Hey guys! EROCK with Revolver Underground here! So, So I
stopped by BalconyTV the other day and found the band Fall Out Plan! Asked if I
could do an interview with them. Here’s what they had to say!
EROCK: What makes
a perfect Writing environment?
DONICE:
Preferably if Brian (guitarist) is not there. He tends to drive the process a
little bit more than I can because I write all of the lyrics and he writes all
of the music. Sometimes it’s quicker for him to write the music than it is for
me to write the lyrics. When he’s absent I can concentrate lol.
EROCK: What are
some of your creative influences?
BRIAN: I like
good songs. Bands that are doing something sort of unique. My favorite bands
are pretty weird I guess. The Police and Public Enemy.
EROCK: How is
that weird? That’s cool!
BRIAN: Ya I
guess. I saw them on tour which is great because they’re done.
EROCK: Have you
ever re-written a song?
DONICE: Yes. But
we never go back and do re-do it. I’ll spend 2 weeks putting lyrics to it and
I’m confident. Then I give it to them and they say I don’t really like this
song. We’re never going to play it out. We have an album worth of material…
BRIAN: Nooo. We
have 3 albums worth of material.
DONICE: So now
they right the music first and make sure they’re confident with it then I right
lyrics. I don’t like wasting lyrics.
BRIAN: Because
there’s only a handful of words you can choose from.
EROCK: Now do you
ever go back to those songs you didn’t record and pull stuff from them?
BRIAN: Ya. We’re
starting to.
EROCK: What was
the moment in your life when you decided that being a musician was what you
wanted to do?
DONICE: For me,
honestly, I came from more of a theatrical background and singing was something
I was asked to do as a background for another band. I started writing and
people started saying “Hey! This is pretty decent”! So I just ran with it. I
think we have a vision of where we all want to go but sometimes if you just sit
back and let whatever lead you you’ll end up in a situation you never thought
you’d be in.
EROCK: What
advice would you give new artists?
BRIAN: Find
another line of work LOL
DONICE: No that’s
not true. I think it’s a great industry. It’s more important for you to understand
the business aspect as well as the art part of it. If you don’t you’ll hit a
brick wall. There’s not so much you can do as an artist if you a) don’t know
the business yourself or 2 don’t have someone close that you trust that knows
the business. Otherwise you’re just going to be playing out and playing out and
not really go anywhere. I would also say be humble. Nobody likes an arrogant
over-achiever so-to-speak. If you’re good and people are telling you you’re
good run with it but stay humble in the process. That will get you a lot
further because this business is about who you know and networking. No one
wants to talk to you if you’re un-approachable.
BRIAN: I would
say in addition to that the biggest thing that I would give anybody starting
out is you have to love it. I jokingly say find another job but you have to
love to process. You have to understand that it’s not always going to be easy.
What I see where we’re from is there are a lot of bands that start out and get
a buzz and are doing really well and the minute they don’t get a record deal or
go out on tour the band breaks up. I think Donice and I figured out a couple
years ago that we’re in this for the long haul and we love it! You have to love
it! Remember that!
EROCK: Do you
guys tour at all?
BOTH: Yes!
EROCK: And how do
you prepare for that?
BRIAN: Take
vacation days from our jobs lol.
DONICE: Basically
right now we tour between our day job. One of the things that we do to prepare
for that is get a job that’s flexible. That will allow you to tour. Pretty much
that’s it.
EROCK: Is there a
certain thought or ritual that gets you in the right mindset before a tour?
BRIAN: A couple
shots of whisky..lol.
EROCK: It’s all
about the whisky lol.
DONICE: I just
remember why we’re doing it. It’s not glamorous..well it can be once you get to
a certain level. What you have to remember is that tour doesn’t mean we’re
jumping on this great big bus and we have Patron and a bunch of things so
you’re sitting there and me being a girl in a band with 5 guys, in this little
van with all these stinky guys I’m
thinking to myself this is not what I expected when I thought I was going to be
a “singer”. But then you got back and remember why you’re in it and you step out
on that stage it makes up for trip there and the $50 bar tab which they drink
up LOL but you just do it cause you love it.
EROCK: Now you’ve
kind of already touched on it but has there ever been a time when you said I
don’t know if I want to do this anymore?
DONICE: Oh Yeah.
BRIAN: I think
everybody goes through that. It’s like a spiral staircase. You can never see
the top but you just keep on walking around it. When you get to a point where
there’s a plateau and you look around the corner and there’s more steps there
for you to go up you just say to yourself I need to keep going on this journey.
DONICE: I almost
actually quit the band. We had just release our album and I told them I was
moving to Nashville and they almost crapped their pants. I said no guys. You
don’t understand. I’m moving to Nashville because I want to start a new
project. I’m moving there because I want to be inspired to continue. It didn’t
make since to them until I got here and they realized how much more creative I
was. You can’t surround yourself with artists and not do art especially if
you’re an artist. So I had to put myself in an environment where other people
were doing the same thing.
EROCK: What do
you like to write about?
DONICE: You
know..I like to write about things that are common to everybody. Things that
you don’t realize that you have in common with other people. I grew up as an
only child and sometimes as an only child you go through a situation where you
don’t have anybody to relate to so you think that I’m the only person in the
world that feels this way. I think
as a song writer it’s nice to be able to put it down on paper and have other
people go “wow! I relate to that!” It’s like the fan is a friend! So I like to
write about things that are common to people.
EROCK: How has
this economy affected you?
BRIAN: We Take
it. LOL
DONICE: I guess
when you’re not getting paid that much in the beginning you don’t really see
that it’s affecting you at all. We haven’t been affected by the economy really.
EROCK: Where can
we find your music?
DONICE: iTunes,
facebook, myspace. www.fallbackplanonline.com.
Twtter, everywhere!
Be sure to grab Fall
Back Plan’s latest album “Dance In
The Reign” on iTunes now! This interview has been brought to you by BalconyTV Nashville! Watch great indie
music videos at www.balconytv.com/nashville.
Also, by Revolver Underground: Indie
Music To Die For! To watch this video interview and to listen to the latest
show from Revolver Underground please visit www.revolverunderground.com!
I’m EROCK. Peace!
