Interview with So They Say
So They Say is: Justin Hanson (drums), David Schroeder (vocals/guitar), Nick Walters (guitar), Joseph Hamilton (vocals/bass)
So They Say gets our official endorsement! Not only is their new album Life In Surveillance smokin, but the band are some of the nicest guys we've met in the industry. The band allowed Anarchy Music and some of our contest winners in to watch their sound check, gave them all copies of their cd, and spent quite a bit of time hanging out and taking pictures. This website was founded upon the idea of supporting bands like this, so we definitely recommend that everyone check them out! While we were all hanging out, the band sat down with us for an interview to tell our winners about the band and the new album. Vocalist/bassist Joseph Hamilton was sidelined and unable to make the tour, but vocalist/guitarist David Schroeder, guitarist Nick Walters and drummer Justin Hanson treated us like gold and showed what great guys they are...before taking the stage and proving that even with a member gone they could still kick ass.
Anarchy Music: For the newcomers out there, tell us how you guys got to where you are now...
Nick Walters: A lot of grinding
David Schroeder: A lot of perseverance. Just blind perseverance. We all lived in the St Louis area and were all in bands around town. We would watch each other play.
Nick Walters: We decided to get together and start a band. Everyone else we were in bands with weren't true grinders. They didn't want to tour or anything like that.
David Schroeder: It's tough to find a bunch of individuals who really want to do this. Some people act like they're driven. That's why you lose members all the time in bands. It's hard living on the road. Obviously we weren't trying to think that far ahead with it. We just picked guys to play music with. We all knew that we wanted to play music for the duration of our lives and we wanted to pick guys that were hard working. Music has to be the priority because you don't get anything else in the beginning.
Anarchy Music: You talk about grinding on the road. I think a lot of people may not get what goes down out there...
David Schroeder: This morning for example. Nick had to drive all night, no sleep. I woke him up after two or three hours of sleep and we've got to change the oil and all that. He wakes up crabby and the sun is beating down on him. You get a shower, hopefully. It's really up and down, really black and white. You're either super stoked or it's raining and your gear has been stolen. It's either tragic or awesome.
Nick Walters: A few weeks ago three of our friends had their guitars stolen out in LA. Being on the road is a high. After a three month tour I could have gone home, but I'd rather be out. Our parents think we're out partying, but it's a real job. It can be really tough.
David Schroeder: Especially because your sleeping patterns are so messed up. You've got to grind when you don't want to grind. You want to sleep but it's your turn to drive. It's really physical, which is why you see dudes sitting there all bummed out. They're not really bummed out, they just took a beating. But I would rather do this than what I was doing before.
Anarchy Music: You have a new record out called Life In Surveillance. The quote I read from Joseph was "It's a new sound" and that you could "do more musically". What does that mean?
David Schroeder: Just open it up a little bit more and let our older influences show through. When we did our first record we were really still developing. We've all gotten to know each other after quite some time on the road. We've all been listening to the same music on the Ipod on the road, so we're all simultaneously influenced by the same things. We wanted to do something a little more musically stimulating with this record. We didn't have much time to write the last record. We had five months this time so we wanted to use that time and write the best stuff we could.
Anarchy Music: The single is "Wake Me Up". What's that song about? It doesn't sound good...
David Schroeder: Obviously I dabble. I party a lot. You're living your life a certain way and somebody needs to wake you up sometimes with a good reality slap.
Nick Walters: It can mean a lot of things. The way he writes lyrics, it could mean a lot to him in his way, but he tries to make it different for everybody.
David Schroeder: It's like anything that you've ever felt that was good and you wanted to keep that feeling but for some reason shit happens. You've got to get a job but you want to party with your friends. You've got to grow up and balance checkbooks and shit and you don't want to do that.
Justin Hanson: It's about getting stimulated.
Anarchy Music: The kind of music that you do is obviously really popular now. The major labels are scooping up a lot of bands. What kept you at Fearless Records?
David Schroeder: It's a good relationship. At first we didn't know what we were doing at all. We just knew how to play our music. Fearless is obviously one of the bigger independents, but it's given us a chance to develop our band where if something happens we can fix it ourselves. We don't have to look to some label guy to fix all of our problems. We have to get through them ourselves. An independent's budget isn't like a major label's, so it's been a very give and take relationship. We've had to work hard as well as Fearless has given us everything they can. Grinding on an indie is the best for us.
Anarchy Music: Speaking of good choices, the record was produced by Matt Hyde, who worked with Slayer. That's not an obvious choice at all.
David Schroeder: He was the lead guitarist of Porno For Pyros. Growing up in the 90's, we were all into that. We wanted to go for more Alternative Rock. We didn't want to sound like everybody else.
Nick Walters: He gets great tones. If you listen to Slayer's God Hates Us All, I bought that record a long time ago and was like "holy shit". The drums are like cannons.
David Schroeder: We just wanted that sound of those heavier bands to show through in our music because we all like hard hitting music.
Nick Walters: We knew that we weren't going to go to a Metal producer or something. He engineered No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom and stuff too. He's probably the most versatile producer that I've met and I think that was what made our decision.
Anarchy Music: And how did the Atreyu tour go?
David Schroeder: Everybody takes it seriously. We've been on a lot of tours where bands don't really take it seriously. It's kind of a treat to get off of Warped Tour where there's so many bands that you can't get close to everybody and do a club tour with Atreyu.
Nick Walters: They've been grinding out a long time too.
David Schroeder: It Dies Today was on Warped Tour with us. It's just nice to have everybody nice and respectful. Every body's cool with each other and there's no bickering. It's all very chill.
Nick Walters: It's also nice to be housed, instead of being in a parking lot.
Anarchy Music: Oh come on, Warped Tour is fun, right?
David Schroeder: It's fun, but it's brutal
Nick Walters: It's addicting, because as soon as you're off Warped Tour you're like, "thank God", and then six months later you're ready to do it again.
Justin Hanson: I just want to walk around every amphitheater.
David Schroeder: Nick is ready for it.
Anarchy Music: You're not?
David Schroeder: I said "Nick is ready for it" (laughs)
Anarchy Music: Okay, one last question. This is either going to be the stupidest question ever or really profound...So They Say: Who are "They" and what are they saying?
Nick Walters: It's really complex, actually.
David Schroeder: It kind of came from our hometown. There's a lot of naysayers from our hometown, let's put it that way. There are people who try to oppress you or hold you down. It's more of a thought process, actually. It's hard to pinpoint. If there was a vibe in the air and you could name it, that's what I try to do.
Justin Hanson: You know how things apply to several things? We're not trying to be Snickers, we're trying to be chocolate.
Anarchy Music: And what do you say to those people?
Justin Hanson: FUCK EM!
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Thanks to our friends in So They Say for everything! For a taste of what the band has to offer, check out their Myspace page. Then go out and buy Life in Surveillance!