Described as "massive rock n' roll melodies with fiery hip hop beats", the band Paper Tongues recently brought their eclectic force to Switchfoot's Hello Hurricane tour, opening for the guys on a handful of shows. The seven member band is known for their energetic show and unique sound, so I thought it'd be interesting to talk with the guys on touring with Switchfoot, their own music and their upcoming album. The following is an interview/conversation between myself, Aswan (lead singer) and Devin (guitar), and you're invited to eavesdrop! To learn more about Paper Tongues, visit PaperTongues.ning.com
LOBH (Land of Broken Hearts): Thanks Devin and Aswan for doing this interview with us. Since this is a Switchfoot fansite, I'd like to ask you a few questions about touring with them first, then talk more about your band. Sound good?
Devin: Yeah, ask whatever questions you like.
LOBH: Okay great! I had a lot of our site visitors submit questions for you guys, so this first one comes from SleepingHearts: "What was touring with Switchfoot like?" How did you get the gig?
Devin: Touring with Switchfoot was amazing. Every single one of those guys went out of their way to introduce themselves to us the first show and they really made an effort to make sure we were always doing good. Our booking agents came to us with the tour and asked us if we'd like to do it. Of course we sad, "Yes!"
LOBH: How long were you on the Hello Hurricane tour?
Devin: Technically we are still on it. We just took a break for a couple weeks and are hooking back up with them tomorrow in St. Louis. We started January 8th I believe.
LOBH: Didn't realize that! Nice. This question comes from Lisa: "What was your favorite memory from tour, on and off stage?"
Devin: My favorite memory on stage was this: One night, Danny (bass guitar) was going a little crazy, running around, dancing and such, and he jumped offstage to go up to the railing and be next to the crowd. When he decided to go back to the stage, he thought he could jump from the railing to the stage, which turned out to be false. His feet didn't quite make it to the stage and he fell right on top of his bass, arms flailing and all.
LOBH: Oh no! Any injuries?
Devin: Nope, he's pretty resilient. Off stage... I don't remember what town we were in, but we were playing at a community center. Before the show, Danny, myself (Devin), Jon and Tim Foreman were playing basketball in the community center. There were a couple kids hanging around and we got to play an awesome game of Bump Out with them. It was awesome seeing John and Tim interact with the kids and not be all prima donna about it. Also, I beat Jon 2 out of 3 games.
LOBH: I saw a video on YouTube of one of you guys playing Tim at b-ball - looked like fun! And congrats on beating Jon, it's nice to see there's something he's not good at.
Devin: No, he's good at it. I just got lucky. We played Jon and Tim 2 on 2 and I think we lost 20 to 2. Hah, it was embarrassing.
LOBH: HA! That's gold. Any crazy behind the scenes tour stories or pranks to share?
Devin: Actually, we didn't really do any pranks with Switchfoot. Being the opening act, we usually wait for the other band to initiate pranks. Switchfoot never did, so we steered clear from that one. Flyleaf was another story though. Plenty of pranks there. Should I go into that of keep it exclusive to the Switchfoot tour?
LOBH: I think we'd like to hear about the pranks, especially if they're particularly embarrassing
Devin: haha, ok. Yes they are embarrassing. So the last show of tour is usually prank night, and Flyleaf really goes all out with their pranks. They had warned us about it all tour. I knew we were going to get pranked, but once the show started I was just in show mode and totally forgot about the whole thing. As I'm playing the first song, my guitar starts to sound really crazy, like my delay pedal is going nuts. The pitch is going up and down, delay is going everywhere, my guitar starts growling! So, after the first song, I just unplug my delay pedal and think everything is fine, but the next song starts and it's still happening! Incredulous, I look back to my amp and see Samir holding up his pedal board, pointing at it and cracking up. Apparently before the show he had wired his board into the circuit before it hit my amp and had complete control over my sound. It was terrible.
LOBH: HA! Did you retaliate?
Devin: If you've seen the "All Around Me" video, they are all wearing white and then at the climax, red paint falls over all of them. So, I dress up in all white and we get a bunch of ketchup. I put white tape all over my guitar and climb on top of Pat's bass cab while they are starting "All Around Me". When the climax hits I jump down and start going nuts while the guys dump ketchup all over me. Granted, it was kind of bad for me to do, but I think the crowd and Flyleaf thought it was really funny.
LOBH: I have to ask - how many bottles of ketchup did you have to buy for that?
Devin: Only a couple. It was a pretty short piece. I also made a net out of gaff tape and kept netting Samir while he played.
LOBH: Was he able to play through or, did the net throw him off?
Devin: He did a relatively good job at playing while trying to get out. It was really funny.
LOBH: I'm going to be searching on YouTube for a video of those things after this interview. Can you walk us through a "typical day in the life" while on the Hello Hurricane tour?
Devin: Sure. Load in usually isn't until about 3 or so, so obviously we try to sleep until about 2, unless we have to go to radio to do an interview or acoustic performance. We load all the equipment in and get it set up ready to load onto the stage when it's time for soundcheck. We usually have a couple hours in between load in and sound check so we can go explore whatever city we're in which is awesome. Then, sound check and back to the bus for vocal warmups and pre-game rituals. Then the show starts which is always the most exciting part. Afterwards we get to watch Switchfoot play and then we hang around the merch booth to meet people and sign stuff. That's another one of my favorite parts of the day is meeting all of these amazing people. We'll usually go grab a bite to eat or explore the town a little more and then go back to the bus to watch 30 rock and go to bed. Then we wake up in the next town.
LOBH: Crazy schedule. Do you ever get bored on the road or is there not time for that?
Devin: There's usually not much time for boredom. Every day seems very quick because we're always busy. The only time we get bored is when we have to dead head it from one side of the country to the other to start a tour or go back home after a tours completion. Being on a bus for 4 days straight is never that much fun.
LOBH: This next question is from Amberique: "What was your favorite city/crowd on the Hello Hurricane tour?"
Devin: Definitely Montreal. I don't know what it is about those people, but they looooove music. They were creating their own chants during "Ride to California" and they gave Switchfoot a DOUBLE encore! The last song, the crowd surfed him in a perfect semi circle from stage left, back to the sound board at front of house and then back to the stage at stage right. It was amazing. And he was singing in perfect pitch the entire time.
LOBH: I don't how Jon does it... you'd think he'd mess up the words or loose the pitch or something.
Devin: You would. I'm always waiting for him to mess up. He's almost too good.
LOBH: He is. He's a machine. Along those lines, here's a question from MJ: "What are the Switchfoot guys like behind the scenes, personality wise?"
Devin: Extremely genuine. They're always ready for a good conversation. Drew is definitely the sarcastic joker of the band. Jon, Tim and Chad are all huge fans of all things San Diego. We were watching the Chargers game and they were going nuts. They really seem to like surfing too. Mostly though, they're just the kind of guys you would actually want to get to know. Not just hang out with but really get to know.
LOBH: What were the reactions when the chargers lost?
Devin: Defeat. Pure defeat. They were very disappointed. But, they went on to play a great show anyway.
LOBH: Next question, from NeedleGirl: In what ways was the Hello Hurricane Tour different than other tours you have done?
Devin: For one, most of the other bands we've toured with have been very different as far as music style is concerned. Not that were are really that much alike to Switchfoot, but I felt like we related to the Switchfoot fans better than our other tours. Also, you don't always gel with a band the way that Switchfoot was open to. Usually you just play your separate shows and it's like a competition which I hate. With Switchfoot it was like team work. We were there to warm the crowd up and they were there to bring it home.
LOBH: I heard from a lot of fans who were surprised at how well you guys complimented each other on stage - PT and SF. From Victoria: Is there anything you learned from this tour/Switchfoot that you'll take with you?
Devin: Switchfoot has been doing this for probably 15 years and they are still friends. They still relate to their fans. They are still good people. I think we all learned that if we constantly keep our ego's in check, we can actually have a long career without killing each other. The Switchfoot guys were a huge inspiration to us in our relationships with each other.
LOBH: Well said! Last question in regards to this tour... What are you most looking forward to on the next leg of the Hello Hurricane tour?
Devin: Learning more from SF. We love seeing how and why they do things and we're just honored to be with them.
LOBH: Now you guys have an album coming out in March right?
Devin: March 30th! I truly can't wait. We've been working on this for so long. I can't wait to have something to show for it.
LOBH: What are you going to be doing on release day?
Devin: Oh boy. I'm sure we'll go out for a nice steak dinner and have some kind of celebration. Maybe a cake.
LOBH: What do you want people to take away from the album? What's the experience that you want the listener to have while listening?
Devin: It's an album about hope. We're all coming from hard times and no money and we want people to feel like there is always hope in any situation. There is so much angst filled depression ridden music out there that we feel like it's about time somebody had something to listen to that made them hopeful.
LOBH: What's your favorite song on the new album/are there any hidden musical moments we should listen for?
Devin: I really like a song called "What If". It just has a really nice groove to it and the lyrical content is always inspiring to me. Aswan really nailed it on that one. I think the musical moment happen more in the live shows than they do on the album. We wanted the album to move really well and we feel that it does. Live, we take a little more liberty with instrumental pieces.
LOBH: I'm glad you mentioned that, because that leads in perfectly to my next question. This one was asked by a fan for Aswan: (To the lead singer) do you ever worry that you will hurt each other on stage? (You get pretty wild!)
Aswan: Yes of course. One time Devin was right in front of me and he stood up and back very quickly knocking the microphone right into my teeth. That one hurt. One time Danny's headstock came down on top of Cody's head. We do our best to stay out of each other's way though and we are getting better at it.
LOBH: OUCH! I hope all your teeth are intact. I imagine that'd be difficult since there are so many members in your band. What are some of the advantage and disadvantages to being a seven-piece?
Devin: The album has so much stuff going at all times that it really takes seven people to pull it off live. It's nice having enough people to make it sound full onstage. The disadvantage would be traveling. It's very difficult and expensive to travel with so many people. Also having so much equipment is kind of a pain sometimes.
LOBH: And I'd imagine the stage would get pretty crowded at points...
Devin: Yes, sometimes, we are forced to use the headliners drums and some other equipment. One time Clayton (keys) had to stand off stage.
LOBH: What do you want people to take way from a Paper Tongues show?
Devin: Excitement! We want people to be bursting inside! That feeling you get when you hear something that you can't describe, but it makes your heart explode. That's what we want. We want people to feel like they can accomplish anything.
LOBH: Prior to this interview, I was reading a score of other interviews with you guys from other media outlets, and the one theme I kept taking from the interviews and from your words was optimism. How to maintain/cultivate such an attitude of optimism when you're on the road, which can be a very depressing and discouraging place?
Devin: It's awesome being in the company of all of the PT guys. Everybody has a very positive outlook. But, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we're not trying to become huge stars, we're just trying to bring something to the people and we need a platform to do it. For us, it's not about how many people recognize us on the street, it's about how many people can relate to what we're saying in the music. When you have a goal, it's easier to stay in check.
LOBH: What are some things that you, as a band, stand for?
Devin: Ultimately we stand for the people. We stand for the potential in every person and we want to motivate people to go after it and help bring that potential out of them.
LOBH: How are some ways you go about motivating people?
Devin: Right now it's just every day. It's playing show every day for whoever will listen. It's talking to people after the shows and being encouraging, which is great because we get encouraged by the people as well. It's a communal effort. Whenever you feel somebody being genuinely encouraging, it's a natural thing to want to encourage them back. I think it's just a daily testament of the way we live that really speaks the loudest. For example, "Ride to California" is about us not having money and dropping everything we were doing to go to L.A. and chase our dreams. It worked for us and we want people to be inspired by that and go after their dreams too.
LOBH: Well said. I know you guys are busy, so I'll try to wrap it up now! What are your major musical influences/most played songs on your iPod?
Devin: As a band, I think we can all agree on at least a couple, though everybody has completely different tastes. Journey is huge for us, as is Queen. The Roots, Wilco, and Radiohead are all up there. Every one of us would give very different answers though.
LOBH: Lastly, three questions that we ask to everyone we interview!
1. What's the best advice you've ever been given/heard?
Devin: Find somebody who is doing what you want to do, but doing it better and join them.
LOBH: 2. What's one question you've never been asked and the answer?
Devin: How many tattoo's are in the band collectively? Plenty. At least 40. Maybe 50.
LOBH: SERIOUSLY? That is... on average... around 5 or 6 per person?
Devin: But they are only on 3 of us.
LOBH: Rephrase. Around 13 or 15 per person. Going to get any more?
Devin: Always.
LOBH: Good answer.
LOBH: 3. What's one song you wish you had written and why?
Devin: Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. It's one of those songs that always gives me chills and I love a song that can do that.
LOBH: Guys thank you so much for your time! I thoroughly enjoyed this interview
Devin: And thank you. It was fun.
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