interview with allen

so in one word (if possible) how was your tour to australia?
kick-ass (the dash makes it one word)

i hear you loved it so much you may be coming back in march?
yes we are in march or april. it will probably be with mxpx.

having the be the one ep released in australia, you must feel good about that? your music is being heard on the other side of the world. ever expect the band would be this big?
never. never thought we'd visit australia either. we've had some die hard fans out there who have been listening to miss fortune for a while now. I'm sure they got it off the internet. the ep wasn't really a release. it was supposed to be but because of time constaints we only released around 500 copies. so if you got one at the show or at the local stores you have just got a very limited edition. also, we weren't happy with the recording so you can guarantee that more copies won't be made. but we will release a full length off Shock Records before we return in March/April.

you toured with good charlotte for a bit. how were those guys?
actually we were supposed to but that didn't work out. we heard that the ticket prices would be around 35 dollars, and no one should pay that much to see anyone. so we decided to do our own tour to keep prices down. we did play with GC at the livid festival. they are nice guys.

how did livid go? ever heard of the festival before playing there?
actually i have heard of it. only because our australian fans would email us about it. it was awesome. we met so many cool people. i hope we can do it again next year.

had you ever been to australia before?
never been before. but i promise you that it will soon be our home away from home.

what's weird about australia?
actually i find it very similar to california. weather, people, etc... only thing weird is that i almost get hit by cars when i cross the street. actually i drove back to our hotel after our sunshine coast show. that was cool

did you get your hands on any good aussie tucker?
not me. but i won't comment on the other band members.

i read steve like surfing, did he get a surf in while you were here?
no. we checked it out, but the surf wasn't happening while we were there. maybe next time.

what's the reason behind making heaps of your stuff available fore download from mp3.com?
we just kinda said fuck the whole label bullshit and put everything up for free. it was a way to give back to our fans.

just one last silly observation, i noticed that allen and darin have furry/hairy guitar straps. what's the deal with steve, too cool for 'em hey?
well, darin copied me. darin's looks more like a stuffed animal than a guitar strap. i'm responsible for anything cool and original in this band. i have to tell them how to dress and i have to pick out their clothes and everthing. hahahahha