Socalscene.com interview w/ Nick from Over It
To start off, what’s your name as well as the names of the other members of the band? What does everyone play? Hi I’m Nick and I play guitar. Pete sings and plays and guitar. Ryan plays guitar and sings. Seth plays bass. James- plays drums.
Step Outside Yourself is set to come out at the end of August, how was the recording process as opposed to previous albums? Did the major label status help out or restrain the recording process? This album was so much fun to make! We took our sweet time to pay as much attention to every song as much as we could! The major label status was definitely a huge factor in taking the time we needed to build this beast! They were supportive of our creativity but also pushed us to stay productive! It was rad!
Jumping from Lobster Records to Virgin Records seems like somewhat of a big jump, how did you guys come to the decision of taking the big step up to a major? How did you pick Virgin over other labels that were making offers? How has the major influenced the band thus far? It is a nice step up for us but it felt really natural. Major labels and independent labels have a lot more in common these days than ever before so it doesn’t feel so alien doing our thing while on a “major label” We chose virgin cause we got a great vibe from the whole team over there! Everyone welcomed us with open arms and we have made so many new friends out of it! Couldn’t be more stoked!
How is Step Outside Yourself different from previous Over It albums in terms of the recording process, writing process, and general atmosphere? This album is a new level for over it. We spent a lot more time in pre-production, we were albe to spend time in some really nice studios and we have this new candle fix so the atmosphere while we were recording was quite sexy!
Your good friends in Yellowcard went through a similar transition as your band is doing now, have they offered any advice on how to deal with the major label world? They have always been cool to us and given us advice but every band has a different fate so as much as you can learn from another band you still have to find out for yourself. The bottom line is ya gotta stick to your guns!
Adding a third guitarist has beefed up your already booming live performance, what made the band decide to take this route? Is this a permanent pairing or is it just for live shows? We decided to add Ryan to the band because not only is he a great friend but also an amazing musician and his addition definitely adds more color to our horizen! This is permanent!
Pete’s vocals have gotten substantially better on every album, especially live. How does he practice and improve? Also, he is often compared to Dryden Mitchell of Alien Ant Farm, how does he respond to these comparisons? Pete has just been taking care of his voice, he has been taking lessons in LA and has fun with it! You always gotta have fun with it! Haha that’s a sweet compliment AAF rules! I think pete is flattered by comparisons to other good singers.
Silverstrand suffered from some very unfortunate events such as the loss of the master tapes, various pushed back release dates, and an extremely early leak, but the album seemed to do substantially better than Timing is Everything. Do you think that was because of the leak? How did it feel to be able to record an album and (not to jinx it) release it with no problems? I don’t think it was cause of the leak, we had just played more shows, done more tours and made more friends. I feel like there will always be problems, you gotta let the bad in with the good. Just take it as it comes….besides, the sweet just aint as sweet without the sour!
Does the band miss playing the faster songs, or have you grown out of that and embraced this more mature side shown through Silverstrand and Step Outside Yourself? We love fast songs but SOY was what came out. When we write its all natural and just let the creative energy flow. You can’t change the wind, you can only set sail
Your band seems to draw influences from many different genres, what’s everyone listening to right now? We love everything! We have been listening to the new Head Automatica, HIM, Goo Goo Dolls, George Gershwin, Against Me and Rascal Flatts. Pretty across the board huh?
It seems as though your move to California really influenced your sound. How has your move to the west coast changed the way you guys write music? The move has given us so many experiences to write from. Just living life out there has inspired us and that’s where a lot of these new songs came from. The west coast has given us perspective we may have never found had we stayed on the east coast.
So far, the promotion for Step Outside Yourself has been subtle, but the buzz is quite considerable, what’s the promotional push going to be like when the record is released? We are trying to build from the ground up! Move our way along from word of mouth to the big screen. Time will tell but count on seeing a lot of OVER IT
Every time Over It plays in Orange County lately, you guys seem to be getting a bigger and bigger crowd. How does it feel to finally be getting the praise you deserve? Also, how was warped tour? Orange county is definitely another home. It feels really good to play there! Love it! Warped was awesome! So fun, so much work but worthwhile!
The band has been touring constantly, and improving your live show over the last 3 or 4 years since your move to the BEST coast. How do you guys keep busy on tour? How do you keep your live shows fun for you and the crowd? We try to stay as active and busy as possible on tour! Playing record stores, high schools, radio stations as well as our evening club shows! We try to give it 110% everytime so the crown can feed off our energy. Come out to a show and find out! Holla
Any last words/sites to check out/bands to listen to? Thanks so much for the chance to question you! Check out Clear Static and Pictures in Pieces Oh and surfline.com Oh and STEP OUTSIDE YOURSELF on Aug 29! Thank you!!!!! –nick over it
