"I feel we have a lot less time to complete the cycle of young nice new band, to cocky run down drug addicted assholes"
Altsounds: Your name comes from George Orwell's '1984'. Have any of you ever actually read the book?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Yes, most of us have. It'd be pretty weird to choose something as permanent as your band name, and not know the history behind it.
Altsounds: Patrick and Jared started playing together in 'Thirteen Over Eight', how did you guys meet and how did Kris and Jesse come to join the group?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Patrick and I met through a mutual friend. Patrick and his brother Andrew were in Thirteen over Eight, and they needed a bass player. The guitar player Jim knew me, and knew that I couldn't really play bass very well, but I jumped around like an idiot a lot onstage, so they asked me to play.
Altsounds: Your single 'Don't Stop' was the first ever vinyl to be made completely out of chocolate, what are your favourite chocolate treats?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: I think everyone in the band is pretty big on chocolate bars. Snickers, Twix, that sort of thing. Also taking any of said chocolate bars and blending them up into ice cream doesn't suck either. Come to think of it, I'd rather have a snickers blizzard, than an actual snickers.
Altsounds: What's the meaning behind the two creepy news reporters in the 'Don't Stop' video?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: They are the news reporters, reporting the news. The song is about celebrity culture taking over modern day life, and part of that has to do with the news reporting more about celebrity's personal lives than actual news. It's pretty self explanatory really. Have you ever actually listened to the song? [Editor: I have seen you live so I take it I have listened to the song in question? Sometimes the meaning behind a song doesn't matter to the listener one bit.]
Altsounds: Who comes up with the weird and wonderful video concepts and why do you guys shy away from appearing in them?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Its a mix of the band, and our manager/content director Penta. We film most of the stuff at our house, or wherever we can for free. We don't appear in them much because we are a band. Bands play music. its not really about us. Its about the music we make. The message we are trying to get across in our videos usually isn't "Look at me". We are mostly back lit for our live show, so its even a bit tough to see us live. It does backfire a bit here and there. Sometimes people put importance on that we DON'T show our faces, which is totally not the point either. We don't care about showing or not showing our faces. We just don't want us to be the main focus either way.
Altsounds: Where does inspiration for your songs come from?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Everyday emotions. Personal Situations we have been in. Patrick definitely writes about actual periods of his life, or a certain situation he has experienced.
Altsounds: How does it feel to have a song on a video game and are you guys big gamers?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Most of the guys play a good amount of video games, when they are available. Its a little tough to keep up on gaming when your stuck in a van most of your life. I'm awful at video games, and I hate doing things I really suck at. I mean, who doesn't. So I usually just sit back and watch, or do something else. Unless someone busts out Mario cart. Then its on.
Altsounds: What do you guys do to prepare for a show?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Its pretty normal. Vocal warm ups, drum warm ups, tune, stretch, hit the bathroom.
Altsounds: The lighting is a big part of your performance, how do you think your songs would hold up live without the flashy light show?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Just the same. We've done whole tours without the lights. I actually love playing without the lights from time to time. It gives us a chance to prove any nay-sayers wrong. It shows we are still a band that does play music.
Altsounds: How did you cope playing to a crowd of 55,000 at the Milton Keynes National Bowl on the Linkin Park Projekt Revolution tour?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: It was tough the first time, I wont lie. There's nothing you can do to prepare. You just do what you know how to do. Go out there, play your best, and hope people don't throw shit.
Altsounds: Has life changed much for you guys back in Pennsylvania since you've started getting recognition as a band?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: It's still to early to tell, it hasn't changed much. I get grilled by my extended family a lot at holiday gatherings. They ask a lot of questions. Like when I'm going to stop messing around with this music stuff and get a nice girlfriend and settle down.
Altsounds: What do you miss about home when you're touring?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: The little things. The gas station down the street that has great coffee. My really slow, really nice, pot-head neighbor that I always stop to shoot the shit with. My bed. My parents. The same things most people would miss when they are away from home a long time.
Altsounds: How do the UK fans differ from the US ones and in which country do you get the most female attention?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: I can't really answer that question yet. We just haven't hit in the US like we have in the UK. So right now, everything is better for us there. The crowds are bigger, the crowds are crazier, the girls are more plentiful. Well, for those of us that choose to indulge in that sort of thing. Some of us have lady friends at home, so the tour bus is usually a pretty calm place. Contrary to popular beliefs about tour buses.
The last track on the album 'Soundscape' sounds like something out of the English horror movie 'Creep', what's the track all about?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: First off, common mistake, it's not called 'Soundscape.' We're not sure where that came from. I'm convinced that someone reported that mislabeled into itunes, and now it's wrong on some stores. One of the many problems with technology, everyone's rushing, no one's paying attention to what they're doing. We wanted the track to be untitled, and on itunes it should be called 'Home' just because we were forced to name it. We wanted itunes to carry it "Album Only" but apparently that was just too much for a new band to ask.
People place way too much weight on that track. It was just meant to be a bonus tag onto What We Will Never Know, but if you put that song on a play-list we didn't want the tag on it. It sucks when you have an awesome last track then 6 mins of weirdness on a play-list, hence, it felt like a separate track was the most tasteful way to tag it on. We locked ourselves in our house for months on end and made a record. After awhile you start to really go a little crazy. The cars driving by and ambient sounds of the road going past our house just seem to blur together. That track is just about experimenting with sound, and tying it in to what we were hearing every day. Bands used to put odd bonus tracks or tags on their albums all the time when we were growing up. Remember that track on "Undertow" that was just rain for minutes and then had that creepy little one line at the end? Or how NIN "Broken" had all those blank tracks, then Physical and Suck on tracks 98 and 99? On Itunes it just lists that CD as 8 tracks. Itunes has ruined the art of the bonus track, because there's no way to surprise people. It would be really cool if we had enough clout that we could hide a track on itunes, that when you bought the album, this extra track downloaded that you weren't expecting, so you really felt like you were getting a weird bonus nugget, but it just wasn't possible on this album.
Altsounds: Where do you guys see yourselves a year from now?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: I was kind of hoping to hit the platinum point 10 or 11 times by then, get a fat royalty check and blow it on my newly acquired prescription pain killer addiction. Trends move so much faster these days, so I feel we have a lot less time to complete the cycle of young nice new band, to cocky run down drug addicted assholes. I'm trying to hit "where are they now" status by late 2009.
We'll either be doing all that, or making music and having fun. We'll see.
Innerparty Systems debut album is available from all good record stores now. Innerpartysystem are a must see live band and if you get chance have a look at the sound engineer and his Chaos Pad skills. Innerpartysystem owe a lot to the live Vocal FX to their sound guy. Check out some Innerpartysystem below:
http://www.myspace.com/innerpartysystem
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Yes, most of us have. It'd be pretty weird to choose something as permanent as your band name, and not know the history behind it.
Altsounds: Patrick and Jared started playing together in 'Thirteen Over Eight', how did you guys meet and how did Kris and Jesse come to join the group?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Patrick and I met through a mutual friend. Patrick and his brother Andrew were in Thirteen over Eight, and they needed a bass player. The guitar player Jim knew me, and knew that I couldn't really play bass very well, but I jumped around like an idiot a lot onstage, so they asked me to play.
Altsounds: Your single 'Don't Stop' was the first ever vinyl to be made completely out of chocolate, what are your favourite chocolate treats?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: I think everyone in the band is pretty big on chocolate bars. Snickers, Twix, that sort of thing. Also taking any of said chocolate bars and blending them up into ice cream doesn't suck either. Come to think of it, I'd rather have a snickers blizzard, than an actual snickers.
Altsounds: What's the meaning behind the two creepy news reporters in the 'Don't Stop' video?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: They are the news reporters, reporting the news. The song is about celebrity culture taking over modern day life, and part of that has to do with the news reporting more about celebrity's personal lives than actual news. It's pretty self explanatory really. Have you ever actually listened to the song? [Editor: I have seen you live so I take it I have listened to the song in question? Sometimes the meaning behind a song doesn't matter to the listener one bit.]
Altsounds: Who comes up with the weird and wonderful video concepts and why do you guys shy away from appearing in them?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Its a mix of the band, and our manager/content director Penta. We film most of the stuff at our house, or wherever we can for free. We don't appear in them much because we are a band. Bands play music. its not really about us. Its about the music we make. The message we are trying to get across in our videos usually isn't "Look at me". We are mostly back lit for our live show, so its even a bit tough to see us live. It does backfire a bit here and there. Sometimes people put importance on that we DON'T show our faces, which is totally not the point either. We don't care about showing or not showing our faces. We just don't want us to be the main focus either way.
Altsounds: Where does inspiration for your songs come from?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Everyday emotions. Personal Situations we have been in. Patrick definitely writes about actual periods of his life, or a certain situation he has experienced.
Altsounds: How does it feel to have a song on a video game and are you guys big gamers?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Most of the guys play a good amount of video games, when they are available. Its a little tough to keep up on gaming when your stuck in a van most of your life. I'm awful at video games, and I hate doing things I really suck at. I mean, who doesn't. So I usually just sit back and watch, or do something else. Unless someone busts out Mario cart. Then its on.
Altsounds: What do you guys do to prepare for a show?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Its pretty normal. Vocal warm ups, drum warm ups, tune, stretch, hit the bathroom.
Altsounds: The lighting is a big part of your performance, how do you think your songs would hold up live without the flashy light show?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: Just the same. We've done whole tours without the lights. I actually love playing without the lights from time to time. It gives us a chance to prove any nay-sayers wrong. It shows we are still a band that does play music.
Altsounds: How did you cope playing to a crowd of 55,000 at the Milton Keynes National Bowl on the Linkin Park Projekt Revolution tour?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: It was tough the first time, I wont lie. There's nothing you can do to prepare. You just do what you know how to do. Go out there, play your best, and hope people don't throw shit.
Altsounds: Has life changed much for you guys back in Pennsylvania since you've started getting recognition as a band?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: It's still to early to tell, it hasn't changed much. I get grilled by my extended family a lot at holiday gatherings. They ask a lot of questions. Like when I'm going to stop messing around with this music stuff and get a nice girlfriend and settle down.
Altsounds: What do you miss about home when you're touring?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: The little things. The gas station down the street that has great coffee. My really slow, really nice, pot-head neighbor that I always stop to shoot the shit with. My bed. My parents. The same things most people would miss when they are away from home a long time.
Altsounds: How do the UK fans differ from the US ones and in which country do you get the most female attention?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: I can't really answer that question yet. We just haven't hit in the US like we have in the UK. So right now, everything is better for us there. The crowds are bigger, the crowds are crazier, the girls are more plentiful. Well, for those of us that choose to indulge in that sort of thing. Some of us have lady friends at home, so the tour bus is usually a pretty calm place. Contrary to popular beliefs about tour buses.
The last track on the album 'Soundscape' sounds like something out of the English horror movie 'Creep', what's the track all about?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: First off, common mistake, it's not called 'Soundscape.' We're not sure where that came from. I'm convinced that someone reported that mislabeled into itunes, and now it's wrong on some stores. One of the many problems with technology, everyone's rushing, no one's paying attention to what they're doing. We wanted the track to be untitled, and on itunes it should be called 'Home' just because we were forced to name it. We wanted itunes to carry it "Album Only" but apparently that was just too much for a new band to ask.
People place way too much weight on that track. It was just meant to be a bonus tag onto What We Will Never Know, but if you put that song on a play-list we didn't want the tag on it. It sucks when you have an awesome last track then 6 mins of weirdness on a play-list, hence, it felt like a separate track was the most tasteful way to tag it on. We locked ourselves in our house for months on end and made a record. After awhile you start to really go a little crazy. The cars driving by and ambient sounds of the road going past our house just seem to blur together. That track is just about experimenting with sound, and tying it in to what we were hearing every day. Bands used to put odd bonus tracks or tags on their albums all the time when we were growing up. Remember that track on "Undertow" that was just rain for minutes and then had that creepy little one line at the end? Or how NIN "Broken" had all those blank tracks, then Physical and Suck on tracks 98 and 99? On Itunes it just lists that CD as 8 tracks. Itunes has ruined the art of the bonus track, because there's no way to surprise people. It would be really cool if we had enough clout that we could hide a track on itunes, that when you bought the album, this extra track downloaded that you weren't expecting, so you really felt like you were getting a weird bonus nugget, but it just wasn't possible on this album.
Altsounds: Where do you guys see yourselves a year from now?
Innerpartysystem [Jared]: I was kind of hoping to hit the platinum point 10 or 11 times by then, get a fat royalty check and blow it on my newly acquired prescription pain killer addiction. Trends move so much faster these days, so I feel we have a lot less time to complete the cycle of young nice new band, to cocky run down drug addicted assholes. I'm trying to hit "where are they now" status by late 2009.
We'll either be doing all that, or making music and having fun. We'll see.
Innerparty Systems debut album is available from all good record stores now. Innerpartysystem are a must see live band and if you get chance have a look at the sound engineer and his Chaos Pad skills. Innerpartysystem owe a lot to the live Vocal FX to their sound guy. Check out some Innerpartysystem below:
http://www.myspace.com/innerpartysystem
