INNERPARTYSYSTEM INTERVIEW JUNE 2008
It was a lovely Thursday evening, perfect for an outdoor smoking terrace interview with three of the four members of INNERPARTYSYSTEM, Jared, Kris and Jesse. Patrick was MIA. I’m sure he was getting some rest in prior to the show or getting a head start on tight rolling his jeans. He was missed and was voted as most likely to live with his parents as a career choice if he wasn’t playing in a band. Lucky for him, INNERPARTYSYSTEM is so fantastic! I was hooked the first time I heard their EP. I can’t wait for their full length album. Their live show is amazing! Some of the best lighting I have seen and they give it their all. Catch them on tour with KILL HANNAH! Lena: I know you guys just started to tour again but how is the tour going so far? IPS: It’s good. Honestly, this has been our first real tour of leaving for a few weeks at a time. We had a lot of fun touring with ASHES DIVIDE. They are really cool people that are super nice. Lena: That’s great! I’m hoping to catch them on PROJEKT REVOLUTION. IPS: They are a great band and really nice. We ended up playing some wiffle ball and hanging out all day. They are just some cool dudes. Lena: Are you looking forward to touring with KILL HANNAH on the HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS tour? IPS: Absolutely! Lena: Have you played with them before? IPS: Yes, in Chicago right before Christmas and it was pretty awesome. We were really excited about that. It’s a long tour and we will be away for quite a bit.
Lena: Are you coming back to the Providence or Boston area? You didn’t have the dates up, yet. IPS: I don’t know. The tour is mostly West coast we are doing Philly and Poughkeepsie but I don’t know if we are going this far. Lena: So, all the dates for the tour are posted? IPS: Yes. Lena: I guess you are not coming to my area with KILL HANNAH. It’s surprising because they do pretty well here. I know they played to a packed house at The Living Room in Providence and it was during a snow storm. IPS: They seem to draw everywhere. We are definitely excited to tour. This will be our biggest tour to date. Lena: Great! Good luck on the tour. Lena: Who came up with the concept for the DON’T STOP video? IPS: That was mostly our manager, STEVE PENTA. He’s done other music videos (SALIVA, THE KILLERS). He’s always trying to push the limit. Lena: It’s a great video. IPS: Yeah, we were all really happy about how it turned out. Lena: The message comes across really well. Lena: What can fans expect to hear on your new album that is coming out in September? IPS: I don’t know. I think it’s going to turn some heads. There are going to be some tracks that they are not expecting. Definitely people that like the EP are going to love the album. It is certainly going to surprise a lot of people. If you know our band just by MYSPACE I think it’s going to be different. It broadens our horizon a little bit more. There are a couple of songs that are a lot more aggressive and a couple that are more dance orientated. Lena: What was it like working with ALAN MOULDER and STUART PRICE of NIN and MADONNA fame on the new record? IPS: We didn’t really get to meet ALAN MOULDER we just sent him the tracks and he did a couple of mixes. We talked to him on the phone and sent emails and stuff like that. He was a really nice guy even though we didn’t actually get to meet him. He might be coming to a show in the UK when we tour. Working with STUART PRICE was awesome! He’s a good dude. He’s very good at what he does. We definitely got to learn a lot working with him. Lena: It’s great that you got work with major people like them. Lena: Do people have a hard time understanding that you want your music to be the forefront rather than focusing on individual members of the band? How you guys like to be backlit.
IPS: I think most people are like, we want to see your faces more but it’s never an issue where people are like it’s stupid. I think the only complaint we ever get is that they can’t see us but then we tell them that’s what we are going for and then they understand. Some people can’t grasp it and think that we hide behind it but we’ve played a handful of shows without the lighting. When we go to the UK we are not bringing it. I think some of the shows without the lighting were the best shows that we ever did. It kind of forced us to rock out a little more. Lena: You guys have some awesome lighting effects. IPS: Thank you! It’s this guy right here (pointing to JESSE). We can’t use fog tonight. Lena: Have you gotten any feedback from the members of RADIOHEAD about your remix of NUDE? IPS: There was like 1,300 submissions and I think by the end there was like 2,000 but I know we got top 50. I think on the site they have the top ten listed. They probably didn’t even get down to where we were unfortunately, perhaps next time! Lena: That stinks! Lena: How much blood was actually lost in the signing of your record contract? IPS: We lost a little bit of blood. Maybe like 4 pints…ha..ha. I think I pricked my finger but this little bit came out and then this guy destroyed himself. The pen wasn’t working great and then it wasn’t easy with all our calluses and stuff. It turned out pretty good in the end. There were a couple of people in the room, I don’t know who they were, but they were actually getting nauseous. We just kept bleeding on the contract. We took it down to the legal department and the lawyer was grossed out and didn’t want to touch it. Lena: It’s a good thing no one had a clotting disorder. That would have gotten really messy. IPS: Right! That would be an ugly way to find out. Shawn: Did you find yourself reaching for virtual instruments more often since the technology has become so advanced or do you still use a lot of hardware synths? IPS: Yes and no, I mean if we find a perfect sound we use it, it doesn’t matter. It is definitely more hardware now. The EP is pretty much all REASON and now with our recording budget we bought a synthesizer because you can’t really beat a real sounding synth but then again if you find the perfect sound inside the computer you take it. Shawn: You have managed to produce and record all material on your own. What did ALAN MOULDER bring to the plate when recording your new album? IPS: His mixes were ridiculous. He is a skilled mixer. His low end is absurd. I think we’ve been talking about tracking all of our next album on our own but we will still probably send out stuff because that dude is just tried and true. He’s been doing it for thirty years so you can’t beat him. His sound is just so big. I can’t understand how that happens but it’s sick. Lena: That’s what he gets the big bucks for. Lena: Other than the HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS tour and new album what are your plans for the rest of the year? IPS: Touring! Lots of touring! We will probably be on the road until the end of the year. We just did a LADYHAWK and PRESETS remix. We might just keep remixing and DJing. A lot of remixing and touring. Lena: I have a fan question for you from LouLou: If you were not in a band what would you want to do for a living? IPS: Interesting question, we have actually been through this a couple of times. We talked about this in the van I don’t remember what we decided on. I think you were going to be a space astronaut or space bounty hunter (JESSE). JESSE does all the lights and programming and Andy our sound guy built all the lights. DJ (KRIS). I like to build things so I guess I could be a carpenter (JARED). PATRICK would probably just live with his parents. In summary: Lena: Yes, how he is always hiding behind his hats and hoods. You guys have some great curly hair. IPS: Yes, everyone always thinks we are brothers. Someone said that they other day, that we are a very curly band. We always get mistaken for each other. Someone came up to me the other day and said you are a really great guitar player (JARED) and I said cool. Great, even though I was on the drums. Lena: Yes, you are hard to photograph and see in that dark lighting. I think I got one picture of you but it is really a crotch shot of your singer and you are behind him in the dark corner. One of the security guards at the club wanted to add in his own opinion on what each band member present should be if they were not in the band anymore: JARED: construction worker
or manager of construction
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Innerpartysystem |
