Login Panel
By CrystalNewmeyer
Published: April 30, 2008
Print 
EmailDate: April 20, 2008
Band Members: Kenny Vasoli -vocals, bass and Matt Watts - guitar
After their start eight years ago, The Starting Line rapidly gained fans with catchy songs like “The Best of Me” and “Bedroom Talk” and kept them by defying major label pressure to write radio-friendly pop songs and continuing to put out their unique brand of rock. Sadly for many fans, on March 5, 2008 the band announced that they would be going on a break following their headlining tour. We were fortunate enough to catch up with The Starting Line on the last date of their final headlining tour before their break.
Could you please introduce yourselves and say what you do in The Starting Line?
Matt: I’m Matt and I play guitar.
Kenny: I’m Kenny. I play bass.
What do you think about the reception in general about the news of you going on break?
Kenny: I think people are taking it well. They kind of understand or they seem to.
Matt: It’s nice that people are going to miss us and I think it’s cool that we’re kind of leaving our mark and going out the right way.
What can fans expect from members of the band during the break with Person L, The Seventy Six, and any other plans or projects you may have?
Kenny: I’m going to try putting a record out every year with Person L and doing as much touring as I can.
Matt: And The Seventy Six we’re just trying to get off the ground right now, trying to work on some new material and recording some new stuff.
Can you tell me about the album of unreleased material that you are putting together?
Matt: I think we recorded it back in 2000, it was for We the People Records and it’s basically what got us signed to Drive-Thru. That record contains the original version of “Leaving,” which is on our first EP. I don’t know, it’s definitely old school Starting Line.
Are you excited?
Matt: Yeah, definitely.
Direction seems to have a bit of a different feel than your other albums. Could you maybe describe how it sounds and what brought about the change?
Kenny: It’s sort of a stripped down version of our band. I mean just song structure-wise it’s not really too complicated but it’s I think the most focused record probably and you know it’s a little bit more mid-tempo than our first record or second record I guess. But you know besides that I think it’s sort of a combination of the first two records as far as sonically.
What made you choose “Island” as your single?
Matt: It just seemed like that was the standout song to all of us while we were in the studio. Howard Benson, who produced the record, thought the same thing and the label just kind of thought the same thing. There was no really like argument about it, we were all kind of on the same page with that one.
What song do you think is the most representative of the type music you want to make?
Kenny: I’d say probably either “Direction” or “Something Left To Give.” “Direction” just because it showcases everything we’ve sort of done over the course of the band.
When you toured this past fall with Paramore and The Almost it seems you picked up a new fan group. What have you noticed about the evolution of your fan base?
Matt: I feel like, being that the music has kind of evolved from record to record, I feel like we have that core audience that has kind of grown up with us. I think the fans that sort of latch on to one record or one single I feel like those fans really don’t stand the test of time. But I’m definitely thankful for the fans that we got on the Paramore and Almost tour, they’re definitely here on this tour supporting us. Hopefully they dig the older stuff. It’s cool to have anyone support our band and give it a chance.
The focus of many young music fans seems to be falling away from actually purchasing physical albums and rather shifting to the digital, like i-Tunes. What effect does this have on artists and how do you feel about this change in the industry?
Kenny: I think you just need to adapt to it. I know the Person L stuff that I’ll be releasing is going be pretty much strictly digital and then all the hard copies are going to be sold through the website. And I think it’s good in a way because once your record’s done you can just put it out, there’s no worry about it leaking. If the music industry starts focusing more on legal downloads then I think we’ll be at a better spot. They really need to crack down on torrent sites and stuff like that because they’re really too accepting of it.
Matt: Going straight to digital, too, I feel like it kind of almost cuts out a middle man in a sense and you can be a band and just put out a record. After a while I think it’s going to separate the good bands from the not so good bands.
So what made you decide to get into the music business in the first place?
Kenny: Just the attraction to music. It’s something that I was always interested in more than anything else I took time to be a part of. Just really early on I always wanted to be in a band.
Matt: Yeah, same.
What do you love most about doing what you do?
Kenny: Just the great shows, the like really “wow” shows are the best part.
Matt: Yeah, the past two nights have been unreal. One good show makes every bad show not seem so bad. We got to play Philly the other night and it was a hometown crowd, all of our families were there, and that show will stick in my head forever.
Kenny: Yeah.
Is there anything you hate or dislike at all?
Kenny: There’s lots of little things that are irritating about the business and being on the road can be pretty wearing, it can take its toll on you and the relationships you have with other people. It just comes with the territory.
What would you say are some of your most memorable moments over the years?
Kenny: I think Matt said, like a couple days ago that the Philly show was just like a culmination of everything. That was definitely a stand out one. And then probably the first time we ever practiced…
Matt: Yeah.
Kenny: I still remember that day.
Matt: Signing to Drive-Thru was a huge one.
Kenny: Yeah.
Matt: I remember that was probably the most excited I’ve ever been in my life.
Have you ever had a “whoa” moment where you have seen, talked to, or played with someone that you really admire and would never have thought you’d be interacting with at all?
Kenny: Yeah, I got to meet Jim Adkins for the first time, I guess it was five or six months ago…
Matt: Yeah
Kenny: Yeah about. I just had so many things I wanted to say that guy. I didn’t say all of them, but he was like a perfect gentleman when he met me and he was nice enough to recognize me when he saw me any time beyond that and he would go out of his way to come up to me and say hello and start joking around with me which is like a dream come true for a fan.
Matt: Yeah, Jimmy Eat World too. I mean that’s been probably my favorite band for I don’t even know how long and getting a chance to meet those guys a couple months ago was unreal. I definitely dorked out in front of them and told them how awesome their band was and felt like that fan kid but I didn’t know when I’d get an opportunity to again. They’re all great guys.
Do you remember any time when you were particularly nervous before a show? Do you still get nervous before performing?
Matt: The Philly show we just played we were filming for a DVD and I think the combination of that and family being there personally made me really nervous. Anytime family’s there, I really care what they think about the show. I hold their opinion really highly, so hometown shows I always get nervous.
What song do you think you’ve played the most times?
Kenny: “Best of Me”
You still seem very committed to your music and your fans. Do you have any advice to give newer bands that may help them stay grounded and remembering why they are doing what they’re doing?
Matt: Just play music because you love it, you know. It’s not a get-rich-quick type thing. There’s really no shortcuts and anything good that does happen just be thankful for it.
Kenny: Yeah, you’ve got to be willing to lose everything for it.
What do you think about cause groups like To Write Love on Her Arms and Keep A Breast that seem to be going on a lot tours with bands to sell their merchandise and get the word out on what they do. Do you support any of these groups and would you consider touring with these groups in the future?
Kenny: Yeah, all of these. I think there needs to more things like that and it’s good that people are starting to do unselfish things now in this kind of scene because it’s getting sort of back to a punk rock thing. With all the clothing companies and stuff like that, instead of making things like fashion statements people should try to spread the word around them about a good cause.
Matt: Yeah, there should be more stuff like that.
Is there one in particular that you like?
Matt: To Write Love On Her Arms is definitely a really cool one.
Kenny: Yeah. The Invisible Children group is really good.
Matt: Shirts for a Cure I think is definitely rad.
Kenny: Skate 4 Cancer.
You recently had a contest where fans had the opportunity to design a t-shirt. How was the response and what do you think about the contest winner?
Matt: Lots of kids submitted stuff, so it’s definitely a really cool thing. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t know what shirt won, but I’m sure it looks great.
How has this tour been so far with Bayside, Four Year Strong, and Steel Train?
Matt: It’s probably been one of the best tours we’ve ever been on, as far as kids coming out and everybody on the tour.
Kenny: It’s pretty much the best time we’ve had.
Did you choose the other bands yourselves?
Matt: Yeah. We’ve pretty much known all the guys in all the bands for a long time. We hung out with Bayside on Warped Tour and really connected with those guys, thought it’d be cool to tour and then Four Year Strong we’ve been tight with those guys for a hot minute.
You mentioned the hometown show already, but in general does it seem like fans during this tour are acting differently? Are they more enthusiastic or sad?
Kenny: They’re sort of sad sometimes, but for the most part they’re having a really good time.
What are you looking forward to most now that this tour is coming to an end?
Matt: I’m looking forward to kind of being a real person for a minute and just doing normal everyday activities.
Kenny: Yeah.
Matt: And not living on a bus…with eleven dudes.
If you could sum up this tour in one word what would it be?
Kenny: Heavy
Matt: Bittersweet
Is there anything else you want people know? Any un-asked questions you want to answer?
Kenny: I just want to say thanks a lot to everyone that’s been listening to us since the beginning. We appreciate it.
Matt: Yeah, thanks for the past eight years.
Many, many thanks go out to Mary Thayer, Steve Tamburello, and The Starting Line for making this interview possible…2011 can’t come soon enough! Be sure to continue to visit www.myspace.com/thestartingline and www.startinglinerock.com for updates and in the mean time, check out Person L (www.myspace.com/personl) and The Seventy Six (www.myspace.com/theseventysix).
View Comments (0)
