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Peter G.: I'm Peter Granquist and I vocalize.
Nils J: I'm Nils Johnson and I play the bass.
Pat K.: I'm Pat Kenna and I play guitar.
Chris P.: I'm Chris Papa…(hesitates then all laugh) Papadopoulos and I play guitar as well.
Peter S.: I'm Peter Strumolo and I play the drums.
D.R.: How did you guys come together?
Peter G.: We actually formed a band last year with Pat Kenna, Nils and myself--and I played the drums and there was a kid named Dan Masterson who decided to stay in Egypt and then never came back--so we got a drummer and a guitarist to fill his place.
D.R.: So you met at Bates?
Peter G.: Yeah, we all lived in Parker. That was me, Peter, Nils and Dan. We recorded it last year after school got out--in Westford, Mass.
D.R.: Why did you make the album?
Peter G.: The real reason we made it was because we thought it would be fun but also because we were hoping to get gigs outside of school and we needed something to send people so they would know what we sounded like.
D.R.: How do you go about the song writing process?
Peter G.: Nowadays, it's mostly Pat who'll come in with riffs and melodies…
Chris P.: The Boss…
Peter G.: And then we'll just sort of jam on the ideas he brings in and form them into songs. Recently, Pat and I have started writing lyrics together â€" sort of a service group process â€" but I'd say that Pat writes most of the starting points.
Pat K.: And Chris writes some riffs as well and brings them in.
Chris P.: Pat fixes them (laughs).
D.R.: Are you coming out with another album?
Peter G.: A live album maybe a double EP…with a built-in DVD.
Pat K.: We're working on a lot of new material so I'd assume by the end of the year here, ya know, we'll have a good albums worth of new material.
Peter G.: We'll make it.
Chris P.: It'll be sadder than the last one (laughs).
Peter G.: With a little more metal.
Chris P.: And also a little sadder.
D.R.: What are your musical influences?
Peter G.: Bowie.
All: Yeah Bowie.
Pat K.: I think when we were starting off and especially when Dan was here â€"we looked to The Stones and The Strokes a lot.
Peter G.: When Dan and I first looked at the band, there was too much hippie music at Bates and dirty folk and jam band stuff…(under his breath) dude I think people are gonna be real pissed…
Nils J.: So we pursued a less popular type of music.
Peter G.: And we said let's make rock and roll and do something that most people on campus aren't doing.
Pat K.: We just wanna rock. That's the goal pretty much. Yeah.
Peter G.: And we picked a really offensive name for our band and made the school wanna hold candlelight vigils and stuff.
D.R.: Do you guys like to listen to music that's being played on the radio today?
Nils J.: No.
Peter G.: We all have eclectic tastes in music. Papa really likes emo.
Chris P.: I really like emo. I'm an emo kid.
Peter G.: But I don't think we'd say as a group that we all enjoy today's music.
D.R.: What's in rotation on your iPod?
Peter G.: Really recently I've been listening to lots of Chili Peppers and lots of punk music â€" a lot of Iggy Pop. But in terms of influencing this band, I try not to listen to vocalists that much because you have a tough time trying not to sing like certain people â€" but yeah, mostly lots of punk stuff like The Rezillos and The Ramones.
Nils J.: I listen to jazz stuff- Coltrane â€" and also a lot of The Beatles and some Elliott Smith.
Peter S.: Jazz… I really like Incubus right now...the Chili Peppers.
Chris P.: I'm a Thursday guy; Bright Eyes any tear-jerking music and Styx.
Pat K.: I was just listening to some Tom Waits a second ago…I listen to some emo too. I like Death Cab for Cutie.
(uproar)
Peter G.: We're definitely gonna have to include this in our interview â€" WE ARE NOT AN EMO BAND! (laughs) AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE AN EMO BAND
Chris P.: Give it time...
Pat K.: Definitely not, definitely not.
Peter G.: We play rock and roll.