Bouncing Souls and Midtown played Sunday night’s Homecoming Concert in Goldstein Auditorium. Before the show, members of each band sat down with The Daily Orange for an interview.

Bouncing Souls

The Daily Orange: ‘Who are your inspirations as a musician?’Bassist Bryan ‘Papillon’ Kienlen: ‘Iron Maiden, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Bad Brains…that’s just the B’s, we’ll start with the B’s (laughs). Whatever, man, all the punk I discovered in the ’80s, particularly ’80s-era punk.’

The D.O.: ‘Can I get a brief history, from your own lips, of your band?’Kienlen: ‘We started playing together in high school, and here we are.’

The D.O.: ‘There have been a lot of styles thrown around to describe your band, what style do you consider yourself?’Singer Greg Attonito: ‘Ska.’ (the whole band laughs)

The D.O.: ‘Yeah, and all your horn players are practicing in another room, right?’Kienlen: ‘Right. No, we’re actually indie-emo-hardcore. Or, actually, we’re Nu-Metal, that’s spelled with a U.’

The D.O.: ‘This is the first punk concert that’s gone on in Syracuse in a long time. There has been a lot of focus on rap or hip-hop, do you feel that the punk scene is growing?’Kienlen: ‘I think punk is always in a constant flux.’ Guitarist Pete Steinkept: ‘It’s always evolving; it’s never really ever the same.’Kienlen: ‘I think evolving is a perfect word.’

The D.O.: ‘File-sharing is a hot topic, especially for musicians. You obviously have a different opinion about it than say, the students who are downloading music illegally. What is your whole take on this?’Attonito: ‘I love it. I download music illegally all the time.’Steinkept: ‘I love Limewire, woo!’Kienlen: ‘It’s more exposure for the band.’Drummer Michael McDermott: ‘Like I got to go give Jay-Z more money! He needs more money! I just want some tunes, no the whole record.’

The D.O.: ‘There are always new bands starting in college. Any advice for them if they actually want to try and make it in the business as musicians?’Steinkept: ‘Stay in school.’Attonito: ‘Think of new things we didn’t think of.’Kienlen: ‘Yeah. Ask yourself does the world need this crap I’m making? And, if the answer is no, then change. Ask yourself honestly, do we suck? If you can believe in the band, then you’re up and running.’

– Alex Shebar, Staff Writer

Midtown Interview

The Daily Orange: ‘Who are your inspirations as a musician?’Bassist Tyler Rann: ‘I grew up with the punk rock hardcore scene. Then Nirvana came along and changed everything. I looked like those guys, and I felt that I could do this.’

The D.O.: ‘Your band formed in college and has since made it big. What would you say to other bands who want to get into the business?’Rann: ‘The business is a big whore, and you have to realize that instantly. When we first started doing this, kids would come up to us and ask things like ‘How do you write a song?’ Now they ask ‘How do you get a record deal?’ or ‘How do you get a video on MTV?’ My whole perception has changed.’

The D.O.: ‘I know that you were playing in the Rock Against Bush Tour. Your music caters toward an age group that hasn’t voted in the past. What do you say to them to get out and make something happen and to vote?’Rann: ‘That’s a hard thing because you don’t want to tell people what to do. It takes a president as awful as ours to get the youth of America to unite over it – that means something. Look how close the last election was. Those few votes could have made such a difference, and that’s the thing you have to present to people.’

The D.O.: ‘A lot of your songs seem to be about relationships. Is that where you draw in your inspiration from?’Rann: ‘Well, I don’t think relationships necessarily mean boy, girl relationships. I think as you go through life you deal with relationships with friends, family, and yourself, and deal with the outside world, and that’s a relationship, and I think that’s the most intimate thing you have.’

The D.O.: ‘So your themes for your music are more universal?’Rann: ‘Everybody has to deal with getting older, going to school, getting jobs, and being betrayed. Everybody has a bad relationship with a boy or girl, but that’s already been done. It’s time to spread out and talk about different themes. We’re not trying to provide an answer to prove why everything is weird or fucked up, we’re just saying ‘Hey, it’s fucked up for us, too.”

Published on October 11, 2004 at 12:00 pm