Hey honey, you could be my drug...

Before I even start in on the awesomeness that was the night I went to see Walk The Moon and Neon Trees at my favorite venue with the coolest guy I've met in a long time, I just think you should all know what major points you earn in my book for taking me to a concert, any concert (I can only think of one band I wouldn't even go see for free, to avoid ruffling some feathers I won't mention them here but they are ABSOLUTELY NOT hip to my heart, and I DO NOT want to be the only girl they love all their lives- can anyone guess who?) 

I'm making the decision right now to spare you all the details of me gushing over this nearly perfect night and focus just on the concert, but I'm smiling to myself as I type because I had such a great time.  A few weeks back, after I had called out of work for accidentally being way too hungover to handle my life the next day, I went for an evening stroll on the beach (God, I love living here) with my mom.  We walked by Freebird Live because I wanted to check out who was playing.  Sidenote:  One time, before I lived here, my mom was down in Jax beach and snapped a picture of the marquee at Freebird just because she missed me, 3 days later I drove down for less than 24 hours to see The Maine with my lovely cousin, complete with a raging spider bite on my leg that rendered me useless for the next 3 days.  I digress, but that is the reason I insisted on walking by, I'm normally on top of my concert dates, but not always.  So, back to the story.  Upon seeing the sign I said to my mom "OH!  Neon Trees is playing?!  I should go to that!"  As always, she laughed and started to recount the day I made her drive me to Freebird to stalk Craig Owens, D.R.U.G.S, and Sparks the Rescue because I couldn't afford to go the show (I'm a crazy fangirl for Craig Owens).  Needless to say I was stoked when someone with an extra ticket asked me to go, and I began cramming like one might for a huge final exam to try and learn as many songs as I possibly could in 3 days.  I failed, but I had a great time anyway. 

Every time I go to a show, girls always want to fight me because I insist on pushing through the crowd to get a good spot close up, in the middle, where I can see everything.  At Freebird, this is less of a problem, because it's a pretty small venue and assuming you don't get stuck standing behind one of the tall brick pillars (which I obviously do not allow to happen) its easy to see.  This particular show, we found ourselves surrounded with a super nice group of people with paint on their faces that I chatted with in between bands (that is, when they weren't all making out with eachother).  So many people were rocking the face paint thing, that I was forced to ask one of them about it (I told you, my studying didn't quite pay off).  If I had waited 5 more minutes, I would have seen that all the members of Walk The Moon had their faces painted too in homage to their Anna Sun music video.  I can only confidently say I knew 3 songs that they played, but I appreciate live music at it's finest, they were awesome and now their songs constantly fill the walls of my house (fun fact: Tightrope, my favorite song, is also on an HP commercial).

I've seen a ton of bands play, Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees is one of kind.  He ran on stage with his platinum blonde hair, shades, and a polka dotted shirt that reminded me of something my gorgeous and classy best friend might wear, if I ever saw her wear polka dots (I was glad when swapped it for a classic white v-neck and leather jacket because frankly it was distracting me).  Overall, their set was upbeat and energetic, had a super fun vibe complete with lots of neon purple lighting, they closed out the show with my favorite song Everybody Talks and I was jamming hard. 

Awesome beer, awesome tunes, awesome company!  Check out some pics and vids....

Walk The Moon- Tightrope

Walk The Moon- Anna Sun

Walk The Moon- Quesadilla

Tyler Glenn- Neon Trees

Obsessed.

My head is exploding with all the rad new music that came out this week, check out some of my favorite videos...

 Boys Like Girls- Be Your Everything

 

I love this song so much, and don't even get me started on the outrageous sexiness that is Martin Johnson.

Sparks The Rescue- Disaster

  

Sparks doing their DIY thing, can't wait for their new EP later this month!

Yellowcard- Always Summer
 

LOVE this song, LOVE this band, LOVE LOVE LOVE their new album

Yellowcard- Here I Am Alive (ft. Tay Jardine of We Are The In Crowd)
 

...like I said.

A Little Less Rock, A Little More Indie

I've been on a bit of an indie kick lately, here's another playlist, LOUDER 2 on Spotify (if you don't have Spotify yet, get your shit together.)

1. Tightrope- Walk The Moon (just saw them play last night, post coming soon duhhhh)
2. Maybe I'm Sorry- Three Legged Fox (how about a hint of reggae?)
3. Say I'm Wrong- Ballyhoo!
4. All Alone- Fun.
5. Tongue Tied- Grouplove
6. Fluorescent Adolescent- Arctic Monkeys
7. Down By The Water- The Decemberists
8. Stars- Fun.
9. Don't Tell Me What To Do- Air Traffic Controller
10. Fidelity- Regina Spektor
11. Naked Kids- Grouplove
12. Someday- The Strokes
13. Naive- The Kooks
14. Foot of the Bed- Air Traffic Controller (I dare you to not smile when you hear this song)
15. Little Talks- Of Monsters and Men
16. The Underdog- Spoon
17. Cough Syrup- Young The Giant
18. Hey Mama- Mat Kearney
19. Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)- Foster The People
20. Lonely Boy- The Black Keys
21. Skeleton Key- Margot & The Nuclear So and So's

Warped

Friends of mine will tell you that the one place I am truly in my element is when I'm watching a band play.  For many years my love of pop punk/alternative/rock music culminates in what can only be described as the "best/worst" day ever- Vans Warped Tour.  This year, that firey red headed best friend I always mention was my date to her very first Warped Tour, and unfortunetly for her, getting there was slightly more dramatic than usual.  Imagine this:

It's Thursday morning, Warped is Friday.  You are repeatedly calling everyone you know looking for a place in Orlando to stay tonight so you don't have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn, drive 2 hours, spend all day in the raging Florida sun, only to have to drive those same 2 hours again that night.  And of course, no body is answering.  Then you check your bank account, and that is a sad story in and of itself.  Everyone you ask for help is telling you that you obviously shouldn't be going to this concert because you can't afford it and things clearly are not working in your favor.  Your response to everyone is "I don't care, I'm going.  I'll sleep in my car."  Long story short we found a friend that let us crash at his place and scored a big comfy hotel bed the following night, so it all worked out, but not without me bursting into tears a few times in a raging 24 year old temper tantrum worthy of some kind of trashy reality tv show; I threw another one when we were stuck in traffic trying to get to the fairgrounds when it took us an hour to drive the last mile and park, and then again when I discovered not only did we miss Tonight Alive and Four Year Strong but All Time Low and Mayday Parade were playing at conflicting times (if you know me, you know this was my WORST CASE SCENARIO).

But Alas, we made it to the fairgrounds and enjoyed what I can say with complete confidence, the best day of my life.  As we walked in we caught the tail end of Polar Bear Club's set and wandered around trying to get our bearings and prepare ourselves for the day ahead.  We watched Lostprohpets play a few songs before heading over to the Kevin Says stage to catch I Call Fives, where I shamelessly flirted with one of their merch guys, who liked me because I already owned their brand new full length, and convinced my best friend to buy it- so worth it.  We got an excellent spot for New Found Glory even though I had to suffer through the ramblings of the most obnoxious shirtless guy in white sunglasses about how much he hated The Ghost Inside (playing the other main stage), I swear I almost punched him.  As soon as NFG came out on stage in their matching basketball uniforms the crowd went nuts, it was perfect.  After that, we skeddadled over to the Monster Energy stage to catch Sleeping With Sirens.  Sidebar- Kellin Quinn is such a little guy, but I swear my face turns into that cute little emoji with hearts for eyes when I look at him.  His lyrics are so intense and watching him sing them with such passion nearly brought tears to my eyes, most definately one of the high points of the day.  After that we ran back over to jam with Taking Back Sunday, not the first time I've seen them but they were amazing as usual, and even had a special guest from A Day To Remember for a couple of songs. 

It's inevtiable that at every Warped Tour, 2 bands I want to see will play at conflicting times and I'll be forced into making a choice I don't want to make.  As I said before, my WORST CASE SCENARIO was that Mayday Parade (my favorite band) and All Time Low (one of my favorites, and one of two bands on the tour I have never seen before) would play at conflicting times.  Fitting with drama the previous day had provided me, Mayday was set to play at 5:30 on the Monster Energy stage and All Time Low was playing at 5:40 on the Kia Rio stage.  We decided to watch Mayday play 3 songs and then bolt across the fairgrounds to catch All Time Low, as it turned out I couldn't even enjoy Mayday because I was so concerned about being far away when All Time Low was playing, and when I faintly heard the opening tune of Damned if I Do Ya, I gave my best friend a look and we bolted away from the Monster Energy stage and pushed our way through the crowd for All Time Low.  I shoved my way to the middle and got stuck behind maybe the tallest, biggest guy ever....figures right?  I stretched and squirmed for 2 songs before I found my way in front of him, surely stepping on his toes and jumping all over him while screaming the words to Heroes, Time Bomb, Weightless, and Jasey Rae (I've said it before and I'll say it again, my all time FAVORITE song by them).  I teared up as they played The Reckless and The Brave as other girls threw their bra's and Jack hung them on his mic stand (I didn't see this happen for any other band all day, girls love All Time Low) and had the biggest smile on my face after hearing Dear Maria, Count Me In.  I'd drive 1000 miles right this very moment to see them play again (I smiling to myself right now, fangirl much)?  I know by the way I felt after that set I had made the right choice but that didn't stop the tears streaming down my face the past 2 days at every Mayday Parade song.

I'm tempted to say that I don't listen to We The Kings too much but as we ran over and watched their set which was actually really awesome, I surprised myself by knowing the words to every song they played, and surprised myself even more by wanting to be all over Travis Clark and that mane of red hair, boy has some serious stage presence, just saying.  At this point in the day, it's 7:00, we've been in the sun for 8 hours, clothes soaked in our own (and a million other peoples) sweat, 8 bottles of water and 1 PBR deep, with raging bra tanlines that are still infuriating me now- and fading fast.  We dragged over to watch We Are The In Crowd on the Tilly's stage and were kind of shocked at the number of manly tattooed men in the crowd, I love WATIC and have a legit girl crush on the beautiful and Talented Tay Jardine (I even have her haircut) and I was feeling their set but feeling a little rough at the same time.  I caught a peak of Alex Gaskarth backstage and got all hot and bothered and immediately fired up at the prospect of him coming out to sing Kiss Me Again, I compeletly lost my shit when he did.  It was perfect.

As we walked slowly back over to the main stages to watch Yellowcard, we considered skipping out on Breathe Carolina because of how exhausted we were.  Looking back on it now, I would be a miserable disaster if we had.  Watching Yellowcard sing Always Summer, With You Around, and Ocean Avenue was pretty amazing even though Ryan was chewing a piece of gum in between words in the most annoying and obnoxious way (the littlest things bother me, I mean honestly, who cares right)?  Fun Fact- Yellowcard was actually the first concert my mom let me go to by myself right after Ocean Avenue came out, she dropped me and my friends off at Hard Rock Live and we just thought we were hot shit (I still kind of think that though, ha).  Every Band we watched talked about how they were being fined for cursing on stage that day so in the middle of their set, Ryan implored everyone to yell their favorite curse word on the count of 3- have you ever heard thousands of people yell the word "FUCK" 3 times?  I have, and it was awesome.  As soon as Yellowcard finished, I heard the familiar electronic tune of a Breathe Carolina song and ran over (with everyone else) to the other main stage and just broke out dancing.  I've watched a lot of bands play over my 24 years of life, and I can say without a doubt that those 30 minutes Breathe Carolina played were the best I have ever seen.  Even though it was 8:30, the sun was set and everyone was exhausted, the excitement in the air was more palpable than it had been all day long. I don't even know how to describe it because there is no way I would be able to do it the justice it deserves, but I cried with the biggest smile on my face when it was over- euphoric and so bummed at the same time.

I'm deep in the midst of a hollowing post concert depression right now, check out the pics while I go cry myself to sleep because I can't go to Warped every day. 

Sleeping With Sirens

Taking Back Sunday

We The Kings

I Call Fives

Mayday Parade

New Found Glory

All Time Low

A Warped sunset with Yellowcard

We Are The In Crowd

Breathe Carolina

My outfit, ticket, and best friend

Tay Jardine and Alex Gaskarth singing Kiss Me Again

Yellowcard

Rockin' Playlist #1

 Making rad playlists on the regular is one of my favorite things, so how about I post them here so you can all enjoy?  Here are 30 songs I CAN'T STOP JAMMING TO this week.

1. Blackout- Breathe Carolina
2. The Reckless and The Brave-All Time Low
3. If I'm James Dean, You're Audrey Hepburn- Sleeping With Sirens
4. Hit and Run- Breathe Carolina
5. Ocean Avenue- Yelloward
6. Miles Away- Memphis May Fire ft. Kellin Quinn
7. Edge of Heaven- Breathe Carolina
8. Two Sides of Every Story- I Call Fives
9. The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows- Brand New
10. Last Night (Vegas)- Breathe Carolina
11. Under a Paper Moon- All Time Low
12. She Takes Me High- We The Kings
13. R U Mine- Arctic Monkeys
14. Alive in the Lights- Memphis May Fire
15. With You Around- Yellowcard
16. Say You Like Me- We The Kings
17. Only One- Yellowcard
18. If You Can't Hang- Sleeping With Sirens
19. Backup Plan- I Call Fives
20. Tally it Up, Settle the Score- Sleeping With Sirens
21. So Damn Clever- Plain White T's
22. Time Bomb- All Time Low
23. Breaking- Anberlin
24. Do It Now, Remember It Later- Sleeping With Sirens
25. Last Train Home- Lostprophets
26. Up All Night- Blink 182
27. Two Days or a Lifetime of Failure- I Call Fives
28. Heroes- All Time Low
29. Liar (it takes one to know one)- Taking Back Sunday
30. Hearts All Gone- Blink 182

yeah yeah yeah, I know some of these songs are mad old, but that doesn't make them less awesome.  If have Spotify (which you obv should) you can listen to this playlist there, search LOUDER 1.

On My Honor

Meet the band:
Drew Justice- Vocals
Jordan Garner- Guitar
Lucas Sams- Guitar
David Fear- Bass

So you all may be wondering (or you may not give a shit, but either way) why I haven't posted in over a month.  The truth is, I tweeted On My Honor over a month ago to do this interview and it took me this long to get back to them (despicable, I know).  However, don't write me off just yet- I thought we were all in this together, and I still want to so I still will.  The reason I've been so delinquent on writing this blog (aside from being delinquent in general) is the beach.  I spend about 98% of my free time in a bikini (in fact, I'm wearing one as a type this).  I think about how to make LOUDER better every day but for the past month, thoughts are as far as I've gotten.  Three days ago I was laying on a familiar beach (Bay Street is my beach of choice) listening to "Nature and Nurture" and heard a few words that snapped me back into the mindset that made me start this blog in the first place.  Moving to the beach and pouring my heart into what I love doing is truly a chance to make myself mine, find definition, and clarify my place.

So what if these are the last words I ever get to say?

On My Honor is a 4 piece pop punk band from Knoxville, Tennessee signed to Little Heart Records (not my first band on Little Heart, see Talk of Spring and Uh Huh Baby Yeah!) that rocks like Anberlin, Jimmy Eat World, and Brand New.  Their newest release "Nature and Nurture" is full of pop punk sing-a-long worthy anthems built on intricate, high energy guitar riffs, and honest, personal lyrics.  It's absolutely one of those records you listen to 3 times through as soon as you get it and then call your friends and tell them they NEED IT(I can almost hear the eye rolls through the phone).  The opening track grabbed me after about 2 seconds and still remains my favorite on the album, just in case you couldn't have already guessed that ;-).

The guys of On My Honor are no newbies in the music business, they've been recording and touring since late 2007 but their music roots go back much further- Lucas grew up with father who was a musician and he started playing guitar when he was 15.  "I've always loved pop punk.  The first music I ever bought was Green Day Dookie on tape when I was like 6 and the first CD I ever bought was Enema of the State."  When asked about musical influences he listed Jimmy Eat World, Reliant K, and New Found Glory as bands they all agree on, followed by "we all individually have some pretty weird stuff we listen to..." ahhh, intrigue!  Maybe I should add a question about guilty pleasure music?!  I am willing to reveal my slight obsession with the Nickelodeon band Big Time Rush, that I own the soundtrack to ALL 3 High School Musical movies, that whenever I'm in the car with my firey red headed best friend we are undoubtedly singing and dancing to Carly Rae's "Call Me Maybe" at top volume, and that I may be guilty of listening to Shpongle at the beach with my sister as joke but kind of liking at the same time.  

Lucas briefly talked about what he's given up to live his dreams, "all my time, physical and mental well being, anything worth doing requires a lot of sacrificing and we all get that."  He and the rest of On My Honor find inspiration in everything around them from fellow musicians, to athletes, to friends.  "I look around the world and see all this amazing stuff that people are capable of and it inspires me to do what I do the best I can."  He made my heart melt when I asked what the ultimate, end all be all, goal of his music career would be:
"I think we've already achieved our ultimate goal, we make the music we want, and we get to play it almost every day.  There's a lot of people out there that care about our band and us as people, we can't ask for more than that." 

Thanks Lucas and On My Honor for reminding me why I love music (and writing about it) so much!  See you tonight in Orlando (hopefully)!!

To LIKE On My Honor on Facebook click here!

 To FOLLOW @Onmyhonorband on Twitter click here!

Onmyhonorband.com

As a closing note, On My Honor is currently looking for a drummer, anyone interested who thinks they are capable and can commit to full time touring can email Lucas at Lucasomh@gmail.com

Summer Tour Flyer

me typing this post

Fahrenheit 43

Meet The Band:
Richie: Lead Vocals/ Acoustic/Piano
Elmo: Drums/Percussion
Grant: Bass/Backing Vocals
Sparty: Lead Guitar/ Backing Vocals

"Many newborn babies have been sacrificed to the God's of Rock for this career to flourish.  I had to write my name in blood and pledge my soul to the devil in order to get a pass for my band." Haha.

That is just one of the many precious gems that Richie gave me, in fact his entire interview was so just so perfect that I find myself fighting the urge to quote it in it's entirety. 

Fahrenheit 43 is a band from Melbourne, Austrailia (my first international interview, woohoo), they've been together for about four years and play their own form of radio friendly pop rock music that boasts a sense of urgency and depth, combined with mature lyrics left open to any interpretation.  Musically, the guys come from totally different backgrounds, each finding its way flawlessly into their own.  Richie told me that he and Elmo come from similar upbringings, not ever really belonging to one particular genre.  "We were just children of music our whole lives, I mean, we still laugh about having both made out with girls listening to '50 Candles' by Boyz II Men, haha." Sparty loves John Mayer and a lot of other really bluesy soulful guitars but can get right into progressive rock bands like Angels and Airwaves, and the Foo Fighters.  Grant comes from a more hardcore background, he brings a lot of the harder, edgier sound to Fahrenheit 43's music, Richie described him as a "musical encyclopedia."  The guys named The Dangerous Summer as the band they would most like to share the stage with.  I'm just getting into The Dangerous Summer myself but I couldn't agree more that AJ's lyrics have a sense of urgency and knowledge to them that is absolutely captivating. 

"I try to find appreciation in everything I hear, I think we do that as a band constantly, it's definitely a key to evolving and staying relevant."

I wasn't shy about telling Richie that his interview was one of the most perfect I've gotten so far, when I asked him what inspires him, the answer he gave made me melt:

"Seeing art that comes from the fucking heart!  To see music played from the fucking heart!  It gets me hard and makes me want to flip the bird at the world and say 'fuck you!"  We found the secret to life....find what you love and do that forever."  (Richie, I'm officially putty in your hands, haha).

A year from now the guys of Fahrenheit 43 want to have their debut album out and begin recording their sophomore album with Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, The Dangerous Summer, Heroes For Hire).  "The band is in a position to really start heavily touring and ultimately we want to bring our sound to the US and really start working that territory; but you've got to own your own city first- so really, a year from now, we want to be one of the most popular bands in Melbourne."  As for Richie, the end all be all of his music career involves creating something that helps develop and grow this scene.  "I have a real passion to see people play from their hearts.  I'd want to be involved in a mentoring sense, perhaps a small record label.  We'd invest entirely in the artists we believe in.  Many times, that's all it takes for someone to really flourish, just to have that one person that really believes in them."

I've started asking bands how they respond to the hate, I've seen how hard it is for some people to understand the life these guys have chosen, nearly giving everything up to persue a dream, the answers to this question are some of the realist I've ever gotten, here's Richie's:

"Firstly, in life, and it doesn't matter what you do, there will always be haters.  There will always be people who will want to secretly toast to your failure because not everyone has found what they love.  Not everyone will respect you for trying to make a living being an artist.  The ignorance of humans is that they will hear music on the radio or see music videos on TV and only see that.  They don't see the years and years of work that needed to happen to get to that point.  Some people need to come to that realization on their own.  All you can do is keep working hard, let your haters become your motivation.  Let them remind you why you still wake up everyday to live your dream.  The people around you eventually witness the the work ethic and commitment you have to your art.  So it's a matter of earning that respect and working your ass off.  If you're not the best, you've got work harder than the best."

He thinks he talks too much, but couldn't you just let him talk all day long?  The passion that I got to witness just from reading one email is astounding, now listen to their music and it'll blow your mind.

"Music is a cruel mistress and she will never ever share you with anyone or anything else.  You're a fool to believe you can- your talent, your playing, your writing, and your career will all suffer.  She will make sure of that...but in the end, if you believe in yourself and each other, and you do it honestly, the dream will manifest itself into a reality."  The guys of Fahrenheit 43 are married to the music, for better or for worse, but that's what makes it so perfect, that kind of passion is intoxicating, and it's something we could all use a little more of.  These guys are doing big things, mark my words. 

p.s. I'm a smart girl but 'Fahrenheit' has to be the hardest world to spell ever, I think I misspelled it EVERY time I wrote it!

To LIKE Fahrenheit 43 on Facebook click here!

To FOLLOW @Fahrenheit43 on Twitter click here!

To browse their youtube channel click here! (there is a precious video of a giggly Richie in the morning, just saying)

To visit their official site: www.fahrenheit43.com