The Wonder Years Interview - Warped Tour Pomona 2013

Nick Steinborn from The Wonder Years was cool enough to give me some time to talk about his experiences in the band! Although he may not have been there since the very beginning, he's definitely been a crucial part of their growth.

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What has it been like from the beginning, breaking out of the scene in PA?

it was a lot of hard work. I joined towards the end of that whole thing, but I was in bands before that. And really, it's just a lot of really crappy shows, kids who just don't care. But eventually it starts to pick up. It literally took the past 5 years to get anything happening. Just a lot of hard work.

Is there anything specifically you've overcome that has made you a band and stronger person?

There were a couple tours where we were having not really major issues, but we learned how to work together to not piss each other off constantly. I think compared to some other bands, we tend to like each other a lot more. And we can hang out and have a lot of fun. But that alone helps us as a band, because we're not arguing and wanting to kill each other all the time.

Well, that's important!

And how do you feel like you guys are different from the scene you came from?

I don't think we're really that different from the scene. We come from a bunch of bands who work our asses off, try to play as many shows as we can and do as good of job as we can to be relatable and to be good people. I just think we really try to be good people, play good music, and do what we believe in. There's no sugar coating it. We try to be honest. We don't have backing tracks or anything like that. We try to be us on stage.

And I think that's so good, staying true to yourself. And not selling your soul just for a big paycheck.

Sometimes people just grow up and they want to change, and it happens. But there are definitely bans who see another path to take with greener pastures. You cant really fault people for doing that.

Speaking of growing up, how do you feel the newer music is different from your older music?

Well, I joined right after The Upsides came out, so the first record I wrote with the band was Suburbia. I feel like just the inclusion of me was an extra person screwing everything up. I feel like we take a lot more time to piece things together now. Because they wrote The Upsides in like a month and a half. Suburbia we did it in 2 months, but we mapped it all out. This new record we took it to the next level, in like 4 months. Really kind of mapped out everything, including guitar riffs. Just a lot more planning.

What are your goals from here on out?

We really just want to keep doing what we're doing, hope that people keep liking it and supporting us. Play bigger shows, or smaller shows, whatever we have to do. As long as it stays fun, we're going to keep doing it.

Do you have any exciting news on the radar?

Not that I'm allowed to talk about. We'd get in a lot of trouble if we said anything. But we're playing the UK in the fall, with Warped Tour UK.

What has been a favorite city or show along the way?

I really like Seattle, Portland, and Chicago. Seattle and Portland for the cities themselves. Chicago is also a really cool city, we have a lot of awesome friends there. but when it comes to playing shows, Philly is our hometown. it's a lot of fun.

Dream collaboration?

If I could somehow resurrect Blue Album/Pinkerton-era Weezer. I don't know what Rivers Cuomo has been doing since then, but when he was doing that, and Matt Sharp was in the band that would have been awesome to collaborate with the two of them.

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Check out The Wonder Years on Twitter, Facebook, and on their website.

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Interview with Man Overboard - Warped Tour Pomona 2013

Man Overboard is one of the most famous bands for breaking out of New Jersey and turning into an internationally known "pop punk" band (in quotes, because who really likes forcing any band into a genre?) and I was fortunate enough to get a few minutes with Nik Bruzzese [lead vocals/bass] and Justin Collier [guitar] to talk about how they did it, and get a little taste of New Jersey, both through their humorous answers to the questions, and within the accents, always reminding people where they came from.

It's hard to believe they only started in 2008, because they've come such a long way. It's always nice to chat with band members who are humble and grateful, regardless of their fame, and to see their appreciation for the other bands who came from where they did and who are working hard for their success as well.

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What was it like for you breaking out of the NJ music scene?

A lot of bands are from NJ, there's lots of competition. With that, there's a lot of bands to play with, so it's a pretty good scene. Whereas if you're from Kansas, there's probably not a lot of other bands to play with. That honestly made it a little bit easier. Especially being near New York and Baltimore. Boston. Early on, we would go out and play shows in all of those areas; the bands we're friends with and have met from previous bands and such. We tried to be proactive early on.

How do you feel you differ from those bands?

Photo from Facebook

We worked hard. We never stop. We're always on the road. Always writing and trying to make our band better. We eat, sleep, and breathe this. It's hard to be cut off from that. It sets us apart: our work ethic. There were a lot of bands that we've played with who were long gone. And then there's a couple like Transit, Balance & Composure, The Wonder Years, that are still around and worked really hard as well. So it is cool to see your friends in bands succeed. I mean, Balance [& Composure] is playing a show with Jimmy Eat World! We're freaking out. We're more excited than they are. They're like our best friends.

Where did your guys' name come from? I don't want to assume anything about Blink-182 here...

Nik: I was in the Navy...and I had a close friend of mine who went overboard.

[me: staring deadpan]

Naw, I'm just kidding, it's a Blink song. It was between Man Overboard and Apple Shampoo.

What has been something you have overcome along the way?

Just being away, on the road for long periods of time. It can be difficult at times, but we make it work.

How has that made you stronger as a band?

We're all friends in the band, at the end of the day. It's easier.

So what are the touring woes of being away?

Everything is always up and down. Sometimes you don't play a good show, or you have a bad day. You're in a city that sucks, or you're pissed off. You have to learn to roll with whatever is going on.

You don't eat the same. There's no chicken parm. But what's cool about Warped Tour, is that there is catering and you get fed every day, and sometimes there is chicken parm.

Nik: There was yesterday and I f*cking missed it.

And that's your favorite, chicken parm?

We're from Jersey so yeah, chicken parm is great. We also have a veggie [vegetarian] in the band so he enjoys the eggplant parm.

What has been the most memorable city/show?

Every time we play at home is unreal. Last year Warped Tour was unreal and totally crazy. Portland, Oregon is awesome. The shows are cool, but the city is so great. It's probably our band's collective favorite city.

Photo from Facebook, by Lauren Brown

So you all still live in Jersey, then?

Yeah, we all still live there. We all live 20 minutes from each other.

Nik: I turn my phone on Do Not Disturb when I'm home all the time. Nobody disrupts daddy.

What's the inspiration and the soul behind your lyrics?

Women. Distance. Other guys, other people, insecurities. Normal every day things that go through people's heads. If you listen to defeater, they sing about WWII, we don't do that. Women, self doubt. From the beginning of time, it's always been about that.

What are your future goals, or exciting news?

Nik: I want to be on the cover of GQ for the shortest, most famous person in the world.

Justin: A tour in the fall. We can't say what it is, but we'll be around and touring the US. Can't say who it's with.

What is your guys' dream collaboration?

Dave Grohl.

Wish he [Grohl] was here and just hanging out! That would be awesome.

What do you guys think of Kanye West's new album?

Haven't heard it. Is it good? Or does it suck?

[To each their own!]

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No matter how well you know Man Overboard, the next thing on your to-do list should be to check them out on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, visit their website, and buy their new album, Heart Attack.


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