The Alternative Star.com

Four Year Strong

At the Winnipeg stop of Taste of Chaos 2009, I had the chance to sit down with Four Year Strong vocalist/guitarist Alan Day about the current tour, what lies ahead in the future and their contribution to the Punk Goes Pop compilation, among other topics. Thanks to Evan and Mara for helping to make this interview possible!

What do you like the most about Canada?

Alan: Poutine, definitely! We have similar things to that in America, like fries with gravy on it, but it’s just not the same. There’s something about it, it’s just delicious! I’ve had it pretty much at least twice every day.

What inspired the idea for that 90’s cover band April Fool’s joke?

It just came up and we were like ‘Yeah, that would be funny.’ I mean, it wasn’t really much. We just had to do something for April Fool’s.

There were no motives behind it? Are you actually fans of those bands?

There might be but I’m not allowed to say much yet. We are big fans of those bands.

I’ve read that after Taste of Chaos, you’re going to write your new record.

Yeah, we already have some stuff written. We’ve been writing on this tour and before this tour but we’re going to be writing a lot more when this tour is over. We’ve been doing demos and stuff.

How do you expect it will compare to Rise or Die Trying?

The direction we want to go with it, we don’t want to do anything over the top, anything where kids will go ‘What in the hell are they doing?’ you know? We don’t want to release the same record that we did but we also don’t want to lose fans that we’ve already made. We just want to do what we already do but take it the next step further. You know, make the heavy parts heavier, make the poppy parts poppier.

Do you have any producers in mind?

Not really, we’ve been talking to a few but nothing set in stone.

Who is your dream producer?

I don’t know if he produces records but I always thought it would be cool to have Andrew W.K. That would be really cool!

Why?

Because all of his records are the most fun things ever! That’s the kind of vibe we want on this record.

This is also your first for Decaydance. What was it like signing to that label?

It was definitely a cool experience; we had met Pete [Wentz] and stuff in the past. He’s a really good guy so we were very excited to work with someone that we knew and trusted. Someone who wasn’t just some random businessman in a suit we didn’t know and that would make all the decisions for us. Having someone that we know and that wants the same things that we want is very cool.

How did you end up on the Punk Goes Pop compilation?

We got asked to do it by Fearless. We loved the other comps so we decided we should definitely take that opportunity. And we thought that would be a really cool song [“Love Song” by Sarah Bareilles] to do because I love the original! It’s just a catchy song; it’s a good pop song.

Was it easy making it into something heavier?

I wouldn’t say it was easy really but those kinds of things do just come natural to us. When we started, it went smoothly. We actually arranged it all a day before we recorded it.

New Found Glory is one of your influences and you’ve had the chance to tour with them. What was that experience like?

 Just getting to watch them every night, cause I’ve been doing this for awhile, touring, and like every other job you do your job and you go to bed but it doesn’t really hit you. I think going on tour with New Found Glory was one of those things where I’d say ‘Holy crap, how did I end up here?’ you know?  That was definitely really cool!

But did anything else really stand out?

There’s a couple of pranks we pulled on each other but I’m not really supposed to talk about them.

Have you listened to Not Without a Fight yet?

Yeah, I think it’s great! I heard them playing the new stuff on the tour for sound check and I loved it.

I know that you often base your song titles off of movies so I’m wondering, which title is your favourite and why?

You know, there are actually older song titles that we never used. We had 2 songs, “Angels with Filthy Souls” and “Angels with Even Filthier Souls.” I liked those because it was from my favourite movies Home Alone and Home Alone 2. Those are cool!

The band recently released limited edition vinyl pressings of Rise or Die Trying so I was wondering, is that your favourite medium for music?

I love vinyl and I always think it’s a cool thing to do. I’m not really a collector of vinyl but lots of my friends do. Considering the way the music industry is sort of dying out and no one is really buying CDs, our record is still a cool way for kids to buy a hard copy of the music and have it as a collector’s item.

I read that you’ve been a band since 2001 and obviously it’s not a choice but a lot of bands nowadays get their starts much faster. Was there ever a point when you felt like giving up?

Not really. As small as the steps were that we were taking back in the day, they still felt like we were going somewhere. It never felt like a stand still. We were getting tours and writing music and we still felt like we were moving up, even it was happening very slowly. There was never a point when I felt like giving up really.

Lastly, to put more of the focus on you, I read that you are straight edge. What made that sort of lifestyle appeal to you?

I’ve been straight edge for 8 years now so pretty much since the band started. It’s just been a lifestyle that’s been intriguing to me, I heard about it from my best friend at the time’s older brother who’s in the hardcore scene. I haven’t had a doubt in my mind that this was the way I was going to live my life. It’s a personal choice; I’m not really the kind to say what other people should do. I mean, not everyone in the band is straight edge.

You also play guitar, did you just pick it up or did you take lessons?

I picked it up, then I started trying to play a lot so my mom though I should try and take lessons, which I did for a few months and that’s about it. Once my teacher taught me how to play a power chord, the rest was history!

Interview by: Deborah Remus

Check out a Taste of Chaos show review here.

Check out an interview with tour mates Thursday here.