With The Dangerous Summer due to arrive on these shores in two weeks time, Paul spoke to the band about their new record.
Paul: Hi, how are things with the band right now?
Cody: Things are great! Right now we are just home working on new songs and gearing up to hopefully put out a new album within the next year. Also getting ready to head over to the UK at the end of April which is going to be awesome.
Paul: Just a quick history lesson for those who may not have heard of you before – how did you form?
Cody: We have basically all been in bands with each other since middle school, everything from metal to pop punk. The summer before our last year of school we decided to start The Dangerous Summer and really pursue a career in music.
Paul: Which bands would say have helped to shape The Dangerous Summer sound so far?
Cody: Definitely a ton of different bands, Jimmy Eat World, Jacks Mannequin, Copeland, Tegan and Sara, Millencolin, Rise Against, Against Me. I really could list bands for a while but I think those are the main ones!
Paul: You’re coming to the UK for the first time with The Swellers and Anarbor in April. Do you have any expectations for the tour? Have you toured with either of those bands before? What can we expect from TDS live experience?
Cody: Yeah we toured with Anarbor a little while back before Reach For The Sun came out over here in the states. They are awesome guys and we can’t wait to tour with them again, we haven’t ever toured with The Swellers but we hear they are awesome dudes so we are looking forward to it. Hopefully you can expect a solid live show! Haha, I am not really too sure… we are kind of bringing the bare minimum with our equipment so we are just going to be playing like 7 songs each night, probably mostly from Reach For The Sun, maybe we might sneak 1 or 2 old songs into the mix.
Paul: ‘Reach For The Sun’ actually came out last May, yet it’s only getting an official UK release here in April. Why has it taken Hopeless so long to get the record in stores here? As it’s been available on import/through digital means do you have any expectations of how UK crowds may react to you?
Cody: There was really just no point in putting it out yet because we didn’t have any tours or anything cool going on for us over there but now we finally have a lot of cool press with magazines and websites and a nice long tour so things make more sense for us to put the album out now. I really wish it could have happened earlier but I am glad it’s happening now.
Paul: How did you hook up with Hopeless?
Cody: All Time Low were good friends of ours at the time and they really had a lot of faith in us as a band so they pitched us to Hopeless and a few other labels actually.
Paul: While the album has a pretty summery feel to it musically, lyrically it’s quite dark and intense. What inspired you during the writing and recording process?
Cody: Honestly we just try to write music that can touch you and inspire you, we aim to hit all spectrums of emotion. We hadn’t been a band for a while so we were home dealing with our regular struggles so we had a lot to write about when it came time to record the album. A lot of it is just about wanting to get back out on the road playing music every night.
Paul: Are you pleased with the response the album has had? It seems to have generated a fair buzz and many positive reviews – when writing and recording the album did you think ‘hey, this record is great and the kids will love it…’
Cody: Honestly we had no idea what people were going to think of it. The response has been amazing though, Hopeless has even said it is one of the best reviewed albums they have ever put out and that means a lot for us as a young band on a label that has been around for over 15 years.
Paul: What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
Cody: I would have to say Symmetry mainly because I think it is a song that really represents us as a band and its cool to play live. I got to write a lot of the vocal melodies so I felt kind of like it was “MY” song, so I am proud of it.
Paul: What are your plans for the rest of the year? Any plans to return to the UK, summer festivals perhaps?
Cody: We definitely would love to come back to the UK, it really just all depends on what we are doing and how the new album is coming along, right now that is our number one priority. I am sure if we have the offers to play some cool festivals than we will do it.
Paul: Have you already started to think about new songs/new releases?
Cody: Yup! We have been writing every day and demoing the ideas we have, its sounding great but there is still a long long ways to go.
Paul: If you have any messages for our readers please leave them here:
Cody: Please go check out the album! I promise you won’t be disappointed and then go tell everyone you know about it! Oh, and come out to a show while we are over there!!