I Interviewed the Band Our Life Story

I recently had the chance to get to know the dudes in Our Life Story, and thought it would be cool to ask them a few questions to share with you guys, so you can know them as well as I do.

Obviously I'm talking with Our Life Story, but specifically who is this and what do you do in the band?

Brandon: You are talking to Brandon, and I am the vocalist of Our Life Story.

Who are the other members of the bands and what do they do?

Brandon: The others are Kyle who plays guitar, Jeff who also plays guitar, Ben P who plays bass/backing vocals, and Mario who is our drummer.

You guys are from St. Paul MN, There aren't many bands playing this Pop Punk / Hardcore Style of music out there, huh?

Brandon: No, there really isn't. It's a pretty tough scene out here for our style, but we can't let that hold us back. We just have to push as much as we can and work with what we have. We are doing everything in our ability to breathe life back into this style of music around here and hoping that more bands of this style will rise up.

I've heard the dudes from Fortune And Glory talk about you guys a few times. I take it the two bands get along well?

Brandon: Yeah! F&G are our homeboys. We have played shows with them and we definitely relate with those dudes. They deal with the same problems out in Wisconsin as we do in Minnesota as far as the pop-punk music scene so we share the same battle.

So, you guys just released your "Shorelines" EP, what can you tell me about it?

Brandon: Well, "Shorelines" is kind of a reflection of a lot of stuff going on in our lives, and because of that reason, we put a lot of heart into the things we wrote and the music we made. It has a lot to do with handling problems and finding the things we truly love in life and going after them, regardless of what people around us may say. We were extremely stoked to release it and want more people to hear it!

I've noticed a trend with a lot of bands lately, their newer material absolutely blows the old stuff out of the water. For you guys, why do you think that is?

Brandon: There are a few big things that I think lead up to that happening for us. For one, we just naturally began writing music better as a group and after some time, things began to just fall into place. Also, we have all matured a ton over time as musicians and I think it really shows between our old releases, Shorelines, and even our new stuff that's in the works. We also had a few member changes over the span of Our Life Story, and I think bringing in new people and having everyone involved in the writing process has really impacted the way our new material has and will turn out.

Another trend I've picked up on, is a lot of bands are already writing and preparing new material by the time their most recent songs get released. Is that the case with you guys?

Brandon: That is absolutely the case with us. We didn't even release "Shorelines" before we already had a new song in our set and a ton of others in the works. Once we got that excitement rushing through us about the release, we just wanted to write more and improve as a band, naturally leading to new songs and new ideas. We already have plans for some new releases and hopefully a full length next year.

I recently noticed that you guys were in an AMP magazine poll to become their next Unsigned Band of the Month. Why should people be voting for you instead of the other choices?

Brandon: All the bands that made it to the final stage of the contest are all pretty solid bands. The way I feel that we stand out is we are all very hard-working dudes and we put our all into this band. Nothing has been handed to us, we have worked for everything we have and are straight up passionate for what we do. We have had our share of bad luck, whether its just at home or the problems we ran into on tour, but we always work through it as a band and we all have the same goal in mind at the end of the day; to make the music we absolutely love and to get it out there so kids can listen to it and relate with it. We are hoping our work ethic and passion for our music will win people over and get their votes.

Who are the biggest influences on the bands song writing?

Brandon: I think it's safe to say that as a band, we all have different influences in the way we write. I know we can all agree that bands like New Found Glory, Blink 182 and other big name Pop Punk bands are a big reason we are making music today. Some more current influences we have now as a band would probably be The Wonder Years, Title Fight, Such Gold and Daggermouth but we are also into some other bands like Balance And Composure, Defeater, and Have Heart.

As of right now you guys don't have very many shows planned, when is the next time the band will be hitting the road?

Brandon: At the moment, we are putting the majority of our focus on sitting down and finishing a lot of our new material. Over the Fall/Winter months, we are going to set up as many weekend warrior tours as we can and play random shows here and there. It's tough for us to do long tours at the moment because Mario is in his last year of High School. But come Summer, we plan on touring as much as we can! We have all intentions to become a full time touring band.

How can the people reading get a copy of "Shorelines"?

Brandon: We have "Shorelines" available through a few different places. You can easily pick it up on iTunes, we have physical copies available on Big Cartel for $5 bucks, or you can buy it for $2.50 on Bandcamp. You can also pick up our whole EP on the xEasycorex blog for free, but purchasing it definitely helps us out on our end haha.

What smaller bands from the MN area do you recommend anyone reading this to listen to?

Brandon: Well I wouldn't say smaller, but our good friends in Cities Never Sleep out of Duluth are a great band and a bunch of really genuine dudes. We were fortunate enough to do a small tour with them and it was great getting to know them and see how much they love making music. Another newer band in our area is Don't Miss Out. We have a few shows lined up with them at the moment and they are definitely a band worth checking out. There are also a handful of other local bands on our Myspace's top friends that are all worth a listen!

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go, one last thing, what is your guilty pleasure musically?

Brandon: Well I can't speak for all of us, but as far as mine go, I'd have to say that I can be quite the sucker for really poppy music. Kyle likes to make fun of me for it, but I enjoy the occasional serving of Forever The Sickest Kids, Cute Is What We Aim For, Owl City, bands of that stature...

But on that note, thanks so much for giving us the opportunity to answer some questions and let people people hear what we have to say. We truly appreciate this and I hope you all had fun getting to know us a little better as a band. Don't forget to pick up "Shorelines" whichever way you prefer and keep in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter! Thanks again!

Check out the band:
http://www.myspace.com/ourlifestorymn
http://www.twitter.com/ourlifestory
http://www.ourlifestory.bandcamp.com
http://www.ourlifestory.bigcartel.com