Can I just say what a hell of a guy Zach is? I haven’t met someone so friendly and eager to just, talk, in years. Before I got anywhere close to starting my interview we already knew a lot about each other. I showed him where the band’s dressing room was, he got me a soda, and we talked about our favorite bands, both Irish! For me, Ash, for him, U2. We had already discussed how kick ass “Burn Baby Burn” was and lit cigarettes before I got to turn on my tape…
Since I don’t know much about the band, but am impressed, I’m going to try my best to get to know you…what are your musical influences?
Well, we’ve already touched on them briefly. U2 is probably the biggest influence on me as far as songwriting goes because they can write timeless songs…that are fantastically uplifting that make you want to…go write songs.
What are you listening to right now?
I’ve been listening to The Exit a whole lot. You like them? The Brand New record. I like all kinds of music. Pig Destroyer, really gnarly grind metal. I listen to a lot of music. I try to be diverse.
What got you into music?
It’s the only thing I want to do, for every single day of my life. I’m into music so I can get a point across, a couple of them. And because I like being a part of it. I like being a part of the crop of bands right now actually putting out good music right now and touring their asses off.
How do you like touring?
Love it.
It doesn’t get to you after a while? The dives?
This place is fucking top of the ladder. The place we played last night was a fucking dive. That was in Pittsburgh…er, no, Philadelphia, excuse me. We played in front of 25 people…shit.
What are your favorite bands to play with?
The RX Bandits, Vaux, The Movielife…so many good bands! The Used and Thrice, those are probably my favorites…off the top of my head. Brand New are one of my favorites too, they are just so cool, so nice.
How’s the tour been so far?
We did a tour right before this one too, but this tour we’ve been on for a month. The tour we were on right before that was for 2 weeks.
What’s your best gig of all time?
Probably the last time we were in Pittsburgh at Club Laga, which was maybe like, a week and a half ago. That was fucking amazing, that was just ridiculous. The vibe was totally positive. The kids were just fucking running off the stage. During the set, I did the gnarliest fucking flip off the stage into the crowd. It was rad…That’s been the highlight of the tour!
I’ve heard about the energetic stage show…I posted on the band’s messageboard to get a few questions, and one of them was is the band really into the stage show or is it choreographed?
I can understand somebody that’s not involved in music…if they’re really young and have only been exposed to pre-packaged corporate pop, which is choreographed, it’s natural for them to have that conclusion for everybody. Real bands on our level tend to do things sporadically and unintentionally, that’s how the best work gets done.
Are you sick of doing interviews yet?
It’s been a relatively new thing for us. I’m just really starting to get over my stage fright as far as interviews go. It feels as though the microphone is turned on for the whole world to hear and I don’t want to say anything stupid.
Few more fan questions, again about the energetic live shows, were you hyper kids in school?
All of us. Yes. We spent a whole lot of school in detention. I spent a whole lot of school in the park across the street smoking weed.
Me too. When are you coming back to Seattle?
We’ll be there for a little bit in March; we don’t have anything set up yet. Hopefully by the time we get there we’ll have something set up.
When are you going back to The Troubadour?
The last time we played there was so fun! I hope soon! Can you put that? Hopefully soon!
Time for soundcheck?
I don’t think we get one…we don’t normally. It sucks, but you will see us live!
I turned off the mic at this stage so we could talk off the record. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who used words like “gnarly” or “rad” who was actually cool! Hard to believe this band is from Seattle, right? The live show was a little darker than Zach’s long, curly, blonde locks, but was equally likable. The “fuck yeah” from him after every song solidified his good-natured humility and positivity. The standing on top of the crowd and whirlwind jumps and dances with the mic were merely icing on the cake. Check the rest of the band out at www.VendettaRed.com
