Substream Music Press Interview With The Punches

SMP: How did you guys come up with you name? Has is served as a motto for the band?

WTP: Our name came from a band called Carry On who were a straight edge hardcore band from Seattle that I am huge fan of, their song "Roll With The Punches" is my favorite so we shortened it a little and it's stuck. As for it being a motto for the band, I guess you could say that, when on our first tour we went through two vans, and had to cancel the rest of the tour when the second one died and drive home from Georgia in the back of a Uhaul box truck. It was a pretty hard blow to take. We've hit some rough spots, but this band is really the only place for any of us to be.

SMP: What's the story behind the band coming together? How do you all know each other?

WTP: Jesse and I have been friends since high school and started putting the band together in January of 2008 when he moved back to New York from Texas. We found Shane over the Internet and started jamming together and writing songs. After a couple weeks Shane introduced us to his best friend Joe who we immediately clicked with and asked to join. Jesse and Sam met when Sam was in college through mutual friends and knew he played guitar and bass, so he was sort of the obvious choice when we were getting everything together.

SMP: I know you guys are out on tour now. What has your experience out on the road been like? Any interesting tour stories you want to share?

WTP: This tour has been amazing,. We get along really well with Barely Blind and Set It Off and have been having a blast hanging out with them every night. The shows have been a lot of fun and being that we are all actually fans of each others music makes it that much better. Everyone goes on stage with the other bands. The other night, Joe and Sam from With the Punches and Will from Barely Blind went on stage with Set It Off and they covered "Understatement" by New Found Glory, which was awesome.

SMP: Who/what do you guys draw your inspiration from?

WTP: We all grew up old school pop-punk, punk and hardcore. Obviously bands like New Found Glory, The Movielife and Blink-182 are big for all of us, but bands like NOFX, Green Day, The Bouncing Souls, Lifetime and Gorilla Biscuits have had huge impact on us individually as well.

SMP: If you could play a show with anyone at all, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

WTP: Probably New Found Glory, I would say as band they have had the biggest effect on us.

SMP: What have you been listening to as of late?

WTP:The Swellers, Fireworks, Barely Blind, Handguns, No Trigger and A Wilhelm Scream are probably the most played bands in the van.

SMP: If you were explaining your sound to someone who had never heard your band before and were asked to make a few comparisons, who would you list?

WTP: New Found Glory and Blink-182: Everyone knows them for the most part and they are huge influences for us.

SMP: I checked out Keep It Going and really enjoyed it. What's the story behind that record?

WTP: Well, we made Keep It Going after having been a band for about three months, and really didn't know each other as musicians that well so I feel like we all sort of held back a little musically. We love those songs, but I think if we had to make that record now it would sound very different.

SMP: Are you currently writing or recording any new material? What's the deal with that?

WTP: We are writing songs for a new EP which we will be recording in the next couple months and should be out this fall. We actually made a demo of one of the new songs called "Dead Weight" with Mike Kalajian who we will be making the new record with, and posted it on our Myspace and Facebook pages and (it) has gotten a really great response.

SMP: What other interests do you guys have outside of music? How do you spend your down-time?

WTP: Not much really, if we aren't on tour we're texting each other every day talking about new songs or how much we miss being in the van. Sam does graphic design and does all our merch. so I know he works on that when he's home too, but for the most part it's With the Punches all the time.

SMP: What else is in the future for With the Punches?

WTP: Make this new record and tour as much as humanly possible. We really just want to be out and playing shows every day.