TONY HARBOR IS IN AN ALTERNATIVE METAL BAND FROM SOUTH CAROLINA CALLED SOULS HARBOR. IN 2006 THEY RELEASED AN ALBUM CALLED "WRITINGS ON THE WALL" INCLUDING THEIR SINGLE "BURNING SOULS". THE BAND WHO HAS BEEN PLAYING TOGETHER FOR FIVE YEARS HAS OPENED UP FOR OR SHARED THE STAGE WITH BANDS LIKE GODSMACK, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, CHEVELLE, HINDER, AND MANY MORE. THEY ARE ENDORSED BY JAGERMUSIC.COM, AYER CLOTHING, WHO'S YOUR DADDY ENERGY DRINK, COFFIN CASE, KILLER PEAKS, AND REBEL STRAP COMPANY. RECENTLY HE TOOK TIME OUT TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS.

MUEN: HI! TONY AND THANKS FOR TALKING WITH MUEN. WHY DON'T WE START WITH YOU TELLING US WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING WITH YOUR BAND SOULS HARBOR.

TONY HARBOR: Thank you so much for this opportunity. Right now we are focusing on writing our next cd (Produced by Eric Bass and also Corey Lowery from Dark New Day) which will be a EP so we can shop it to labels. We are taking longer to write on this album and writing some of the best music we have ever thrown out there. Also we are keeping the songs a secret until the cd release parties. Except for "Raise Up Your Fist" which we play as a "sneak peak" to our fans from time to time. We are playing mostly local shows and traveling for a few opening slots on some bigger national act shows but only in the southeast regions till this cd is done being recorded in November.

MUEN: TELL US ABOUT YOUR CD "WRITINGS ON THE WALL". WHAT WAS THE RELEASE DATE? WHERE WAS IT RECORDED? WHO HELPED TO PRODUCE IT?

TONY HARBOR: The release date for "Writings On The Wall" was 07/25/2006 from Crash Music. It was recorded in Charleston SC at a couple different studios but we were working with the same producer. Basically when we ended up getting signed (who we have parted ways with) we had 2 EP's that we made for shopping the music industry purposes and the label liked all the songs so much that they just put the 2 EP's together and re-mastered them and also added a bonus track which is the remix of our radio song "Burning Souls". At the end of it the cd ended up with 10 songs all being produced by Eric Bass. He is just an amazing producer with so many great ideas.

MUEN: DID YOU HELP WITH ANY OF THE WRITING?

TONY HARBOR: Yes, the writing process is such a great thing to experience especially when working with a producer because they help open your eyes to so many more ideas and possibilities for a record. It feels really good to see your ideas being used on something that gets published and released worldwide.

MUEN: ARE RADIO STATIONS SUPPORTING YOU BY PLAYING YOUR SONGS?

TONY HARBOR: Right now we do not have a radio campaign going for our songs because we left our label. However Rock 106.1 in Savannah GA/Hilton Head SC and 98x in Charleston SC spin our songs "Burning Souls" and "Scared"

MUEN: DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET HEARD IT.

TONY HARBOR: Haha this is always such a hard question to answer. Definetly a mix between Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow...joking joking...We are a Heavy Rock/Metal band that definately doesn't leave out the singing and melodic backings. We just like to write for what we feel and what we know can help others relate to us or get by with things that have happened in their life. Our singer has an amazing range, Drums arent over done yet still heavy and tasteful, Bass is very grooving, and Guitars are heavy with beautiful clean parts. We have put our whole heart and soul into these songs.

MUEN: SOULS HARBOR HAS BEEN THROUGH MANY CHANGES. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHANGES? WHICH CHANGES HAVE BEEN POSITIVE FOR THE BAND?

TONY HARBOR: Yeah we have. It's always good to try to focus on the good when there is a change in a band. Otherwise your just going to be giving into the idiot that left and he/she is getting what they want. Basically we have had a problem with keeping a drummer. We have had some real idiots join the band and just end up being nothing what we thought they were. Its definetly been positive though just because when you have those people in the band that are always whining or complaining it just brings you down as a band but when they leave its like a breath of fucking fresh air.

MUEN: HAVE YOU TOURED? WHICH STATES HAVE YOU PLAYED IN? HAVE YOU PLAYED IN OTHER COUNTRIES?

TONY HARBOR: We haven't toured any other countries yet. God I wish but hopefully sometime soon. We have something in the making right now that sounds promising for us going over seas but we will have to see if it pans out our way!!! We have done some east coast tours with our friends in Black Market Hero. When we do our tours with them we usually hit up as many states on the eastern part of the US as possible. Usually FL, SC, AL, GA, NC, VA, WVA, OH, IN, PA, NYC areas. We have also participated in the summer session of NAMM which is held in Austin TX. That was a BLAST except for our nasty hotel rooms haha. Got to meet some amazing people there. So keep your fingers crossed for someone putting us out on a full US tour.

MUEN: EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT A DAY ON TOUR IS LIKE. FROM THE MOMENT YOU WAKE UP UNTIL THE MOMENT YOU GO TO SLEEP/PASS OUT.

TONY HARBOR: Man a full day on tour...IS BORING!!! no no. Usually starts off with our tour manager Big Rob yelling at us to wake up because we either A) have to be on the road to the next show later that day or B) have to wake up for load in because we are already in the city where we are playing. We get to club and load in our gear and make sure everything is working properly. After all that is done usually one of us whine to Rob and ask him to find out when our rider is going to be given to us AKA we want to start drinking hahaha. Johnny and I are usually the ones that find the good places to eat while on the road. its usually a pretty good 4-6 hours your at a club before the doors are opened to the fans so we usually try to find something fun to do. Internet on the laptops is usually what it comes down to. Our past tour with BMH we took a Beer Pong table on the road with us. That was pretty rad. Then fans start flowing in and we mix and mingle with friends/fans. We all meet up about 10 minutes before our show starts, do our band handshake, and then put on a show. We try to help Big Rob and roadies with our gear to the trailor but sometimes we just turn into social people and fly away to meet fans. Doug is usually the one that goes and does the merch booth. Then after that if we weren't headlining we will watch our friends play and then party and hang out at the club. Next day start all over with Big Rob yelling and telling us to get up out of the hotel beds or he is going to kill us hahaha.

MUEN: WHAT WAS IT LIKE PLAYING WITH GODSMACK? WERE YOU NERVOUS?

TONY HARBOR: Dude that was fucking AMAZING. They were such nice guys. went out of their way to make sure we were having a good time. Sully even had his assistant lady go out and get us snacks and drinks for our dressing room. Even their manager came in and gave us tshirts from the tour and shit. You just don't see that too much when playing with alot of bigger nationals. Actually i wasn't nervous at all. I never really get nervous just very anxious and ready to be on stage. I'm always the same before every show. Anywhere from an hour to 45 minutes before a show i get so sleepy where i could just go lay in a bunk and pass out till 5 minutes before show time. Get up and go put on a show. Our band has always had the outlook of 5 or 5000 meaning just put on a show everynight even if there are only 5 people there.

MUEN: ALRIGHT, YOURE A FUN LOVING GUY SO TELL ME ABOUT THE CRAZIEST SHOW YOU'VE PLAYED. WHERE WAS IT?

TONY HARBOR: Craziest show....It's SOO hard to just single out one show. I would have to say any show we play in Charleston SC or Hilton Head SC is crazy b/c they NEVER stop amazing us. Every show they grow more and more and just got even crazier. But im going to have to make this ? a "craziest tour" b/c the craziest tour i have been on would probably have to be our 1st tour with our friends in Black Market Hero. Those guys are fucking crazy and just as wild as us. Everynight (like most tours) was pretty much a party. There are pictures all over our myspace's about it. Like the one where we are driving down the highway or something in Allentown PA and im hanging on the side walk rails of the van. That was a lil nuts when i woke up and saw those pictures i was like "dude..i could have fucking died" hahah. On that same tour we ended up getting banned from the Days Inn. TOTALLY not our fault. Basically just a night of jumpiing into walls and other crazy stuff i would rather not get into. It was very sad at the end of the tour but the last show in NC was amazing. They pulled a prank and all pulled tables and chairs up on the stage during our set and pretended to read the paper and stuff..it was funny. Then we had my guitar tech get in his boxers and go booty dance on them and had the front of house guy cut their sound and put on "bringing sexy back" from JT hahahahah

MUEN: YOU AND I ARE BOTH BIG AYER CLOTHING SUPPORTERS. THAT'S HOW WE MET :) TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT EACH OF YOUR ENDORSERS.

TONY HARBOR: Yes mam! we sure did!! Ayer is amazing and treat me unbelievably. Peter(the owner) is really down to earth and always up for shooting the shit and talking about just normal stuff going on. Jagermeister is our longest endorsement. They are HUGE supporters of heavy music and always been there for us such as putting us on tours (slayer/killswitch engage and stone sour, shadows fall, lacuna coil). Really nice guys over there as well always sending us swag and shit to pass out at shows. Who's Your Daddy energy drink is our newest endorsement. They actually have a green tea drink that is pretty fucking good suprisingly because i dont like most energy drinks.The other flavors are just as good too!!! We always have those to pass out at shows. Coffin Cases just picked us up which is really rad they support alot of bands and have awesome cases and beautiful models for them. Rebel straps is our strap company endorsement. They aren't HUGE but they have Killswitch Engage, P.O.D., and As I Lay Dying. The straps are really comfortable and very tuff. Last but not least we are endorsed by Killer Peaks Surf/Skate Shop. It's a local shop here in our hometown. Very cool guy owns it that is all about our music and helping eachother out! Its always a great thing when locals can come together and help. We are both coming up with some great ideas for the future. There are some other ones we are working on right now but don't want to talk about them till we have them signed on with us.

MUEN: WHAT'S UP NEXT FOR THE BAND? ARE YOU WORKING ON NEW MUSIC?

TONY HARBOR: Yep yep we are actually in the writing process right now. then sometime in early nov. we will be doing pre-production for our songs and then we are in the studio with Eric Bass and Corey Lowery from Dark New Day. We are very excited to get this shit out there and start playing it. No song names have been decided on yet except for "Raise Up Your Fist".

MUEN: IF I WERE TO ASK PEOPLE WHO KNOW YOU TO DESCRIBE YOU AS A PERSON, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE'D SAY?

TONY HARBOR: hahahaha i went to the almighty myspace for this question and asked on a bulletin "if you were to describe me in 5 words or 2 short sentences what would you say?" answers were, crazy, funny, outgoing, NUTS, from mars..yes definetly from another planet or something, animal crackers, peaceful, laid back, talented, BLUNT, dirty rocker, dread head, all about jager, very secretive, honest, loyal to fans, social butterfly to the max, ALWAYS takes time to respond to messages, totally retarded and love to live life to the max even though you almost kill yourself sometimes, the epitome of a professional musician (i cant lie i had to go to dictionary.com for the def. of epitome hahah). The two sentences that were posted that i guess could describe me good was, "tony is the real deal... he is funny... honest... and lives life to its fullest... he not only loves music... it lives in his soul... this is apparent when you watch him on stage... he is contagious." and "your a down to earth, stand up guy, awesome musician, who is always willing to help someone in need.."

MUEN: ON THAT NOTE, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SHOUT OUT TO YOUR FANS??

TONY HARBOR: Just thank you SOOO much for everyone everyone has ever done for us anywhere we have ever played. It means alot because YOU are the reason we play. Thanks for always telling us kindly what you like and don't like about our band. Thanks for always coming out to our shows and dealing with our dumb asses while on stage!!!

MUEN: THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW. WE AT MUEN WISH YOU THE VERY BEST AND A SUCCESSFUL FUTURE.

TONY HARBOR: No no thank you SO much for the chance to do this!!! means alot!!!!

Interview by Shauna O'Donnell