Dan O'Connor from Four Year Strong Interview

So Here's the interview i did with Dan from Four Year Strong!

So you guys just got off your head lining tour with support from The Bled, Strike
Anywhere, This Time Next Year and Title Fight. How did that tour go?

It went really well, everyone on the tour ruled! The shows were all insane, can’t ask for more than that, right?

Yeah, you really can’t ask for more than that! So now you're heading out with Every Time I Die, Polar Bear Club, and Trapped Under Ice. It's so awesome to see a lineup with so many different types of bands. You excited for this trek?

I’m so stoked! I already know all of those bands so it’s going to be and insanely fun tour. Plus all the bands are so good, I’m going to watch every set every night. I can’t wait! I’m really happy that all these different types of bands are touring together, I think it’ll really give kids a great show. Cause the one thing that all the bands have in common is they all are hard working bands that love music, those are the bands we like to tour with, real bands.

Then you guys are off to Warped Tour for the second time in the last 3 years. You guys must be stoked to be back out on warped!

Dude, you have no idea how excited we are! Every time I look at the lineup I get even more siked, because there are soooo many friends on that tour, on top of the fact that there again, are awesome bands to watch everyday. It’s going to be an insanely fun summer.

Any good stories from the last time you were out on Warped?

Hmmmm, I don’t know, it was such a great time it all runs together haha. I just remember having a super fun time meeting new people, playing corn hole, eating great food, and hanging out. I know everyone says it but it really is like summer camp. Its awesome.

Johnnie Limit(Arrest Records, Word For Word) Interview

Here's my interview with Johnnie the singer of Word For Word

Hey Johnnie! How’s it going?

It's going well, how about your self?

It's going good. So Word For Word has a new seven inch coming out on Lionheart Records. I know a lot of people have been confused with your choice to go with a European Label for this release.

That is true, we have new 5 song 7" titled "Courage Over Fear" coming out on Lionheart Records from Germany which I am very excited about since I believe it's our best material to date. Confusion? Let me try to clear that up. We(Word For Word) do what we want and don't shop labels cause whenever we release stuff now I can just do it with my label Arrest Records. We were very flattered when We got the message from Christian asking us to do a 1-3 song 7" for his skinhead/hardcore 7" only label. We were currently(slowly) writing what was going to be our next full length which was going to be called COF but with this new opportunity plans got a lil modified based on time and what Christian wanted. A 7" was cool but we felt that to make our effort with it with needed 4-6 songs. Not to knock anyone who releases 3 a song 7" but with 7"s being $5 now I wanted to make a solid EP worth the money and not just an LP teaser or single. So we decided on 5 songs. The five songs are all brand new, they are in order "Courage Over Fear","I Still hate you","Free The Devil","Forget About It" and my personal favorite "Trainwreck". So went to Ryan Stack @ Andrews Lane Recording Company and had my good friend Al do the art again and sent those data out to Germany. It seems like Americans are paranoid to pre-order out 7" since most orders are from outside of the US. But that's kinda cool too, I think it's amazing that a label is another country would want to work with us and I think it's great exposure for us. I fully trust Christian and vouch for him! order away guys! On the flipside. All the songs on this new 7" appear on our new CD "Manchester Forever" that just came out in November.

You also released the new Word For Word CD, “Manchester Forever” on your label, Arrest Records. I believe it was a compilation of all your vinyl releases and such.

Yes it's a collection of once vinyl only material,unreleased material, a couple classic covers, and the brand new "courage over Fear" EP.

Speaking of your label, Arrest Records, you guys have some big releases coming up such as the new Hammer Bros seven inch “Sleep Forever”, which from what I hear is extremely heavy.

Yes I do! I just got Persist "the Untold Story" Cd/Ep straight outta Australia 7 songs of great youth crew hardcore. I got the Hammer Bros "Sleep Forever" Cd/Ep/7" coming up in April. I have the new Villain full length Cd "It's Rough" coming out really soon(March 9th) cuz they need it for tour! Other great things coming are full lengths from Watchfire and Think Again. Stay tuned.

You are also releasing Marlborough’s finest, Villain, new full length “It’s Rough”. How did this release come about?

I was talking to Phil and they really wanted to self release this but it was either go on tour or have a CD so I said fuck that lets make both happen, and I could be happier to be working with those dudes. Villain is a dirty hardcore punk band and I love it! The new CD is great and reminds me of The A-Team. Check it out! Pre-Orders end March 9th!

Also, you released Late Nite Wars new seven inch, “Every Other Saturday”. Late Nite Wars is a pop punk band featuring Joey from The Real World. This release and the new Fake Boys CD strayed away from your previous releases of hardcore bands.

yes these two release did stray away from my hardcore collection but needless to say they are punk bands and it's all punk. Late Nite Wars is a great band from the MV so it only makes sense that we work together, they have always supported me and my projects so I did the same. Joey is no longer in the band, but fear not expect big things from LNW. Jim, singer of the Fake Boys and Hammer Bros approached me about doing the full length for the Fake Boys CD in the US and of coarse I was all about it, who doesn't' love this band? I thought I was more of jumping in on the ride since there was a label doing the vinyl and another doing the Euro CD and we had a date it had to be out. I was worried about time and such and felt behind being the 3rd label involved. but it turned out that I was the only one who had it on time. HA!

So Word For Word is heading out on the Courage Over Fear Tour and there are some pretty sweet shows, including a show with Merauder and another with Guns Up! in Boston. Any other shows in this tour you guys are stoked for?

It's hard to say, we are really stoked on all the others and the ones you mentioned. Tour is the best thing ever and we look forward to it every year. I would have to say I'm excited about Virginia Beach and Baltimore because these are places we haven't played yet.

So what’s next for Word For Word? Do you have any plans on releasing another full length or going on tour again?

Word For Word is still going on full blast. Up next is the "Courage Over Fear" tour and then were going to continue on playing as much as possible on the COF 7". After tour we will play as many weekends and random shows as we can but will not be able to do a full tour until 2011. We do have plans of releasing another full length in the future and will be touring at the very lest once a year. I like to think of us as a mid band, not part time and not full time, just somewhere in the middle.

Any last words or shout outs you want to make?

Thanks for the interview. thanks to Christian form Lionheart Records for putting out our new record. Kids in the US don't be afraid to order from European labels! Oh and the Arrest Records web site will launch sometime soon(arrestrecordsNH.com) Thanks Tim!

Thanks Johnnie!