Interview: Authority Zero
Posted 06/18/2010 08:58AM by Rick Gebhardt as Interview
Authority Zero has been together since 1994. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 16 years. What’s it like thinking about being in the same band for that length of time?
Jason: The first thing you think of is, wow, 16 years. It's somewhat surreal when you look back on all the years we've been playing together. From our very first coffee house acoustic gig in Mesa, AZ to our first international tour through Japan, we never in our wildest dreams anticipated any of the travels and experiences that were about to come our way. When you're that young starting up a band (at least in our situation) you simply start jamming out to play some tunes with your close friends and pass the time. We never knew what we were doing, never had a set sound or musical taste we were specifically aiming for, no long term goals, none of that. We just knew what we liked, we liked doing what we knew, and were completely fine with that. To look back on it in depth and really think about all the places we've had the opportunity to play our music and the people we've had the pleasure of meeting along the way and share the journey with, you get a real feeling accomplishment and appreciation. Appreciation for each other for having stuck together through all the trials and tribulations and most certainly for the fans and friends we've made along the way for sticking by our side throughout the years as well. Music is always changing and will always be changing. We're looking forward to hopefully another 16 years filled with experiences and madness.
Even with the band being together for such a long time, you didn’t really get much exposure until your first two albums, A Passage in Time and Andiamo, which came out in 2002 and 2004. What was the band up to for all of those years before A Passage in Time?
Jason: For the first 6-7 years of being a group we did the same thing every new band does. We were finishing up school, working crappy day jobs as pizza delivery boys, janitors, salesmen, etc. Some went on to college and even traveled abroad for studies. During this whole time we were playing as many local shows as we could possibly get our hands on. Most times we’d be doing anywhere from 4-5 gigs a week and sometimes 3 shows a night at different locations throughout the valley and shoot down to Mexico for spring gigs. It became pretty much all we lived for and wanted to pursue. We really just loved playing and doing shows that whenever given the opportunity we’d jump on it without hesitation. If someone had something else going on or couldn’t get the time off from work for the gig, they’d quit their job to play the gig. Seems a bit intense looking back on it now, but it’s funny because it was true. I remember throwing in the towel at a local record shop I was working at because we had a gig down the street that we wanted to play and they wouldn’t allow me to leave early. There ended up only being about 10 people at that show, but we had fun. To answer in short, I guess we were just hammering away headed toward that common goal: to play music, have fun, and make it last as long as we could.
Your first two albums were released on a major label (Lava). Your third studio album, 12:34, was with an indie label, Big Panda. What was it like being with a major label and what was it like transitioning from a major label to an indie?
Jason: There were a lot of pluses in the beginning with being signed to a major, and in the end we can’t really regret any of the choices that were made throughout that time. Signing with Lava/Atlantic after 7 years of being a group was a surprise to us all and set the bar at a completely different level. We were suddenly getting a push behind our records, financial support for promotions, radio push, and above all an ability to hit the road hard and start touring our asses off. It was a real cool thing in the beginning. Unfortunately with major labels the reality of it is that if you don’t sell 500,000 records with your first release you’re pretty much pushed to the wayside. That’s sort of what happened with us on our second release Andiamo. The attention span from the label shot way down, as well as did the support and backing to push it out there. Just kind of became a landslide. From there as mentioned we fell back on our management and a few other people we’d had close ties with. They had started up Big Panda and we released the next record 12:34 with them. A the time it was a very new experience for them and a lot of things still weren’t there as far as promotions, which caused a lot of other issues to arise leading to our departure. Within that time frame we also released Rhythm and Booze which was a live acoustic album with rewritten songs from our first two records. We released that through Suburban Noize Records and up to this point it had gotten more love and attention than 12:34. That being said, it kind of leads us to where we are today. Fletcher of Pennywise and Ken Seaton of Hardline Entertainment approached us informing that they were starting a record label imprint coinciding with Suburban Noize Records and that they would like us to be their first release. Again given the history and support we’d had with Sub in the past as well as the ideals of what Fletch and Ken had in mind for the label it seemed like a fresh new direction to turn. So far with coming from the indie standpoint, it’s much more hands on and the people involved with what you’re doing are actually involved and care about what you’re doing rather than simply pushing you out there as some kind of disposable product.
Your upcoming album, Stories of Survival, is the band’s fourth and will be the first for Viking Funeral, an imprint of Suburban Noize Records. Viking Funeral was founded by Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise and Ken Seaton of Hardline Entertainment. How has the experience with Viking Funeral been?
Jason: It’s been a great experience to date and we’re looking forward to what the future brings with Viking Funeral and Suburban Noize. When speaking with Fletch and Ken about their goals and ideals as a label, they come from a place of the old school how labels used to be. With the mindset of the labels we grew up admiring such as Epitaph, Fat Wreck, Theologian, etc. They took their bands and hit the ground running and were more of a family than a label. We’re all partners in it this time around and it’s a great feeling to have that. We make decisions together, make moves together, and are working hard as a team to bring that idealism back to the table.
What went into writing Stories of Survival?
Jason: A lot of time, patience, angst, and heart. We’d had a different past few years consisting of ups and downs and people coming in and out which caused the writing process to get set back a bit. We were writing the entire time, but day to day life and other obstacles seemed to keep acting as an opposing force. Toward the fall of 2009 we got a lot of those obstacles figured out and started really hammering away. Lyrically a lot of those events went into the writing process. Just getting a lot of it out and using the record as a release to move forward.
Sonically, how does Stories of Survival fit into the rest of your catalog?
Jason: This record is one of my personal favorite records we’ve written. Sonically it’s got a big full sound, complements of producer Ryan Greene, and a lot of power. We’ve worked with Ryan on our past couple of records and he’s never let us down. It’s been great doing records with him through these years because he’s really had a chance to get to know us as musicians and people and vice versa. It makes the writing and recording process real smooth so you can focus more on the creativity of it rather than trying jumping through hoops to get what you’re going for. It’s nice to kind of lose yourself in it rather than over think it. I think we accomplished that with this record. I feel it’s a real solid and honest record.
Any plans for upcoming tours?
Jason: We have our CD release tour coming up which starts at the end of June. We’ll be touring for about a month on that nationwide and then are in the works of putting together a Japan and European tour. Hopefully we will be hitting the road for a long time coming up real soon.
In 2005 you released Rhythm and Booze, a live acoustic album. Was there a particular reason why the band chose to release an acoustic album?
Jason: We released Rhythm and Booze for just the hell of it really. We thought it would be a fun idea and had never really done anything like that nor had we seen many bands of our genre doing it either. Thought we’d go out on a limb and try something different. It had been a while since our previous release so we figured if we were gonna do it that now was the time. We had a blast putting that show together and putting it out. We’re thinking of doing a Rhythm and Booze 2, but titling in Less Rhythm More Booze. We’ll see.
Any bands you want to recommend to our readers to check out?
Jason: Some that come to mind would be Strike Anywhere, local AZ bands Fayuca, 2 Tone Lizard Kings (ska/reggae rock), our buddies in Pour Habit, Chaser, and Eken Is Dead out of SoCal, Another Damn Disappointment our of Sacramento…man, the list goes on and on.
Comments
Lehigh Valley, PA
Suburban Noize...? Really? Wow, these guys have fallen off the map.