For the new fans reading this, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Phil. I play bass in A Static Lullaby and I sing, as well.
How old are you?
I'm 18 years old.
When/how did you guys decide to become a group?
Well, in the summer of 2001, Dan and Joe came over to my house. They played in a band together called Nostalgia and I was in a band called Nothing To Prove, with Brett the drummer of that band. I told Joe and Dan that we should play in a band together. I quit my band that night, and they quit their band that night, and we told Brett that we needed him to play drums. We got this other guy, Freddie, to play guitar, but that didn't work out, so we got Nate. Nate used to play in a band with Dan called Likewise. Actually, Ben, our roadie right now, was the drummer in that band, and I actually played bass in that band for like a week. So it's like all these bands are connected in some way, and we basically just started practicing and we started playing shows a week later.
How did you guys come up with the name, A Static Lullaby?
Actually, Freddie, our first guitar player came up with it. We were all at this birthday dinner type thing, a dinner for my birthday, and he told us that he came up with that name. We all loved it, so we decided that the name of the band would be "A Static Lullaby", instead of "A Boy's Dream", which was the first idea that I hated. I think everybody pretty much hated it, and no one had the heart to tell Joe, but I'm not sure.
How would you describe your music?
I would describe it as rock music. We're a rock band. You come to see us and you're going to have a good time.
Do you guys have a CD in the works, or a new single coming out soon?
Well, we just released our album, "And Don't Forget to Breathe", on Ferrett. Have you heard the album?
Stacy: No, I haven't.
Phil: No, you haven't heard the album?
Stacy: I have not heard the album. [laughs] I'm broke.
Phil: Oh, well, you need to hear the album. You can go online and download songs on our website [www.astaticlullaby.com]. We just released that album, and we have a single for it for our song called "Lipgloss and Letdowns". The video is on MTV2, I guess. The song is on college radio, and alternative radio, if you want to hear it that way. But I suggest you just go to a show and buy the CD and watch us live, because that's the only way you're really going to get it.
How does it feel to be on the road so much?
Sometimes it's hectic, but for the most part it's amazing, and it's what I want to do with the rest of my life. Sometimes it feels like it's Groundhog Day, but you know, you learn how to deal with the bad days, and you enjoy the good days.
When a show is over, are you all hyped up and stuff? Or are you exhausted? Do you go out and party afterwards?
For about 20 minutes after I play I'm dead. I'm dripping wet, so I take my shirt off and put on a clean shirt, for sure. I have to dry my hair with a towel, for sure. I have to chill out. I'm in the process of quitting smoking cigarettes, but usually I'd have a cigarette right after our set. Probably have a beer, then about 30 minutes after chillen' out, I'd probably hang out and party. Yeah, we usually party, if we're on tour with good friends of ours, which in this case is every band on this tour we're great friends with. Vendetta Red we're best friends with. I actually have a Vendetta Red tattoo on my arm and "The Movielife" are new friends of ours and Jonah is a cool friend of ours. And Daniel and Gavin, that play with him. This tour has been really fun. Yeah, every night we all kick back have a ball!
You are currently on tour with The Movielife. How is that going?
Oh, it's going awesome. The Movielife are all great guys. Jonah and Gavin and Daniel are playing under the name One Line Drawing right now. They're awesome. Vendetta Red are some of our best friends in the whole world. They're family to us, so we're really excited to be on tour with them for the next month.
What's a normal day on the road like with you?
Usually, around 6 in the morning, we'll come rolling into the new city that we're playing. We do the drives in the night usually, unless the drive is an hour or two hours long. We'll stay in the city, but on a usual day we'll drive into the city around 6 a.m., get a hotel, check into the hotel, sleep from 6 to 12, wake up, eat, go to the venue, sound check, load in, do the whole thing.
What do you do for fun, when you're not on tour?
I kind of sit around and just hang out with my friends. I like to sleep a lot and I like to watch movies. I like to smoke, and chill. So I just chill, sit back and chill.
What are some of the sacrifices that you have had to make?
I don't get to see my mom, ever, and I love my mom. A long term relationship that I was in was ended because of the band, because we couldn't work through it, or she couldn't work through it. In a way I couldn't, still can't, either. I'll meet somebody and really like them, but I can't have a relationship with them. It's really bad. They can't see me all the time, and I miss them all the time.
What are your career goals? What do you hope to accomplish with your music?
I've already accomplished everything I've ever wanted to. I've always wanted to do it myself, and get myself on tour by my own band, by my own gear. Put out one release, at least, of my own, and have people respond to it, and come out and book my own tour. I've done all these things.
I've accomplished every goal I really need.
Now, ahead of us there are some goals, other people's goals, that we could achieve. We can achieve goals for our label, like a gold record, or selling at least 100,000 copies, or something like that. That's an achievement for the label. I really don't care. As long as kids are coming to the shows, that's an achievement to me. I've already achieved everything I've ever wanted. I do have a goal, but it's not a career goal. My life goal is that I want a family and kids and I want to grow very, very old before I die.
What do you guys think has been your biggest accomplishment?
So far? Everything I was saying before. Everything I've done so far. I've put myself on tour. I took a group of my friends and me out of a stupid town and I get to see the world every single day. I don't know. That's basically my favorite accomplishment.
And last, but not least, if you could say anything to the fans reading this now, what would you say?
Thank you for everything so far and I promise to stay good, if you stay good.
And that's it! Thanks for doing the interview!
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