Alex Gaskarth Interview:
Lead Vocalist of All Time Low
Definitely putting out this new full-length [CD] is a huge thing for us. Going to the UK was a really big step. We just got confirmed to go to Australia, which is insane. It's like with every single thing that happens, we're just kind of like, "Whaaaat?" I'm waiting to wake up still. I say that all the time, but I really feel like I'm in a dream…it's nuts.
How does it feel to have gone from a relatively unknown band to being everywhere in a short amount of time?
It's incredible! We've definitely been doing this for a long time. We've been a band for almost five years now, but the past one and a half have been the most insane of my life. We graduated high school and started touring, and it was a little bit slow at first, and then boom! It just took off. It's crazy.
When did you graduate high school?
'06. We're all only 19. Yeah, we're babies.
Do you write the songs in your band?
The songwriting is kind of a collaborative thing. We all write the music, we all present ideas to the table. And then basically we'll form the music we have into a rough version of the song, and then I'll take that and write lyrics and melodies to it. Once we have how the chorus is gonna go, how the verses are gonna go, we'll kind of like…re-go through the song, and structure it so it makes the most sense. It's very much a team effort, but I write the lyrics.
Do you write your songs as you want it, or do you try to think about an audience and appeal to them?
It's definitely a little bit of both. We're playing music that we love, but at the same time, we're always trying to think of ways to get people stoked on the songs. We're artists, but we're also entertainers. You have to think about what will make listeners enjoy it. So, yeah, you definitely cater to your audience.
So do you ever get tired of being on the road?
Not yet, no. It's incredible. This is what we all wanted to do from day one when we started the band. To be here now…we never thought we would have been here. We're nothing but grateful. It's tiring, but it never really feels like work. I think I got lucky in the sense that…if I was doing anything else, even if I enjoyed it, at times it would weigh down on me. But because I’m doing exactly what I wanted to do—and I love that—it never feels like I'm working. Even if I’m tired, even if I don’t really wanna get up in the morning to do something, at least I'm not getting up for college or something like that, you know. It's different, but it's really cool. I don't mind.
So, whose idea was it to do that photo shoot in your underwear?
It was definitely kind of a joint idea. The record's called So Wrong, It's Right, and we went into it saying, "everything needs to be a little messed up." A little bit like, so wrong, it's actually kind of hilarious and people will dig it. We went into it with that mentality. Basically, it was like, should we be naked? should we be in underwear? should we…what should we do? The tightie whitie thing came up so we were like, "yes, we should definitely do that!" And when we got there that day the photographer had all these crazy ideas, like "I'm just gonna make you guys look really gay! You're gonna eat like bananas, hotdogs…everything that looks like a wiener, you're gonna have in your mouth today." I was like, "Awesome!" So uh, yeah, we did it, and, you know, whatever, it's funny. It's obviously a joke, and it definitely did its job. It turned some heads and caught a lot of people's eyes. People remember that picture, you know what I mean. It scars them. [Laugh]
I think the first time I ever heard of you guys, I was on myspace, and I looked down and saw that picture. Yep, front page... I was like, "Who are these people?!"
That was the funniest day. Some people who used to live in Maryland, but went out of state for college, that we were friends with back in the day (last year, two years ago…I say back in the day) but I guess that didn't really follow the band after they left…That week that we were on the front page of myspace, and I got all these random text messages from people like "Oh my god, why are you naked on myspace, this is messed up?!" So yeah, it definitely did its job.
What kind of bands are you into right now?
Oh man, I’m into everything. Uh, the new Jimmy Eat World CD I love; it's amazing. The new Kanye record I always play. There's so many good albums that just came out. Paramore's new record is incredible. Um, the New Found Glory cover record From the Screen to Your Stereo Part Two is amazing, and they have some insane cameos on that thing, too. Say Anything's new record…
Anything else you want to add?
I guess to anyone reading or listening to this, thank you for being a part of it. Right on!
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