Jamie Pham
04/28/08, 02:34 PM
How is the tour going so far?
Matt: Chris Varvaro is a god among men.
Jordan: Yes, Chris V; holdin' down Metro Merch Station, haha. This tour has been awesome for us. Everyone working on the actual tour have been the best people towards us, and the shows are some of the best we've been a part of, no lie. And in a way, I'd say our band has fallen in love with Saves The Day all over again. To see a group of their caliber perform every night is a very awesome thing. From a musician's standpoint, I would hope these are experiences that could also allow our band to grow in the same fashion they have.
What can we expect from the new record?
Jordan: A faster, more structured SYG. A lot of people, including myself, really liked the interludes and shorter, unstructured songs that linked the Mutiny! recordings together. We will assuredly have some of those styled writings again, but this time around we are focusing on putting together more full songs for a full album. We have recently demo'ed out one new song, which we are calling "The Fallen," and to me it lies somewhere in the vein of Strung Out and A Wilhelm Scream. We hope for people to hear this demo soon.
Matt: More consistent songs. The more upbeat party songs will be consistently the same vibe for the entirety of the track rather than spastic fast verses with ultra-poppy choruses leading into chugga styled breakdowns. We realize this is a trend in music right now and that we have contributed to it in some form and we don't want to be pigeonholed into that. This is not to say that our music will lose any of its basic
elements, but they will be more clearly defined as we mature as songwriters. Growing up I always hated it when bands would say, "we've just matured as writers." I saw this as translation: BORING. Fear not, we haven't lost our aggressive edge. We demo'ed 2 songs right before this tour and while "The Fallen" has almost no moshy elements at all, the other is without a doubt the heaviest music we've tracked to date. Faces will melt.
And when do you think it will be released?
Matt: "SYG: New album anticipated for release in 2025" - registered ap.net user. Hahaha but in all seriousness, we have been working on new material and plan to record this Fall/ Winter and have the new record out by next Spring or Summer (tentatively). We will most likely be putting "The Fallen" up online in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!
Will it have an overall theme like the pirate theme for Mutiny?
Matt: The next record's theme will be Star Wars.
Jordan: Haha. That's the running joke amongst our band right now, at least ever since we recorded the Lil Jon cover for 'Punk Goes Crunk' (Fearless Rex! Out now! Check it out!). The pirate theme for Mutiny! was all good and fun, but I'm not sure if we will have something specific for this new record. If we do end up keeping everything within a certain theme, I'd like for it to come naturally as it did with Mutiny!
Matt: the only real "theme" we'll be going for, if you can even call it a theme, may be a broader recurring lyrical message throughout the record. That message is to see through the way things in life appear to be and to do your own research. Look a little closer and see things for what they REALLY are. That has been the most important lesson we've learned over the past 2 years of touring, existing, and surviving as members of this band.
What inspired you to do "Put Yo Hood Up" Lil John for Punk Goes Crunk?
Matt: Weed, mostly. Bitches and 40's may have played a role as well.
Jordan: Yes weed, and Bob Becker. Mainly Bob Becker, though. He's the man who had been behind us for the 'Punk Goes Acoustic: 2' compilation last summer, and was the same person who invited us back for this summer's 'Punk Goes Crunk'. We were immediately stoked on the idea, and when he requested we cover a Lil Jon track, we couldn't say no. It also just fit too perfectly with our band. We were having trouble finding a song we could take ourselves seriously with, so when the Lil Jon suggestion came up, it just made sense. The song "Put Yo Hood Up" in its original composition is one of the most ignorant and fun hip-hop songs in recent memory. We didn't have to take ourselves seriously with it at all. We could keep it fun and ignorant and it would work. All of our friends came out for the song and we messed around with it for a day at a local recording studio. Many thanks to Cyrus Bolooki for his engineering, mixing, and production on the track. He really brought everything together and helped make the song stand out for the PGC Comp.
What inspires you to write about the music industry in song such as "Mutiny"? Is it from a situation or your experiences?
Matt: The lyrics resulted from a series of situations we encountered in our search for a label and all the heroes, fakes, worms and snakes we met along the way.
Jordan: The song was/is an attempt to encourage a younger generation of musicians to hold onto their music and to not buy into what all superiors and seasoned music veterans may tell them. You don't need to be accepted by anyone or any specific music scene to play and tour on the music you want to play. You will meet plenty of amazing and good people along the way who will want to help you out. It's being able to decipher between the two that can be tricky. The hope is that this song
will make people aware of these things, and of the snakes and fakes we've come into contact with, as Matt put it above.
How did the concept for the Echoes video come about?
Jordan: Etypical Films in San Francisco had first contacted us about filming a music video for any of our songs. Since they mostly were a student based film company at the time, they were willing to do the video entirely for cost. They wrote two treatments. One for 'Echoes' and one for 'To Be Continued'. Both were great, but Echoes hit home a little bit more. So we went with that one. It was a pleasure developing the video with them over the course of last year. And many thank you's to all who purchased an Echoes t-shirt in support of the video and Save The Music.
Where did you guys shoot it at?
Jordan: We filmed on 16mm film for two days back in December of last year. We were located in the South Bay Area near San Jose, California, on a soundstage. Two rooms were constructed for the movie, the largest being the performance room. The entire set was constructed by hand and required drilling of over 2,000 holes for the bullet light segments. It was a very intense operation.
Who are those people at the end of the video?
Jordan: Various family and friends of ours. The photographs they are holding are also photos of our own family and friends, past and living.
Did Vinnie ask you guys to play with him? Or how did it come about?
Jordan: The idea first spawned during an I Am The Avalanche/ Set Your
Goals show in Long Island last October. Vinnie had been wanting to put together a backing band for a set of Movielife songs; a means for him to give closure to a band he knows people loved and cared about and never got to see properly one last time. Junior and I got a call from Vinnie while we were both in LA working on some new SYG songs with Mike Green; this was last December, just before we filmed the Echoes video actually. He had been talking with Bamboozle about making the Movielife sets happen at this year's Cali and Jersey Festivals. They were about it, so
he asked SYG to be the backing band, and we of course were all about it
too. I think it's a great idea on his part. And also cool from matt's and my own standpoint, as we get to see SYG perform from the other side. We've all been huge Movielife fans so this is just an all around awesome thing. We've also now added two shows in England at The Peel in Kingston on May 14th and 15th. Movielife was equally cared about all over the world. These two shows for all UK fans will be extra cool I feel.
What do the other guys from TML think about this?
Matt: We haven't spoken directly with them, but from what we've been told they are indifferent to the idea. They had no interest in re-opening that chapter of their lives but weren't opposed to Vinnie getting friends together to play the songs for people one last time. There will never be a Movielife reunion with the original lineup so this is the closest anyone will ever come to seeing TML again. I guess Vinnie just figured better this than nothing, and we agree! I think the fans feel the same way. I know I do. Bamboozle left was incredible, and we're all really looking forward to NJ.
How many times did you guys practice together?
Jordan: Vinnie flew out to Oakland last March, where he and the band spent four days rehearsing songs. We played a last minute secret show of sorts with Silverstein and A Day To Remember during the time that was all happening, and at the end of our set, everyone came out and we played I Hope You Die Soon. That was very rad.
Did you guys talk about maybe having Jordan and/or Matt singing a song
or something?
Matt: It was discussed, but then after reading all of the comments on the TML thread on ap.net we realized that many of the readers do not want us onstage performing Movielife songs at all, much less singing them with Vinnie. Then again, if the kids who post on this site represented the majority of relevant music concert attendees, Bamboozle Left wouldn't have turned out the way it did. The opinions of a few 15 year old kids with little to no understanding of what we do who reply to news threads from their moms' computers with excuses as to why they can't make it out to support the bands they appear to so loyally obsess over because they have to dogsit their neighbors' pomeranians this weekend are of little concern to us. It's obvious to us that people who show "support for the scene" by creating clever profile names incorporating parts of their favorite bands' names to post with akin to "fromfirsttocarl," or "maxbemisisgod," are just oozing with perspective. Way to keep music alive! That being said, there are a lot of passionate and educated people and SYG/TML enthusiasts alike who will read this interview and to all of you, we give thanks! But the reality is kids are there to see Vinnie and they've made that very clear. If it was up to the fans (ourselves included), it'd be the original lineup playing up there with Vinnie, not us. If kids wanna see us play, they know where to find us. We played a show at The Fillmore with Silverstein while Vinnie was in the bay area for TML rehearsal and we closed the set with "I Hope You Die Soon" and sung with him and it was a blast, so maybe we'll come up and do some crew vox again for Bamboozle in Jersey, who knows.
You guys were on Warped last year and this year as well, what are some
pros and cons about being on the tour?
Jordan: I had the best time on Warped Tour last summer, I have to say.
I love getting out in the sun, burning up, staying sweaty. I don't mind
it at all. And everyone I met was great towards me. I also got to see a lot of my favorite bands play daily, so that was the biggest plus of them all. This year is looking like it will be a lot of fun, too. The only cons would be sunburn and heat stroke, but if you keep hydrated and put lots of sun block on, you'll be just fine.
And what tips would you give to bands on the tour for the first time?
Matt: Get a bus. Split one if you can't afford it. We did 2 weeks last
year in our van and it was unbearably hot and we didn't really sleep.
Rest is a precious commodity on tour and is crucial to functioning throughout the long, hot, dirty, all day noise fest that Warped most assuredly is. Dump 'em out!
How was the Japan trip? What was the response like from fans?
Jordan: Japan was incredible, and definitely the most foreign culture any of us have ever visited before. The people in that part of the world are so polite in everything they do. I think we could learn a lot from spending more time over there. The fans are very supportive and respectful. It can be a little awkward during shows at times. In between each song, its customary to remain completely silent so as not to miss any word that is being said. Obviously there is the language barrier as well, but in spite of that, during each song, everybody was going crazy and singing along and having a good time. We played two festivals in Osaka and Kawasaki with Bane, Misery Signals, Comadre, FC Five, and Endzweck, and we've been listening to pretty all of those bands for a while so it was an even bigger added bonus that we were able to share the same stage with them. I hope to be back again soon.
Are you guys gonna find a permanent replacement for Dave?
Matt: Eventually, yes, that is the objective. We're still figuring thing out and in the meantime we've enlisted the talents of our original guitarist Dan Hardluck (the guy Dave replaced), and our good friend Jon Strader of No Trigger.
How does the song-writing process go for your band? Is everyone included from the start or is there one member who does most of the writing?
Jordan: It used to start with some guitar riffs I would write. I would arrange the songs with Mikey, and Matt and I would put lyrics and melody to them. The new album will be a more band involved process so there will no doubt be some new influences and elements on it. I'm excited about that.
I heard a rumor that a number of major labels were interested in syg before you signed with Eulogy, but that they were distracted by the presence of two instruments less lead singers and offered an ultimatum that would require you to limit the band to one if you wanted to be signed. Is this completely made up?
Jordan: This is not entirely true, and somewhat blown out of proportion at this point. It was really a very minor set back, in the long spectrum of things we've done, and as a result we are a stronger, more self sufficient band than we were when we were being pursued by the aforementioned people. For the record, it was an independently run label group, and at the time was not associated entirely with a major label. We do not have anything against the major label world or indie world. There are good and bad to both.
What are some of their memorable show moments or best shows either that they have played or been to?
Matt: Bamboozle Left was honestly one of the best days I've spent with this band since our inception. I went to sleep that night on cloud nine just reminiscing over how gratifying it was to play to that crowd and to have my band be involved (though I wasn't directly) in what turned out to be an amazing experience in The Movielife set as well. It was the closest I'll ever come to seeing my own band live which is deep down every performer's dream in a way. It was truly incredible.
Update on the DVD?
We unfortunately still do not have a dvd to release. It's a very frustrating and unnecessary situation, and there are two sides to this story as with any other one. We apologize to everyone for having promised a dvd multiple times now. It's all part of our learning how to balance our tour lives out with everything else we have going on, and our label not always working entirely in part with us hasn't helped this at all. Please visit our myspace profile to see a few cool videos Mikey has edited from our Australia, Japan, and UK tours. We will continue to put more video content on the web in the meantime of us compiling a proper DVD feature for release.
When did you realize that you guys were going to do music professionally?
Matt: As soon as we realized there were kids who wanted to see us outside of our own state and bands who wanted to take us on tour, pretty much.
Anything else you want to say to the people of AP.net?
Matt: Appreciate bands while they're around. I've seen so many bands come and go without the support or respect they deserve and many of them have come back to do reunions to thousands of kids who only now appreciate the hard work they'd done. It sucks that bands have to struggle so much and sometimes can't even afford to keep going full-time and break up as a result. It seems a lot of kids don't look at them as important contributions to the music scene and sort of take bands for granted until after they're gone. I know we're not going to be around forever and who knows, maybe no one will remember us 10 years from now.
But I also know that there are people who love us and come to see us every night and I'd like to think that we're something more than just a catchy tune to them. We have considered calling off tours to get real jobs in order to survive more than once and that's the other side of the coin that you don't really see (and can't really understand) as a fan until you've been on tour and lived that lifestyle. So in closing, these are my last words to readers: If you love a band, go to their shows, buy their t-shirts, and play their records for your friends. That is the best way you can show your support and love for a band because that allows us to keep eating and driving and doing what we love doing: playing to you. Without you, we are nothing.
Jordan: Thank you guys for your constant interest and support for Set Your Goals. We are excited to get some new music out to all of you soon!!
Matt: Chris Varvaro is a god among men.
Jordan: Yes, Chris V; holdin' down Metro Merch Station, haha. This tour has been awesome for us. Everyone working on the actual tour have been the best people towards us, and the shows are some of the best we've been a part of, no lie. And in a way, I'd say our band has fallen in love with Saves The Day all over again. To see a group of their caliber perform every night is a very awesome thing. From a musician's standpoint, I would hope these are experiences that could also allow our band to grow in the same fashion they have.
What can we expect from the new record?
Jordan: A faster, more structured SYG. A lot of people, including myself, really liked the interludes and shorter, unstructured songs that linked the Mutiny! recordings together. We will assuredly have some of those styled writings again, but this time around we are focusing on putting together more full songs for a full album. We have recently demo'ed out one new song, which we are calling "The Fallen," and to me it lies somewhere in the vein of Strung Out and A Wilhelm Scream. We hope for people to hear this demo soon.
Matt: More consistent songs. The more upbeat party songs will be consistently the same vibe for the entirety of the track rather than spastic fast verses with ultra-poppy choruses leading into chugga styled breakdowns. We realize this is a trend in music right now and that we have contributed to it in some form and we don't want to be pigeonholed into that. This is not to say that our music will lose any of its basic
elements, but they will be more clearly defined as we mature as songwriters. Growing up I always hated it when bands would say, "we've just matured as writers." I saw this as translation: BORING. Fear not, we haven't lost our aggressive edge. We demo'ed 2 songs right before this tour and while "The Fallen" has almost no moshy elements at all, the other is without a doubt the heaviest music we've tracked to date. Faces will melt.
And when do you think it will be released?
Matt: "SYG: New album anticipated for release in 2025" - registered ap.net user. Hahaha but in all seriousness, we have been working on new material and plan to record this Fall/ Winter and have the new record out by next Spring or Summer (tentatively). We will most likely be putting "The Fallen" up online in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!
Will it have an overall theme like the pirate theme for Mutiny?
Matt: The next record's theme will be Star Wars.
Jordan: Haha. That's the running joke amongst our band right now, at least ever since we recorded the Lil Jon cover for 'Punk Goes Crunk' (Fearless Rex! Out now! Check it out!). The pirate theme for Mutiny! was all good and fun, but I'm not sure if we will have something specific for this new record. If we do end up keeping everything within a certain theme, I'd like for it to come naturally as it did with Mutiny!
Matt: the only real "theme" we'll be going for, if you can even call it a theme, may be a broader recurring lyrical message throughout the record. That message is to see through the way things in life appear to be and to do your own research. Look a little closer and see things for what they REALLY are. That has been the most important lesson we've learned over the past 2 years of touring, existing, and surviving as members of this band.
What inspired you to do "Put Yo Hood Up" Lil John for Punk Goes Crunk?
Matt: Weed, mostly. Bitches and 40's may have played a role as well.
Jordan: Yes weed, and Bob Becker. Mainly Bob Becker, though. He's the man who had been behind us for the 'Punk Goes Acoustic: 2' compilation last summer, and was the same person who invited us back for this summer's 'Punk Goes Crunk'. We were immediately stoked on the idea, and when he requested we cover a Lil Jon track, we couldn't say no. It also just fit too perfectly with our band. We were having trouble finding a song we could take ourselves seriously with, so when the Lil Jon suggestion came up, it just made sense. The song "Put Yo Hood Up" in its original composition is one of the most ignorant and fun hip-hop songs in recent memory. We didn't have to take ourselves seriously with it at all. We could keep it fun and ignorant and it would work. All of our friends came out for the song and we messed around with it for a day at a local recording studio. Many thanks to Cyrus Bolooki for his engineering, mixing, and production on the track. He really brought everything together and helped make the song stand out for the PGC Comp.
What inspires you to write about the music industry in song such as "Mutiny"? Is it from a situation or your experiences?
Matt: The lyrics resulted from a series of situations we encountered in our search for a label and all the heroes, fakes, worms and snakes we met along the way.
Jordan: The song was/is an attempt to encourage a younger generation of musicians to hold onto their music and to not buy into what all superiors and seasoned music veterans may tell them. You don't need to be accepted by anyone or any specific music scene to play and tour on the music you want to play. You will meet plenty of amazing and good people along the way who will want to help you out. It's being able to decipher between the two that can be tricky. The hope is that this song
will make people aware of these things, and of the snakes and fakes we've come into contact with, as Matt put it above.
How did the concept for the Echoes video come about?
Jordan: Etypical Films in San Francisco had first contacted us about filming a music video for any of our songs. Since they mostly were a student based film company at the time, they were willing to do the video entirely for cost. They wrote two treatments. One for 'Echoes' and one for 'To Be Continued'. Both were great, but Echoes hit home a little bit more. So we went with that one. It was a pleasure developing the video with them over the course of last year. And many thank you's to all who purchased an Echoes t-shirt in support of the video and Save The Music.
Where did you guys shoot it at?
Jordan: We filmed on 16mm film for two days back in December of last year. We were located in the South Bay Area near San Jose, California, on a soundstage. Two rooms were constructed for the movie, the largest being the performance room. The entire set was constructed by hand and required drilling of over 2,000 holes for the bullet light segments. It was a very intense operation.
Who are those people at the end of the video?
Jordan: Various family and friends of ours. The photographs they are holding are also photos of our own family and friends, past and living.
Did Vinnie ask you guys to play with him? Or how did it come about?
Jordan: The idea first spawned during an I Am The Avalanche/ Set Your
Goals show in Long Island last October. Vinnie had been wanting to put together a backing band for a set of Movielife songs; a means for him to give closure to a band he knows people loved and cared about and never got to see properly one last time. Junior and I got a call from Vinnie while we were both in LA working on some new SYG songs with Mike Green; this was last December, just before we filmed the Echoes video actually. He had been talking with Bamboozle about making the Movielife sets happen at this year's Cali and Jersey Festivals. They were about it, so
he asked SYG to be the backing band, and we of course were all about it
too. I think it's a great idea on his part. And also cool from matt's and my own standpoint, as we get to see SYG perform from the other side. We've all been huge Movielife fans so this is just an all around awesome thing. We've also now added two shows in England at The Peel in Kingston on May 14th and 15th. Movielife was equally cared about all over the world. These two shows for all UK fans will be extra cool I feel.
What do the other guys from TML think about this?
Matt: We haven't spoken directly with them, but from what we've been told they are indifferent to the idea. They had no interest in re-opening that chapter of their lives but weren't opposed to Vinnie getting friends together to play the songs for people one last time. There will never be a Movielife reunion with the original lineup so this is the closest anyone will ever come to seeing TML again. I guess Vinnie just figured better this than nothing, and we agree! I think the fans feel the same way. I know I do. Bamboozle left was incredible, and we're all really looking forward to NJ.
How many times did you guys practice together?
Jordan: Vinnie flew out to Oakland last March, where he and the band spent four days rehearsing songs. We played a last minute secret show of sorts with Silverstein and A Day To Remember during the time that was all happening, and at the end of our set, everyone came out and we played I Hope You Die Soon. That was very rad.
Did you guys talk about maybe having Jordan and/or Matt singing a song
or something?
Matt: It was discussed, but then after reading all of the comments on the TML thread on ap.net we realized that many of the readers do not want us onstage performing Movielife songs at all, much less singing them with Vinnie. Then again, if the kids who post on this site represented the majority of relevant music concert attendees, Bamboozle Left wouldn't have turned out the way it did. The opinions of a few 15 year old kids with little to no understanding of what we do who reply to news threads from their moms' computers with excuses as to why they can't make it out to support the bands they appear to so loyally obsess over because they have to dogsit their neighbors' pomeranians this weekend are of little concern to us. It's obvious to us that people who show "support for the scene" by creating clever profile names incorporating parts of their favorite bands' names to post with akin to "fromfirsttocarl," or "maxbemisisgod," are just oozing with perspective. Way to keep music alive! That being said, there are a lot of passionate and educated people and SYG/TML enthusiasts alike who will read this interview and to all of you, we give thanks! But the reality is kids are there to see Vinnie and they've made that very clear. If it was up to the fans (ourselves included), it'd be the original lineup playing up there with Vinnie, not us. If kids wanna see us play, they know where to find us. We played a show at The Fillmore with Silverstein while Vinnie was in the bay area for TML rehearsal and we closed the set with "I Hope You Die Soon" and sung with him and it was a blast, so maybe we'll come up and do some crew vox again for Bamboozle in Jersey, who knows.
You guys were on Warped last year and this year as well, what are some
pros and cons about being on the tour?
Jordan: I had the best time on Warped Tour last summer, I have to say.
I love getting out in the sun, burning up, staying sweaty. I don't mind
it at all. And everyone I met was great towards me. I also got to see a lot of my favorite bands play daily, so that was the biggest plus of them all. This year is looking like it will be a lot of fun, too. The only cons would be sunburn and heat stroke, but if you keep hydrated and put lots of sun block on, you'll be just fine.
And what tips would you give to bands on the tour for the first time?
Matt: Get a bus. Split one if you can't afford it. We did 2 weeks last
year in our van and it was unbearably hot and we didn't really sleep.
Rest is a precious commodity on tour and is crucial to functioning throughout the long, hot, dirty, all day noise fest that Warped most assuredly is. Dump 'em out!
How was the Japan trip? What was the response like from fans?
Jordan: Japan was incredible, and definitely the most foreign culture any of us have ever visited before. The people in that part of the world are so polite in everything they do. I think we could learn a lot from spending more time over there. The fans are very supportive and respectful. It can be a little awkward during shows at times. In between each song, its customary to remain completely silent so as not to miss any word that is being said. Obviously there is the language barrier as well, but in spite of that, during each song, everybody was going crazy and singing along and having a good time. We played two festivals in Osaka and Kawasaki with Bane, Misery Signals, Comadre, FC Five, and Endzweck, and we've been listening to pretty all of those bands for a while so it was an even bigger added bonus that we were able to share the same stage with them. I hope to be back again soon.
Are you guys gonna find a permanent replacement for Dave?
Matt: Eventually, yes, that is the objective. We're still figuring thing out and in the meantime we've enlisted the talents of our original guitarist Dan Hardluck (the guy Dave replaced), and our good friend Jon Strader of No Trigger.
How does the song-writing process go for your band? Is everyone included from the start or is there one member who does most of the writing?
Jordan: It used to start with some guitar riffs I would write. I would arrange the songs with Mikey, and Matt and I would put lyrics and melody to them. The new album will be a more band involved process so there will no doubt be some new influences and elements on it. I'm excited about that.
I heard a rumor that a number of major labels were interested in syg before you signed with Eulogy, but that they were distracted by the presence of two instruments less lead singers and offered an ultimatum that would require you to limit the band to one if you wanted to be signed. Is this completely made up?
Jordan: This is not entirely true, and somewhat blown out of proportion at this point. It was really a very minor set back, in the long spectrum of things we've done, and as a result we are a stronger, more self sufficient band than we were when we were being pursued by the aforementioned people. For the record, it was an independently run label group, and at the time was not associated entirely with a major label. We do not have anything against the major label world or indie world. There are good and bad to both.
What are some of their memorable show moments or best shows either that they have played or been to?
Matt: Bamboozle Left was honestly one of the best days I've spent with this band since our inception. I went to sleep that night on cloud nine just reminiscing over how gratifying it was to play to that crowd and to have my band be involved (though I wasn't directly) in what turned out to be an amazing experience in The Movielife set as well. It was the closest I'll ever come to seeing my own band live which is deep down every performer's dream in a way. It was truly incredible.
Update on the DVD?
We unfortunately still do not have a dvd to release. It's a very frustrating and unnecessary situation, and there are two sides to this story as with any other one. We apologize to everyone for having promised a dvd multiple times now. It's all part of our learning how to balance our tour lives out with everything else we have going on, and our label not always working entirely in part with us hasn't helped this at all. Please visit our myspace profile to see a few cool videos Mikey has edited from our Australia, Japan, and UK tours. We will continue to put more video content on the web in the meantime of us compiling a proper DVD feature for release.
When did you realize that you guys were going to do music professionally?
Matt: As soon as we realized there were kids who wanted to see us outside of our own state and bands who wanted to take us on tour, pretty much.
Anything else you want to say to the people of AP.net?
Matt: Appreciate bands while they're around. I've seen so many bands come and go without the support or respect they deserve and many of them have come back to do reunions to thousands of kids who only now appreciate the hard work they'd done. It sucks that bands have to struggle so much and sometimes can't even afford to keep going full-time and break up as a result. It seems a lot of kids don't look at them as important contributions to the music scene and sort of take bands for granted until after they're gone. I know we're not going to be around forever and who knows, maybe no one will remember us 10 years from now.
But I also know that there are people who love us and come to see us every night and I'd like to think that we're something more than just a catchy tune to them. We have considered calling off tours to get real jobs in order to survive more than once and that's the other side of the coin that you don't really see (and can't really understand) as a fan until you've been on tour and lived that lifestyle. So in closing, these are my last words to readers: If you love a band, go to their shows, buy their t-shirts, and play their records for your friends. That is the best way you can show your support and love for a band because that allows us to keep eating and driving and doing what we love doing: playing to you. Without you, we are nothing.
Jordan: Thank you guys for your constant interest and support for Set Your Goals. We are excited to get some new music out to all of you soon!!