Tell me about how FTW! started? Have you known each other long and where is it you all live?

FTW! originally was just Miami, Chuck ( our old screamer ) and me. I met them both through my best friend Matt because Chuck is his younger brother and Miami is Chucks best friend. The idea of us forming a band was thrown around a lot between us since Miami had sung in previous bands and he knew I played drums but we never really took it seriously till about the beginning of last summer. One day we decided to go to Guitar Center to pick up some equipment and we bumped into Ray and Jai playing guitar. Turned out Ray was really good so we approached him after getting up the nerve since both of them are huge and come off as really intimidating if you don't know them. We asked Ray if he was interested in joining a band and he said yeah. Later on we found out Jai knew how to play bass quite well and we also asked him to join. We started practicing at my house in my basement and before we had a first song we booked recording time. Two weeks later "Walk A Mike In Her Skin" was recorded. We later wrote "There's More To Life Than Two Steps & Breakdowns" and "What We Once Were". On all the recordings Ray did both guitars so after we wrapped up recording a second time we went searching for a second guitar player so we could finally play shows since we set up a solid fan base. After a few failed members we finally picked Colby. It's been about a year and a half now and we recently lost Chuck, but he was replaced with a good friend of ours named Phil, who is the old front man for the hardcore band Held Under ( aka Hit The Deck ).

What is the scene like there and are there plenty of opportunities to play shows?

The "scene", if you can call it that, is really weird in Connecticut and we don't really fit into a set "genre" so in my opinion we're offered more shows then the average band because our music can go with a little bit of everything. The only problem is there's not a lot of bands in our genre of music around here so we're either the heaviest band at a pop punk show, or the lightest band at a metal show. The best shows we play are actually out of state in Long Island with our friends iOninetyfour because our genre is picking up out there. The most recent show we played that we actually fit into was A Loss For Words, Energy, The Wonder Years and our friends Audio New Year. Besides those big bands, we've also played with La Dispute, Her Demise My Rise, Within The Ruins and in January we're playing with Saosin.

Back flip vs. Cartwheel, which normally wins out for you in the pit?

I'm not really one to mosh at shows. I'm more the kid that does the pile ons and shoves kids. Apparently I look meaner than I am so I don't really have to do much. If I could though, I'd do the sick moves Darth Maul does in Star Wars Episode 1. That would win hands down.

Are there any bands that influence & inspire your sound? Did you have a set game plan with FTW about the style you played of did you just want to mash up a bunch of different styles cause its almost like you took a bit of Fall Out Boy-Bleeding Through-youth crew sing a longs-and genuine aceness! Loving it and am sure a bunch of other kids would too…

Coming into FTW! we all knew that each member listened to something different and I think that's what gives us our sound. I'm personally really into New Found Glory, The Acacia Strain and listen to mainly hardcore. Ray on the other hand used to be all about As I Lay Dying and mostly metal but we got him into A Day To Remember and most recently For The Fallen Dreams and Vanna. Miami is all about power pop such as FTSK, Boys Will Be Boys and Mayday Parade, but also listens to TDWP along with a few other random "heavy" bands. Chuck was all about everything heavy such as Emmure, I Declare War and Winds of Plague. Basically, we all listen to completely different things and I guess our sound is the product of that.

What types of reactions do you get a shows, do the kids get into it then & what’s a typical show like? Lots of energy?

A typical show for us is full of energy. Lots of sing alongs and pile ons. Recently we played a show in New York after releasing our demo of "Damn Kid, You Went Down Like A Champ" on the MySpace about a week prior. EVERYONE there knew the chants and sang along and we were really blown away by that. We didn't know we had a real fan base outside CT till then and I guess that's when it really hit us.

I know a few of you are Edge so what do’s it mean to you to live a straight edge lifestyle? What are the most common misconceptions about straight edge that annoy you?

I personally have never tried anything ( smoking, booze, weed, etc ) for the entire 22 years I've been alive and when I tell people that they don't believe me. Some people don't think it's possible to have fun without being drunk or partying. At least once a day I'll hear "Hey Jim, let's go to the bar", or "When ya breakin edge?" but it really doesn't phase me anymore because it's old news.

One thing I can't stand are the trendy scene kids who claim "edge" just to give them cred on their MySpace profiles to impress some unknowing girl with too much make up on and ugly coon-tailed extensions glued onto their head. If you're 15 or 16 and claim edge, great, more power to you, but it's not really a choice because booze and cigarettes aren't really accessible to you yet anyway. I've seen too many kids claim edge just because it was the "cool thing to do" and then jump ship at or before 21. A lot of my friends were once edge and aren't now. Lot's of covered up "XXX" tattoos out there.

Another thing that bugs me is how some people see Straight Edge as a type of gang. It's more about living a clean lifestyle and having each others backs. It's about family, not fighting.

The most significant hardcore bands at the moment are?

To me? Currently all I've been listening to is The Carrier, Defeater, 50 Lions, Have Heart ( Yes, I'm VERY sad about their soon to be break up ), Decades and Dead Swans.

If you could play with any bands from the 90’s who would they be?

Honestly? AFI when they released "Black Sails In The Sunset" in 1999. That's when they were in their prime. Not this glam rock Crash Love "Miss Murder" bullshit.

Away from the band what sorts of hobbies and interests to you share, aside from fighting to win ;-)

Ray, Jai and I all play on Xbox Live religiously. You can usually find us on Street Fighter 4, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 or Halo 3/ ODST. We're pretty psyched about Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Forza Motorsport 3. If anyone plays, add our XBL GTS. Me : JimEatsBrains, Ray : SainTS a SINNER and Jai: o SYSTEM o

 Do any of you actually fight like MMA, Jujitsu? That could be a gimmick, have we discovered a niche here or had you already thought of that? (Stupid question)

Haha, no question is a stupid question. And no, none of us really do professional fighting, but we've gotten into a couple brawls here and there at shows. Not too many people want to mess with guys our size.

What elements go together to make for the perfect show? What is it about hardcore that draws you in?

A perfect show to me is one free of bullshit drama. I don't want to worry about my friends getting in fights with random kids or some drunk kid swinging at my girlfriend ( which did happen about a month back and she knocked him out ). The raw emotion of hardcore is what really draws me in to be honest. It's not about what will sell records or land you on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Is there really more to life than two-step?

Haha, the name of that song is actually ironic because all it is is two steps and breakdowns. And yes, there is!

What are the plans for the future of FTW, being unsigned must be a bummer so give me two secs to reform my record label haha, how has self-promotion been going and has the scene been so over-saturated with bands that it becomes increasingly difficult to get signed? Do you think that may be a factor?

We've actually stepped back from playing shows for a while to finish recording the songs we already have and begin working on a full length. We wouldn't mind getting signed, but it's not really a #1 priority at the moment. It's mainly about just pumping out quality music right now that will set us apart from the rest. We basically just take turns on the MySpace whenever we have time and talk to people and get our stuff out there. It must be working so far since you found out about us! Lots of bands right now sound the same because that's what's in right now. It's just a trend and trends fade away.

What do’s making the straight edge pledge mean to you & why is the true until death label so appropriate for the movement?

Besides for the obvious, a main reason I'm straight edge can be credited to my father. He was in and out of jail my entire life for drugs, but not until recently ( on my birthday I might add ) did I find out the severity of it. I guess he was huge coke dealer in CT for quite sometime and eventually turned himself in. He was on the front page of the paper and we used to have the FBI coming to our house looking for him. I vowed to never become like him, and I will be "true till death" because of this.

Final thoughts

"This time I'll take every word with a grain of salt and stare you down. One day you'll learn what a promise really is and the meaning of pride. Go ahead and X up. Sellout. Go ahead and X up. Fuck you. Straight edge for a while. A crooked X for that crooked smile. A new trend, a new start. The X on your hand will never be there in your heart. I am straight edge."

Thanks for the interview Jim