Golden Mixtape

It’s hard to admit when good things hail from the small desert towns near Palm Springs. Growing up there amidst double-wides and sad eyes, I never thought anyone with talent could emerge. So you can imagine my surprise when I heard of Forever Came Calling. Miles away from my hometown in 29 Palms these guys probably grew up with the same state of mind that I had, “do well and get the hell out.” Which they’ve managed to do, keeping their selves busy with touring, touring and well…touring. Even as we sit in our rooms trolling the interwebs for the latest celebrity gossip and digital piracy, Forever Came Calling is on the road doing what they do best, and in-between shows they’ve been nice enough to sit down when they have internet of their own to discuss following Warped, the magic of three and what else? Touring.

Kendra: 29 Palms, you’re from around my hometown, Cabazon. So tell the truth, how boring is the desert life? Or is your neck of the woods more interesting?

Joe: Desert life is really boring. You have your choice of two bars or Lucky Park. Cabazon rules by the way, that’s where Joe and John used to do school shopping. Casino Morongo also took our gambling virginity, haha.

Kendra: Nirvana, Blink 182, Green Day…all have managed to remain top dogs of music. What is it about three dudes in a band? Is it some sort of magic number?

Joe: I don’t know if it’s a magic number but we talked about the fact that a big part of being in a band is being friends. In our case, we have 3 very different personalities but they complement each other very well. It just works when you have 3 likeminded bros. Plus, when you are broke, a six pack goes a long way…for the record all those bands rule.

Kendra: You’ve got some amazing summer plans. Are you guys following the whole Warped Tour? What’s your plan of attack for this adventure?

John: Yes, we are following Warped this year. We followed last year and had a great time, one of the best summers of our lives. Planning to stay hydrated on Gatorade, H2O, And H2O (the band), haha and hopefully turning some people on to our music.

Kendra: So you’re going to be one of those bands who try and woo me in the parking lot to buy a CD? Will you also be playing mini acoustic sets in the lots?

Joe: Most of those dudes just hit on underage girls and it also becomes super annoying to watch but I will have an acoustic if anyone does want to hear some songs. I just don’t want to be gimmicky… No offense to those bands; just not my thing, haha

Kendra: What did you learn from your first tour earlier this year that you’ll take with you this summer?

John: That Wal-Mart is our best friend and worst enemy. Also, I think we are a lot better with managing money now…you don’t need a Snickers every time you stop.

Kendra: Touring, touring, touring…seems to be all you guys do, which is great! So who are you playing with this fall?

Joe: We are at the point where being at home feels unnatural, we love tour! Right now a lot of things are up in the air as far as who we are going out with, but we are doing a bunch of stuff with our good friend Malcolm Williams, a singer/song writer for fans of Northstar, City and Color, and Dashboard.

Kendra: Do you guys tackle any cover songs live?

John: Well, Back in April my good friend Jesse gave me a call and asked if he could have his song back. I said, “Yeah man, you wrote it.” I gave him back 70×7, haha

Kendra: But you got to have some original music to play and you all have some tunes coming out next month? Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Joe: I hate talking about this because every band I think says the same thing but I’m going to keep it honest. The name of the of new EP is “My Beautiful Friends” it’s not about a girl as much as the album is about a period in my life when I lost a lot of things that were defining to me as a person and I would spend days concentrating on how or why I lost them, when in reality I had this amazing support system of friends who would sit and listen and want to be a part of my life just because I’m me. This EP is about that time and those people and the fact that I’ve realized now I lead an incredible life and should be thankful to those people who make it that way and stop focusing on people who don’t wanna be a part of it. I don’t know if that really answers the question. Haha every ounce of my sanity is in this record.

Kendra: If you guys had to actually call and act like telemarketers to sell your music, what would you say to avoid people quickly hanging up?

Bryce: If you wanna go to heaven don’t hang up the phone, or you just won an i-Pad all you have to is buy a CD. Haha!

Kendra: Will we hear some of your Taking Back Sunday influence in the new music? On that note, what are your thoughts on John Nolan’s return to TBS?

Joe: To be honest yes, we struggled for a longtime with like a musical identity crisis…we write songs that sound like were from Long Island, haha. On this we just embraced that and I think it came across better than even we expected. I am super excited about his return I think their new album is going to have a good energy to it. Tell All Your Friends shaped my musical taste in a big way. I remember hearing him scream “best friends means, I’ll pull the trigger” and thinking this is the best thing I had ever heard

Kendra: TBS made me think of Office reruns and you have a song called “The Office.” If you’re fans, could you match up each guy of FCC to an Office character?

FCC: John would be Kevin because He thinks he’s badass at drums when he’s not. He also loves Soft snacks. Bryce is like Andy because he thinks life is prettier when he sings about it. Joe would be Michael because he falls in love with a new girl every week and he thinks he’s cool when everyone doesn’t. (Still searching for his Holly)

Kendra: To wrap it up, you got summer and fall booked with being on the road. What else is in the cards for FCC in 2011?

Joe: We are putting out a split with our best friends in Handguns on Pure Noise Records in the fall. I’m super excited about it. This year will be spent mostly on the road, to quote George Carlin “You know me, if they have a zip code I’ll be there.”

Kendra: Okay, we’re going to squeeze one more in…Being on the road all the time can get to you, but it’s always good, amazing, to have a great to have a perfect collection of tunes to get you through the long drives. So here’s your task, make me a mixtape of the Top 5 songs we’d hear on a FCC road trip…

FCC: Right now you would hear shit talking because our old drummer broke the stereo. Haha but normally this would be a good mix

1.”King Of The Road” by Piebald this is an incredible sing along song. If you wanna feel alive roll the windows down blare this song and sing along with your friends.
2. “Black Balloon” by Goo Goo Dolls. We decided if the band does not work out were headed to Vegas to start a Goo Goo cover band called NAME.
3. “Montrose” by Man Overboard. John hates newer music but loves Man Overboard, so we van mosh to this song at 3 am, haha.
4. “Stay Home” by Transit this is a great song by even better dudes.
5. “Choke On This” by Senses Fail this is one of our collective favorite bands. It’s my personal go to band for shitty situations.