Florida teen punks turn twenty, and adjust
to life on the road...
By Jim Testa
We first caught up with Florida’s There
For Tomorrow as they were releasing their
debut EP a few years ago. Obviously the potential
we senses was really there, because the band
has been touring non-stop for several years,
opening for major emo-pop acts like All Time
Low as well as hitting big festivals like
Bamboozle and the Warped Tour. The band spent
the first part of 2010 as part of the Hopeless
Records Take Action Tour, which this year
was supporting awareness of bone marrow donation.
We caught up with lead singer Maika Maile
to see how things were going.
Q: The first time we did an interview,
you had just released your first album and
had started touring. Now you've been a full
time band living on the road and touring for
quite a few years. What's that been like and
how has it changed you all both as a band
and as individuals?
When we started legitimate touring a few
years back, it was all about just experiencing.
Now we can still look forward to experiences,
but we can focus on actual results now. There's
a growth within us as people, musicians, and
with our fan base that we are just now taking
advantage of. Sometimes these years on the
road and being put into so many different
circumstances makes you forget your actual,
physical age. Oh, yeah. I'm still 20.
Q: Lots of bands dream of quitting
their day jobs or school and just living on
tour, but that lifestyle has its own pitfalls.
What do you miss most when you're on the road
for long stretches of time -- family, home
cooking, being around your personal possessions?
What's the most important thing you each take
on tour with you -- video games, movies, books,
CDs, clothes?
I'm an honest down-home boy, closely tied
to my tight knit family and friends, so there's
of course inconsistencies with being that
way while being gone. I always fight myself
to get into a "one place" environment
on the road to do things I usually do at home,
like studio work. I still just haven't found
that formula yet where I can get that same
mindset I get in my measly garage project
studio at home, so I always miss being able
to create to the full effect. My iPhone, toiletry
bag, clothes, guitar, and the blown out speaker
system in the van is all it really takes to
keep me busy.
Q: This past summer you released
the dreaded sophomore album. As Pete Townsend
once said, "bands have 18 years to write
their first record and 6 months to write their
second." Looking back, are you completely
happy with A Little Faster? How do you think
it differed, if at all, from the first record?
What are you looking forward to doing on your
next record that you haven't accomplished
yet in the studio?
Well, "A Little Faster" is actually
our debut full-length. We recorded a full
length when we were 13-15 y/o that's still
on iTunes, and 2 EP's from 07 til now. Regarding
Mr. Townsend's quote, our current full length
really only consists of songs that were written
between the release of our EP up to the record
making process. We had a very strict timeline
for 11 songs to be recorded in 3 and a half
weeks, with a month intermission on tour.
As weird as it sounds, I'm very happy we didn't
capitalize on what our full potential is with
a record, cause we have lots of those to still
make. For what "A Little Faster"
is, it's the best representation of our current
situation as people and musicians. A huge
basis to build upon.
Q: You've played major festivals,
opened for bands in big theaters and small
clubs, played indoors and outdoors, at night
and in the daytime -- what's your favorite
kind of gig and venue? How close do you think
you are from headlining your own tour? Favorite
cities to visit and places to play?
I
grew up on watching Metallica and Bob Marley
concert footage as a young kid, so my ideology
of a real "show" consists of thousands
and thousands, big production, the works.
Being the music lover I always have been,
of course I've experienced the small gig feel.
I went to hardcore shows religiously when
I was like 15-17, so I really have a huge
love of the small, hole in the wall, sweat
filled, blood spattered floor type shows as
well. Maybe we'll find some middle ground
between the 2. There's all kinds of "headlining
tours", but to really legitimately put
on a TFT experience, we've got all the time
in the world.
Q: You guys are all, let's face it,
good looking and young and single, and you
have a lot of female fans. Are there lines
you won't cross when it comes to interacting
with girls at shows? Is there one member of
the band who tends to be the Romeo of the
bunch? Do you have any really good groupie
stories?
The kind of girls I fall for are 1 in a million
at the shows we've been playing, so romance
is probably the last thing on our minds at
a venue. We definitely recognize the fine
line of interacting with fans, and INTERACTING
with fans. Thank God we haven't done the latter.
We're all dudes who were raised right, so
of course we like to have our fun going out
and all that, without putting too much focus
into it. No groupie stories. :]
Q:
How did you become involved with Driving For
Donors? What is TFT specifically doing for
the charity? Do any of you have personal stories
about family members or friends who needed
marrow transplants or whose lives were saved
by an organization like this?
Our label Hopeless Records has been putting
on the Take Action Tour for 8 years, so we
were blessed when they approached us with
the opportunity this year. The cause they
backed this year was what 14 y/o Pat Pedraja
had started, which is Driving For Donors.
We were honored to just be able to make an
important contribution to something outside
of ourselves. There's no personal connection
to the effects of bone marrow disease to any
of us, but we're all for using our music for
beneficial reasons. It was a definite eye
opener to visit some of the hospitals and
see how much a voice and an acoustic guitar
can turn a troubled person's day around. I
met some of the most inspiring people in children's
hospitals. Those people were like 9 years
old.
Q: What's on the agenda for 2010?
What are you looking most forward to, and
what can we expect from you guys this year?
We're finally able to reach out globally.
"A Little Faster" comes out in the
UK on April 5th, so we will be there from
the 6th to the 13th. We return to Japan again
at the end of May. We're pulling together
ideas in their earliest stages right now for
a new video for "Deathbed". We just
got home off the Take Action Tour, so we are
able to have that "one place" environment
til SXSW at least. Everyone can look forward
to exclusive content and info at therefortomorrow.com
For more information on Driving For Donors
and how you can help, visit www.drivingfordonors.com
and www.marrow.org.
