haste interview...

How did Haste form?
Jeff, Jason, and Brandon were in a band with Jeff’s younger brother that was
originally called grimlock. I met them and joined the band in late '93.
After we had played together a couple of years we shared a practice space
with a band Chris was in and since he and I lived together he would stay
while we practised and started singing on some songs and it just kind of
stuck. Jeff's brother quit to go to school and we knew Nick from another
band and asked him if he would play.

Have there been any line-up changes or are you all the original members?
I guess I kind of covered this one in the last question.

What's the average age of the band?
Jason and Nick are both 24, a few of us are 28.

Are any of you at college /education? Or do you all work and if so what do
you do?
We all work, actually since the last tour we did kept us away from home for
most of the last month, some of us are "between jobs" right now. I work in a
family real estate business, Brandon works in his family business, Nick works
in his family business, Jason repairs guitars and builds ukuleles.

What sorts of things are you guys interested in outside of the band?
We don’t have much time to do too much else besides the band and work. Music,
our girlfriends and wives, family, Fox's the family guy, playstation.

Would you consider keeping fit an integral part of being in a band because
surely the fitter you are the more energetic your performance will be, are
you into any sports?
If you have ever seen us you know none of us are physically impressive enough
to play anything more demanding than foos ball. I try to eat fairly clean
and work out when I can but again, time is a factor.

Were you all in bands before Haste?
Yes.

Have you found it difficult establishing yourselves if you were not in bands
before, what did you do as a band to get yourselves noticed (i.e. constant and
consistent touring?)?
Actually, we played around Birmingham for years and for a long time; not many
people came to shows. I used to take off my clothes or wear things like
girl’s underwear or just play naked in a sombrero and a g-string. I think
some people would come to laugh at the idiot in the bicycle shorts with the
ass cut out and at some point decided they liked the music. Then later, when
we put out pursuit, we did as much touring as we possibly could. We wish we
could have done more but our jobs conflict most of the time. We have also
never had a booking agent, which means it’s hard for us to even get on tours.
The only reason anyone knows about us is because of the people that have
supported us and helped us out so much.


I believe I bought your album 'When Reason Sleeps' in January this year the
thing that caught my eye was the amazing layout on the front cover and I
remember buying that album basically because of the fact that it totally
looked like the sort of album I could get into because of photography used.
Would you say an image and the name of a band helps to sell records?
Unfortunately, I’m sure it does. I’m glad you bought our record for any
reason. I think a lot of the time too much emphasis is placed on how
something looks, the image, and people forget they are getting something for
the music and not the packaging. By the way, thank you for picking up the
album, we appreciate that.

Is there any particular process for songwriting you all go through or do the
songs just form themselves when you practise?
It usually starts with part of a song that Jason or Brandon or whoever has
been working with then they show it to the rest of the band, then everyone
puts in their ideas and it goes from there.

How are the lyrics written and who by? Is there usually a theme for them?
It really just depends on the music, sometimes it comes from things we have
written down somewhere and then we work it in to the music. Sometimes we
will hear something in practice and certain words just kind of come to us.
We (Chris and I) write most of the lyrics, but I think everyone in the band
has written lyrics that have ended up in one song or another.

Have any events in your life ever effected your lyrical tone or messages you
try to input which seem to reoccur?
Pretty much everything we write about stems from some experience, event or
relationship. We don't write about politics or tell people how they should
think just like we do. We don't have the answers and we love talking to
people about our views one on one but our songs are more about situations and
how we dealt with them and the feelings and consequences of putting ourselves
in the situation to begin with.

Would you say you have all become more positive people from being a part of
Haste?
I don’t know, I’m definitely the "look on the bright side" guy in the band. I
think it bugs the shit out of the rest of them sometimes haha. So I’m
probably the wrong person to ask about that. There are so many incredible
people we have met and things we have been a part of but at the same time
countless frustrations. When we are playing and there are a bunch of people
going nuts and singing along, it feels amazing. So I guess in that way it
has because otherwise we would never know how that felt.

Do you ever find the amount of touring you guys do daunting and have you
ever felt like your doing too much?
I never feel like we are doing enough. I wish we could afford to pay our
bills at home and be free to tour at the drop of a hat. Touring does get
rough with really long drives and van problems and such. I also know there
are a million bands out there who would give anything to be able to tour at
all so you won't hear me talking about how it sucks having to drive all over
the country playing the music I love.

Do you hire a touring van or do you have your own one?
We have a van and trailer. We own the van and my mom helped us buy the van
so It’s half ours.

How often are you guys on the road?
We aren't able to do as much touring as we would like to because of our jobs.
We still manage to get out every other month or so, we just can't stay out
as long as we would like to.

What’s the longest tour you’ve been on, what was it like?
The longest we have been out for is a month. We have actually gone out for a
month twice now. The most recent time began when we were out with
bloodlet, skycamefalling, and atreyu. We finished the tour with codeseven.
even then we came home for a day or two in the middle of the tour. Tours are
always very up and down usually. One day you have enough money to eat and
the next your van breaks down and food money pays for some part you didn’t
even know existed. Every once in a while one of us will push another’s
buttons a little too far and then that person has to vent or something. Some
of the drives are a few hours and that seems like nothing compared to going
36+ straight to start a tour. No matter what happens, however stressed we
may be, everything is ok once we start playing. Then you don’t think about
anything else or where the hell you’re going to sleep.

What piece of advice could all of you give to someone wanting to play in a
band?
Do it, whatever you have to do to play just go for it.

Dr Pepper or Mountain Dew?
Neither for me, I stopped drinking soda my senior year in high school. I
really like iced tea though.

For me it was the sheer brilliance of Tom Morello's guitar playing in RATM
which inspired me to first pick up a guitar, which bands or individual
musicians influenced you guys to start playing?
The first album I ever bought was an Elvis' greatest hits album off of TV, I
was nine and my mom thought it was cute and paid for it. Ive always been
pretty much obsessed with music, I have to have music whether I’m driving,
studying, whatever I’m doing music must be playing. The bands that are
responsible for haste more than any other are probably quicksand and
sparkmarker. There are hundreds that have influenced us through the years.

What bands have you toured with?
I know I’m going to leave someone out on this one. Our first tour was with
Turmoil, it was only 3 days but it was the farthest we had been from home at
that point. We did another tour with Turmoil, and Himsa. One tour was with
Stuck Mojo, Reveille, and Speak No Evil. Shadows Fall, God Forbid, All Else
Failed, Living Sacrifice, Zao, Not Waving But Drowning, Shun, Spiritfall, A
static Lullaby, Atreyu, Bloodlet, Skycamefalling, Codeseven, The rise,
Candiria. Shai Hulud is always a blast to play with. We did several shows
with Bad Brains, or for legal purposes "soul brains", that was amazing for
me. By the time this comes out we will be out with Boy Sets Fire, Glassjaw,
and Christiansen.

What was your favourite tour and why?
I really don't know. Some tours were great because of who we were out with,
what we learned and some were cool because of places we saw or things we did.
That’s a tough one. I really don’t know. Any tour that ends with a show at
home in Birmingham is always fun.

Is there any advice you could give as to making a name for yourselves and
promoting that you guys did to get noticed?
No, we haven't figured that part out yet but if anyone else knows what we
need to do please email me and let me know, haste7@aol.com.

If you weren't all in Haste what do you believe you would be doing with your
lives at this point in time?
I don’t want to be overly dramatic or anything but I don’t like thinking about
that, it really depresses me. I would hope I would be in a band with all the
same people.

What are your favourite bands to listen to at the moment/ generally? What
does it feel like to play with bands you look up too / respect (if you
have that is)?
I've been listening to Ben Folds, the latest Boy Sets Fire stuff, QOTSA, Time
in Malta, Codeseven, Rival Schools, I always keep radiohead, Quicksand,
Sparkmarker, Shai Hulud, Portishead, close to me.
Playing with bands that have influenced us is a bit overwhelming at times.
We did some shows with Bad Brains and that was a real high point for me, I try
not to get star-struck or anything but sometimes you can't help it. We are
really blessed in the fact that I have been able to sit down and have a drink
and shake the hand of someone who has a lot to do with why I listen to music.

Are any members of the band Straight Edge and what is your general opinion
of the straightedge scene (if there is one at all)?
If a person is genuinely convicted, then that’s great. We have just as many
drunks as strict straight edge people at most of our shows. We all pretty
much grew up believing that you do what you believe in and what makes you
feel right. I don’t agree with anything being forced on someone or a person
being left out because they feel or think differently. That isn’t what the
"scene" should be about. It does seem though that a lot of times people in
this, and I mean the entire punk/hardcore/indie/emo/whatevercore scene, aren’t
very tolerant of someone with different views and its sad because it wasn’t
always that way. I just want everyone to get along and have a good time.

What’s your opinion of that cliché saying "if your not now you never were"?
I don’t feel any one person has the right to judge another. If you are happy
doing whatever you are doing then do it. I think its kind of that whole "
if you point one finger you have 4 pointing back at you" cliché. I've know
too many who have criticised another for a choice or action to only catch
themselves doing the same thing years down the road. People have the right
to change their mind. I think things get dangerous when any environment gets
to the point of "you have to think this way to be welcome here". One of the
reasons I started going to shows was to get away from that in the first place.

Are any of you guys religious?
Yes I’m very religious, not that I go to church every Sunday. I’m not exactly
sure what everyone in the bands denomination is so I can only speak for
myself.

What are your thoughts generally on religion and what it does for
people?
I think its positive because anything that can give someone that has no one or
nothing to hold onto hope, then I think that’s a good thing. I’m not saying
everyone should believe this or that religion. I just find it sad that some
people are convinced there is nothing to have faith in. I’m also not saying
that people, using religion have not done terrible things to other people.
Any extreme view of any belief can be dangerous. It’s something that can’t be
given a blanket answer. Religion is different to every single person in some
way. I think in general people need to be more considerate of each other.
Allow other people the freedom to believe what they wish even if you don't
agree and still be able to sit down and have a drink together and respect
each other’s differences.

Up to this point in time what has been the most influential moment in your
life?
I’m going to go with people in my life I’m not sure of one exact moment. My
family, my mother and my nephew, we were playing a show out of town when he
was born. When I first saw him was pretty amazing. He is 7 now and he is one
of my best friends. If I were to pick a moment I guess it would be when I
realised that all the stupid selfish choices I was making were my
responsibility and that I was the one that was responsible for the
consequences I would face.

Where do you see yourself say 5 years from now?
Hopefully making our 5th or 6th record. Sitting in front of my computer
doing interviews...although, id love to be on tour with foo fighters doing
interviews : ).

When’s the new material / album going to be ready for release and what is the
working title?
We hope to have something new out this coming year if not sooner. We have 9
new songs so far and we are working on a few others in between touring. I
have no idea what the album would be called as it stands now, we do have
names for most of the songs but nothing so far as the album is concerned. We
have around 40 names written across a board where we practice. If anyone has
any good ideas, drop by our site and email them to us, or just say hello, we
love email and stuff, www.hastemusic.com

Thank You Kelly & Haste