Interviews

Avail

Interview with Tim on Nov 30, 1999 by Archive Bot

PB: The first time ever seeing you guys was at MacRock 2002 last year. It was one hell of a show, and I was amazed at how you had the crowd going in an instant. Where do you get that energy from, and do you think you guys are more appreciated than ever or is it just me?
AV: I don't know if we are more appreciated nowadays or not. That's a difficult question to answer probably because I'm an insider with the band. I can say confidently though that we truly appreciate the support that people have continuously given us over the past 10 years. It means the fucking world to us that we are still able to tour and that not only all of the guys in the band, but the crowd enjoys themselves. As for the question about where we get the energy each night for live shows, we basically do tons of cocaine and Redbull. To come down we drink Whisky. In fact coke and Redbull keeps us looking young. I really endorse these products. (Actually we simply really enjoy playing live and high energy shows are what we were brought up on).

PB: "Front Porch Stories" is a unique blend of your southern influence and hardcore. Each song is a step in a different direction, and is ten times better than your previous release "One Wrench". What was on your minds when writing the album, and did you go into the studio with a different philosophy or more time?
AV: One Wrench is a pretty dark fucking record. We wrote most of those songs during a semi-depressing cold Richmond winter and I think that mood came out in the over all out put of the record. I actually really like One Wrench but understand why many people don't consider it a high point in our history. When we got off of the road with One Wrench we started the writing process all over again. Songs started coming together fairly quickly but we spent a longer period of time with them. What is going on in our lives and our moods is always reflected in our songs. People in the band were doing great, three of the guys had recently been married and we did a lot of writing in the summer which is when life is most laid back in Richmond. We ended up with 16 songs and dropped four that we were unsure about, which left us with what we consider the strongest tracks that we had written. So the writing process didn't really take on a different philosophy at all. We didn't set intended goals. We simply wrote by feel, like always. What I think is more positive about Front Porch Stories compared to One Wrench is that the songs are more diverse and almost stronger, and the change of studio and actually getting a producer for the first time strengthened the whole project. It can't hurt also that finally, after all of these years we understand the recording process. We have spent so long focusing on the live shows that the recordings became secondary. This time we fully understood the importance of a great studio album.

PB: Avail vs. Saves The Day in a jello wresteling match.... who would win and why? Would you guys pull out any special moves you learned on the prairies?
AV: Oh, come on, who the hell do you think would win? We would. Actually none of the "official" members of AVAIL would even need to get down and dirty cause our roadie Dave could do it all on his own. He's one tough Cookie and is filled with angst.

PB: Where did Beau Beau go to school to dance like that? Was lead dance captain his role from the establishment of the band or is it something he got into later on?
AV: Beau was actually a male cheerleader all throughout high school. He had those moves down before he joined the band. Seriously, Beau has always been in the band in one way or another. When we were kids he dubbed himself "roadie" and started driving the band around to all of the garages and basements we would play. He was always in the crowd causing a ruckus or up on stage singing back up vocals. When we recording our first album he sang back ups and when we played shows for that record he was always on stage, jumping around waiting to sing his backups. People in the crowd and in the band just started calling him the cheerleader and it stuck. Now he is officially AVAILs tour manager, hell raiser, cheerleader, go-to guy and back up singer.

PB: The band started at look out in 1992 and ten years later you find yourselves on Fat. Why did you make the transition to Fat, and how has it been?
AV: We left Lookout because we had been touring internationally for years but our records were not available internationally through their distributor. We ended up hooking up with Fat who had superior distro. Oddly, a few years after we left Lookout they ended up with the same distro company as Fat. Anyway we remain close to the people at Lookout and have a tremendous amount of respect for them. They really made us what we are today. Fat Wreck is really great. We are lucky to be on the label and have built a strong relationship with them. They are so smoothly run it's sick.

PB: You're hitting the road this month with Hey Mercedes, Planes Mistaken For Stars, and more. I also understand you'll be hitting the right coast in January. Who can we expect to see tag along with you guys?
AV: Don't forget The Curse. They are on the whole tour too. And they are fucking great. I don't know right now who we'll be touring with when we do the East Coast. We are gonna begin talking about that this coming week actually. I can't wait for the East Coast dates though. Actually, I can't wait to get on the road period.

PB: Mp3's and cd burning..... yes or no and why?
AV: It's funny, so many people had our record before it came out. I can only assume that they got it from the computer. Here's the deal though. It does hurt bands like AVAIL, but big deal. Bands like us make music so people can hear it. We don't make it so that people's only access to it is to buy it. If I was a painter I'd post my paintings on light posts around town so that people could see them. I wouldn't hide them in some stupid ass uppity gallery. That's the way I feel about music. If people pull our songs from the computer, that's cool. I want more people to hear our songs.

PB: For those who haven't heard your new Fat release "Front Porch Stories" please describe it in one sentence?
AV: A loud and powerful, but crisp and clear wall of sound thats tempos range from fast to mid-tempo to mosh to mellow-a rollercoaster.

PB: Besides the tour with Planes Mistaken For Stars and Hey Mercedes what will 2003 bring to the Avail camp? Can we expect anything crazy from you guys (a dvd, international tour, etc....)
AV: We'll be touring the US until late March, then heading over to Europe in April and then probably back down to Brazil in July and then we'll start touring the US again. That's how we do it. DVD, ummm... I don't thinks so. We are making a low budget video for the song West Wye right now that should prove to be pretty cool. Some folks down in Florida are compiling an AVAIL on the road documentary, but I'm unsure if that will come together. We'll see.

PB: Thanks for taking time out of grazing the pastures to sit down for the interview. Good luck on the gravel. As you know up and coming talent will be in your shoes and on your stage one day. What are some upcoming bands that Avail would recommend our readers to check out?
AV: Grazing the pastures? Come on man, we don't live in Kansas. You should thank us for getting off the porch couch and putting down the whisky bottle and giving the dog a break from it's daily ass whooping. Oh, I'm on a rant. Talent? Strike Anywhere (they actually just pulled up in front of my house so I have to mention them). Denali, Sixer, Darkest Hour... ummm, all those bands are pretty much established, but they are some of my favorites right now.