Interview with Army of Freshmen
Posted on Oct 27, 2007 by DevotedToMusic
Army of Freshmen are a 6 piece Pop Rock band from Ventura, California.
They have played over 1000 shows withing 10 countries and have supported and opened shows for bands such as AFI, Alkaline Trio, Billy Talent, The Buzzcocks,Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte and many more.
I Alexandra McLoughlin was able to grab Chris for a quick chat about touring, the band and much more...
You’ve played over 1000 shows in 42 states and 9 countries. That sounds incredible!
10 Countries. We went to France and now we’re at 10.
What were your favourite shows to play?
Oh my god! Of all time?
Yeah.
I loved playing in Japan. I love playing in England. Anytime we’re playing with Bowling for Soup is great. And if I had to pick a favourite of all time I’d probably have to pick Supersonic which is a massive Japanese festival that we played in 2003. It was just like being a rockstar for the weekend. Like real deal!
You must have a very large fan base. How does that make you feel?
Oh it’s an honour! I mean our fans are like our friends and it means a lot when people care about our band. It really, really does.
Why did you deicide to co-found the Get Happy Tour along with Bowling for Soup?
Well…Jaret and I just wanted to create a tour. We wanted to create something that’s an Anti-Taste of Chaos. Something fun, something where bands were in a good mood and kids had a great time and everything was upbeat. That was our main goal. Obviously it’s gone great in the UK because Bowling for Soup significantly are a really big band in this country and in America it’s going good too so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that we can find some support and keep going and do another year, do it for 3 years in a row.
I hear you’re close mates with BFS. What was it about your 2003 tour with them that really made you close?
I think they saw a lot of themselves in us in terms of a band who a lot of other bands want to take out, a band who really got in the van and really, really worked hard and was fun. I think they are kind of like kindred spirits then of course they are just the most wonderful guys you would ever want to meet and I am really honoured to be friends with them cause beyond the band they are just good guys and guys that you would wanna hangout with as friends.
Are you quite similar as people then?
Erm..I think so. I think they are a little more Texas relaxed and we’re a little more uptight California but we’re very much very similar. We have a lot of similar interests in movies and comedy and its great touring with them. It’s a real honour. It’s very special.
Do you think you 2 will tour again together in the UK soon?
God I hope! They are my friends and I like touring with them anywhere to be honest with you.
Just a bit about your band. Who in your band has the worst bad habits?
Oh. Everyone in my band has something that I would change, including myself. So nobody’s perfect and our band is just like a reminder of that. When you spend so much time with people your really focused on their bad habits and not their good habits so for everything about everybody in a band there is something good about them too.
And I know that you probably don’t get much sleep because you are always on tour. Who gets the moodiest with lack of sleep?
Oh that is a great question! Um..(laughs)….
Is it you?
No, no, no it’s not me. I would say it’s a 3 way tie between Kai and Aaron and Mike and Dan (laughs) so everybody gets moody. Everybody that’s not a Libra in the band gets moody.
Libra?
Yes. I’m a Libra and so is Owen so we’re the wussies, we’re the chilled guys.
What is the worst prank that has been played on you as a band?
Great question. Well last night there was a pretty intense prank. Dan feel asleep with his shoes…he looked like neon Nazi Paul Stanley of Kiss and there are pictures of him holding a glowing Jesus statue and ya’know with earplugs shoved up his nose. So last night was pretty bad for Dan.
Have you ever done a gig here in Brighton before?
Very first show ever, blown away, love the city it’s beautiful and I think the beach is beautiful, everyone has been incredibly nice, it’s Saturday night and I think this is one of my favourite shows ever tonight.
How long have you been here in Brighton?
Since this morning.
Do you plan to come back here at all?
If anyone will have us we’ll be here in a heartbeat.
You are sort of similar to a band called Simple Plan. Have you every thought of touring with them?
Um..if they asked us we’d do it but they are very big and very rich and I don’t think they are really thinking about Army of Freshmen.
Maybe you should try and get a tour sorted out with them…
Yeah give em a call (does an impression of being on the phone to them) “Hi, my name’s Chris. I know your rich and I’m not and I know you’re famous and I’m not but I’d love to play with you”.
You’ve toured with Good Charlotte before and they’re mates. Maybe they could hook you up.
Yeah true, true. I mean it’s kinda weird but when you talk about those really big rock ‘n’ roll bands like that there’s a lot of politics that go with that. We don’t really take part. So I mean if one of those bands called I’d love to play with them but at the same time we don’t have the big label support, we don’t have the money and all the bulls**t that sort of comes with that.
And finally what is your biggest goal as a band?
To pay the bills. Everybody can be in Army of Freshmen and pay their bills and have no problem whatsoever. Money is our big financial and personal obstacle. As much as we love this we’re adults and we have bills and things to pay for and things to take care of at home. It’s very hard without the support from a big label or any label for that matter. At the same time there’s a real pride in the independence that comes with being an independent band. At the same time we need to pay the bills. It’s kinda like a catch 22.
Thank you for allowing me to interview you.
Well thank you very much. It’s my first super fast interview and we right now, just in case nobody is gonna be able to see where we are but we are in a hallway doorway in the hallway, pretty much looks like we’re locked in an elevator. It’s nice, it’s nice.
More like a cupboard.
Yeah…(Laughs) You should call this ‘The Interview in the Cupboard’.
(Laughs) Classic!
Interview Information
Taken At:
Brighton Centre
Taken On:
October 20th, 2007
Interviewees:
Chris - Lead Vocals
Related Links:
- www.armyoffreshmen.com
- www.myspace.com/armyoffreshmen
- www.purevolume.com/armyoffres...
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_...
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