BrA'Zine: I wanted to ask about that show you guys played on June 3rd, I think it was Jessica Whitt's wedding show? Dana White: Yeah BZ: How did that go? DW: It went very well. I've been friends with her husband for a long time. [He] had two best men, and I was one of them. He asked if I could book a show for him. We went back and forth talking about all the bands he wanted. Then we put the show on. Poor Jessica was really sick that night. But she still had a good time, so we were happy. BZ: So you guys actually recorded a set there at that show? DW: Yeah BZ: How did that go? DW: It went really well. HYAMP actually had the equipment to record an entire live show. We had to pay for it, because they end up mixing it most of the time. BZ: How much do they charge for that? DW: I don't know, I didn't actually handle that. I think we're going to be working it out with them later because we're going to have them make sure it sounds really good. We're going to sit down and put a lot of time into it. That being the case, it's probably going to cost a little more than it would normally. BZ: Is that live CD available, or are you still working on that? DW: Not yet. We're doing a 7", and all the same songs that come on the 7" will come on a CD, too. Basically, we figured [instead of releasing] a CD with just four songs on it, let's fill it up with a live set and some other fun stuff to make it worth everybody's while. The set from that show, and a bunch of other stuff will be on there. BZ: When do you guys expect that? DW: We're probably going in the studio in September or October. I wanted to do it long before then, but I'm getting married next month. And we're not going to play any shows in August because I have family coming in and we're going on a honey moon so it's going to be crazy busy. BZ: How does she feel about playing music? DW: I met her because she played bass in the band for awhile, so she's definitely into it. BZ: That's definitely cool DW: Yes, she's really awesome, so I'm pretty fortunate. BZ: Exactly how many albums have you guys released so far? DW: Well, we did a demo CD a long time ago. Then we did an EP for Surprise Attack Records, then a full length for Surprise Attack Records. So, officially, if you want to count everything, 3. But that one was only a demo. BZ: How would you guys best describe your sound? DW: Overall, we've kept a punk rock sort of sound. BZ: What do you guys think about the local music scene here in West Virginia? DW: I love it, I've always loved it. It has had severe ups and downs, but for the most part we have a lot of cool bands. One thing that's nice about it being West Virginia is we all end up playing together at some point and everyone seems to become friends, or acquaintances, with all the other bands. And I've always loved that aspect of it. I've been going to shows around here since I was 17, and I'm 30 now. I've seen the scene completely fall apart like 2 or 3 times in the all ages scene. As far as the bar scene, it's been pretty solid. It just depends on who owns what bar. BZ: How is your latest release different from previous releases? DW: I think it's way better. Not to discredit anything we've done before, because I'm proud of everything we've done. Everything that Holden Caulfield has recorded, we've recorded with the same studio. [The sound engineer] even told us the last time we were in there that this band has really grown. I really respect his musical opinions, he has a lot of similar opinions as I do. It's always cool to hear something like that from someone you respect so much. BZ: How long have you guys been together? DW: It depends on how you look at it. Holden Caulfield has been a band with me in it since 2001, but the band didn't get serious until about 3 years ago. Before that, it was kind of like a revolving door of members to where we couldn't play out-of-town very much. If we did, it was such a difficult experience. BZ: Which states have you guys performed in? DW: Obviously West Virginia. Ohio, Kentucky, Massachussetts, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, Florida, Alabama... I know I'm going to miss some. BZ: So you pretty much have the whole East Coast covered, right? DW: Yes, definitely. BZ: So what is your favorite local venue? DW: I would have to say, hands down, HYAMP. Just because I've known everyone there for so long and they have always been so cool to us. We always try to do what we can to help them out, and they do the same for us. It's always been a really good relationship, even when they switched owners. We already knew the guys who were going to take over, and knew that they were right on dudes. I really like Marley's [Dog House] too, those guys are all really cool. They've always been lots of fun to work with and hang out with. So those are probably my two favorites. We have only played the Sound Factory once or twice, and it went well. We had a good time, but unfortunately didn't really get to hang out with anybody there. Like the last time we were there, we had to bolt like right after we played because three of the guys had to work the next morning, so we wanted to get out of there. We had to get back and unload before they had to go home. The Monkey [Bar], we've only played twice and we haven't played since. It's been a long time since we played there. Not for any bad reasons, just we haven't played there. BZ: What bands are your biggest influences? DW: That is a different answer for everybody. Since I was a kid I wanted to be into music, somehow. I just didn't know enough about it to really say what I was going to do or how I was going to get into it. But in seventh grade, which is a long time ago for me, somebody gave me Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' on tape. I listened to it so much over the course of the next three years that I wore the tape completely out, it wouldn't play anymore. I started listening to more metal, and more punk rock. and eventually started listening to hardcore. I think I started listening to hardcore with Biohazard and Sick of it All. And then it snowballed from there. As far as my main influences go, they date all the way back to Anthrax, the Rollins Band, and more recently, Burn it Down. I'm trying to think of what I listen to the most. I listen to a lot of Bleeding Through, I like those guys a lot. I listen to a lot of rock music, and I still listen to tons of heavy music. But you know, the older you get you're just like: "I've heard all of this before, I'm going to try to branch out a little". I absolutely love Coldplay, if nothing else, even if someone doesn't like Coldplay they have to appreciate how amazing musicians they are. I really like Black Flag and Minor Threat. All those bands have a lot to do with me. Like getting more and more into music and staying involved in music. BZ: I just have one last question. What advice would you give to local bands here in West Virginia? DW: Man, that's a long list. I really could go on about that forever. One thing, and this might sound really stupid to give this advice to people, but keep your temper in check. You kind of have to watch how you act and how you throw opinions around. Because when you're in a band or when you own a company, or run a website, you're not just representing yourself at that point, you're representing all that other stuff too. A lot of people tend to forget that. If I run around talking crap on somebody, and they catch wind of it, and their friends catch wind of it, they're not just going to not want to hang out with me or talk to me, they're not going to want to come see the band either. I don't get upset that easily, I'm really mellow. Another thing is: don't ever be afraid to go out and play shows with anybody, no matter if you like the bands or not. You might end up becoming friends with them, they're probably going to have a really good time. And Practice like crazy. That's one thing that everybody needs to do is practice as much as humanly possible. BZ: Do you have anything else to add? Any news or anything? DW: One thing that I'd like to say for sure is September third we're playing my wedding show. We're going to try to make it into a big party, not just a regular show, but everybody come down and have a lot of fun. We'll probably have a cake there and everything. And keep an eye out for that 7", the 7" is going to be called "And Never Will". The name of our cd was called "Can't Stop Now", and the 7" is kinda going to continue on that cd. It's going "And Never Will". That's the main stuff. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Holden Caulfield: www.cornzine.com/holdencaulfield, www.myspace.com/holdencaulfield - Derek Wilkinson - [Myspace]