First off, why don't you tell us a little about yourselves?
Aaron: I'm Aaron, and I play the drums. I like long walks on the beach, needle point, and holding hands in the moonlight.
JD: And I'm JD. I play the guitar. I like the guitar.
Ryan: I'm Ryan. I sing in Wakefield. I play guitar, very horribly, and that's about it.
Aaron: [mimicking Mike] I'm Mike, and I'm making a tunafish sandwich.
Mike: I'm Mike. I play bass, and I make one hell of a sandwich.
If you had to describe yourselves in 2 words, each, what would they be?
What, or who, influenced your decision to be in a band?
JD: I'd probably say when I was younger. Around the time Green Day came out and I realized it could be done with less than 8 people.
Aaron: And 5 chords.
JD: Yeah. [laughs a little] And less than 5 chords. That's when I gained hope, I think, knowing that you could still move that many people, and be that creative.
How long have you been together as a band?
Aaron: About 3 years. I've been in it about 2, now.
JD: Yeah, we were probably together for a year before Aaron. Me and Ryan were probably together about 5 months before Mike.
When/how did you get your "big break" into the music industry?
JD: Big break? Hmm..[looks at Aaron] How do you think we got our big break? That's a weird question.
Ryan: This guy at Arista named Rob Mainway heard our demo CD and really liked it, and he started coming out to the shows
.
Aaron: Yeah, I don't think these are mumble free tapes. Digitally remastered with a mumble button.
Do you have any musical influences?
Aaron: Queen, and Journey Too Far.
JD: And definitely back home, I love Jimmy's Chicken Shack. A lot of local bands, definitely, as far as going to see Jimmy's Chicken Shack and Join The Conspiracy.
Aaron: Hey. I've got another two words for Ryan. Too cool.
If someone had never heard your music, how would you describe it?
JD: I'd probably describe it as mutt rock.
Aaron: [laughs a little] Mutt rock is a really good explanation for our music.
JD: If all the different types of music came together and had sex, they'd spawn us.
Ryan: [laughs a little]
Aaron: Yeah, I think that'd be the best way (to describe their music).
How did you come up with the name of your debut CD, American Made?
Aaron: Hey, can you guys go eat in the other room. please?
JD: I think it reflects just like, weird, pretty much all middle class American families. You know, we all have hard working parents that pretty much have their own businesses, so it just represents that.
The CD just came out. What do you have to say about it?
Aaron: [says in a funny voice] I say it's very good. [laughs] Please go get it.
JD: We actually did it with Matt Wallace, who did The Replacements and Faith No More. We did it with Old Rock Dog.
Aaron: He did the new Sugarcult.
JD: Yeah, amazing. H20.
Aaron: Yeah, H20. Yeah, he's really good.
JD: Matt's balls to the walls.
What are you really trying to say with your song, "Sold Out"?
Aaron: It's really a big tongue-and-cheek thing. We're just making fun of the whole term and how loosely it's thrown around these days. Just the way kids think it's a cool term to use to label people that way.
JD: Yeah, like a lot of time bands progress and change, you know, like maybe the 2nd or 3rd album.
Stacy: And be on MTV?
JD: Yeah, I guess it could have that, too, but it's just when they start to abandon stuff and change, you know for their own reasons, writing and creaitivity, you call that selling out and stuff. They think their style may be affected by everyone else.
Aaron: It's just a term that I really don't believe in, but there are very, very, very few instances where that could maybe happen, but I think it's just kind of a stupid term.
You toured with AAR back in February, so was it a mutual idea to tour again with them again, now?
Aaron: This is actually their headlining tour, so they just pick their people, but they're really, really awesome guys and stuff, so they asked us to play and come out with them.
JD: I almost pulled my gun on Tyson(?), but before I got the chance he asked us to come.
Aaron: [laughs a little] We were threatening to get naked
If you had the chance to tour with any artist, who would it be, and why?
JD: I used to get this question a lot, and I'd say Home Grown, and that happened, so now I have to find a new one.
Aaron: It was one of the checkmarks on the list of Wakefield bands we want to tour with. It happened really soon, sooner than we all thought it would.
JD: Definitely.
Aaron: So, that was awesome.
Do you guys have any celebrity crushes?
Aaron: Natalie Portman.
JD: I'd say the GUESS model chick, I don't know her name. She's a GUESS model. She's like the hottest chick ever. That's what I know her as. [laughs a little]
What is one thing you can't live without?
JD: Music.
Aaron: Yeah, and air.
JD: Air would be a bad thing to not have. Outback Steakhouse. [laughs a little]
Aaron: For all you vegetarians out there.
JD: Steak.
How does it feel to have so many fans, some with the names "Wakefield Groupies"?
Aaron: I don't know. I think it's cool that that many people are fans and to that extreme, where they're actually spending their efforts to do stuff for us.
JD: Yeah.. that they would take that time out to make a whole site, and dedicate a name like that to themselves [laughs a little]
Guys: It's very cool. Yeah.
What do you guys do in your spare time?
Aaron: A lot of movies and video games. We're big video game guys.
JD: A lot of times we're driving. We mainly drive.
Aaron: 14-16 hour drives.
JD: Yeah, there's not much that we can do outside. We can't usually get around too much, or get too much time off, so we're confined to reading, writing, and playing video games. Acoustic guitar and acoustic love songs.
Aaron: A lot of folk love songs around a candle, because we can't have a campfire in the RV.
What is the best part of being in a band?
Aaron: Getting to see so many people everyday.
Stacy: Girls [laughs].
JD: We said people.
Aaron: I said people. [laughs a little] To be politically correct, but yeah, just meeting everybody and just getting to play music. It's just the best thing in the world.
JD: Not having a 9 to 5, just being able to be in a different place every day, is really sweet.
What is the worst part of being in a band?
Aaron: Being in a different place every day. [laughs a little] Same thing, and seeing so many different people.
JD: You love it, but you also hate it.
Aaron: That, and the smells coming from Mike's bunk.
JD: [laughs] Yeah, that's pretty bad.
What are your goals? What do you want to accomplish with your music?
JD: I guess for me it's just to create a good time for anyone. For me, growing up music wasn't about who's writing the song, it's about what they do on stage, how good they perform, how they sound, putting off the right energy and be able to go to a show and have fun and just remember good times.
Do you have any tips or "tools of the trade" for aspiring singers/bands, who are looking to make it into the music industry?
Aaron: I think the most important thing, I always like to say this, is to set goals. Because without goals, you'll push things off and be like, "oh, I'll do this tomorrow". But with goals, it sets a guideline for you, and makes you stick to them, and a lot of things happen. That, and just keep playing, because there are going to be a lot of walls in your face, but you just gotta climb over them.
JD: I think definitely that our friendship throughout our band helped us get here. If you're all on the same level and the same wavelength, it makes everything that much better.
Do you have a message to all of your fans?
Aaron: Our record just came out. Please, I'm asking everyone, please check it out. You don't have to like it, you just gotta get it. [laughs]
JD: Yeah, and hopefully, you guys will come check us out, when we come to your town. We have a website. It's www.wakefieldrocks.com, and all our dates will show up on there. It has everything. Check out the dates, and if you like having fun, come out.
That's it! Thanks for the interview!
JD: That's a wrap.
Thanks to Maggie and Jamie for submitting a few questions.
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