the biggest questions on the boards when I asked for questions from our readers. So many people wanted to know, “Why the fuck is ‘Bury Your Head’ on there?!?”
Beau: I know everyone is sick of it, and that is why I didn’t want it on there. That song is so old. That is like re-recording “I Can Tell” or something.
Justin: Well, not exactly, because this is with Cove, and Anthony never did it or anything.
Well, would you ever think of re-recording some of the old stuff with Cove now?
Justin: No.
Beau: Fuck no. Basically, that is that era, and we don’t want to worry about that shit. But yeah if those guys are pissed about “Bury Your Head” being on the record, it’s cool, because I am pissed too.
Justin: None of us wanted it on the record. We didn’t even want to record it.
Beau: It was one of those things, though, where they said, “Oh let’s just go in there and see how it comes out, see what’s different and all that.”
(Alex walks in)
When the new record comes out, are you going to be retiring any Translating the Name songs when you play live?
Beau: We will probably have to at some point.
Are there any songs you are just sick of playing right now?
Cove: “Third Measurement”
Alex: “Third Measurement” definitely. We are so sick of playing that song.
Justin: When the record comes out, and people start knowing the new songs, I think we will play more of those. It just has a different vibe to it, a different feel, and we all have different emotions attached to the songs.
Cove: Yeah, I do not have too many emotions attached to the old songs. (laughs)
Beau: Ultimately, if we could play a super air-conditioned room, I would like to play every song we have.
Justin: I wouldn’t. (laughs)
So are there any big influences are common themes in the record?
Justin: Not really. I’d say as far as the music goes, it is really just us. We didn’t sell ourselves short, like guitar/bass, or drum/bass. It is just really true to ourselves.
Honest question here. What is the band’s and the label’s expectations for first week sales of the record?
Beau: They won’t tell us. They say they don’t want to jinx us or anything.
Well, you guys obviously have a number in the back of your head you are shooting for.
Beau: Probably platinum. Diamond maybe. (laughs)
Justin: Yeah, with bands like Underoath selling like 100k the first week, and then other not selling for shit, I have no fucking clue.
Beau: To be honest, I do not think first week really matters. We have been kind of out of it too. I mean, we went right from recording to touring.
Cove: The record wasn’t even mixed and mastered before we went on tour.
Beau: I don’t even know what a good first week would be.
So I have to ask some annoying questions about the transition between band members, so we can get these out there and done once and for all. So Cove, does it piss you off to be subjected to the incessant Anthony Green comparisons?
Cove: I think it is funny. I honestly think it is funny. We are two totally different people – I mean yeah we have similar ranges, but to each of us, we think we sound nothing alike. We just laugh at it – it’s not a big deal. This is a new band now, only two of the original members here.
I bet you still wish people would just shut the fuck up about it, though.
Justin: I wish people would.
Cove: I wish people would but at the same time, it’s expected though.
Justin: But there has to be a point where it stops.
Well, hopefully when the new record comes out that will put an end to a lot of it.
Justin: That’s what I am hoping, but it has been so long and it hasn’t let up. I mean I could understand if it was our first tour back with Cove, or when “Bury Your Head” came out. That was their introduction to the new guy, now get used to it.
When “Bury Your Head” came out, though, I was still surprised how it seemed so similar to a song that you would have made with Anthony – so continuous in your progression as a band, really.
Beau: Well, to be honest, Anthony was never involved in any of the music. And we had a really strong stake in what he would say. Like, he would come to us with some ideas and we would just tell him no.
I think that is especially interesting because there are a lot of people that attribute all the merit of the EP to Anthony and then think Saosin is going to suck now that Anthony is gone.
Justin: That is just people not knowing what they are talking about.
Cove: And if you’re an Anthony fan, go listen to Anthony. If you are a Saosin fan listen to us. The music hasn’t changed.
Justin: I am glad that Circa Survive is that much different than us because otherwise it might be weird.
Yeah, if that were the case, people might talk down on you guys as copycats even though the ideas originated here.
Justin: Totally, I am grateful for that.
Okay, so now what about the criticisms and comparisons in the drumming between Pat and Alex?
Justin: Well, wait until they hear the new record, then we will hear what they say.
Beau: The funny thing too is that when we did Translating the Name, we tried so hard to get Alex in the band, but he was still in Open Hand. We went to his show at Chain, played him the demos, and were like, “We want you in our band!”
Justin: It’s tough for a guy in an already established band…
Beau: Yeah, we didn’t even have a singer, and we were like, come on, join our band, but he was like, “I’m already in a touring band – it’s my job.” It’s a tough decision. Then finally, when we came around to doing the studio sessions, I knew this guy Pat who is an awesome session drummer. Obviously you heard the EP, and that EP is him playing to about ¾ of his ability. The guy is insane. There were certain passages where we were like, “Dude, play something else no one is going to be able to play.” And he would do it, and we were shitting ourselves. He was there doing the most insane rolls, all while doing stick twirls, all like it was nothing, and we were shitting our pants.
Justin: But he doesn’t really have a style. You would never hear his drumming and say, “Oh, that’s Pat.” He was such a good drummer, though. But with Alex, you can tell it is him drumming. He definitely has a style that is all his own.
Again, hopefully that is something that will be put to rest when the new record comes out.
Alex: Also, it goes along with what Justin was saying about how this record is not trying to be guitar-based or bass-based. It is just overall a good mix of all the instruments. When you listen to the EP, there are times when the drums can overshadow the rest of the music, even the vocals at times. But the guy is phenomenal.
Beau: The thing with Pat too, is that when we met him, I handed him the Open Hand CD, and told him that was the drummer we wanted to have in the band. So I told Pat that if he could to stylize the drumming to make it sound like Alex’s sort of style.
So was there ever a point where Pat wanted to be in the band?
Beau: I don’t think so.
Justin: I think that at one point, he might have wanted to play a couple shows or something.
Beau: I know he really liked the music, and I know he is definitely still a fan.
Alex: I thought at one point he was going to play a show with you guys?
Justin: He was, but I think the only reason that was how it was is because we got along with each other so well. A few times we hung out we all had a lot of fun, but other than that, we never really thought much of it. It would have been kind of odd having him in the band, coming from everything else he was doing too.
Beau: Yeah, and he had the long hair – a total metalhead. (laughs) But he is the most insane drummer – he can play hip-hop, he can play tribal, anything. He lives and breathes drums. He went to this drum clinic in Hawaii, and we were like, “Pat, how was Hawaii?” And he was like, “Awesome, I drummed 24 hours a day!” And we were like, “Well, how was the weather?” He said, “I don’t know, I never left the hotel. I had drum clinics from morning until night.”
So when you guys were looking for a new lead singer, I read somewhere that when you heard Cove’s tape, you thought it was Anthony playing a joke on you. Was it a conscious decision to seek out a vocalist that could sound like Anthony, or did it just end up like that?
Beau: Yes and no. We wanted someone that was not too far off – like we didn’t want to bring in someone that sounded like Creed.
Hey, he’s available now.
Beau: (Laughs) Well, we didn’t really want someone drastically different. We were even thinking about Jason Gleason.
I was just going to ask if there were any other notable singers considered for the job.
Justin: Gabe from Midtown tried to sing a couple songs. Jason Gleason was asked to come out and do it, but he had his own thing going on.
Beau: We tried to go after a couple other people too, but then we got around to thinking about it and wondered if we wanted the baggage of another band coming into our band. But when Cove sent in his tape, I thought it was Anthony, and I remember thinking, “What a dick.” That is something fucked up he would totally do. After hearing Cove’s tape and listening to so many shitty people come in and sing, though. Part of the reason he sent the demo tape in is because he was always telling me to come up and jam, and I was like no way, I am not jamming with anyone else…everyone sucks, and that was enough of that.
Cove: Yeah, it took like four weeks for him to give me his address. I told him I only lived like an hour away so he just needed to let me come up.
Beau: What would happen is that people would listen to our stuff, and they would get in contact with us and be like, “Oh, I have all this stuff written down, I’m an awesome vocalist, I’m an awesome frontman, I look so good.” So I would bring them up to the studio, and the first thing I would have them do is hear them recorded. I would put them in the studio and pull up the ProTools session of Translating the Name, and would mute all of Anthony’s vocals and just let the guys sing. And dudes would come in and sound like total Spinal Tap, just so bad. So then I would have to spend about two hours trying to find a nice way to get the guy to just leave, so you would basically sit there and waste your night. And all of us were really bummed out about it. You know by the first three notes, really.
So were there points when you thought to yourselves that the band was done?
Beau: No. At one point, it was going to be a thing where Chris, Justin, and I would sing everything, with no frontman. But that would be a last resort.
Justin: We always wanted to keep going.
Another question people are interested in when they compare Cove and Anthony is why doesn’t Cove scream?
Cove: Why don’t I scream? Probably the same reason Anthony doesn’t scream right now on any of the Circa stuff.
Justin: Anthony barely even screamed on any of the other shit, really.
Cove: And to me, the whole singing/screaming thing is such a dated idea. It is done.
Justin: It really adds no dynamic to it. There is no feeling behind pointless fucking screaming. There are friends we have in bands that do that, and that is not to take away from them, it is just not something we do now.
I think a lot of it is the same people that are bitching about how screamo is dead are the same ones wondering why Cove doesn’t scream.
Cove: Come see us live man. Seriously.
Justin: There is enough emotion in our fucking show and on our new record that we don’t have to scream on it.
Beau: My answer to that is the same reason we don’t have the same artwork as everyone else. We are not trying to be that classic, stereotypical kind of thing. I don’t feel like we have to scream. If you have to scream to get your emotions across, that’s cool. I think Underoath is awesome – I love that band.
Cove: But they’re a screaming-based band and then they throw the vocals in later. We are a vocal band.
With all the lineup changes, did you ever think about changing the name of the band?
Beau: No, because we started Saosin. I guess Anthony came up with the name, but whatever.
So it is pronounced Say-Oh-Sin now? I know Anthony used to call it Say-Ocean.
Justin: You can’t even write a Chinese character in English, let alone pronounce it. So kids, get over it. When that name came up, we just asked, “Is there any other band named Saosin? No? Awesome.” (laughs)
You could always be like Prince and just go by the symbol.
Beau: We were going to be called The Gift. For a long time we were called that, but then we found out there was some nu-metal band in Arizona called that.
Justin: No, it was like Portugal or something.
Beau: So really, it was a think like, no other band is called that – perfect.
You’ve got to feel bad for these bands that tour for a long time and work so hard under one name and then are forced to change their name because someone else has it.
Justin: Whatever the name is, the music was there before Anthony was. The name has a connotation with the music. And just because Anthony left doesn’t mean the music has changed. The music is still there.
What kind of terms are you on with the guys that left? Do you ever still talk to Anthony?
Justin: It’s a small world of touring bands. Like we just got here today, and we come in, and there is a little day sheet for the Circa Survive tour that came through here four days ago. So you barely miss each other, you play some of the same festivals, and stuff like that. Like Cove went to the Circa show right before we left for tour.
Cove: I think I talk to him more than anyone else in the band.
Justin: And when we see him, it is not like we are on bad terms – we don’t call him a fucking asshole for what he did to the band or anything.
Beau: I probably would call him more if I actually liked his band, but I don’t really like them.
Justin: I don’t think his band has anything to do with how much I call him.
So would you guys ever tour with Circa Survive?
Beau: Fuck no.
Cove: That will never happen.
Do you think they would ever want to tour with you guys?
Beau: Probably not.
Cove: I think they would.
Beau: I wouldn’t want to do it because of what all the kids would say. It wouldn’t even be a show – it would be Anthony versus Cove competition showdown.
Every kid would be screaming that Cove sucks or Anthony sucks and vice versa.
Justin: And how many people would be wearing Saosin shirts and how many would be wearing Circa shirts.
I asked the rest of the AP staff if I should wear my Circa Survive shirt to interview you guys.
Justin: (laughs) Do you know how many dumbshit kids make it a point to wear a Circa shirt and come ask for an autograph? The think they are the cleverest fucking dudes, and it’s like, “Yeah, you’re a genius man.” (laughs)
Beau: One kid asked me to sign a Circa Survive CD, and I just did it. I was like, “Yeah, no problem dude!”
Justin: One kid asked me to do a shirt.
These kids are all probably hoping that you will get all pissed off and rag on them so they can go home and tell all their internet friends about how they burned you.
Beau: The way I think of it is that if you want to spend $10 to try and piss me off, sure I’ll take your money.
Okay, now for some miscellaneous questions.
Beau: These are all really good questions, by the way.
Thanks. I figured you guys get interviewed a lot, so I try not to ask the same stupid ass questions that everyone is probably asking you.
Justin: The interviews that are the worst are the paint-by-numbers interviews, like the Warped Tour ones. “How do you like Warped Tour?” “What’s it like being on Warped Tour?” “What’s it like being on tour with Underoath?” “Who’s your favorite band?” That shit.
Beau: We are just trying to make sure that the people interviewing us actually know the band. It sucks when you show up to an interview, and people are like, “Okay, so it says here you have released Translating the Name. Tell us about that.”
Okay, so what do you think about the whole MTV/TRL kind of audience/show?
Justin: I think it is obsolete now. I don’t think it matters anymore. I would say maybe three years ago, when our EP came out, it was a big thing. Like Good Charlotte, three years ago, they were on TRL. They’re huge. Now, barely any people watch that shit.
Cove: They barely ever show the whole video.
Justin: I think if you are watching Fuse and after every commercial, you see that Hawthorne Heights commercial, more people are exposed to that. I bet that if a band is doing TRL, I doubt it is their choice.
Do you view it is a positive or a negative overall?
Beau: I would take it as a compliment that they wanted us to be on there, but it is not like I am looking forward to TRL. I don’t even think they would like us.
Justin: I see that as something that a band would have to do at a certain point. It is just like after you sell a certain number of records, there is this shit, these motions that you have to go through.
A lot of our readers seem interested in knowing if you guys do drugs.
Justin: I take aspirin from time to time.
Cove: Some of us drink.
Beau: Yeah half of us drink. Every once in a while, I like to smoke pot or whatever.
Justin: We are definitely not habitual drug users.
Beau: We will definitely drink. As far as drinking before we get on stage, no way. All our partying happens afterwards. I hate when we go watch a band, and the singer falls off the fucking stage drunk or something. Physically, I am not trying to say I am awesome or anything but there is just no way that I could go up on stage and do what I do after even two drinks. I would die. The other night, I was about to pass out and I was sober. It goes to show you, I mean professional athletes they don’t go and get hammered before they play football. I guess maybe some people might handle it differently.
Justin: It might work for some people, but not for us.
Cove: Chris and I don’t even drink at all.
Okay so here is a loaded question. What do you think of Absolutepunk as a site? Do you think it has made an impact on your success?
Justin: We have gotten a lot of success from those kids, and I think a lot of them are the same ones that are on our message board. Our message board has been such a great thing, too. It gives kids a great place to talk about other shit than the band also. We are just lucky to have that kind of support, and all the support you guys have given us with the new shit is awesome. Because right now is when we need it. We need someone that is respected to be like, “You guys are idiots, just listen to the music, and not concentrate on the shit surrounding it.” So many people don’t know what to look at and what is important.
I will be interested in seeing how many people read this. Stuff about Saosin always is a hot issue.
Cove: Reading yours and Jason’s responses was fabulous in the “Voices” thread. We would just scroll down and find what you guys said. Very entertaining.
Justin: That’s why I like that you guys were persistent about it. Some people would keep saying stupid shit, and you guys would address every little point they are saying.
Beau: It’s the same as any message board too, where there will be three pages of comments already and the kid will join in, and repeat something that has already been argued and proven wrong. The cool thing about it is that when you guys will write in rumors and people don’t read the comment and process that it is a rumor. They take it as total fact when it says right there “rumor has it” or something.
So, Beau – I know you produced the Name Taken CD. Do you still talk to those guys? Are they getting back together?
Beau: They all have these little projects. I want them to get back together. I know Blake and Ryan are doing stuff. I really wish that band would get back together. We actually did some background vocals on that album.
Justin: We would go see them live and they wouldn’t do all the backing stuff during their show so we would be singing it to ourselves.
Beau: If they ever get back together, I totally want to produce that record. I know they were looking for another drummer for a while, and when they had broken up, Fiddler had stopped being a label, so they pretty much had no support. And they wanted to try school and not sure if that worked out.
Cove: They could get a Panic! at the Disco tour, dude!
Beau: I think those guys took their name from that record.
Cove: They did.
Justin: Panic! at the Disco did? What ******s! They did! (Laughs) What fucking ******s. That sucks cock.
I was going to ask you – what bands can you not fucking stand?
All: From First to Last.
Alex: We fucking hate that band, and you can print that. They’re on our label. I think they’re so clichéd.
Cove: For the record, I think Sonny is a nice guy. You can say Cove thinks Sonny is a nice guy.
Justin: I am not saying they are shitty guys, I am saying their band sucks. There is a big difference.
Didn’t you produce their first record?
Beau: I remixed their record. It came out and sounded like dogshit. So Brett at Epitaph asked me to remix it for them. The re-released it and didn’t even put my name in the credits. They kept the old mixer’s name in the credits. It was kind of a bum out. I thought there was a couple good songs by them on that record, and then I produced a song from them on the Smartpunk comp, but the new album by them just blows.
Cove: They had about four or five good songs.
Justin: You know how we were talking about the scene thing? That is the kind of band that is going to be here today, gone tomorrow.
Alex: And our A&R guy at Capitol is the guy that signed them. We gave him so much shit about that.
Beau: Especially because we were going to sign with Epitaph, we decided not to sign with them so they signed From First to Last. And then we signed with Capitol and it seems like they kind of followed. It has kind of bummed me out that I did that stuff for them, and that is what happened. Another reason I am not so sure about them is that they were saying that we sucked and that they hated us. And I was wondering what we ever did to them.
That is pretty bad when From First to Last is saying that you guys suck. That is low.
Justin: And we are pretty much the most normal band out there. We don’t have a bunch of red eyeliner on. We’re not super-eccentric. We’re pretty normal dudes. I have tattoos and that is about as far as it goes. It is not like we are easy targets.
It’s not like you go out of your way to piss bands off.
Justin: Exactly. That is what got us here. We would make friends with good bands and they would take us out. We got on some killer tours because bands have been cool to us.
Any other bands?
Alex: I don’t like Aiden.
Justin: Aiden are nice dudes.
Beau: Yeah they really are awesome dudes.
Justin: But yeah Panic and the whole Fueled By Ramen type of shit.
Beau: It is kind of how Drive-Thru was for a while.
Justin: Everyone who is cool to us, we are pretty cool to them.
That is really about it. Thanks a lot for your time, guys. We really appreciate it.
For the record can you please state your names and what you do in the band?
Cove: I’m Cove and I sing.
Beau: I’m Beau and I play guitar.
Justin: I’m Justin and I play guitar.
So how are things going with the band in general? You guys are on a decent-sized tour right now and your record is finally about to come out. Are you guys excited?
Justin: We’re pretty pumped up, yeah…we have been waiting three years for this. I mean, we have been touring on an EP for three years…
Don’t you mean two EPs?
Beau: Well we don’t really count the second one. The second one sucked – let’s be honest. It was all demos, and they weren’t even finished.
So was that the labels’ decision to release that or what?
Beau: It was supposed to be something at first where it was going to be just a few demos that if you spent the money to go to Warped Tour and see us play, then you could only get it at Warped Tour. But then the label was like, “We need to put something out, so let’s just put that out!” And we were like no, they are crappy demos. They are only supposed to be for our fans – the ones that would go to Warped Tour and sit through a bunch of crappy bands just to see us. It was going to be a nice little “thank you” type of thing, but then all of a sudden it was taken to be another EP.
So people were then judging it like it was a full retail release then?
Beau: They thought that we were getting out of it, ya know?
It was just something to hold people over then until the real thing, yeah?
Beau: It was just the kind of thing where, hey you go to Warped Tour, and we haven’t done much lately, so here are some unreleased demos. But then Capitol wanted to press it and put it in full packaging and stuff.
In general, how has the relationship with Capitol been then? You seemed pretty gung-ho on the label when you first signed.
Beau: I think it is like any relationship, you know? The more you are with someone, the more you start to see their flaws and stuff. But in general, we are still pretty stoked about them.
Justin: Our record still hasn’t come out yet and all so a lot is up in the air, but so far it has been good, so we’ll see.
I read in an interview a while back that you wanted to be on Capitol since they didn’t have a band that sounds like you. What are some examples of a band that you think sounds like Saosin?
Justin: Let’s just think of a different label for a second – take Warner, for example - you’ve got The Used, Story of the Year, My Chemical Romance. Those are big bands that we have toured with and that makes Warner a pretty big rock label in general. Then think of Capitol – we have Yellowcard, that’s it. There is nothing really heavy, nothing darker.
So well, you guys got signed when a lot of “scene” bands were getting signed. Do you worry that this whole thing is just a trend and the bottom is going to fall out on a lot of these bands or is the mainstream just catching onto the fact that there is a lot of good music out there?
Beau: I think it depends on the band, really. I think that the scene is a trend, but the music that we are making is not really a trend. This is probably a really bad example, but think of back when the metal scene was really popular, and Ride the Lightning was the biggest thing at the time, and that had its own scene.
Justin: I think of nu-metal more. Nu-metal was huge, and then the scene kind of fizzled out – all those bands just started making shitty music. There are just some bands in a scene that try to change a lot and write terrible sophomore records. It doesn’t have to do just with the scene, but the band too.
So does that mean your next album won’t be a dance-rock record?
Justin: (Laughs) Yeah, it is going to be really influenced by The Killers and Bloc Party.
So I read a while back somewhere that there was talk about the album being delayed for Capitol to get ads out. Now here we are a month and a half before the release date, and I have not seen much press at all for the record, outside of the word-of-mouth hype generated by your fans. Do I not read enough music magazines, or watch enough TV?
Beau: I never heard the whole thing about delaying it to get ads out – it really has just been put off so long because we wanted to get it right.
Justin: We took our time making it, and there are a lot of things getting wrapped up, still. Like the artwork, that hasn’t even been finished yet, so it is tough to get out ads until the album art is finalized. After a while that kind of stuff started to overtake the focus on music, so we decided we just wanted to finish up the music and then worry about covers, and all that shit. I think it was just us worrying about making the record our best possible, and not worrying about time so much.
So when you say the artwork is not really in the can yet, does that mean it might get delayed again?
Justin: It’s done, it’s just not final.
Beau: One of the things we are dealing with now is that the label wanted to have a picture of the band on the back of the CD. And we were like, “No we don’t want that.”
Justin: And eventually we will get that point across, but it will still take a week to go back and forth. So, they kind of want to get all the stuff they want, and we just aren’t having it. So everything really takes a week longer than it should.
Beau: So the compromise to that is they will tell us to think about it for a week, and we will have to wait a week pretending that we thought about it before we get back to them.
So while we are on the subject of the artwork, we got a link sent to us with some of the artwork concepts, with the beetle – is there a story or an inspiration behind that?
Cove: Well we got sent this rhinoceros beetle idea from the guy that is doing the artwork, and we all agreed on that as soon as we saw it.
Justin: This guy just does awesome covers. He did the Turbonegro Party Animals cover, and we really like stuff that looks really clean and crisp like that. We didn’t like a lot of that clip-art looking crap, and a lot of the stuff right now is either strange artwork drawings or stuff. We just wanted to keep it super clean looking and kind of classy, really.
It is kind of funny, because we posted the cover art from Smartpunk, and everyone was like, “That artwork fucking sucks!” But until you see the inside, you don’t really know.
Justin: A lot of people didn’t know if it was a joke or not, so they didn’t want to take it seriously at first.
Beau: Let’s be honest, I don’t really care what people think about the artwork, so long as they like the music.
Justin: Yeah, it’s fucking artwork – get over it.
I think sometimes people just want something to bitch about.
Beau: Yeah, and I hate it when you can tell exactly what kind of a band they are just by looking at the cover. I mean, metal bands – they all have that same metal font…
Yeah, and a black horse riding over flames and lava with a skeleton warrior on top.
Beau: (Laughs) Same with all the scene bands now – they all have the same kind of art too.
They do all seem to have the whole abstract painting idea or whatever down cold.
Beau: Exactly. I mean I guess you could kind of lump us in with that whole group, but we try to distance ourselves from that.
With all the delays for the record, are you guys appreciative for all the fans that have stuck around and supported you for the last three years?
Beau: I definitely feel bad taking so long, but at the same time, minus the black EP because the label made us do that, we never want to release something that we aren’t happy with. You never know, I mean think of the white EP. We have been touring on that for three years. You never know how long we are going to be touring on this record.
Justin: It has twice as many songs, so we can tour on this for six years, right? (Laughs)
So, last time I checked your Myspace page, you had around 167,000 friends, and every time we post news about you guys, it just gets an insane amount of replies and response. Do things like that intimidate you that you won’t be able to live up to the hype?
Justin: Well, the record is done now, so we don’t have a fucking choice, really. But before, when the white EP did so well, we were like, “Fuck – we need to make an entire record that is better than that?” We all were really proud of the white EP – we really thought it was awesome. So when we went to do the record, we did not know what to expect, but it came out really awesome. So I am not intimidated right now – I am stoked.
Well, that leads right into my next question, actually. Are you guys grateful for the success of Translating the Name, or do you feel it is counterproductive to where you are going right now as a band?
Justin: I think right now it is, but the minute our record releases, I hope everyone just gets past the drama and focuses on that. So many people are worried about the Anthony situation and shit like that – it’s useless. We are this band now, so like it or not – it is that simple. It is half and half. I get sick of people bringing up so much stuff that is so old when we have something new that is so kickass.
Beau: The way I look at it is that the white EP was three years ago. People are trying to say we are a different band now or whatever – we are mostly just older. And so are the fans, though. Back then, I am sure they thought the white EP was genius, but since then they have been exposed to a lot of bands trying to make that same EP in a sense. So now, anything we make now, has to be ten times as good as the white EP to make the same sort of impression that did.
I think also, there is something that happens after a work has been around for a while, that people get nostalgic for something. No matter how good the new stuff is, the old stuff starts to get called a “classic” all the time, and people lose perspective.
Beau: I think there is an emotional attachment to it too. I mean personally, I thought it kicked ass over anything else at the time, and that is why we were so proud of it. I am sure when fans first heard it, they loved it too, so of course the are going to be skeptical of what we can do now.
Cove: When I first heard it, I was freaking out. I thought it was amazing.
Beau: We are definitely just as proud of this record as much, if not more because it is more songs.
Justin: And we are fucking sick of playing the same five songs for the last three years. Finally, we can choose what songs we want to play, and not have to play every song that we have out there.
Well, for what it is worth, I have had a chance to hear the record, and I think it is fucking awesome. I think it will shut a lot of the haters up.
Beau: But to me, those people that are like that, there are Anthony fans, and then there are Saosin fans. Those people that are haters, they are going to be the ones when Anthony leaves Circa Survive, they are going to say then Circa Survive sucks balls.
Justin: I would rather be in a band where it is actually a band, and not an Anthony thing, and not a Cove thing, or whatever. We just want to be a good band, you know?
So do you guys feel that you have a better band dynamic with the new lineup?
Beau: Well, it was always like we were a band, and Anthony was our freak singer. We never knew if he was going to show up, or anything.
Justin: And really, he was brought along later in the process with the white EP. We had all of those songs done, and he came along after that. It was kind of weird because we had all these different people playing on it. Now that we have this record done, I have never felt better about this group as a band – even with the relationships between people. I feel that we have come so far since doing the record, so I couldn’t be more happy.
Do you guys worry about the record leaking at all?
Cove: Yeah we are freaking out.
Justin: After the whole Underoath thing especially, we worry that shit like that just kind of happens, so we have been doing our best to keep it under wraps, but you can’t really prevent it, you know? I mean you guys put up “Voices” and it was ripped 15 minutes later. So we know it is going to leak, but hopefully it won’t happen until much closer to the release date. Each day that passes is big for us.
Well, I think Capitol has been pretty tight about who they give it to…it was a pain in the ass for me to get a copy just to check out before the interview. And so far as I know it has not leaked yet, because I was curious about that.
Cove: I have a friend who is searching for it daily. He is telling me if any songs leak or anything.
You haven’t hooked him up?
Cove: No dude, he hasn’t even heard it. He’s going to buy it, and everything, but he wants to hear it like everyone else. When “Voices” went up, we didn’t even know about that whole arrangement, so I got an IM from him that said “Voices is awesome.” And we were like, oh no, did it leak?
Did you guys hop online to see what the general reaction was to “Voices”?
Cove: Oh yeah – what was it like 290 posts right away? That was ridiculous.
I think in general, it was a pretty positive response.
Justin: Yeah, tell Jason thanks too. He had our backs - a lot of people were saying stupid shit and he called them out on it. I hate it when people say things online and get away with saying stupid crap. Someone said something like, “Yeah this song is okay, but I don’t think Cove will deliver on the entire record.” And Jason was like, “I have the record. He delivers.” It was really just shutting people up.
So let’s switch gears here for a second. How was working with Howard Benson? Did you ever think you’d be linking up with such a big-name producer for your debut?
Beau: We kind of go into it on this “making of” DVD that we recorded, but as soon as we started talking to Capitol about who we wanted to record with, at first, I wanted it to be me, and collaborate with someone else. But after I while we needed to bring in an outside ear on stuff.
Cove: We needed a referee.
Beau: We were all hating each other and stuff.
Justin: And Cove was the new guy in the band. He needed some guidance, and we couldn’t really give it to him. I think in the long run, Howard pulled some shit out of him he could have never done himself.
Cove: I definitely worked with Howard the most on the record. He’s a vocal guy, you know?
Justin: And we talked to some other big name guys like Ross Robinson and guys like that.
Cove: When Capitol brought up Howard Benson, we were like no way. Just based off the records he has done in the past like Hoobastank, All American Rejects, and cheesy pop bands like that. We thought he was going to steal everything out of our music.
I was worried about that too. I wondered if it was going to be crunchy, pop-rock sounding crap, but really, I am surprised how consistent it sounds with the production Beau did.
Justin: There were a couple things that he really had an opinion on, but those were really only at the point where the vocals weren’t done. So if there was a part with a shredding guitar riff, and the vocal was better, we might bring it back a bit. But for the most part, the music was done and he wasn’t really there. We just went in there and got to do our own thing.
Beau: That was actually pretty cool, because we could go in there and shred and play around and we didn’t have to worry about him breathing down our necks and stuff like that.
Cove: It was so sweet working with him, though.
So was that the only vocal prep you went through, Cove? Or did you take voice lessons?
Cove: I had vocal lessons that I would do about a lesson a week. If there was a song I was going to do that was in my lower register, I would go take a lesson, and then go back in the studio.
Beau: So for the three weeks of preproduction, we had our songs nailed. We were so prepared for the record that is was almost easy, really. I mean, I don’t consider us that good of guitar players or anything, but we can play our own songs really well. The engineer, though, was like, “You guys are the best guitar players I have ever seen!” and we were like, “Are you kidding me?” But we were all really prepared. Cove went through extensive vocal training and it goes back to Translating the Name being so good. We just wanted to really make that same type of impression.
Cove: And at the same time, be able to pull it off live.
Yeah, that is the worst thing, when you go see a band, and it sounds great on the CD and then the suck in their show.
Beau: A lot of the Benson bands are like that actually. And that is one thing that we were kind of skeptical about. There would be some things he would suggest, and we were like, “Dude, that’s retarded.”
Cove: He did do some crazy stuff.
Okay now, I gotta give you a tough question. In an interview with Breaking Custom in 2004, Beau said, “The new album is going to be all new songs. I always got bummed out when I would buy a record and I had already bought half the songs on it, when I bought the EP.” In light of this, why are there so many familiar songs on the record?
Beau: (Laughs) I’ll tell you why. I fought so hard to get “Bury Your Head” off that record, but the label will not have it. We have another song that we recorded, but they need one more to go on the overseas release. I wanted that song to be “Bury Your Head” because everyone already has that song. Besides that, the version of “Sleepers” that is out was never supposed to be released because it is a demo. We don’t even count that one.
That was one of the biggest questions on the boards when I asked for questions from our readers. So many people wanted to know, “Why the fuck is ‘Bury Your Head’ on there?!?”
Beau: I know everyone is sick of it, and that is why I didn’t want it on there. That song is so old. That is like re-recording “I Can Tell” or something.
Justin: Well, not exactly, because this is with Cove, and Anthony never did it or anything.
Well, would you ever think of re-recording some of the old stuff with Cove now?
Justin: No.
Beau: Fuck no. Basically, that is that era, and we don’t want to worry about that shit. But yeah if those guys are pissed about “Bury Your Head” being on the record, it’s cool, because I am pissed too.
Justin: None of us wanted it on the record. We didn’t even want to record it.
Beau: It was one of those things, though, where they said, “Oh let’s just go in there and see how it comes out, see what’s different and all that.”
(Alex walks in)
When the new record comes out, are you going to be retiring any Translating the Name songs when you play live?
Beau: We will probably have to at some point.
Are there any songs you are just sick of playing right now?
Cove: “Third Measurement”
Alex: “Third Measurement” definitely. We are so sick of playing that song.
Justin: When the record comes out, and people start knowing the new songs, I think we will play more of those. It just has a different vibe to it, a different feel, and we all have different emotions attached to the songs.
Cove: Yeah, I do not have too many emotions attached to the old songs. (laughs)
Beau: Ultimately, if we could play a super air-conditioned room, I would like to play every song we have.
Justin: I wouldn’t. (laughs)
So are there any big influences are common themes in the record?
Justin: Not really. I’d say as far as the music goes, it is really just us. We didn’t sell ourselves short, like guitar/bass, or drum/bass. It is just really true to ourselves.
Honest question here. What is the band’s and the label’s expectations for first week sales of the record?
Beau: They won’t tell us. They say they don’t want to jinx us or anything.
Well, you guys obviously have a number in the back of your head you are shooting for.
Beau: Probably platinum. Diamond maybe. (laughs)
Justin: Yeah, with bands like Underoath selling like 100k the first week, and then other not selling for shit, I have no fucking clue.
Beau: To be honest, I do not think first week really matters. We have been kind of out of it too. I mean, we went right from recording to touring.
Cove: The record wasn’t even mixed and mastered before we went on tour.
Beau: I don’t even know what a good first week would be.
So I have to ask some annoying questions about the transition between band members, so we can get these out there and done once and for all. So Cove, does it piss you off to be subjected to the incessant Anthony Green comparisons?
Cove: I think it is funny. I honestly think it is funny. We are two totally different people – I mean yeah we have similar ranges, but to each of us, we think we sound nothing alike. We just laugh at it – it’s not a big deal. This is a new band now, only two of the original members here.
I bet you still wish people would just shut the fuck up about it, though.
Justin: I wish people would.
Cove: I wish people would but at the same time, it’s expected though.
Justin: But there has to be a point where it stops.
Well, hopefully when the new record comes out that will put an end to a lot of it.
Justin: That’s what I am hoping, but it has been so long and it hasn’t let up. I mean I could understand if it was our first tour back with Cove, or when “Bury Your Head” came out. That was their introduction to the new guy, now get used to it.
When “Bury Your Head” came out, though, I was still surprised how it seemed so similar to a song that you would have made with Anthony – so continuous in your progression as a band, really.
Beau: Well, to be honest, Anthony was never involved in any of the music. And we had a really strong stake in what he would say. Like, he would come to us with some ideas and we would just tell him no.
I think that is especially interesting because there are a lot of people that attribute all the merit of the EP to Anthony and then think Saosin is going to suck now that Anthony is gone.
Justin: That is just people not knowing what they are talking about.
Cove: And if you’re an Anthony fan, go listen to Anthony. If you are a Saosin fan listen to us. The music hasn’t changed.
Justin: I am glad that Circa Survive is that much different than us because otherwise it might be weird.
Yeah, if that were the case, people might talk down on you guys as copycats even though the ideas originated here.
Justin: Totally, I am grateful for that.
Okay, so now what about the criticisms and comparisons in the drumming between Pat and Alex?
Justin: Well, wait until they hear the new record, then we will hear what they say.
Beau: The funny thing too is that when we did Translating the Name, we tried so hard to get Alex in the band, but he was still in Open Hand. We went to his show at Chain, played him the demos, and were like, “We want you in our band!”
Justin: It’s tough for a guy in an already established band…
Beau: Yeah, we didn’t even have a singer, and we were like, come on, join our band, but he was like, “I’m already in a touring band – it’s my job.” It’s a tough decision. Then finally, when we came around to doing the studio sessions, I knew this guy Pat who is an awesome session drummer. Obviously you heard the EP, and that EP is him playing to about ¾ of his ability. The guy is insane. There were certain passages where we were like, “Dude, play something else no one is going to be able to play.” And he would do it, and we were shitting ourselves. He was there doing the most insane rolls, all while doing stick twirls, all like it was nothing, and we were shitting our pants.
Justin: But he doesn’t really have a style. You would never hear his drumming and say, “Oh, that’s Pat.” He was such a good drummer, though. But with Alex, you can tell it is him drumming. He definitely has a style that is all his own.
Again, hopefully that is something that will be put to rest when the new record comes out.
Alex: Also, it goes along with what Justin was saying about how this record is not trying to be guitar-based or bass-based. It is just overall a good mix of all the instruments. When you listen to the EP, there are times when the drums can overshadow the rest of the music, even the vocals at times. But the guy is phenomenal.
Beau: The thing with Pat too, is that when we met him, I handed him the Open Hand CD, and told him that was the drummer we wanted to have in the band. So I told Pat that if he could to stylize the drumming to make it sound like Alex’s sort of style.
So was there ever a point where Pat wanted to be in the band?
Beau: I don’t think so.
Justin: I think that at one point, he might have wanted to play a couple shows or something.
Beau: I know he really liked the music, and I know he is definitely still a fan.
Alex: I thought at one point he was going to play a show with you guys?
Justin: He was, but I think the only reason that was how it was is because we got along with each other so well. A few times we hung out we all had a lot of fun, but other than that, we never really thought much of it. It would have been kind of odd having him in the band, coming from everything else he was doing too.
Beau: Yeah, and he had the long hair – a total metalhead. (laughs) But he is the most insane drummer – he can play hip-hop, he can play tribal, anything. He lives and breathes drums. He went to this drum clinic in Hawaii, and we were like, “Pat, how was Hawaii?” And he was like, “Awesome, I drummed 24 hours a day!” And we were like, “Well, how was the weather?” He said, “I don’t know, I never left the hotel. I had drum clinics from morning until night.”
So when you guys were looking for a new lead singer, I read somewhere that when you heard Cove’s tape, you thought it was Anthony playing a joke on you. Was it a conscious decision to seek out a vocalist that could sound like Anthony, or did it just end up like that?
Beau: Yes and no. We wanted someone that was not too far off – like we didn’t want to bring in someone that sounded like Creed.
Hey, he’s available now.
Beau: (Laughs) Well, we didn’t really want someone drastically different. We were even thinking about Jason Gleason.
I was just going to ask if there were any other notable singers considered for the job.
Justin: Gabe from Midtown tried to sing a couple songs. Jason Gleason was asked to come out and do it, but he had his own thing going on.
Beau: We tried to go after a couple other people too, but then we got around to thinking about it and wondered if we wanted the baggage of another band coming into our band. But when Cove sent in his tape, I thought it was Anthony, and I remember thinking, “What a dick.” That is something fucked up he would totally do. After hearing Cove’s tape and listening to so many shitty people come in and sing, though. Part of the reason he sent the demo tape in is because he was always telling me to come up and jam, and I was like no way, I am not jamming with anyone else…everyone sucks, and that was enough of that.
Cove: Yeah, it took like four weeks for him to give me his address. I told him I only lived like an hour away so he just needed to let me come up.
Beau: What would happen is that people would listen to our stuff, and they would get in contact with us and be like, “Oh, I have all this stuff written down, I’m an awesome vocalist, I’m an awesome frontman, I look so good.” So I would bring them up to the studio, and the first thing I would have them do is hear them recorded. I would put them in the studio and pull up the ProTools session of Translating the Name, and would mute all of Anthony’s vocals and just let the guys sing. And dudes would come in and sound like total Spinal Tap, just so bad. So then I would have to spend about two hours trying to find a nice way to get the guy to just leave, so you would basically sit there and waste your night. And all of us were really bummed out about it. You know by the first three notes, really.
So were there points when you thought to yourselves that the band was done?
Beau: No. At one point, it was going to be a thing where Chris, Justin, and I would sing everything, with no frontman. But that would be a last resort.
Justin: We always wanted to keep going.
Another question people are interested in when they compare Cove and Anthony is why doesn’t Cove scream?
Cove: Why don’t I scream? Probably the same reason Anthony doesn’t scream right now on any of the Circa stuff.
Justin: Anthony barely even screamed on any of the other shit, really.
Cove: And to me, the whole singing/screaming thing is such a dated idea. It is done.
Justin: It really adds no dynamic to it. There is no feeling behind pointless fucking screaming. There are friends we have in bands that do that, and that is not to take away from them, it is just not something we do now.
I think a lot of it is the same people that are bitching about how screamo is dead are the same ones wondering why Cove doesn’t scream.
Cove: Come see us live man. Seriously.
Justin: There is enough emotion in our fucking show and on our new record that we don’t have to scream on it.
Beau: My answer to that is the same reason we don’t have the same artwork as everyone else. We are not trying to be that classic, stereotypical kind of thing. I don’t feel like we have to scream. If you have to scream to get your emotions across, that’s cool. I think Underoath is awesome – I love that band.
Cove: But they’re a screaming-based band and then they throw the vocals in later. We are a vocal band.
With all the lineup changes, did you ever think about changing the name of the band?
Beau: No, because we started Saosin. I guess Anthony came up with the name, but whatever.
So it is pronounced Say-Oh-Sin now? I know Anthony used to call it Say-Ocean.
Justin: You can’t even write a Chinese character in English, let alone pronounce it. So kids, get over it. When that name came up, we just asked, “Is there any other band named Saosin? No? Awesome.” (laughs)
You could always be like Prince and just go by the symbol.
Beau: We were going to be called The Gift. For a long time we were called that, but then we found out there was some nu-metal band in Arizona called that.
Justin: No, it was like Portugal or something.
Beau: So really, it was a think like, no other band is called that – perfect.
You’ve got to feel bad for these bands that tour for a long time and work so hard under one name and then are forced to change their name because someone else has it.
Justin: Whatever the name is, the music was there before Anthony was. The name has a connotation with the music. And just because Anthony left doesn’t mean the music has changed. The music is still there.
What kind of terms are you on with the guys that left? Do you ever still talk to Anthony?
Justin: It’s a small world of touring bands. Like we just got here today, and we come in, and there is a little day sheet for the Circa Survive tour that came through here four days ago. So you barely miss each other, you play some of the same festivals, and stuff like that. Like Cove went to the Circa show right before we left for tour.
Cove: I think I talk to him more than anyone else in the band.
Justin: And when we see him, it is not like we are on bad terms – we don’t call him a fucking asshole for what he did to the band or anything.
Beau: I probably would call him more if I actually liked his band, but I don’t really like them.
Justin: I don’t think his band has anything to do with how much I call him.
So would you guys ever tour with Circa Survive?
Beau: Fuck no.
Cove: That will never happen.
Do you think they would ever want to tour with you guys?
Beau: Probably not.
Cove: I think they would.
Beau: I wouldn’t want to do it because of what all the kids would say. It wouldn’t even be a show – it would be Anthony versus Cove competition showdown.
Every kid would be screaming that Cove sucks or Anthony sucks and vice versa.
Justin: And how many people would be wearing Saosin shirts and how many would be wearing Circa shirts.
I asked the rest of the AP staff if I should wear my Circa Survive shirt to interview you guys.
Justin: (laughs) Do you know how many dumbshit kids make it a point to wear a Circa shirt and come ask for an autograph? The think they are the cleverest fucking dudes, and it’s like, “Yeah, you’re a genius man.” (laughs)
Beau: One kid asked me to sign a Circa Survive CD, and I just did it. I was like, “Yeah, no problem dude!”
Justin: One kid asked me to do a shirt.
These kids are all probably hoping that you will get all pissed off and rag on them so they can go home and tell all their internet friends about how they burned you.
Beau: The way I think of it is that if you want to spend $10 to try and piss me off, sure I’ll take your money.
Okay, now for some miscellaneous questions.
Beau: These are all really good questions, by the way.
Thanks. I figured you guys get interviewed a lot, so I try not to ask the same stupid ass questions that everyone is probably asking you.
Justin: The interviews that are the worst are the paint-by-numbers interviews, like the Warped Tour ones. “How do you like Warped Tour?” “What’s it like being on Warped Tour?” “What’s it like being on tour with Underoath?” “Who’s your favorite band?” That shit.
Beau: We are just trying to make sure that the people interviewing us actually know the band. It sucks when you show up to an interview, and people are like, “Okay, so it says here you have released Translating the Name. Tell us about that.”
Okay, so what do you think about the whole MTV/TRL kind of audience/show?
Justin: I think it is obsolete now. I don’t think it matters anymore. I would say maybe three years ago, when our EP came out, it was a big thing. Like Good Charlotte, three years ago, they were on TRL. They’re huge. Now, barely any people watch that shit.
Cove: They barely ever show the whole video.
Justin: I think if you are watching Fuse and after every commercial, you see that Hawthorne Heights commercial, more people are exposed to that. I bet that if a band is doing TRL, I doubt it is their choice.
Do you view it is a positive or a negative overall?
Beau: I would take it as a compliment that they wanted us to be on there, but it is not like I am looking forward to TRL. I don’t even think they would like us.
Justin: I see that as something that a band would have to do at a certain point. It is just like after you sell a certain number of records, there is this shit, these motions that you have to go through.
A lot of our readers seem interested in knowing if you guys do drugs.
Justin: I take aspirin from time to time.
Cove: Some of us drink.
Beau: Yeah half of us drink. Every once in a while, I like to smoke pot or whatever.
Justin: We are definitely not habitual drug users.
Beau: We will definitely drink. As far as drinking before we get on stage, no way. All our partying happens afterwards. I hate when we go watch a band, and the singer falls off the fucking stage drunk or something. Physically, I am not trying to say I am awesome or anything but there is just no way that I could go up on stage and do what I do after even two drinks. I would die. The other night, I was about to pass out and I was sober. It goes to show you, I mean professional athletes they don’t go and get hammered before they play football. I guess maybe some people might handle it differently.
Justin: It might work for some people, but not for us.
Cove: Chris and I don’t even drink at all.
Okay so here is a loaded question. What do you think of Absolutepunk as a site? Do you think it has made an impact on your success?
Justin: We have gotten a lot of success from those kids, and I think a lot of them are the same ones that are on our message board. Our message board has been such a great thing, too. It gives kids a great place to talk about other shit than the band also. We are just lucky to have that kind of support, and all the support you guys have given us with the new shit is awesome. Because right now is when we need it. We need someone that is respected to be like, “You guys are idiots, just listen to the music, and not concentrate on the shit surrounding it.” So many people don’t know what to look at and what is important.
I will be interested in seeing how many people read this. Stuff about Saosin always is a hot issue.
Cove: Reading yours and Jason’s responses was fabulous in the “Voices” thread. We would just scroll down and find what you guys said. Very entertaining.
Justin: That’s why I like that you guys were persistent about it. Some people would keep saying stupid shit, and you guys would address every little point they are saying.
Beau: It’s the same as any message board too, where there will be three pages of comments already and the kid will join in, and repeat something that has already been argued and proven wrong. The cool thing about it is that when you guys will write in rumors and people don’t read the comment and process that it is a rumor. They take it as total fact when it says right there “rumor has it” or something.
So, Beau – I know you produced the Name Taken CD. Do you still talk to those guys? Are they getting back together?
Beau: They all have these little projects. I want them to get back together. I know Blake and Ryan are doing stuff. I really wish that band would get back together. We actually did some background vocals on that album.
Justin: We would go see them live and they wouldn’t do all the backing stuff during their show so we would be singing it to ourselves.
Beau: If they ever get back together, I totally want to produce that record. I know they were looking for another drummer for a while, and when they had broken up, Fiddler had stopped being a label, so they pretty much had no support. And they wanted to try school and not sure if that worked out.
Cove: They could get a Panic! at the Disco tour, dude!
Beau: I think those guys took their name from that record.
Cove: They did.
Justin: Panic! at the Disco did? What ******s! They did! (Laughs) What fucking ******s. That sucks cock.
I was going to ask you – what bands can you not fucking stand?
All: From First to Last.
Alex: We fucking hate that band, and you can print that. They’re on our label. I think they’re so clichéd.
Cove: For the record, I think Sonny is a nice guy. You can say Cove thinks Sonny is a nice guy.
Justin: I am not saying they are shitty guys, I am saying their band sucks. There is a big difference.
Didn’t you produce their first record?
Beau: I remixed their record. It came out and sounded like dogshit. So Brett at Epitaph asked me to remix it for them. The re-released it and didn’t even put my name in the credits. They kept the old mixer’s name in the credits. It was kind of a bum out. I thought there was a couple good songs by them on that record, and then I produced a song from them on the Smartpunk comp, but the new album by them just blows.
Cove: They had about four or five good songs.
Justin: You know how we were talking about the scene thing? That is the kind of band that is going to be here today, gone tomorrow.
Alex: And our A&R guy at Capitol is the guy that signed them. We gave him so much shit about that.
Beau: Especially because we were going to sign with Epitaph, we decided not to sign with them so they signed From First to Last. And then we signed with Capitol and it seems like they kind of followed. It has kind of bummed me out that I did that stuff for them, and that is what happened. Another reason I am not so sure about them is that they were saying that we sucked and that they hated us. And I was wondering what we ever did to them.
That is pretty bad when From First to Last is saying that you guys suck. That is low.
Justin: And we are pretty much the most normal band out there. We don’t have a bunch of red eyeliner on. We’re not super-eccentric. We’re pretty normal dudes. I have tattoos and that is about as far as it goes. It is not like we are easy targets.
It’s not like you go out of your way to piss bands off.
Justin: Exactly. That is what got us here. We would make friends with good bands and they would take us out. We got on some killer tours because bands have been cool to us.
Any other bands?
Alex: I don’t like Aiden.
Justin: Aiden are nice dudes.
Beau: Yeah they really are awesome dudes.
Justin: But yeah Panic and the whole Fueled By Ramen type of shit.
Beau: It is kind of how Drive-Thru was for a while.
Justin: Everyone who is cool to us, we are pretty cool to them.
That is really about it. Thanks a lot for your time, guys. We really appreciate it.