Four Year Strong
Questions: Rob Lyon
It’s been quite the year for Massachusetts pop punk band Four Year Strong. They've just released their fourth studio album In Some Way, Shape or Form and downsized from a five piece to a four piece, whilst all the time touring extensively through the US. It’s with no surprise the band are currently enjoying some down time for the holidays ahead of their appearance at the 2012 Soundwave Festival.
Being no strangers to Australian shores, having played Soundwave twice before and undertaking their own headline tour, Caught in the Mosh spoke with guitarist Alan Day, discussing all things past, present and future for Four Year Strong.
Are Four Year Strong still on the road?
“We just got home from being on the AP Tour, which is a tour with bands such as Gallows, The Swellers, Title Fight and Sharks. It was a lot of fun but no we’re home, settling in and getting ready for the holidays.”
After constant touring is it hard to get back in to relatively ‘normal’ day to day existence?
“Um, no, not unfortunately but what’s weird about this lifestyle is that being on the road and tour is more of a normal lifestyle than being at home. Once we get back home it’s not hard to get back in to the swing of things and the groove of home life. It is kind of nice just to relax and sleep in the same place every night, cook your own food and all that sort of stuff.”
Being no strangers to Australian shores, having played Soundwave twice before and undertaking their own headline tour, Caught in the Mosh spoke with guitarist Alan Day, discussing all things past, present and future for Four Year Strong.
Are Four Year Strong still on the road?
“We just got home from being on the AP Tour, which is a tour with bands such as Gallows, The Swellers, Title Fight and Sharks. It was a lot of fun but no we’re home, settling in and getting ready for the holidays.”
After constant touring is it hard to get back in to relatively ‘normal’ day to day existence?
“Um, no, not unfortunately but what’s weird about this lifestyle is that being on the road and tour is more of a normal lifestyle than being at home. Once we get back home it’s not hard to get back in to the swing of things and the groove of home life. It is kind of nice just to relax and sleep in the same place every night, cook your own food and all that sort of stuff.”
Playing Soundwave again must be a huge buzz for the band?
“We’re really stoked! Every time we go to Australia it is amazing. This is our third tour to Australian and our second playing Soundwave. I remember playing some small headlining shows to two to three hundred people a night, gee I don’t even know when that was, gee that must have been in 2008.”
Do you have any favourite spots you like to play?
“Every city that Soundwave hits is amazing and I don’t think we’re missing out on anything. Sydney is always great and last time we got to play Perth for the first time. It’s cool that all the bands stay at the same hotel for the whole tour making for some great tour stories. So for the whole week it’s one big party being out the whole time and it’s never boring with something always to do.”
How would you describe In Some Way, Shape Or Form compared to previous releases?
“It’s definitely a little different, we took a lot of risks making the record but I think that’s something every band needs to do at some point or every point in their career. Sure, we could have released the same thing over and over but that would be cheating our fans and cheating ourselves. There would be no reason to keep doing it if you’re not prepared to push it or try new things and keep growing as an artist.”
“We’re really stoked! Every time we go to Australia it is amazing. This is our third tour to Australian and our second playing Soundwave. I remember playing some small headlining shows to two to three hundred people a night, gee I don’t even know when that was, gee that must have been in 2008.”
Do you have any favourite spots you like to play?
“Every city that Soundwave hits is amazing and I don’t think we’re missing out on anything. Sydney is always great and last time we got to play Perth for the first time. It’s cool that all the bands stay at the same hotel for the whole tour making for some great tour stories. So for the whole week it’s one big party being out the whole time and it’s never boring with something always to do.”
How would you describe In Some Way, Shape Or Form compared to previous releases?
“It’s definitely a little different, we took a lot of risks making the record but I think that’s something every band needs to do at some point or every point in their career. Sure, we could have released the same thing over and over but that would be cheating our fans and cheating ourselves. There would be no reason to keep doing it if you’re not prepared to push it or try new things and keep growing as an artist.”
Was it a challenging album to make with its share of dramas?
“It definitely had its tough moments but just the drastic decision to go with this change was the easy part. The hard part, if you can call it hard, was releasing the songs and seeing what people were going to say about the change and style of the album. It has turned out great. It was a little rough at first, as people were in shock with the change. The diehard fans that are still in to the old school stuff were disappointed, for lack of a better word, with the change and style, but they wanted more of the same old same old. We played a lot of the new songs on the last tour we did and they went down so well live that people started to realise we’re still the same old band. Even though the style has changed we’re still the same band that still has all the same things they loved about us before but now showing ourselves in a different light.”
Do you think this sort of reaction may present challenges about where you want to go with the next album?
“I don’t think so, the point of this band has always been to better ourselves as writers and always have fun doing. We don’t really ever see a point standing in one place or especially taking steps backwards. There is no pressure to do anything like go back to our old style or even do the exact same thing on this record just to prove a point. We haven’t given much thought to the next album as all our attention has been put in to this record, which has really only just come out and we need to breathe from all that.”
Is being signed to Pete Wentz label opened more doors for the band?
“I think so, it comes up in interviews a lot so even that alone is enough.”
“It definitely had its tough moments but just the drastic decision to go with this change was the easy part. The hard part, if you can call it hard, was releasing the songs and seeing what people were going to say about the change and style of the album. It has turned out great. It was a little rough at first, as people were in shock with the change. The diehard fans that are still in to the old school stuff were disappointed, for lack of a better word, with the change and style, but they wanted more of the same old same old. We played a lot of the new songs on the last tour we did and they went down so well live that people started to realise we’re still the same old band. Even though the style has changed we’re still the same band that still has all the same things they loved about us before but now showing ourselves in a different light.”
Do you think this sort of reaction may present challenges about where you want to go with the next album?
“I don’t think so, the point of this band has always been to better ourselves as writers and always have fun doing. We don’t really ever see a point standing in one place or especially taking steps backwards. There is no pressure to do anything like go back to our old style or even do the exact same thing on this record just to prove a point. We haven’t given much thought to the next album as all our attention has been put in to this record, which has really only just come out and we need to breathe from all that.”
Is being signed to Pete Wentz label opened more doors for the band?
“I think so, it comes up in interviews a lot so even that alone is enough.”