Conditions *interview with Alex*
Conditions
Conditions
Brandon Roundtree – Vocals
Jason Marshall – Guitar & Vocals
Alex Howard – Guitar & Vocals
Ryan Tinsley – Drums
Corey Thomas – Bass
Not everyone on this year’s AP Tour is a complete douche (like Craig Owens). I know, I know… this information is hard to believe, but it’s true. One dude that proves it is Conditions guitarist, Alex Howard. Before the AP Tour came to sunny Los Angeles (which happened to be drenched that particular evening), I spoke with Alex on the phone about the upcoming tour, what’s to come in the future and everything in between. Check it out!
Alex Howard, guitar
AP Tour! What’s up?!
I’m extremely excited. It’s only been going for a few years but as far as AP goes, you can ask my parents, I’ve been subrscibed forever. I’ve seen my favorite bands on the cover and now to see the singer of my band on the cover blows my mind! We’re so excited and thankful for the opportunity, can’t wait!
Are you mad that Craig Owens was in front of Brandon on the AP cover?
No, I’m not mad at all. I don’t know him at all but I guess I’ll get to know him on the tour. We were tweeting at each other about working out so I think we’ll have fun together.
Tell me something you like and something you don’t like about your band.
Something I like about my band..hmm.. I feel like we’re in the same mindset as far as being really honest and trying to bring some sort of substance and reality back into rock, ya know? I feel like there’s so much out there, it’s so easy to fake everything and we’re not like a Radhiohead or groundbreaking band, but we take a lot of pride in what we’re doing. You’re not gonna find us using auto tune live or a bunch of tracks because we can’t play. We’re just all about being a real band. We have some backing stuff for interludes through an iPod, but if the iPod wasn’t working we could still play and it’d be fine.
Something I don’t like about my band I’m not gonna say I DON’T like it, cos we’re pretty early on in our coming up, we’ve been a band for four years, first full length last year. I’d like to see a little more broadening of our horizons as people say all of our stuff sounds the same. So maybe more experimenting. We definitely want to expand ourselves and think outside the box. On the flip side, me and Jason (other guitar player) talk about how you see these bands that get success and then the next record is totally flipped and sounds different. We wanna stay true to who we are and everything.
Alex, guitar
Do you guys enjoy living in Richmond or are you planning to eventually relocate?
Yeah well, we do like Richmond. It’s actually fairly big, we’re the capitol of Virginia at least. The location, as a younger band, is good, it’s made it easier for us to tour. We’re six hours from NYV, a days drive from Florida, we can tour anywhere on the east coast and do whatever pretty easily. It’s nice to be close enough to NYC where a lot of things are based out of, labels out of Jersey, manager in Philly, etc.. We have other desires, though. We all love Florida, Cali, Nashville…. so as far as a serious move, we haven’t really discussed it because we know we’re not at the place yet. I think a little more substancial success could give us that option. We’re sticking around here which is cool with us.
How do you feel about kids illegally downloading music online?
Heres my stance I don’t wanna say it like im in the middle. The only thing that gets me, obviously I want our music to be out there and I want people to want to come see us on tour. If that were the case and downloading does that, then great! But the problem is when someone downloads our record, it doesn’t count for a scan so when soundscan says this bands only sold 100 records, when actually 10k people had it, it really hurts us for getting opportunities. Everyone’s looking for ticket sales, it could be the biggest rock band out there. Lets say 30 Seconds To Mars needs an opener and whatever booking agent is submitting is saying we have this band, whoever sold more records will sell more tickets. The system is based a lot on that so until someone can count in illegal downloads, I mean, I’ve down,loaded music but I’ve tried to buy it or go see them on tour, support them somehow. The only problem is just the system marking it to make us get cool opprunities to go on cool tours. BUY CONDITIONS OR WE’RE BREAKING UP!
Do you feel like you’re settled with the band;s current line up or are you still adjusting to changes?
Our new bass player has been with us about a year and a half. He came in the tail end of our full length. The four of us have been together for over four years now, so we’re settled in that and Corey has fit right in. He’s got good ideas, he’s a good bass player, catches on really fast and we’re pretty content with what we have going on right now.
Do you have a favorite track from the new album, Fluorescent Youth?
I think my favorite song to play live is the End of Progression. It’s the first song, kinda heavy, and I like heavier music. I like the parts I play in that song; it’s fun and I think it’s a good opener. It definitely gets people excited. We’re not going to be playing it on the AP tour, but another song I really like is miss America. We wrote it in the studio and I really like the way it came out.
How different is it being on a label versus when you all were doing most everything yourself?
I LOVE being with Good Fight. I’m like the dad of the band so I’m sort of the controlling figure where I know whats going on in all aspects and sometimes I feel like I over exert myself. Everyone is totally capable but I’m always like, “Nahh, I got it.” I get an email from Mike or someone at Good Fight about something and all the things they’re doing. Sony Red, our distributor, have been able to pull some great opportunities for us! It definitely helps take a load off our shoulders.
When do you plan to focus on writing again?
I think maybe this spring. We’re constantly writing and we’ve got a few songs that will probably go on the next one. We won’t hunker down really until the fall though. The record came out in September, so we’ll give it at least a year until we think about the next record.
www.myspace.com/conditionsband
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To learn more about Conditions, check out:
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I hate you, Craig Owens.
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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