SCAD Radio recently had the opportunity to chat with Microwave after their performance at 2017 A.U.R.A. Fest in Savannah, Georgia.

Microwave is one is most prolific up and comers in the pop punk and post hardcore scene. The band sings about some of the most personal material in a way that never feels corny whilst simultaneously crafting some of the catchiest music to ever hit the genre. Coming off of a tour with A Will Away and Tiny Moving Parts and ahead of a European tour, Microwave took the stage in Savannah, returning for the first time since a show at Sweet Melissa’s.

Here’s a look at our interview with Microwave.

Kush at SCAD Radio: For someone who has never listened to Microwave before, what would you say is a good entry point into your material?

Tyler Hill from Microwave: I’m just going to go ahead and say “Vomit”, because that was the first single off the new record. We thought it would be a good, all-encompassing jam. [laughs]

Nathan Hardy from Microwave: Definitely “Vomit” or “Drown”.

Kush: You guys are often considered one of the up and coming bands in the current emo revival. Do you guys take any influence from bands that might be considered midwest emo or even skramz?

Nathan Hardy: That’s seriously weird to me, because I never think of Microwave, especially with Much Love, as emo or releasing emo records. I’d say we are more indie rock or alternative rock.

Timothy “Tito” Pittard from Microwave: Some hard rock and soft rock in there as well.

NH: Medium rock. [laughs]

Tyler Hill: I will say that I’ve heard that we’ve gotten more emo in the last 6 months, because of Much Love, I guess.

Nathan Hardy: I guess musically, it doesn’t really make sense. I guess people are talking about lyrical things being more emo. But I mean, Radiohead was kind of depressing and sad, but people don’t go around calling Radiohead an emo band. I don’t know. I’m not sure what I think of when I think of emo. I think of Bright Eyes, honestly.

K: Are there any current bands in the emo revival scene that you guys are really into?

NH: I think Brand New is a really big influence for us. They’re kind of seen as forefathers of that whole scene. I bet they wouldn’t really consider themselves an emo band either, though. Because, if you listen to OK Computer by Radiohead, there’s a lot of similar elements between that and the last two Brand New records. I have a theory that Jesse Lacey really likes Radiohead.

TH: You had five seconds to ask him at Riot Fest, and you blew it. [laughs] You said, “Hey man, nice set.” Not even, “Hey man, do you like Radiohead?” [laughs]

NH: I got to say I talked to Jesse Lacey though. It was the best set of a band I’ve ever seen in my life.

TP: It was really awesome. It was a great set.

NH: They’re a great band.

TH: I don’t know if Citizen is part of that category, but Matt Kerekes’ solo record is f–king awesome. I’ve been waiting for it, and it’s super dope.

K: But that’s what other people have to say about you guys. What would you guys call your own music, in regards to a genre?

NH: I would just say indie or alternative rock. Hard rock, soft rock.

TP: The rocks.

TH: Medium well, rock.

NH: [laughs] It’s like a rock sandwich.

TP: Firm enough, but still bleeding. [laughs]

NH: You know, maybe we’re just not self aware. But I feel like this new album has a pretty good spread of different vibes. Some of them will be pretty hard to call a certain genre.

TH: I think when you can’t fully decide, that’s a good thing. You’ve got diversity.

NH: I think it’s that there are so many bands that you like and you’re like, “I want to do something like that!” and like having a short attention span with all these different bands. I mean, we love Converge and Chariot and bands like that. Like, I want to do heavy stuff and then bands like Radiohead and Portugal. The Man and Queens of the Stone Age and stuff make their way in. Queens of the Stone Age is one of my favorite bands. That’s why I don’t know if I’d ever want to be thought of as just a straight up emo band. We’re not trying to do something — like I know there’s the whole sadboy movement. Like it becomes a point of being particularly emo or sad and that’s not us. Maybe some of the s–t is lyrically somewhat sad or whatever, but you know. Life is just bad. Everyone just dies. [laughs]

K: Microwave writes some deeply personal lyrics but they never come off as corny, and are instead rather poetic. Is there anything you guys do to have lyrics like that?

NH: Be obsessive compulsive.

TP: Rewrites and rewrites.

NH: Hate yourself and listen to the things you write and think that they sound corny. And then rewrite them. [laughs] Heavily. [laughs]

TH: Probably, that’s the key right there.

NH: Probably, because I’ll write something and then I’ll be “This sounds f–king corny”. I don’t know. I’ve never been big on the whole magical write on a napkin in the middle of the night storytelling/songwriting sort of thing. I don’t know, I always overthink things. It’s never a poetic moment or whatever.

K: Is there anything you guys do outside of music, like a hobby, that contributes to the band musically in a way?

NH: Tito’s really into paintballing.

TH: I am really stressed out by my job.

NH: Tyler programs HVAC units for…

TH: Commercial equipment. It’s incredibly stressful. You want a temperature adjustment? I got it. Differential pressure? Come on, I’ll get it sorted out.

NH: He takes tech support calls in the van. He’ll hop onto his computer, and while we’re on tour he’ll be taking tech support calls.

TH: It stresses me. So much.

NH: But aside from that…Uh, you know. Making love. [laughs] You know, to our beautiful woman.

Collectively: [laughs]

NH: WomEn. More than one. I get corrected on my plural pronunciation all the time. Wemen. [laughs] You have to say “we” first. Wemen.

TH: We-Man!

TP: I don’t know. I mean, we all drink. [laughs]

NH: Heavily.  

TP: I read. I like reading. I work occasionally. I work at Flying Biscuit.

TH: We’re really boring. [laughs]

K: What’s the most “rock star” thing you guys have ever done?

TP: Touring with Motion City Soundtrack. That’s pretty up there.

TH: Riot Fest Chicago. That was super, super awesome.

NH: I injured myself a bunch last year from…stage things. I dislocated my shoulder onstage while playing at Wrecking Ball. And then at Riot Fest, I strained my neck. I gave myself whiplash, from headbanging too hard. [laughs] And then on the All Get Out tour, I smashed my knee into the ground doing like an Elvis Presley slide. And it’s been 3 months, and I just got an MRI on it last week. [laughs] It still hurts. I’m okay, I just have a bone bruise.  

K: What was different for you guys when you were writing and recording Much Love, as opposed to working on your older material like the split with Head North or Stovall?

TH: Stovall was written over 2 years. Much Love was a lot more condensed. In terms of the whole band being together and working on it, that was different.

TP: We did demos, though. I feel like that was the difference. For a month, we kept changing the songs.

TH: We practiced a lot.

NH: I think a big thing is after Stovall, we got a lot of Manchester Orchestra comparisons. I kind of learned how to sing in high school by singing Manchester Orchestra songs and covering them. So, it kinda bugged me. So, I was like “Oh s–t, I’m just a worse version of a band I like.” So, one of the big things was I wanted it to sound as little like Manchester Orchestra as possible. [laughs] They’re a great band, but I wanted to do something that sounded more personal or something.

I know it’s now late in the day, but who are guys most excited to see at AURA Fest today?

NH: Definitely Oh, Sleeper and Unearth. Probably Zao too. I’m pretty bummed I missed Vatican, honestly. Yashira sounds cool too.

Be sure to visit SCADRadio.org for all the latest on 2017 A.U.R.A. Fest and much more!

The post A.U.R.A. Fest 2017: Microwave Q&A appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Tides of Man’s first release was a self-titled EP way back in 2008, followed up by a full-length release known as ‘Empire Theory’ in 2009. The band transitioned to the post-rock outfit we see today around 2010, after the release of the album ‘Dreamhouse’. The band continued releasing singles for some time, up until their latest full length, ‘Young and Courageous’ dropped in 2014. A busy tour schedule keeps them occupied, but with musicians this hardworking, new music is assuredly on the way soon.

We sat down with Alan Jaye (Bass), Josh Gould (Drums), Spencer Gill (Lead Guitar), and Dan Miller (Rhythm Guitar) to talk about Savannah and their lives as musicians.

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Kush as SCAD Radio: So Savannah is supposedly the most haunted city in America (so they say, anyway)-

Spencer Gill of Tides of Man: Oh, is it? We’re f—ed. [laughs]

Kush: Is there something that scares you half to death, for like, no reason?

Spencer: Oh, yeah! I’ve got a thing. Have you ever seen The Ring? That movie scared me, f—ing, half to death. I could not sleep for a week. I mean, obviously I was a kid at the time, so I was sleeping at my parents house and had a walk-in closet. Every night I’d try to go to sleep and just stare at the closet, thinking that the girl was just gonna come out.

Dan Miller of Tides of Man: For me it was the Chucky movies, that doll was super creepy.

Alan Jaye of Tides of Man: Poltergeist was, like, the worst thing forever. I couldn’t stand in front of mirrors at night, like, at all.

Spencer: Alan showing his age over here. [laughs] So I guess we’re basically scared by movies.

Kush: Turning it back to music. You guys are really underrated, in my opinion anyways. For people who haven’t heard of you, what would you say is a good song to serve as an entry point into Tides of Man?

S: Off of our instrumental record? I’d say either “Mountain House” or “We Were Only Dreaming”. They’re a good starting point for anyone who wants to hear our sound.

Dan Miller: “Mountain House” definitely has a little bit of everything, so I think that’s a good pick.

SG: It’s hard and soft. It’s tight, concise, and it gets the point across.

Alan Jaye: Agreed. [laughs]

K: Outside of music itself, do any of you have a hobby or anything that influences you musically?

AJ: Well, I’m a photographer, so my life is really about art all the time.

Josh Gould: Well, uh, I like swimming. In the ocean. So….Tides of Man? [laughs]

DM: I mean, we like visual art a lot. Like, design work and graphic design stuff. I mean, we definitely utilize that a lot with shirt designs and flyer designs and all that.

SG: Or even just conceptually, we often try to sort of visualize how the song is going to feel or convey the feeling of the band.

Ashton at SCAD Radio: Who are some of your guys’ favorite graphic designers?

DM: Charlie Wagers does really dope work. LAND design really does all sorts of stuff that I love. I really love Pentagram Design too.

K: Awesome, so what has been the biggest change, either as a band or personally, in transitioning from post-hardcore to this new post-rock style of music?

AJ: I think it really goes back to what we were originally. Like, even before Tides of Man, we were mostly instrumental, so it’s really just going back to what we love.

DM: I think the transition from, like, the ‘Dreamhouse’ era into ‘Young and Courageous’ was a gradual change. We initially, had meant for a lot of what’s on ‘Young and Courageous’ to become songs with singers. We had tried to find a singer for like a year or two and nothing worked out. We all dug instrumental music, so we just said “f— it let’s go play a show” and it all sort of grew out from there.

SG: I think that the hardest change, musically speaking, is trying to fill out a song without vocals. Creating a melody line to keep our audience, or even ourselves, interested is pretty tough and we overthink it almost all the time.

DM: It’s definitely less riff oriented and more focused on the melodies and making the feelings sort of flow into each other.

K: Are there any major differences in songwriting, like besides the vocal stuff, between the old style and the newer instrumental music?

SG: I mean, we definitely play around with effects a lot more. I think we also don’t get the luxury of writing a song that’s just verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, with some transitions thrown in there. It’s like, when we were writing before we had a formula that we’d kinda stick with and now we’re in a sort of open field. You start and then you end, ad in between something happens. So that’s probably the biggest change for us in terms of songwriting. With regards to the rhythm section, we’re kind of taking a small step back to really let Josh and Alan guide the song to the next place too.

DM: We really opened our boundaries a lot, so it can be hard to know if a song is on the right track with so much freedom. There’s definitely a lot less rules for what were ‘supposed’ to do.

You know what I mean?

Josh Gould: It’s really a process. We go back and forth on everything. It’s almost more of a marriage. You really have to agree and make everything work perfectly.

K: Do you think the emotional content of your more instrumental work different than the emotional content in your older, vocal, work?

JG: With instrumental music, it relies a lot more on the listener. When they listen to it, they’re gonna imagine whatever it means to them. With the old stuff, there’s a story in the lyrics for the listener, there’s room for interpretation, but your already being guided. Instrumental stuff really means whatever the listener wants it to mean.

K: So where would you say Tides of Man is headed in the near future?

AJ: I mean, we wanna get more rhythmic, more atmospheric. In terms of what we wanna do? We wanna play festivals.

SG: Like this one! [laughs]

AJ: See that? We’ve already achieved our goal. [laughs]

SG: We’d really love to do TV placement or movie scores work as well.

JG: Really, I think we just want to collaborate with other creative people and do cool things, visually speaking. I mean, also I think we’d all really to push what we do to another level, just try and get better and play out more.

K: Fantastic. To wrap it all up, who would you guys say you are looking forward to seeing here at A.U.R.A. Fest?

SG: Oh, Sleeper. We toured with them in 2010. Watching them play really made me want to get better. Shane kills it on stage. Microwave was really cool too, we just saw them play. The second band, Attalus, was pretty cool too.

JG: I think Zao and Unearth will be insane. Old school stuff for sure.

K: Great guys, thanks so much for your time.

AJ: Of course. Thank you dude.

SG: Thanks, yeah, anytime.

For more interviews and music news, stay tuned to scadradio.org

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The post-hardcore band has been loving dubbed “theatricore” by a growing passionate fan base for their memorable live shows. The Funeral Portrait made waves when they broke onto the scene with an EP, For the Dearly Departed, in 2014 and look to keep the music coming with their recently released A Moment of Silence. The band played early in the day with one of the most memorable sets of a day brimming with great music.

Here’s a look at SCAD Radio’s interview with The Funeral Portrait’s Lee Jennings!

Kush at SCAD Radio: So, since we are here in Savannah, and there’s a lot of spooky stuff surrounding death, I feel like that’s a great background for a fun question. So let’s say that after the festival, the Grim Reaper descended down upon you, but he’s in a pretty good mood, the music was good today. He gives you an extra half hour before you have to die. What do you do in that half hour?

Lee Jennings of The Funeral Portrait: I would go to the speakeasy here in Savannah. I know exactly where it is and I know how to get the key to get in. Or the keyword to get in. So I would go there, have some fun, and hopefully I would beg him to let me be a ghost and wander around and haunt Savannah. [laughs] The emo ghost! [laughs]

Ashton at SCAD Radio: It’s a good thing you didn’t say where that speakeasy was, or we were contractually obligated to kill you.

Lee Jennings: I can’t tell you where it is, but I know how to get in! I would never tell you. I wouldn’t spill the deets, because…I don’t want to die…YET! I have 30 minutes to live!

Kush: You’ve got to put on one hell of a show!

Lee: I hope so!

K: What would you say is the best song as an introduction into your music catalogue?

L: The easiest would probably be “Like Father Like Son”. It’s one of our new singles off of our record, zA Moment of Silence, which came out in late December. That’s just the easiest off that record. It’s such a weird concept record that I can’t tell you to listen to a song like “The Water Obeys the Gravity” because it’s talking about praying mantises splitting people’s souls in half. So, I can’t technically tell you to go listen to that one because it’ll be like “What..?” if you don’t listen to the first song and get the aspect. So, I’d say “Like Father Like Son”.

K: The Funeral Portrait is known for being very theatric in sound and has been lovingly dubbed as “theatricore” by fans.

L: [laughs] Oh, yes.

K: Is there anything you do on stage to translate that dramatic flair to your live performance?

L: So, the theatricore thing actually started on accident, which is funny. Our old EP definitely had more of a theatrical sound. The EP had a lot of midi instruments and all that fun stuff.  And with this new record, we wanted to go full-on organic. So, we tracked everything pretty much super raw. A lot of organic tones on drums and on guitar. And all the synths on it are actual hardwired synths. So, it’s like the real deal, or we tried to at least. The theatrical part of our band comes from the live aspect of us trying to get out there and put on a good show for everyone. Me, personally, growing up, I didn’t like going to see a band and just standing there. It’s like, “Oh, I could have just put on the record and ‘saw’ this band”. We wanted to be an experience, I guess. [laughs] I guess that’s where the theatricore comes from. We’re a rock band that likes to put on a good show.

K: You guys have been getting a lot of attention and love from the press in the scene. What’s it like to be growing at what seems to be a very quick pace?

L: It’s weird because we don’t see it. We get told it by other people. They’re like, “Oh, I’m out in California and I want you to come play!” and I’m like, “Well, I’ve never heard of you before. How’d you hear about us?”. Then they’re like, “Oh, Alternative Press!” or “This radio station!” and I’m just like, “Really?”. I don’t see it, but — well I actually do see the press. I personally am kind of awed because this is cool that people like my band. Like this is weird! We are just doing this for fun, you know? We played Spokane, Washington and — for us this is big because we have never played Spokane before — and there were 15 kids out there, like in the very front row at this packed show, that were screaming along to every word. And our record was out for two days! There was 15 kids! And they were all best friends too and they bought one copy of the record and they shared it among one another and I’m like “This is AWESOME!”. I gave them copies of the record, because I wanted them to have their own copies of the record because I was like “Please! This is beautiful!” And stuff like this, like 15 kids coming to show to come see us or hang out with us, and this is because of the press. Press is SO, so important to a new band. Even the smallest of magazines, to the smallest of radio, to whatever, this is how you can discover some of your new favorite artists.

K: The band seems to draw a lot of comparisons with Alesana, My Chemical Romance, and Hawthorne Heights. Do you guys try to embrace this or do you want to detach from that?

L: That’s such a weird thing, because when we started like 2 years ago, we sought to be like “emo” and that kind of thing. But now we just realized that’s like who — I mean especially I am, I grew up in that kind of scene. And they all grew up kind of in a little bit of a different kind of scene. They’re all really big prog rock fans, the rest of my band. So they bring that, and I bring this weird dark theatrical side and it’s kind of like this weird mix to where we’re like, “I guess whatever comes out comes out”. Especially with this new record, we didn’t try to make a record that sounded like anyone else. And if people say we sound sound like My Chem or we sound like Hawthorne Heights or whatever the heck it is — it’s cool because honestly who doesn’t listen to those bands. But we never set out and were like, “Let’s write the next Three Cheers!”. “Let’s write the next hit Ohio is for Lovers!” Georgia is for haters or something. [laughs] You know, like we didn’t do that!

K: I know that you guys recently dropped A Moment of Silence in December, but I have to ask, what lies in the future for the Funeral Portrait?

L: New music. We want to write more. And more. And more. This scene is ever-changing. Everyone is so ADD, including myself. Everyone is. We want to keep pushing out stuff. Right now a band I think is killing it is Dance Gavin Dance. Every freaking year, they have something new. I think last year they did that live session thing and towards the end of the year they had that new record, Mothership. That’s what we want to do. We just want to keep putting stuff out there, because it just makes sense that way.

K: How would you say that the release of A Moment of Silence shows your evolution as musicians?

L: Oh man, a lot. When we first started we were a local band from Atlanta called Cosmoscope. It sounded totally different from The Funeral Portrait. It was pop rock kind of stuff. There was no “screaming” sort of stuff. We kind of took our first EP — it was actually supposed to be the evolution of Cosmoscope — and we didn’t rush it or anything. We decided that these were the songs we were going to release as The Funeral Portrait instead. Since then, we had 2 years to think what we wanted to do with our sound and image and all that kind of stuff. We kind of were like, “This just works.”

K: Were there any major differences in recording this album as opposed to the 2014 EP?

L: Yes. A lot. So going on to the recording process, the first EP we did up in Raleigh, North Carolina with Sean, the singer of Alesana, and one of his dudes Neil, who recorded Issues, Dance Gavin Dance, and Alesana stuff. And then this time, we demoed out everything at my house and looked around to find the best person. This time we worked with Matt McCullen, who did Being as an Ocean, Capsize, Devil Wears Prada and Underoath stuff. So, he’s definitely done his stuff, you know? And this time, we wanted a more raw sound, that is still produced. We wanted something that sounds different from everyone else in the scene. Especially the “scene” scene. So, that’s why we went with him. We tracked all real drums, guitar, and all that stuff. It was a cool process!

K: Who are you looking forward to seeing perform today, aside from yourselves?

L: Microwave, definitely. My boys from Atlanta. Uh, so, everyone? We’ve played with a lot of these bands. It sucks because Artifex Pereo was supposed to be on this and we’ve toured with them before. They were awesome. We were supposed to do a tour with SycAmour, but they dropped this, and dropped everything else. I don’t know what’s going on with that. Unearth, of course. And Zao too! Every band? Can I say that? [laughs]

Be sure to check out SCADRadio.org for more from 2017 A.U.R.A. Fest in Savannah, GA!

The post AURA Fest 2017: The Funeral Portrait Q&A appeared first on SCAD Radio.

In case you couldn’t attend, here’s SCAD Radio’s top 5 sets at 2017 A.U.R.A. Festival in no particular order.

The Funeral Portrait

The post hardcore outfit brought a theatrical and high energy set that was sure to have turned many people into fans at the end of the day. The band played very early in the day, and yet still drew the eyes of every person in the venue. The music was played very well, sounding somehow even better than the record. The on stage antics simply elevated the performance to the next level, starting with vocalist Lee Jennings reaching out into the crowd and ending with the band members running around onstage while their guitarist swings the guitar around over his head by the strap, narrowly missing hitting the amps and other band members. If you were not a fan of the Funeral Portrait at the beginning of the day, you would have been by the end of their set.

Oh, Sleeper

This Fort Worth metalcore act is no stranger to the scene. The band has been together since 2006 from members of other big name acts like Wovenwar, Between the Buried and Me, and the controversial As I Lay Dying. The experience shows as the Texas band played one of the tightest sets of the day with impressively high energy. The band had arguably the nicest and most interesting stage set up, with the drums to the side of the stage and a dazzling light show full of strobe lights and other exciting stage effects. The band’s stage presence was infectious and drew one of the most energetic crowds all night. There was even a drum solo in the allotted time the band had for the set. Every member of the crowd was left wanting more, with a loud encore chant. Unfortunately, the set times were definite, so there was no encore. But that didn’t drain any of the wonder or amazement from the room that Oh, Sleeper provided.

Microwave

On a bill brimming with hardcore and metalcore acts, you might have been curious as to whether or not the emo-ish punk rock band would be able to fit in. Not only did they fit in, they drew a great energetic crowd, which is especially commendable because of the fact that their set was so early in the day. In fact, the very first mosh pit of the entire day broke out during Microwave’s performance of “Lighterless” off of 2016’s Much Love. The band commanded a crowd full of people jumping and singing along, all while having fun on stage. Although the band hasn’t been in Savannah since a performance at Sweet Melissa’s two years ago, they certainly seemed at home and were accepted back into open arms.

Unearth

Unearth is one of those bands whose imprint on the metalcore scene is unmistakable. Inspiring countless acts in the scene from August Burns Red to Killswitch Engage to Atreyu, Unearth is one of the most important bands to ever be a part of the metalcore and hardcore music scene. We were all excited to see the legendary band perform, and the performance certainly lived up to the expectations. The band’s amazing legacy was showcased in a set that played everything from their earliest hits to their 2014 album which ultimately ended with the iconic “My Will Be Done”. With technical and melodic guitarwork, aggressive drumming, and dynamic vocals, the band certainly was a treat for fans of metal of all kinds.

Zao

Along with Unearth, Zao was another band on this bill that is hugely important to hardcore and metalcore music. Some say that no band is as responsible for the metalcore genre as Zao, whose music essentially merged metal music with hardcore punk. The band played a set with a lot from the recently released The Well Intentioned Virus, as well as hits from albums like Liberate te ex Inferis and The Funeral of God. The band played an energetic and emotion fueled set that led to some of the night’s rowdiest mosh pits. Fans of hardcore new and old were mesmerized throughout the duration of Zao’s incredibly engaging set, and what more could you ask for from a band’s live show?

Visit SCADRadio.org for more A.U.R.A. Fest news and interviews.  

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