Interviews

Bayside

Interview with Mike on Nov 30, 2001 by Archive Bot

Big thanks to Mike from Bayside for doing the interview. Check out www.baysiderocks.com for more info on the guys. 

PB: Tell me a bit about Bayside for all the people that are completely clueless.
Mike: Bayside is a rock/punk band from New York and it was started by me, Mike Kozak and Anthony Raneri in November of 2000. We've put out an EP, have another split EP in the works and have been touring non-stop for about a year now. We crashed our van yesterday in Michigan.

PB: Yeah Dan just told me that. So how did you guys in the band meet?
Mike: Just through mutal friends.

PB: Bayside has opened for a lot of really cool bands...
Mike: Yes we have.

PB: What is something that you have learned from them and the experience? Cause there's not a lot of newer bands that are starting out and getting to play such awesome shows.
Mike: What I've personally learned from playing with bigger bands is that if you work really hard things pay off. We've worked non-stop for the last year and a half getting where we are and the pay off is amazing being and so has playing with all the bands.

PB: What has been the payoff?
Mike: Being able to walk into a club I meant, and play with these bands that have been our inspiration.

PB: Talking about inspiration what other bands are you listening to right now?
Mike: I'm listening to some of my old favorites like Further Seems Forever, Midtown, and such, but some of the newer Long Island bands that are up and coming like Brand New, The Reunion Show and Taking Back Sunday are constantly in my cd player.

PB: How old are you guys?
Mike: I'm the baby, I'm 18. Anthony is 19, Andrew is 23 and Jae is 24.

PB: Seeing as you are the baby, and so young, what have you had to sacrifice being in this band?
Mike: I love to be on tour, so all of my sacrifices are worth it, but being away, I miss the chance to just be hanging out with my friends, to be able to have a girlfriend that I see everyday...it's quite a different life than most of my friends and other kids my age have, but it's worth it.

PB: Is it something you see yourself doing forever?
Mike: Indeed.

PB: How did you get into music? Cause i always find it interesting cause no one in my family is as hardcore into music as I am and it's cool to know where it came from.
Mike: Well since I was little, my house wasn't really a TV house it was more of a radio house, so my parents were constantly listening to music, making me like it. Then when i was like 9 my parents got me a guitar.

PB: So you started young?
Mike: Yes.

PB: Did you teach yourself or take lessions?
Mike: I taught myself

PB: Self-motivated fellow...so who writes the lyrics?
Mike: Anthony writes most of the songs for the band, I just contribute my input here and there, and write my own parts. Really though, the lyrics used to be Anthony, but lately Andrew has been having a lot of the ideas for the lyrical content of the songs.

PB: Well if any of them are there...
Mike: We are on tour right now, they all just walked out to hit up the night life.

PB: Is the whole party scene that goes along with being in a punk rock band something that youre into?
Mike: Well I'm not sure I'm into the whole "party" scene, I just like meeting new and interesting people on tour and going back to places I haven't been in a while and seeing people I missed and hanging out. But as for partying that hasnt been treating me too good lately.

PB: Why not? What's wrong Mike?
Mike: Heh, well I've been doing this for a year, and getting drunk a lot has lost it's novelty, and it's hard to sleep that shit off when you are in a van with 4 other people most of your days.

PB: What's the most common thing you guys fight about?
Mike: Well we don't really have big fights or anything, just little annoying shit that happens when you spend all day every day with the same people in a moving van the size of a bathroom. 

PB: Ok I read something in your bio about the idea that there is a curse on most bands from Long Island and how if your in the punk or hardcore scene you wont leave or something like that. This has obviously not ben a problem for you guys...
Mike: It seemed that in the past that if you started to play on Long Island every weekend, you'd never leave, you'd just stay playing the same small place for the rest of your life. So we probably ended up playing 5 shows before we started full time touring.

PB: Where do you see the band in 5 years and what are you doing right now to work towards that?
Mike: Ahh.....well we aren't trying to be the biggest band in the world as fast as possible.

PB: you just want your music to get out there?
Mike: Yeah, we are just trying to work hard, go out and play every show we can play every night and meet all the people and slowly build up to something that will last.

PB: Is fame something that you want though?
Mike: Fame isnt something I'd be totally against, but I'd rather work hard and long and get a solid loyal fanbase, than blow up in 3 months and be forgotten about a year later, I want to do this for the rest of my life.

PB: Where did you get the name Bayside, cause the first thing I thought when I heard the name was Saved by the Bell....
Mike Heh, no. I think we just had a list of names, and someone needed to pick one to write on demos we were giving out to bands at a New Found Glory show, and that was the name they wrote.

PB: What are your plans for the rest of the year tour wise? Like where are you planning on playing?
Mike: Ahh well right now, we are about to go home for 4 days, then we plan on doing the midwest and east coast throughout the rest of May and June, after that, it's all still up in the air, based on what shows and tours we can get on and what looks good.

PB: Describe the band in one word.
Mike: Determined.

PB: Ok and is there anything else you would like to say?
Mike: My last comment would be to tell everyone to just give us a chance, and if they see our names on a flyer, come out to a show and check us out, cause we will rock our hardest just to have a few more people buy our cds.