The Morning Of By Kaila Rovine Published: October 5, 2008 PrintEmail
The Morning Of Interview
September 19th 2008
ForTheSound recently got a chance to chat with Tragic Hero Records' The Morning Of. Check out our interview below and see what they have to say about writing new material, snacking on the road, and Justin's pillow.
Please state your name and what you do in The Morning Of
Justin – My name is Justin and I sing Jessica – My name is Jessica and I sing too
How did you form the band?
Justin - Well they were actually a band before Jess and I joined, which was last July. They were just friends throughout high school and they just wanted to play in a band together but they had some trouble with their old members. They met Jess at school and I met them through a mutual friend. So the current line-up has been together since the beginning of August of last year.
How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you guys before?
Jessica – I would describe our sound as happy. It’s a feel good type of band and feel good music, we’re positive and fun.
When did you guys play your first show together?
Justin – August 2nd in Brooklyn, NY there was absolutely nobody there, six people maybe. Jessica – I was still really nervous Justin – She only sang in like two different songs because she had just joined the band four days before. And I ripped my pants, it was really bad.
How did you guys end up getting signed to Tragic Hero Records?
Justin – Tragic Hero is based out of North Carolina, The Morning of played in Raleigh(North Carolina) with a band called Alesana, and Alesana was signed to Tragic Hero at the time. Tragic Hero was just really impressed with The Morning Of and offered them a deal. We love Tragic Hero so much, they are the greatest people in the world.
Jessica: What’s it like being the only girl in the band?
Jessica – Well today, I was grumpy for some unknown reason. Justin – Because you’re a girl. Jessica – Yeah, I mean sometimes I just want to get away, but I love them to death they’re like my brothers. We have a lot of fun together. We have a lot of inside jokes and pranks. Justin – We treat her like a boy.
Do you have any advice for bands trying to get into the music scene?
Justin – Work hard, if you really believe in what you’re doing, you’ll get somewhere. The most rewarding feeling is playing your music and having people there to watch you play. Whether it’s two people, two hundred people, or two thousand people, it doesn’t make a difference. If there are people there that genuinely connect with your music then I think if you’re doing something you love and they can tell that you love it then they will love it too. Jessica – You just have to work really hard because there’s a lot of people that are going to talk a lot of crap, bring you down and stuff. It sucks and you know people say “oh they suck” and we don’t feel like we suck, I mean we can sometimes, but you just have to keep your head up and just keep going if you know you want to do it. Justin – Do it for yourself don’t do it for anybody else.
Could you guys describe a bit of the writing process you have for songs?
Justin – Oh geez, it’s hectic. When Jess and I joined the band before our first record The World as We Know It, some of it was written already before we joined, but the stuff that we wrote together, it was really simple because we weren’t on tour. So we would all stay at our guitar player Chris’s house and just write for as long as it took. It came out good and then we would just go and record them at the studio because it wasn’t that far away. With our newer stuff, we just got done recording three new songs and it was a lot harder because we’ve been on the road since August of last year pretty much, and it’s impossible to write on tour. But were really proud of those three songs, I definitely thing they are the best three songs we’ve ever written. So as far as the writing process goes, it’s extremely hard on the road, but once you hunker-down, you just get it done.
What are some of your favorite places to play?
Justin – I have a lot of favorite places to play, but I think my absolute favorite, is this place called The Brewery in Raleigh, North Carolina. I don’t know why I love it so much, maybe it’s because Tragic Hero Records is based out of there. Usually when we play there, there are just a lot of people who I consider family that come out. I don’t know if you guys have been to North Carolina but it’s like the nicest place in the world, everybody is so nice there and they don’t know how to be mean. Jessica – I agree, I love The Brewery a lot for the same reasons, and I love anywhere close to home. I’ve only been to the west coast once but just being out there is really really cool. It’s totally different from the east coast. I don’t know I like everywhere.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the music industry when it comes to mass online distribution via Smartpunk, Itunes, etc. vs. physical cd’s and cd stores?
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Justin – I would be lying if I said I never downloaded music, cause everybody downloads music illegally. I think it’s absolutely the worst and best thing to ever happen to music. Because, it makes bands so accessible that even if you don’t live near a record store or you don’t have money you can still get the music you like. However, it still ruins it because bands like live off cd sales. If records aren’t selling then labels aren’t going to want to put out the product, thus no money will be made. To stay on the road you need like, consistent record sales cause it really helps, and it sucks that people just download it for free.
I think that if they found some way to make a program where, kids could download records for free, if only for like two weeks, and then it would disappear and then they would have to buy it if they wanted it again. Because then they could fall in love with the record and say this is such a good record I’m actually gonna buy it, or they could say this record sucks, I’m not gonna buy it. I think that would totally solve everything and in time I think they will come out with something like that. But right now it’s hard and a lot of bands are getting screwed, cause labels are afraid to sign bands cause nobody buys records, but we’ll see what happens.
What are some of your favorite snacks while on the road?
Jessica – I love Chex Mix sweet and salty, preferably the bold party mix. I love Reese’s peanut butter cups so much. I love any kind of chip except plain or original. Justin – There are these awesome things called Snyders pretzel bites and they are boneless buffalo wing, they are so good. Any type of vitamin water is delicious, and my favorite snack of all time is Reese’s Stix.
What are some things you guys like to do while on the road?
Justin – We thoroughly enjoy the game Super Smash Bros on Nintendo 64. We all have laptops so that occupys a lot of our time, we like to listen to music. Whenever we are in a place where we know some people we just like to hang out and catch up with people we haven’t seen in a while. Pretty much the normal stuff. When it’s really nice out we bring a barbecue on tour and we always bbq with the bands that we’re on tour with so that’s really fun. Jessica – We like to sightsee too. If we’re in a scenic location.
What‘s one essential personal item you have to have while touring?
Justin – My own pillow, cause I can’t sleep without it. Jessica – I don’t even sleep with a pillow. Justin – That’s cause your weird. Jessica – I think for me it’s definitely my hair straightener, it’s so cliché but I need it. The guys on the tour ask me to borrow it. They use it more than I do. I guess I love my Ipod, and my laptop. Justin – That’s three items, they said one. Jessica – Oh okay sorry sorry ok that’s it.
Is there anything you guys would like to add to your fans or the readers at ForTheSound?
Justin – Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and if you can check out our band. If you’ve never heard of us it’s just myspace.com/themorningof. Check out all the bands that we’re touring with Breathe Carolina, Brokencyde, and Every Avenue. Jessica – Thank you a lot, everyone is so great to us. Buy our cd, listen to us, like us, thank you. Justin – You guys are phenomenal.
Thanks to Jessica and Justin for chatting with Forthesound. Special thanks to Casey and to Jerry at Warm Fuzzy Publicity for helping to make this interview happen. For more information on The Morning Of You can check out their myspace here!
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