There For Tomorrow
There For Tomorrow
LIttle Rocker Media- If you could just introduce yourselves and your role in the band…
Maika Maile- I’m Maika Maile and I sing and play guitar.
Jay Enriquez- I’m Jay and I play bass.
Chris Kamrada- I’m Chris and I play the drums.
Christian Climer- I’m Christian and I play guitar.
LRM-So, you guys are from Orlando, right?
All-Yeah!
LRM- Orlando is known mostly for Disney and boy-bands. How do you break that mold?
Kamrada-Do it better. [Laughs] Well, we’re not a boy-band, first off. We’re kids, you can tell that grew up around tourists just cause we know everything about them. My dad and Maika’s dad both worked for Disney and, you know, its just something we’ve grown up around and we’re used to.
LRM- So, you guys are professional tourists when you play in different cities?
Kamrada- [Laughs] Oh yeah, we know how to cut it.
Climer- Sometimes, not all the time. Sometimes we get a little lost.
LRM- How does the scene in Orlando differ from other places like Tampa, St Petersburg, Jacksonville?
Maile-Orlando is like…well you know we grew up there and the scene has bee detrimental to the development of our band since we were like, thirteen. So, I think we have a lot more loyal fans there. Its hard to say because Florida for a while has seen us all grow. We just love Florida in general.
Kamrada- I think the scene in Orlando, just to add on to that, is pretty similar to most of the other cities and scenes that we see and hear about because its always changing and always growing. Kids are listening to knew music and it just kind of goes with the trends but there will always be those elements that stick in the city; whether its hardcore, hip-hop. That goes for wherever you are around the country.
LRM- James Paul Wisner [New Found Glory, Dashboard Confessional, and Under Oath] has said that you were one of the most talented bands he has worked with. What was it like working with him?
Maile- It was great. He’s a good friend of ours now, and we’re excited to go back into the studio with him. Our relationship with him is awesome, and he’s a great, hard worker.
LRM- How did you guys hook up with him?
Maile- His drum-tech saw us at this random show at The Social [venue in Orlando] we played and he was just, like, ‘Yo…’ And it was just a perfect time and I think meant to be because at that time we were kind of debating on who to go with to record an EP. So, his tech was all ‘Yo! You’ve GOT to go to James Wisner.’ We were fans of James’ work for a while and we got in contact with him through that.
LRM- The video for ‘Pages’ is amazing. How did you come up with the concept.
All-Thank you…
Maile- It was simple, really. We just wanted to make sure that just our faces and the band as a group were shown, and it came across very…bluntly, I guess is the word? Basically, just us performing and just pictures of the past.
Kamrada- We just knew it was going to be something we could pull off and it was going to look good in the end and kids were going to understand it.
LRM- The ‘No More Room To Breathe’ video came across that you guys were turning your back on college to pursue your dream. Do you regret not going to college?
All- NO. Not at all
Maile- No, because we’d all be doing some bullshit job to earn a little bit of money…if we even had a job at this point the way the economy is…I don’t know if any of us would know what to do.This is what we want to do. We don’t need to go to school for it.
LRM- For those who haven’t been to a There For Tomorrow show, what can they expect?
Maile- Uh…fun, energy…
Climer- Interaction
Maile-..interaction, like a group feeling.
Kamrada- Definitely get to meet us. It’s always on a personal level. We try and make it that way. If kids know our songs it makes it that much better, because there is even more of a connection. They understand what we’re doing, and why were doing it, and why we are up there.
LRM- You’re all still so young. You’re average age is barely that of a legal drinking age…
All- [Laughs] yeah…
LRM-…With so much room to grow, where do you see you guys this time next year?
Maile-Wow… We’re really excited for 2009. We’re going to keep touring. We’re going to be releasing a full length [tentative release date June 2009] and we’re really looking to make a mark in music history with it. There’s no telling. There never is. We see progression, that’s what we see.
LRM- Is there someone you want to work with that you haven’t yet?
Maile- Like, production?
LRM- Production or guest vocals…
Maile-Um….we’re not huge on guest appearances on albums…
Climer- Unless it was Michael Jackson.
Kamrada- Or Dave Grohl. Dave Grohl would be sick.
Enriquez- Would you let him play drums on a track?
Kamrada- I mean..sure…yeah…
LRM- You guys are all over MtvU as opposed to MTV and MTV2. Do you prefer being on the “underground” channel as opposed to mainstream?
Climer- I think its actually helped us. I think if they would have just thrown us on MTV everyone would have been like…
Enriquez- “Who the hell is this?”
Climer- Exactly. I think actually being on MTVU and starting there is really what jump started our year. Having so much success with the video and then being nominated for a Woodie Award and then actually winning that award, was just….I don’t know. I think I can speak on behalf of all of us and say how these past six months have been amazing. Like, holy crap. Its been like a whirl-wind.
Maile- Our game plan has always been to do it ourselves. We love the ‘indie’ kind of route, making a steady build. We cant just leap onto MTV without going on MTV-U. That’s why we’ve done EPs instead of putting an album out right away. You just have to take things one step at a time. If its meant to happen, it will happen.
Kamrada- It’s about going upwards, not just trying to skip everything.
LRM- You mentioned you received the Breaking Woodie award, and you guys looked genuinely excited, and surprised when you won. You were up against Hopeless Records label-mates All Time Low.
All-Yes.
LRM- It wasn’t like ‘oh, we got this in the bag.’
All- No, not at all.
Kamrada- I think we were all in excitement-shock. It was like…this whole time, the whole trip was us expecting All Time Low to win, and we were really going to support them. And to win that, and to walk away with that was just..exciting and shocking. To have that kind of support from fans and MTVU and all the other bands like Boys Like Girls, All Time Low and We The Kings. Travis from We The Kings hit me up right after we won it and was like ‘Congrats.’ and just to feel love like that from everyone we’ve met through this was incredible.
LRM- Are All Time Low super jealous you guys won?
All-[Laughs] No way…
Climer- They have a great career. You know, after the award show we all went to this after-party and even they said ‘if anybody deserved to win that, it as you guys’ meaning us. They are already doing a lot of things, and it was like the perfect thing for us, they said. They aren’t mad at all.
LRM- In an interview, you guys said you have a lot of metal influences. What bands do you look up to?
Maile- I started playing guitar solely because of Metallica and that got me into everything else. Right now, we look up to general rock band legends of the past couple of decades. Not really like, old, classic-rock stuff but bands like The Foo Fighters and bands like that.
Kamrada- We just love genuine Rock and Roll. There are so many songs out there through the 70s, 80s and 90s that you will never, ever forget. I think people look past that kind of music these days and I think that’s something we want to bring back.
LRM- But everyone is so quick to categorize any band that wears tight pants, and parts their hair on the side into the ‘emo’ category.
All- [groans] We’re not emo. Not pop-punk.
Maile- We’re none of that shit. We’re just a lot more genuine than bands our age. Hopefully musicianship and the importance of that will be brought back soon, and will come out of the dark. Cheap-fame is so easy to do, we don’t find that appealing at all.
Kamrada- If you were to categorize us into a particular genre it would be alternative-rock. It’s the most appropriate.
LRM- Could you tell us about the new album?
Maile- There are a lot of songs that are definately from the heart.
Climer- I would say the new stuff, they are more of my favorite songs that we’ve ever done.
Maile- The old songs…we were just younger. We’re grown up now, and have more to say…
LRM- What is your opinion on the State of The Union of Music?
Climer/Maile- There are a few bright lights…
Kamrada- We’re just not too stoked on a lot of the music coming out these days. I think, with that said, we’re kind of happy, because it gives us as an indie band a more distinctive sound. We can shine and do something that isn’t over produced and already been done before. We can be more respected in our age-group and genre. We’re all admit it that we’re all over the vocator pop and the auto-tune. There is time for there to be some sort of change for real musicians and the people who can actually sit down and write a real song get credit for it.
LRM-Is the Internet helping or hurting music?
All- Both.
Kamrada- I think kids these days are spoiled. You can see about a band on-line and know everything about them in a few clicks. There are gossip communities online that can either help or hurt a kid’s decision on if they want to go to a show. A lot of the band fan-encounters online are really hurting kids going to shows and meeting a band, because of what they read. They could really like that band, but get upset over what they read.
Climer- But, on the opposite side, its really cool because they can connect.
Maile- The Internet kinda kills the aura of the bands. Back in the day, if someone saw Jim Morrison, they would probably pass out and die. But nowadays, you can see everything about these stars and know every detail on their lives. Its hard. You have to take it for what it is. Without the Internet, we wouldn’t be where we are right now.
LRM- Is there anything you guys want to add?
[the band shouts random ideas]
Enriquez- Get off the steps!
Climer- Be on the look out for the new record.
Kamrada- Join the street team.
Maile- Come see us on Warped Tour. We really need street-teamers to rep us on Warped.
Climer- And check out our Buzznet page.
Kamrada- Come hang out.
Climer-…and thank you.
Enriquez- Stay classy.
