Five Good Reasons (Part 2) (Punk/HxC)

Five Good Reasons (Part 2)
Posted Jun 24, 2007.


Matt Forbes
Chris Lane
-Jason Mills
Chris Garcia
-Marco Zambrano

Big Smile Magazine: I heard something about a new website, what is that all about?Jason: Well right now we're working on a premiering a new website to go along with our new EP and that will be something people can go to for any news, shows, and links that may not have access to myspace, which is where most bands have all of their information. Its going to be www.fivegoodreasons.org and we'll have it up very soon!

Big Smile Magazine: Awesome, can't waite to see it.

Big Smile Magazine: What are some of your up coming shows?
Jason: Well we're playing a show on June 22nd at Hogue Barmichaels, and also one on July 23rd at Dipiazzas in Long Beach. We're also working on more shows at The Alley in Fullerton and lots of other venues around the area to help promote the new record, we're in contact with lots of people about shows and are also thinking about some touring plans for the future as well

Big Smile Magazine: So I got a chance to listen to your new E.P. called "Fire on the Puget Sound" how long did it take to record and could you tell us a little about the E.P.?
Jason: Well the writing process took a few months and we took some time off from playing shows to concentrate on writing and pre-production for the record. We actually had material for about 11 songs, but narrowed it down to the 5 best songs we thought would best represent the band at this point. Every member challenged himself while writing and we wanted to make sure that the record would reflect that. After that we did more production with our engineer, Kyle Black, and proceeded to lay it all down. We recorded the drums at Bernie Becker studios up in Burbank, and that was a great experience -- We recorded the rest over the span of a month or so at Kyle's studio in his house, which was really great, we each got to do our tracking one on one which gave it a very intimate feel. After that, we went back and forth until we had a perfect mix and mastered it with a person we knew through our guitar player Chris, who delivered a very in your face, polished master that we're all extremely happy and excited about. The CD was able to capture and harness I think, a lot of our stage energy, which gives a feeling that's a little more raw and I think people will be able to hear that when they listen to it.
Marco: It took us a really really long time to all agree on a direction we all wanted to go and the thing is we weren't really heavy enough to be what some call a hardcore band we were always more of a punk band with hardcore influences but unfortunately we had trouble finding similar bands to play with and we always got stuck being lumped with like death metal bands which we are nothing alike So we took a conscious effort to go a little but more melodic but still keep what our band sounded like before. We weren't trying to do the whole screamo eyeliner scene so we made sure to keep our songs a little heavier in some parts even though there are a lot more melodic parts

Big Smile Magazine: You said something about a tour, do you have any plan's for that yet? of is it still up in the air?
Jason: Well right now we want to focus on playing local shows, and doing our best to promote this new EP and get into as many hands, and get our songs into as many heads as possible. But, this band has always been a fan of the road and we've been on dozens of tours in the past, right now I would say its a little up in the air, but we're definitely talking about getting on the road again sooner rather than later. Tour is amazing and we all live for the next time we get to climb in the van and just head out.

Big Smile Magazine: Where did the title of :Fire on the Puget Sound" come from?
Marco: The puget sound is basically the bay that covers seattle and a large surrounding area. Being that 4/5ths of the band are from seattle I thought it would be cool to name the ep after something that everyone else could relate to. Now the firing part is kind of us saying that no one will go back to living in seattle. It also has to do with seattle being destroyed ruins in the 1800s. That's what the cd cover is in fact.

Big Smile Magazine: What is the craziest thing a fan has done?
Jason: Well what's your definition of crazy?
Big Smile Magazine: the one that stands out the most, out of all the crazy stuff that has happened to you guys!
Jason: Because a lot of things that fans do for bands that some people would consider "crazy" are actually usually really flattering.
Well on our first tour when our van broke down, someone that was a fan of our band offered his truck to help tow our trailer for 100 miles to where we needed it be, I think that's kind of crazy because I don't know very many people that would do that for anybody. We also have a few people that we know that have gotten tattoo's with FGR lyrics or our band name tattooed on them and I think that is probably the highest honor anyone can bestow on a band. And that would probably be defined as crazy because tattoo's are there for the rest of your life, but to them it just showed dedication and to us it was just extremely flattering and we're definitely humbled by that.
Marco: Huh. Well on our last time in oregon these two kids drove about 150 miles to see us and they did this by stealing a car and breaking into someone's house, stealing there beer and giving it to us. We obviously didn't know this till later but ya, wowwwwww

Big Smile Magazine: Where will we be able to get your new E.P. at?
Jason: Well at first its going to be available as a digital EP and people will be able to buy our tracks through our myspace and through our new website, and soon it will be available through itunes and every other digital downloading service like napster or rhapsody etc.And then later we'll be coming out with the actual CD that will be available at shows and online, but for now we're going to make 2 song samplers that people will have access to at shows or directly from us.

Big Smile Magazine: Since our last interview Chris Garcia has joined the band, how has that been?
Jason: Chris has proved an invaluable asset, he came up with a lot of really creative riffs and had a lot of excellent ideas while we were working on arranging and recording these songs, he has a really good ear for structure and melody, but also has a lot of thrashier/old school influences which I think can really be heard in these new songs, and since he's been in the band before, back when we lived in Seattle, it was a really seamless transition.


Big Smile Magazine: What were some of your major influences for your new E.P.?
Jason: Definitely some of the same influences we've always had as a band, bands like sick of it all, black flag, shai hulud etc. But for this record we tried to make a better contrast between melody and aggression with a bigger, more epic feel. So the faster stuff on the record still has that classic hardcore punk sound, but with a more thrash influence in the guitar and drums and the other material maintains more of a classic rock/metal feel to it with more grooving rhythms and a tighter overall feel than on our past recordings.
Marco: Mine were Good Riddance and Thrice for this one.

Big Smile Magazine: I remember when you guys came from Seattle and was living in your van, Where are you now and what did it take to get there?
Jason: Well its a very long story and involved a lot of struggle and focus to get where we are now, at first everything really felt like a huge step back, and spending that much time in such close quarters together without anywhere to really call "home" for as long as some of us did, put a big strain on things and many of the circumstances we faced would be enough to make anyone throw in the towel. Now, we have this great recording, a much more stable living situation and shared goals that keep us disciplined and focused. But it definitely took a lot of work, and took a lot of encouragement from our friends and family. Its been a long, tough road, but we all know the rewards will be worth it in the end.

Big Smile Magazine: You guys have come a long way with your band, do you have any secrets for promoting?
Marco: Um not really we just go to shows and hand out flyers and do the usual means of promoting like myspace and sending out press kits. I think our live show just speaks for itself.

Big Smile Magazine: What do you think of Big SmileMagazine?
Marco: Only criticism I really have is I haven't seen too many bad reviews. If someone blows I think you should say so.
Jason: I think its a great place for people to find out new information about bands and its an excellent tool for bands to be noticed.


Click here to check out Five Good Reasons CD Review.

www.myspace.com/fivegoodreasons

www.FiveGoodReasons.org