Warped Interviews Pt. III – Senses Fail (Buddy)
Despite the heat and the extremely overpriced beverages, our day at the Warped Tour trekked on. At least we had a place to go to escape the heat… the press room. It was nearing 3 p.m. and my next interview was with with Buddy, who sings/screams for Vagrant veterans, Senses Fail. We ended up venturing back to the cafeteria area to chat. As he was drinking an orange soda, he plopped down on a bench and was ready for the interview.
me and Buddy (vocals, Senses Fail)
Me: So this is… how many Warped Tours for you now?
Buddy: Fourth or fifth.. uh.. I don’t know.
Me: Is it all just a blur now?
Buddy: Yeah, pretty much!
Me: So when I interviewed you a few years ago at Warped, you mentioned how difficult it was to get a shower and most people go days without because of that. Has it gotten any better?
Buddy: Nah, it’s still really hard, you have to get done at the right time pretty much.
Me: Is it different playing the stops in say.. Southern California to the Indianapolis shows? Are there totally different vibes?
Buddy: It depends, I mean it’s just kinda the same thing with people from the Mid-West are way different than people from the South. So it’s not the same vibe, you know.
Me: Do you prefer one over the other?
Buddy: I just like it when the show’s good. It doesn’t even matter where it is. Everywhere… it’s pretty much the same place.
Me: What do you consider a good show? When you play well or when the crowd’s into it?
Buddy: Yeah, both. When those two happen at the same time, which rarely happens, that’s a good show. That happens maybe once a week. Maybe.
Live @ Warped, Indy 7/7/09
Me: Does Sense Fail have anything in the works right now? I actually work with Vagrant Records a little on the side, and it seems that you all tend to release more material than the average band. Which is great!
Buddy: Cool, cool. We’re doing our tour in the fall and then we’re going to write another record which should be out next summer. That’s the plan!
Me: Okay so, if you and all of your band mates were stranded on a deserted island, who would you eat first to survive?
Buddy: I’d eat Heath, he’s the biggest.
Me: I’m pleasantly surprised at people’s answers to that question. It seems everyone goes with the largest person, rather than the person they like the least. Since it’s hypothetical, I figured at least some people would go for the one they find the most annoying.
Buddy: And that’s the way it should be, cause that’s smart!
Me: But can you eat pure fat? Seems like a nice, lean person would be more healthy.
Buddy: Sure ya can!
Me: Well, I have heard that you shouldn’t eat an entire liver in one sitting because that much Vitamin K can kill you. So remember that when you’re chowing down on ol’ Heath.
Buddy: Well that’s why you space it out, so it can all last longer. But I’d catch something and eat it first. Definitely.
Live @ Warped, Indy 7/7/09
Me: So are you all getting all the free beer you want on the tour?
Buddy: No, not really. We get a case a day. I’ll have a couple before we play. We don’t get to pick it, but we got High Life today, which is good. We had been getting Budweiser every day.
Me: What do you do the rest of the day?
Buddy: We just did a signing, and I’m tour manager too, so I do all that. And this, I do this. *pointing at the recorder*
Me: Are things pretty different from the first Warped Tour you played?
Buddy: The tour itself is pretty much the same, but the bands are different. A lot of the same people too, there’s a couple of new people but pretty much the same.
Me: Do you all have any sponsors? Or is just the tour?
Buddy: Nah we don’t really have any band sponsors. Well.. we did some stuff with Hurley. I mean, they didn’t give us any money or anything. We did a show with them, which is actually pretty cool.
Me: Do you all still do the acoustic sets?
Buddy: Nah, that was just the one time. It was terrible, I hated it. Yeah, it sucked.
Me: Why did you hate it?
Buddy: It sounds like shit, I don’t have a good voice so it sounds terrible with acoustic. I like to jump around and shit and you can’t do that with acoustic.
Senses Fail
Me: Did you ever go to the Warped Tour before you played it?
Buddy: Nope.
Me: How do you feel about the passing of Michael Jackson?
Buddy: I don’t care, I’m tired of it. It’s fucking disgusting that guy is getting the reception that he is, he didn’t do shit. I don’t give a shit, I don’t know why people care so much, it’s not that big of a fucking deal. There’s other people that died that should get that much attention, and he gets that much attention for just playing music, music that he didn’t even fucking write! I like Michael Jackson, I just don’t want to see it on every fucking channel.
Me: How about Billy Mays?
Buddy: *stutters* Not to be a dick, but I really don’t care, if it’s not part of my family or some tragic.. well.. it’s tragic because they both died young, but one died because he was a drug addict, ya know? One of them randomly died because he had a heart condition.
Me: What I don’t get is how everyone can make fun of someone while they’re alive, and then they’re all of a sudden a Saint when they die. Then everyone looks at you like you should burn in Hell for telling a dead Michael Jackson joke, yet they laughed at every child molestation comment made about him while he was still alive. That’s what pisses me off.
Buddy: I just think there’s a lot of other people that have died that don’t get as much attention and they have done much greater things. His funeral was at the fucking Staples Center. I mean, who would go? I wouldn’t go. It’s exactly what he is, he’s weird, his whole life is weird and this is all weird.
Me: So if you weren’t playing in a band, what do you think you’d be doing with your life?
Buddy: I work when I’m at home, at a law office. My step dad’s a lawyer so, it runs in the family. I always used to work there so I work there when I go home. Like a paralegal.
Me: And home is… Jersey?
Buddy: Yeah, *with an exaggerated accent* Jersey City. Doesn’t get more JERSEY than that.
Me: Do you watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey?
Buddy: No, I don’t care about that shit.
Me: Well what else on television? Is there anything to like to watch?
Buddy: Nothing. I don’t really watch TV. I watch Sports Center, I watch the Yankees and UFC. I like fighting. Oh, and I do watch Ghost Hunters.
Me: Alright well I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but is there anything else going on you wanna tell us about?
Buddy: We’re going on tour in the fall with A Sky Lit Drive, Closure in Moscow, FACT and the Mongoloids. So we’re gonna be around, we’ll be in Louisville.
Me: I saw you all not too long ago at a club in Covington, Kentucky called The Mad Hatter. Do you like playing on those small venues like that?
Buddy: Yeah, I prefer the smaller stages. We’re playing at Headliner’s in Louisville, we’ve played there before. We’ll be around!
Live @ Warped, Indy 7/7/09
Check out more of Senses Fail:
www.sensesfail.com
www.vagrant.com
www.myspace.com/sensesfail
****
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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