Max:
When we started thinking about our next record, we didn't even consider
anybody else. Don is almost like another member of the band. He completely
gets us and, because we're still new to recording, I think it was important
for us to be with someone that we feel comfortable with and knows what
we want.Jon:
If it isn't broken, why try to fix it? Don has a really good sense of how
to construct a song and shave off the fat. He has great ideas and, with
him, we don't feel like a producer is stifling what we're trying to do.
Talk
a little about Horrorscope's first single, "Promise."
Max:
I actually wrote the verses of "Promise," or at least a rough draft of
it, two and a half years ago, right after we completed our first record
and before we started touring. It's about being unsure about new relationships
and life in general and vowing to myself not to make promises to anyone.
Jon:
We knew as soon as we wrote it that it was going to be the first single.
Tony:
It's pretty much what you've come to expect from Eve 6 but a whole lot
better. That's kind of the way I look at everything on Horrorscope... we
did it loads better this time. We're very confident with this record; we've
grown and matured quite a bit as people, as well as musicians.
What
are your favorite songs on Horrorscope?
Max:
"On the Roof Again" and "Rescue" are probably my current favorites. "On
the Roof Again" was lyrically a new songwriting experience for me. It wasn't
based on my personal experiences, but about a friend of mine who I see
going down this well-treaded path that leads to despair.
Tony:
I'm still in that very excited phase where every time I listen to the record
I get a new favorite song. It changes every week, probably every song on
the record has been my favorite at one time or the other.
What
was the songwriting process like?
Jon:
It's actually a very collective process with all three of us. Max comes
to us with a basic idea, maybe a verse and a chorus and some lyrics, and
then the three of us sit down in a rehearsal studio and just bash it out.
We've done it this way since the beginning and it works for us.
Have
your influences changed since the debut?
Jon:
They've definitely expanded, that's for sure. When we came off the road,
I was looking for something different. I moved away from the sort of pop-punk
that I've always listened to and started listening to electronica, some
rap records... I think that's definitely had some influence on our record.
I mean, Horrorscope still sounds like us but its layering has taken a different
route this time.
Max:
We listen to everything these days. Right now, I'm really into the new
Oasis record and the guys are listening to Dr. Dre 2001, so it's a wide
span of stuff.
The
legend goes that you were signed while you were still in high school. How
did that happen?
Max:
We played this horribly messy showcase for a couple of A&R guys five
years ago. We were messing up left and right, but RCA saw potential and
wanted to let us develop musically on our own and still finish high school.
That was an awesome thing.
What
did that do for your confidence, knowing that people were investing in
your potential?
Max:
It boosted it a lot. But after the first year went by, we were still playing
the same coffee shops and didn't have a record out. It was frustrating
and we wished we could have done an album right then and there. But in
retrospect, it's so good that we didn't. It would've been a bad idea for
us to record our major label debut when we were still in high school.
Jon:
Most bands don't get that sort of a chance and I think it was really cool
that RCA went a different route. They really let us do our thing and develop
on our own. It was nice for us, as juniors and seniors in high school,
to not worry about working horrible jobs so we could concentrate on songwriting.
After
having a hit debut, were you worried about coming out with the next record?
Max:
For us, there was more pressure to make a great album. It was like, 'We
gotta do this. This has to be the best possible material we can put together.'
I'm really proud of it.
Tony:
Any time a band has a hit they think, 'Well, we want to keep our career
going. We have to write another hit.' But we didn't go into recording the
album with that mindset at all. We went in thinking, 'Let's pretend we're
starting over, that this is our first chance to make an album.' In a lot
of ways, Horrorscope is a clean slate for us.
Are
you afraid that your sense of humor gets overlooked?
Jon:
A little bit, yes. I think that with our first record, we came off as very
serious. But there's a side of us that really doesn't take ourselves seriously
and makes jokes out of everything. But now we found a happy medium and
people are going to see the lighter side of us this time around.
How
does that translate in the live show?
Tony:
In our live shows, you get a sense of fun and maybe even more excitement
than you do on our records. We try to keep it spontaneous. If we make it
fun for ourselves, the crowd feeds off that.
Tony:
You really can't complain when you get to play in front of thousands of
people every night that are digging your shit and understanding what you're
trying to do. If we can do that forever then we'll be very happy.
How
about some dirt? What's something that people outside of the band may not
know about your bandmates?
Max:
Jon is a very shrewd business guy, and I think we would have been screwed
if it weren't for him. He's always got his eyes and ears open and leads
us in the right direction with things. Tony is a total perfectionist when
it comes to all the bells and whistles in the studio. He really knows how
to fine tune and he's really got an ear for arrangement and he's a musical
guy. He can play just about everything.
Jon:
Nobody can pronounce Tony's last name right, so now we either call him
Fergenson or Fargenson [laughs]. That and the fact that Max wears the same
clothes every day.
Tony:
Max has the best personal hygiene I've ever seen [laughs]. He brushes his
teeth, like, five times a day and showers three times a day. He's always
sparkling clean. His idea is, if you shower all the time, then you can
wear the same clothes every day. And Jon has a bitchin' pad. He's the only
one of us that actually owns a house so we hang out there every couple
of days and have little parties.
Max:
We're lucky to have each other.
