The Punk Archive: Hey Sean-Paul, introduce yourselves to our readers?
Sean-Paul: I'm Sean-Paul and I play bass/vocals, John and Mike play guitar and Justin plays drums.
The Punk Archive: Tell us about your musical style: who are your influences and how would you describe yourselves?
Sean-Paul: Our style is a collective admiration for the 90's Epi/FAT sound that was crucial to our musical upbringings. Individual influences are bands like Descendents to Lagwagon to 7 Seconds. When describing ourselves it would be a bit of a "full circle story" Justin, John and I all grew up in the Orange/Ulster County punk scene. John played in a band called Beefcake before he moved on to The Ataris, Justin and I played in a band called Jerk Magnet before both moving onto Anadivine and I started Nightmares for a Week. Mike grew up in a tight knit New Jersey scene where we met him playing in Hidden in Plain View (which happened to be Anadivine's first U.S. tour). The Orange/Ulster scene was packed with bands and shows everywhere and everyday and it seemed the goal was "get signed to Epitaph or Fat", the scene did pump out bands like Autopilot Off, Matchbook Romance and a swarm of bands that should have been huge. These shows and this scene made us who we are today. It was truly something to be a part of. In a sense we're just back to doing what we love.
The Punk Archive: What can fans expect to see at your live shows?
Sean-Paul: Hopefully something they'll want to see again. We don't have any "show" other than playing the songs we wrote to the best of our ability. Twenty to twenty-five minutes of music, that's the show.
The Punk Archive: How was the writing and recording process for Do You Feel Any Better??
Sean-Paul: Writing and recording this EP was accidental and unconventional I guess. In going back to the full circle theme I had written some fast songs I wanted Justin to play drums on so he came to my basement studio and we tracked some stuff. When we were done I was really excited about it. Justin wasn't opposed to starting something new so I scouted around to see if anyone else wanted to pursue such a project. John actually was pretty into the idea and he had an arsenal of songs that blew me away. We went through everything we had and went into Nada Recording studio with our good friend John Naclerio (My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, Polar Bear Club) to track the best five ideas (yes there's a song we never finished and basically forgot about). We then took the sessions to our individual studios and tracked guitars and bass by ourselves then we headed back to Nada to track vocals and we made a decision to get this EP mixed at the Blasting Room as we've all wanted to hear a project of ours mixed in that iconic building... The whole time we had no idea if we were going to play live or how to release the final product. Luckily Mike was more than happy to join the band and Vinnie (Less Than Jake) wanted to release it via Paper + Plastick... So here we are!
The Punk Archive: How has reaction been?
Sean-Paul: All reactions so far have been great, we don't hide our influences so we hear about the similarities in reviews and at live shows and it's a great feeling. I think it's a great time to be playing good, fast melodic punk music.
The Punk Archive: Are you excited to play Fest?
Sean-Paul: We are, I have had the honour of making this my fifth FEST and it's always a great place to be if you like being surrounded by music (non-stop), great food and beer....there's a lot of beer there, drink some water if you get a chance.
The Punk Archive: We've never been before, what should we expect?
Sean-Paul: Shirts that have Black Flag logos but don't say Black Flag...other than that, just a great time all around. I don't know how to answer this question, as every FEST I've been to has been a unique adventure...don't bank on getting a cab after midnight.
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