Homegrown Teen Pop Punkers Taking Their
Best Shot
BY Deborah J. Draisin
Someone Say Something is a homegrown Jersey
band based out of Livingston. The band is
Tim Sussman on vocals, Tim Colasacco on keys,
Stephen Lemos on bass guitar, Marco Colasacco
on guitar, and Ryan Harte on drums. They’ve
been at it for about three years – quite
a long time for such a young crop of dudes,
but it’s beginning to pay off. With
steady gigs at Ringside Pub in Caldwell and
an EP on the way, these fresh young faces
hope to turn up at a Warped Tour near you.
Q: You have a full-length coming out this
year – can’t wait for the new
material. My current favorite is “Less
Than Lazy;” you get a lot of buzz about
it. Where’d the inspiration for that
one come from; is there a story?
Tim: I gotta go back to high school for that
one. It’s about sitting at home watching
three Disney movies instead of doing homework
or being productive at all. I just managed
to waste a lot of time; that’s what
it’s about - it’s about wasting
time.
Q: I’m glad you brought up homework,
because everybody pretty much left school
to do this. That was the end result of all
that time wasting? (all nod and smile.)
Marco: Disproved all the parents!
Q: Yeah, they’re never gonna be happy
anyway.
Marco: You gotta do what you gotta do.
Q: You guys are doing very well; you’ve
already got one in the can and another due
out. You already did Bamboozle, you did Warped
– what kind of an experience was that?
Marco: Ah, it was the best!
Ryan: We feel compelled to talk about Bamboozle
on a daily basis, probably every time we meet.
Q: You met a lot of cool people there, huh?
Ryan: Yeah!
Marco: The stage, the people, the bands we
got to play with - I mean, we played with
our heroes! I mean, it was our sixth show
ever as a band (Tim chuckles;) completely
unexpected.
Q: Well I know you guys like pop-punk, right?
Who do you consider to be the most influential,
like your main guys?
Tim: Blink-182 and Newfound Glory, that’s
it.
Ryan: Yeah, watching Newfound Glory…
Tim: Those guys live are just…
Ryan: …then having Newfound Glory play
after us was unbelievable.
Q: What an honor, huh? (Marco nods vigorously
and laughs.)
Ryan: Yeah! Then we got to stand on stage
while they played!
Q: Oh wow, that had to be incredible! (the
band nods and smiles at the memory) You guys
had a pretty good crowd response too, huh?
You were signing things…
Band: Yeah…
Q: How’s that going now – are
people following you?
Ryan: Yeah!
Marco: People at local shows will come up
and say “Oh my God, I saw you at Bamboozle!”
It’s amazing how one show did so much
for us.
Q: It’s about bringing that show every
time, it really is – big stage, little
stage…if you can create that same energy
every time, that’s half the battle right
there.
Marco: (pointing) We’ve got our friend
with us here, you’ve got an extra person.
Q: Hey, how are you doing? (Stephen joins
us.) Sit down!
Tim: Make yourself comfortable, keep your
shirt out.
Ryan: (Tim and Marco laugh) Aw, don’t
embarrass him!
Q: This is going to be right on his myspace;
he’s going to now be known forever as
the guy who was in the bathroom.
Tim: Was it number one or number two? (Stephen
holds up two fingers and band groans.)
Q: Okay, so do you think is your next direction;
what’s gonna be on (the cd) that nobody’s
heard before?
Tim: We managed to slow it down a lot; definitely
explored some other styles. We still remain
a very…how would you describe it?
Marco: Mellow band.
Tim: Yeah…
Q: First impression I had of you; first word
that came to my mind was Bohemian –
what do you think of that expression?
Marco: Like “Bohemian Rhapsody?”
Ryan: I think of Freddie Mercury.
Q: (laughing) Bohemian as in marching to
the beat of your own drum…
Tim: Cool!
Q: …that’s what Bohemian is to
me; you’ve got your own vibe…your
own thing.
Tim: That’s great!
Marco: It’s so nice to hear that, because
there’s so much I can see us being equated
to…
Q: Of course, and I’m sure you’ve
been compared a lot already…I mean,
you guys have been called emo!
Ryan: Yeah; we get emotional when they call
us emo (band laughs.)
Tim: I think it’s a compliment to the
entire genre of emo (everyone laughs again.)
Q: That you’re in it makes it all the
better for everybody!
Ryan: I think they’re just being emo
about it.
Q: (after being interrupted by the merch
guy) Speaking of merch, do you guys have merch?
Ryan: Apparently!
Marco: A six-song EP; it’s going to
be all the tracks from Bamboozle, but it’s
six total and it’s all going to be on
the length; completely redone – we can’t
give you the record.
Tim: Yeah, we can’t get rid of our
songs; we’ve got the EP and it’s
all going to be on the album.
Q: That’s the way it’s supposed
to be, right? You guys have a lot of home
support? I mean, I know your parents probably
weren’t thrilled about you leaving school,
but do they support what you do?
Band: (nodding) Yes, definitely!
Ryan: They’re our over 21 crowd.
Q: I know that the brothers have a Dad who
plays; does anyone else have that?
Tim: No, my parents are like amazed that
I have that gene.
Q: They don’t know where that came
from?
Tim: No; same with you, right? (indicating
Ryan)
Ryan: I mean, my Dad’s just very…more
into music. I mean, crazy record collection
and all that.
Q: What’s the first thing that you
ever heard that made you say “Oh my
God, I have to do this for a living?
Ryan: Uh…Weird Al!
Q: Really?
Ryan: I swear to God, Weird Al! I’ve
seen Weird Al maybe three times in concert.
Q: Weird Al’s amazing, he really is
powerful, I don’t think people realize…
Ryan: Yeah, he’s unbelievable…(he
breaks off as the band cheers for Carlo, finally
joining us.)
Q: Okay, we’re all together now, yay!
Well a lot of bands say they’re not
about the chicks or the partying; what do
you guys say to that? What’s your take?
Ryan: We ask if we’re invited.
Q: Can we go…?
Ryan: Were they checking ids…?
Marco: (indicating Carlo) Ask him what his
catchphrase is.
Q: (to Carlo) Do you have a catchphrase?
Carlo: I have a couple; one is “You
only live once,” which is the name of
one of the songs you’ll recognize…
Q: Oh yeah, I remember that one!
Carlo: …and the other is “Keep
on trucking.”
Ryan: Followed by one of these (moving his
arm as if he were yanking on a truck horn.)
Q: Keep on trucking; like Casey Jones? (band
nods and laughs) Who are your greatest musical
influences; who do you admire most?
Carlo: John Mayer copied me (all laugh.)
Ryan: Travis Barker and John Bonham.
Tim: Dave Grohl.
Stephen: I would say Dave Grohl too.
Marco: You guys should kiss now (Tim pulls
Steven’s head in to his, but covers
his mouth with his hand before kissing him.)
Marco: (pointing up) There’s a camera
there.
Stephen: Mark Hoppus.
Tim: Jesus! I thank Jesus.
Q: Of course, Jesus! Do you thank him at
every show?
Tim: No!
Carlo: I wear him at every show.
Tim: We swing him around.
Ryan (pulling out his necklace) Uh, Bob Marley;
I wear him at every show, too.
Q: Ooh, that’s a nice one! What do
you think about Christiancore, do you think
that’s cool or…?
Carlo: I think it’s cool, but I think
people abuse it. There are heavy bands that
just have some Christian lyrics included,
and that’s fine.
Q: There’s kind of a difference between
sending a message and preaching, right?
Band: Yeah…
Q: Do you guys have a message?
Stephen: Have a good time.
Marco: Live life to the fullest and have
a good time.
Tim: Love your fellow man.
Ryan: Love your fellow woman!
Tim: Love your fellow man platonically.
Q: So there are no interpersonal relationships
in this band?
Stephen: Ryan we don’t know about…(Ryan
indicates Marco and Carlo.)
Ryan: Are you saying because I look like
a girl…?
Q: You’ve got the (long) hair, and
the girl’s shirt. Has anybody bought
a pair of girl’s pants?
Tim: I was Eric Foreman for Halloween, I
wore them then.
Q: How do you dress up as Eric Foreman for
Halloween?
Tim: I just put on my girlfriend’s
clothes. She had a button-down flowered shirt,
and I wore those pants, and I looked exactly
like him!
Q: Was this like a random idea – did
this just happen?
Tim: Yeah, I had nothing to wear, and she
was just like “Put on my clothing, be
that 70’s guy.”
Ryan: This wasn’t really on Halloween,
by the way.
Catch them live:
Oct 30, 2008 at 10:00 p.m. - Ringside Pub
(Halloween Costume Party)-Caldwell, NJ
Nov 13, 2008 at 10:00 p.m. - Ringside Pub
(21+)-Caldwell, NJ
Nov 23, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. - Crossroads “Battle
of the Bands” Finals – Garwood,
NJ
Nov 26, 2008 at 10:00 p.m. - Ringside Pub
(Thanksgiving Eve)-Caldwell, NJ
Read up, listen up, catch a video:
http://www.myspace.com/someonesaysomething
http://www.purevolume.com/someonesaysomething
http://www.ez-tracks.com/artist-Someone_Say_Something.html
http://www.bestmusiconcampus.com/band/default.aspx?bandID=1294
http://playinghere.com/band/someonesaysomething/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTrh2qJGWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptAJx3fRrkk
