-Interview- Next To Nothing (3/26/12)

Next To Nothing
Genre: Pop/punk
Interviewed on: 3/26/12
From: Smithsburg, MD
Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/next2noth


1. You guys just released two new songs in “Broken Lines” and “Brutally Honest”. What should people expect from it? How has the response been thus far?

People should expect to hear a much more prominent jazz & blues influence, a lot more lead guitar work, and the lyrics are much more bold or "in your face." The lyrics in these two new tunes should really make it clear how some of the band members feel about previous relationship experiences or potential relationship experiences. We are hoping by being so "Brutally Honest" we can really relate to other peoples experiences easily. SO far everyones reactions to our new tunes have been awesome. Everyone seems to be really impressed with the songs. We really noticed a positive reaction from our international fans from places such as Brazil, England and Australia.


2. How did the name of the band and album itself come about?

Our original name was actually "Here's To You." We soon found out that another relatively successful pop/punk band had already claimed that name. We decided to have every band member come up with a list of potential band names. When we sat down and saw Next To Nothing we knew that was the one. We all kind of have a humble sense to us and sometime really look down on the things we do and accomplish, so it really fit well with each band member. The album name came from the theme of everything we were writing about. All our songs were so bashful towards past people and experiences that we decided we were being Brutally Honest. This fits well with our name too because its kind of a trained feeling from others around us of being "not good enough." So this album was us turning that feeling around.


3. When can we expect an EP/Release date?

We actually already released a four song demo about a month ago. We plan to release our full length album early summer 2012. It all depends on how fast we can get these songs recorded in the studio. Most likely June 2012 will be when we release the album. The album will contain all four songs from the demo rerecorded at a new studio.


4. You guys are in the top 100 voting for a slot on the Washington, DC stop of the Warped Tour. What would it mean to you guys to play the show on Warped Tour?

It would mean more to us than words can describe. All of us have been to Warped Tour numerous years past only to see some of our most influential artist perform to large crowds of people. To be on the stage instead of in the audience watching would be nothing short of a dream come true. Playing alongside such big name artists in such a big city would only help us grow exponentially in experience and exposure.


5. What’s the music scene like in MD? What’s your take on the pop/punk scene in general?

In Western Maryland the music scene is pretty dead. Not too much goes on around our area terms of concerts and big name artists. If you head east towards Baltimore and down towards Washington DC the music scene picks up. Baltimore is home to many recording studios, record labels, and many popular bands. All Time Low actually started out in the North Baltimore area. Washington DC sort of speaks for itself. Being the nations capital it pretty mch has a large "everything" scene. So its really easy to find a varierty of venues and musicians to work with.


6. Any good show stories?

We haven't had too many crazy shows, but we have a few small stories. Our very first show was actually a benefit conert for a local fire hall that our bass player volunteers at. We just about packed the building with people that night and it was our first time ever performing! So we were pretty stoked that night. Our drummer consistently breakes at least one pair of drum sticks everytime we play. Other than that we have the normal issues that every band. We did have people moshing at our very first show, which was awesome since we are a pop/punk group and people aren't typically moshing to our style of music.


7. What’s your take on music downloading?

As far as illegal downloading goes, we appreciate that people want to listen to and support music, but we think that its not fair to the artists who worked hard to write, record and promote to have their products stolen so easily. People need to understand the time it takes for good music to come about. It has to be written, recording, produced, mixed, mastered, promoted and all of that takes a significant amount of effort. What if you were making cars for a living and people were simply stealing them from you? Its the same concept.

As far as music downloading in general, I think its great that music is so easily accessible and organized now due to being able to buy songs online and on itunes, but it seems to really bring down whole album sales. It seems like the fact that people only have to buy individual songs means that they are less likely to buy whole albums and appreciate the artist as a whole. It would be nice to see artists entire albums be listened to and appreciated rather than just the one or two popular songs from the album.


8. How would you describe your live show?

Our live show can be described in three ways, energetic, bright flashy lights, and BASS. We love to play with energy and that shows in how our songs are written in the first place. We try to pack each and every song with as much energy as possible and that really shows when we have to perform them. We love lights and just recently put a large amount of money into brand new LED stage lights. A concert is all about two things, what you hear and what you see. We give you a sound thats identical to the recordings but we also give you a flashy light show to really make our performance a full concert. We like to think that good lights add to the energy of the band if used correctly. Last but not least is Bass. Our favorite thing about seeing other bands is hearing so much bass that we can't feel our own heartbeat. So we try to do the same for everyone else.


9. What’s next for Next To Nothing?

Women and Money.......just kidding. We plan to keep playing shows and recording music. We are hoping that if we continue working hard at this we will be able to make a living off of it one day. So the plan is to work hard and get the results that go with oit.


10. Any shoutouts?

We have to shout out to all the awesome local bands that we work with and play shows with. Skyhawk Drive, Your Favorite Coastline, Matinee At Midnight, Random Holiday, Mayweather and Lights On The Atlantic. These guys are awesome and overall good guys to be around. We love them all!! We also have to shout out to our fans and family because without your support we wouldn't be going anywhere right now. We have you guys to thank for the forward progress we are making today.