Genre: Screamo rock
From: Akron, OH
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1. A lot has changed since your last interview. Tell us about the new member, new EP and new producer.
Well, we've been through some work to make sure our line-up was set for the future, & we've recently decided to add guitarist Cody Doyle (ex-Goodnight Jersey) as our second guitarist. We've spent quite awhile searching for some one dependable to fill that role, and we're very glad to finally land on someone we feel confident in. As far as "This Is Not An Exit!" and its producers; We hooked up with John Burke from Vibe Studio's a couple months ago after are friends Envoi recorded an amazing EP with him. We really liked his production and thought he would put the needed effort into our EP, so we talked to him a few times and things just really seemed to click. After that, we contacted Fred Mascherino (ex-Taking Back Sunday/Terrible Things) about being involved in the project.
2. How has your overall show experience been thus far? Considering you've played alongside Owl City, Senses Fail and many more.
It's been huge learning experience. Seeing bands that have been doing this everyday for several years really shows you how much work it takes to make it somewhere in this business. We've been lucky enough to play with 20+ national touring acts in less than a year. Playing with acts like that you absolutely have to bring your A game every night or you will quickly be ignored. We were lucky enough to get to learn that early on in our careers, and now we can apply that to every show we play from here on out. Not to mention, it's really cool to play shows with bands like Silverstein and Senses Fail who have inspired us as people and as a band.
3. What can people expect from the new EP?
They can expect an extremely emotional release that you can listen to mulitple times. I know all bands say their newest CD means the world to them and blah blah...but with TINAE!, we have put everything in our lives into this. We've put every penny we have into financing it, and every emoton we could muster on display. Joshua was going through a lot of dark stuff when he wrote the lyrics and was struggling to find a way to bring in some positive light. I think in the EP you can defintely feel that back and forth fight between trying to keep a straight course and move forward, and still falling back into those dark thoughts and feelings. We were having troubles with finding the right members, worrying about possible issues with the old version of the EP we recorded that was never released, and it all really got to us and found it's way into the music. It was, in many ways, the hardest part of the entire album, trying to find the balance between the reality of the situations happening around us, and trying to keep our heads up for the future. In the end, I believe we, and TINAE! came out better because of it.
4. How did you hook up with Fred?
We found out that Fred was looking to start producing bands and just hit him up on Facebook about it. We honestly didn't expect any kinda of response from him, but when he messaged us back and let us know he was into our sound, we were far beyond excited. Fred is one of the nicest people we have ever had the chance to speak with and we're truly honored to have him agree to work with us. Fred will be involed in all the aspects of pre-production and helping us finalize our songwriting for TINAE! Having his expert input and over a decade of influence (see what we did there?) we believe will give TINAE! the boost it needs to get us on the road full-time.
5. How will the already recorded material from the last sessions change this time around?
Very good question actually. We have two songs from our old sessions that will be on TINAE! "Amor Vincit Omnia" was perfect to us the way it was recorded, so it will be included along with the five songs we're recording. "Killing A Songbird" is being rewritten slightly, with the help of Fred, and will be part of the five songs we will record at Vibe. So, of the six songs on the EP, four will be completely brand new.
6. Has it become any easier playing shows in Ohio since the last interview?
I'd say it's easier playing shows in general. We're still a young, small band, but we've grown a lot over the last several months. We now know exactly the band we want to be, and what we want to represent. I think anytime you are able to have that much strength and conviction in something, it makes everything easier.
7. What can people expect from a Contacts & Confidence show?
A whole lot of energy. We are not a band that stands there and plays our songs, we use every inch of the stage we're provided with, and usually as much of the crowd as we can as well. Our music is about passion, about believing in something, and about letting singing it at the top of your lungs be your release. You can't do that standing still and you can't do that quietly. We're chaotic, we're sweaty, and we're a damn good time.
8. What's next for Contacts & Confidence?
We'll be spending the rest of July working with Fred on finalizing the last few details of TINAE!, then we head to Vibe to finally record it all. We're not entirely sure long-term what's in store at this point, but given the progress we've made so far this year, we're extremely excited and hopefully for the future.
