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| ::Interviews:: |
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| interviewed by robby sumner |
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Frankie Hammonds - Vocals, Guitar Jeremy Kramer - Guitar Pat McGinnis - Bass, Vocals Frank Harrison Jr. - Drums, Vocals |
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| Interview with Frankie and Frank May 22nd, 2004 |
| E: So Better Luck Next Year is a self-proclaimed pop-punk band with music that seems to just keep getting better. Do you ever worry that stereotypes of your genre will cause people to have preconceptions about your music? Frank: Well, there are always going to be stereotypes when it comes to everything, and you just gotta do what you love to do and what you have a deep passion for, and not worry about negative stuff like that. We love the music we work hard to create and this is what we want to do, so we just really try not to think about stuff like that, except in some cases. Preconceived notions will always be there, and you just gotta do what you love. Frankie: Couldn't have said it better myself. E: Would you say that your musical talents are best suited for this genre? Frankie: Oh yeah... country music is too hard to play. Frank: *Laughs* Frankie: Yeah... our genre is what we are well suited to play. This is what we love to play, so I think our talents are good enough for sure. Frank: Well, that is a tough question. I would say that we could definitely fit well with a lot of other styles of music, and we could definitely be doing other stuff... but this is our passion. Punk rock is our passion, and so we choose this over doing anything else. But I do believe we could do whatever we put our minds to... if you work hard, you can do anything. E: Fans have a tendency to describe a band's sound through comparison to another group... do you ever use this method to explain your own music? Frankie: Yeah, I think a lot of bands do that, too... I don't really want to say that we sound like another band, but we do compare, just to give some people an idea of what we sound like. Frank: I think that sometimes, when we are introducing our music to people who have never heard it, we will mention a couple of bands who we feel are similar bands to what we do... so in a way, I would say we do on some occasions. It does good in some cases and bad in others... *Laughs* So we usually just say that we have "our own blend of pop-punk rock." Frankie: With a bit of hip-hop. E: How has your music evolved over the time that you've been a band? Frank: Well, we have only been a serious band for about a year and a half, so we haven't been at this for an extremely long time... but we just always push ourselves to create the best songs we possible can. We are always striving to be the best we can at what we do, so that is definitely one of the key factors that has helped our music get to where it is at thus far. Frankie: We have all gotten so much better, musically, and that has helped us write the best songs that we possibly can. E: Who could be called "members of the band" aside from those who play instruments in it? Frank: That is a very interesting question. I don't want to leave anyone out, or make anyone upset at all 'cause they weren't mentioned... so I will just say that all of our friends that are friends of the band, overall, are equally as important and mean a lot to us. Their support and help means the world to us. Frankie: My little brother Chris could be considered a member. He has been on tour with us, and it just seems like sometimes he's a member... our friend Stench could be a member--he's always giving us advice, and supporting us all the time. Frank: Yeah, Stench is one of the most devoted and closest friends of the band. Frankie: But, yeah... that's kind of a hard question. But a good one. E: Would it be possible to sum up a typical BLNY song? Frank: And yet again, we have another interesting question... *Laughs* Frankie: I would say... fast, slow... medium... any of those speeds. Frank: It just keeps getting better and better. *Laughs* Frankie: We also like to get technical in our songs, and [we] try to be as creative as possible. Frank: The final verdict on your question would be that we hope you can't sum up a typical BLNY song... we hope we leave you guessing and wanting more. E: How often do things with the band go as was planned? Frank: *Laughs* Frankie: Not very often. Something always falls through. It's almost like we weren't mean to be... but it's just something that we have realized all bands go through. Frank: That is a very funny question, to be honest... I mean... when you are in an up-and-coming band who is relatively unknown to the masses... you always go through struggles and ups and downs, and you just gotta do your best and make it through. We definitely have stuff that goes as planned at times, and of course stuff that doesn't go according to plan... so it really just depends on each situation. But hey, if you want something bad enough... you will do whatever you got to and you will put up with all the ups and downs. E: What are your hopes for the band this coming year? Frankie: To do a lot of touring... getting our name out a lot more. Frank: We hope to definitely continue touring as much as possible, and we definitely hope that our CD sells well once it comes out June 1st. Frankie: Yeah, I'm definitely hoping we sell a lot of CDs. Frank: We are just hoping to keep this moving forward, and to build upon the positive things we have had happening to our band this year thus far. Our primary hope would be, of course, to take as many steps towards making a good living off of this band as possible. E: And what sort of long-term goals are there? Frank: *Laughs* Well, to be honest, I could keep you here for a month straight telling you all of the things we want to accomplish as a band... there are so many, pertaining to so many different things. So to give you short-and-simple... we want to share our music with as many people as possible on Earth, and we want to make an honest living off of our band and be around for a very long time, rocking the f*ck out! Frankie: I would like to get signed to a good size label, and just be able to make a living off of my band. We don't have to be huge, although that would be nice... but being able to make a good living doing something I love would definitely be a goal of mine. Frank: We definitely want to play as many places on Earth, too... hell, I'd even rock out on Antarctica if we could. *Laughs* But yeah, we want to share the music we work very hard to create with everyone on Earth that we can... and that is what it is all about. E: Well, thanks a lot for the time--it was fun. Best of luck to you guys. Frank: Thank you so much for letting us do this interview... it was definitely a lot of fun for the family. Frankie: This really means a lot to us... thanks again. |
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