Five Good Reasons (Seattle Hardcore)

Five Good Reasons
Posted Feb 13, 2007.


Matt Forbes - Vocals
Jason Mills – Bass
Marco Zambrano – Guitar
Logan Harmon – Guitar
Chris Lane - Drums
What is music to you?
Jason: Music is everything, it's my one passion and what I sacrifice everything for. It's the reason I wake up in the morning, it's the reason I work a bad job, live in a 1 bedroom apartment with 3 other dudes, and it's the reason I breathe. I've loved music since I was 14, and since then the rush of playing and the satisfaction of creating original art has been my one honest addiction. I left my whole life behind in Washington to pursue music wholeheartedly
and it's a decision I'll never regret.

Marco: I think Jason pretty much summed it up we’re all pretty much voluntarily broke and in debt from being in this band and as much as it sucks the upside really outweighs bad.

What is the best thing about music?
Jason: You can have long greasy hair and a gross beard and still be able to earn respect.

Marco: I love it just as cliché as this sounds it really is my escape and it also allows me to see parts of the country and meet new people it’s pretty amazing.

What is the worst thing about music?
Scene politics, industry double standards, and bad sound guys, people asking to borrow our equipment at every show, its like I can understand if you need a strap or you break a string mid set and need a guitar but showing up to a show with absolutely nothing and expecting people to let you borrow their gear is just whack.

Does being involved in playing music make you miss out on anything?
Jason: It makes you miss out on a lot of things, such as being able to hang out with your friends every night instead of practice, you miss out on the opportunity to go to school, to get a decent
job, and to have normal relationships with people.

Marco: Yeah I just really miss my friends I feel like an jerk because all I have time for is work and this band. It’s like being married to four other dudes really, we’re all so different we get mad at stupid stuff about each other but then 10 minutes later we’re having a beer laughing hysterically.

What other instruments can each person play?
Jason can play a little guitar and a little piano, Matt used to play bass in another band, and Chris used to play the flute. Logan can play the trumpet and harmonica and Marco plays the flute, violin, and viola.

What do you guys do for work right now, other than playing music?
We've all had a variety of bad jobs (You should see our collection of nametags and hair nets) but right now Chris, Matt, and Logan all work for various pizza establishments, I work for a
call center, and Marco works at the corporate office for a furniture factory.

What were some of your favorite bands growing up?
Jason: Iron Maiden, The Cure, Rancid, Metallica, Propagandhi, Sick Of It All, and Shai Hulud were my definite
favorites and most of those bands now have a direct influence on my songwriting.
Marco: Black Flag, Minor Threat, Descendents, Crass, Op Ivy, Judas Priest, Van Halen.

Did your parents like you playing music and the person you are today?
Jason: They tolerated it. They don't understand the words, they think we scream too much.

Marco: My parents got me into it with the violin and what not but they weren’t very fond of the whole rock band thing but now they don’t really care and they’re just accepting.

Is there a venue or area you would like to play that you have not played before?
Jason: I'd like to play a venue at the center of the Earth if there was one. Or maybe a venue at the North Pole where Superman used to hang out. Other than that, I'd love to play anywhere with a big dressing room in the back, catered sammitches, and a couch where I could stretch out.

Marco:
M-A-R-S. No but seriously I just wanna play the house of blues and play warped tour a few times and a good stage.

What is your favorite venue or area to play shows?
The El Corazon in Seattle, The Wow Hall in Eugene, OR, and any small town where kids just come out because
they love music and not for any other reason that that.

When, Where and how was your first show?
Jason: HA HA HA...Oh man, it was an assembly at Federal Way High School, back up in Seattle, we only had like 3 songs and we were god awful.

Where was your best show? Why?
Jason: Our best show in terms of attendance was when we played in Boise, ID and opened for Shadows Fall, that show was nuts. But we've played a few shows that I'd say were tied for first in terms of crowd energy and our performance. Probably our most recent show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim and a show that we played in Seattle on our last tour are probably both tied for group favorites. We also played a show at the Wow Hall in Eugene on one of our older tours that really went off, kids in Oregon bring the pain.

How did you come up with your band name and what does it mean?
Jason: Oh man, it's actually kind of a silly story, and it doesn't really mean anything. It's just
a fun anecdote. It's from Peanuts, the Charlie Brown cartoon, it's from one of their holiday specials I
think. There's a part that's famous, where Lucy, Charlie's rascally friend, holds the football and has
Charlie Brown kick it but she always pulls it away at the end and Charlie Brown lands on his GRASS.
Well, when ol' Charlie gets wise and refuses, he says to Lucy: "Give me one good reason why I should do it?" To which Lucy coyly and menacingly responds "I'll give
you five: one.. two.. three.. four.. five!!" And proceeds to make a fist.

Marco: Ya people are always like is it because theres five of you. Where are the other reasons at? I’m like I’m about to show you dammit.

Who do you one day want to play a show with the most?
The Wu Tang Clan, or The Darkness

Do you have a web site?
Just a myspace: www.myspace.com/fivegoodreasons

Why do you play music, what makes you strive to be heard?
Jason: Because my job really sucks and I don't really have much else going on in my life.

Marco: Ya we figure we stuck it out this long might as well keep trying.

Why would anyone want to hear your music and what
you are saying thru it?
Our music doesn't really have a particular message, but we try and stray from any cliché lyrics or messages about burning the Government, or killing George Bush, or killing your ex girlfriend, or staying true to the "Scene." It’s usually just a rant about something but nothing about the above.

Any funny or interesting stories?
Jason: Here's the directions for funny and interesting stories-- Step
one: Come to a show. Step two: Come hang out with us afterwards. Guaranteed you will hear some pretty crazy stories, because that's one thing we all just do, is somehow get involved in messed up situations, insane hijinks, or just general buffoonery.

Marco: Ya we’ll tell you if you come up and ask but nothing we want in print haha. We’re pretty much all court jesters.

How long have you been a band?
Jason: Since the band started, this was a very long time ago.

Marco: I’ve been in the band since 1/15/06 so around 7 months now. Chris and Matt have been around for five plus years

What do you wish for your band to be in 5 years?
Jason: Touring all the time and putting out records and not
rolling pennies for gas.

Marco: Playing shows where everyone knows us by either good or bad just knowing who we are and what we bring to the table.

When was your band formed?
Jason: A long time ago, it's
almost embarrassing if I were to tell you how long
it's been.

Marco: Haha sometime in ’99 but there has been a lot of buffoonery that ensued and also some tragedy so the fact that this has lasted is pretty epic in itself.

How old were each of you when starting to play instruments?
Jason: I was 11 when I started playing music. I was 14 when I began to play bass.

Marco: I started with the violin at 10, viola at 11, flute at 12 and guitar at 15.

Where have you been playing lately and how has your response been?
Our response has been really awesome down here, all of the kids are great, we've made a ton
of amazing friends, and it's been a pleasure sharing the stage with all of the different bands that have played with us.

Have you ever been on tour, how many and how did you go?
We've been on lots of tours up and down the west coast, we'd love to go out farther though, and see the rest of the country and the rest of the world. Touring is everyone in the bands absolute favorite thing. And it's what really inspires all of us to keep doing what we do, because we have met lots of awesome bands, and
we've gained a lot of support out on the road and our goal is to just share our music with whoever wants to
hear it, anywhere that we can.