We The Kings

Angel hangs out with the boys from Florida at the 2008 Vans Warped Tour

Although it seems like a long time ago, I had the opportunity to sit with the boys from We the Kings at the summer’s Vans Warped Tour when it made a pit stop here in Montreal.  I wasn’t too familiar with band prior to doing the interview but speaking with them certainly peaked my interest.

CONFRONT: I guess the best way to start is as I always do, and ask you how you guys got together and how you got into music and so on.

WE THE KINGS: Pretty much we started the band in high school, to get girls and just play fun music; but we loved playing music together.  And two years ago, we started really touring non-stop; wrote our first record, well actually recorded our first record.  We never really had money for a good recording so this was like our first record.  Then we released it and continued touring non-stop and now we sit here today; on our first Warped Tour.

CONFRONT: Your first record?  I thought you had a few records out already…  or am I confusing you with another band?

WE THE KINGS: Oh yeah but this is kind of our big one.  Like they are on indie labels so this is kind of our debut on a big label.  And we all played in different bands before and had demos and stuff.

CONFRONT: If you were all in different bands before, why did you decide to start this project?  What is it about this project that stuck for you?

WE THE KINGS: It’s the kind of this that some of us were really young – some of us were in middle school – and we were just playing around with music for fun and in high school decided to create this band and it just worked better that way.  We were all friends and it made more sense.

CONFRONT: I’ve been told on countless occasions that Warped Tour is really gruelling and one of the hardest tours to be a part of and so on.  Has that been your experience?

WE THE KINGS: Yeah we were told that we would dread it and that it was going to be awful.  But we’re like four kids, so the heat we aren’t really worried about and the showering we can do without (laughing).  I don’t know… It’s cool.  It’s like a band summer camp.

CONFRONT: Why do you think everyone says it’s so hard?

WE THE KINGS: Well I think it’s ‘cause it’s long, and you never know when you play.  Physically it’s very trying on the body.  But to tell you honestly, we are just so happy to be here and it’s gone by so fast.  I mean we feel honestly like we just started the day.  So it might be different for us.  I’m sure it’s different for everybody.

CONFRONT: Are there any bands that you discovered on his tour?

WE THE KINGS: Yeah!  Ore Ska band from Japan.  Really, we’ve met a ton of the bands that are out here, so we’ve made new friends.

CONFRONT: What are your plans for after the Vans?  And how long has the album been out?

WE THE KINGS: It came out October 2^nd [2007] and we’re gonna go on a tour with The Academy Is… and that’s gonna go to Europe and then here and the States as well and that goes til December.

CONFRONT: Will this be your first time overseas or have you been before?

WE THE KINGS: Second time.  We went on a tour with Cute Is What We Air For and Boys Like Girls.

CONFRONT: What were your first last CDs you purchased?

WE THE KINGS: I think we all just bought the Devil Wears Prada CD.  It’s one of the bands that plays on our stage and they’re really cool guys.  And I think ‘Dookie’ from Green Day was the first for some of us.

CONFRONT: We have a section in the magazine called The Daily Urges in which bands and readers share some of the artists and music they can’t get enough of or those they feel other people should give a chance to if they haven’t already.  What are some of your Daily Urges?

WE THE KINGS: Young Love is a good one.  ‘Lil Wayne of course.  There for Tomorrow.  Hey Monday.  The Riland Experience.

CONFRONT: I asked you before if you discovered some bands on this tour.  On the flip side have you come across anyone who has discovered you?

WE THE KINGS: Yeah.  I mean that’s what’s great about this tour.  All different kinds of people get exposed to your music and as we were getting off of the stage and someone stopped us to say that they had watched our set and that they really enjoyed it.

CONFRONT: Were do you see yourself in ten years?  Like if the universe was to align and everything went according to plan, where is We the Kings heading?

WE THE KINGS: I don’t know.  We spawn off and do southern metal side projects (laughing).  I think we’d like to be one of those bands that aren’t just popular on the scene for a couple of years.  We’d like to write record after record.  We already have a bunch of demos for the next record that are very mature but still our style.

CONFRONT: Is there an approximate date for a new release?

WE THE KINGS: Probably next year but nothing concrete.  But probably late next summer.

CONFRONT: What are some of your other interests?  I mean outside of music.

WE THE KINGS: Well… that’s an interesting question because music is kind of our whole lives.

CONFRONT: Ok guys that’s all I got for you this time around because we don’t have much time given the circumstances but it was great getting to talk with you.

WE THE KINGS: No thank you it was nice meeting you.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to meeting the boys again if they stop in Montreal with the Academy Is… tour and recommend you check them out as soon as possible.

http://www.myspace.com/wethekings

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