The band New Years Day is transitioning into, not only a new
album, but a new guitarist as well. Added to that a new book from singer Ash
Costello and rock photographer Jeremy Saffer, the band is definitely keeping
busy. New Years Day is gearing up for Vans Warped but before heading out,
Costello called in to talk about the group’s future.
Q - The new album, "Victim to Villain," has a
noticeably harder sound than previous ones like “My Dear” and “The Mechanical
Heart.” Was that premeditated or did it just evolve into it when you started
writing and recording?
A - It was definitely premeditated. With “My Dear” we were
so young when we wrote it and it was our first attempt at recording music. Even
back then we had a record label breathing down our necks, telling us how we
needed to be and it was at the tail end of Paramore breaking big. We were
pushed to be this certain thing but it wasn’t who we wanted to be at all. It’s
not that I don’t love that album; it’s just that we were very young. I’ve
always wanted to do things darker and heavier because that is more what I like
so it was definitely done on purpose.
Q – Did going heavier change your writing approach to the
new album?
A - We don’t really have a specific writing approach; it’s
always kind of been where we are in the moment. The major difference we have in
writing is we’re very protective of our music. We normally hate working with
songwriters, we’ve never worked with a producer before, we’re really against
anyone coming in and touching our stuff. We’ve always had this ‘we can do it on
our own’ attitude. The biggest difference is we allowed a producer, this time,
producer/songwriter and it made all the difference. It really made things so
much better.
Q - Have you had a chance to play some new songs on tour?
A - No, we haven’t yet. It’s going to be our first time on
Warped Tour.
Q – How much of the new album will make the Warped set list?
A - All our favorites; you know when you have a new song you
like, it’s like the shiny new toy you want to play with the most? We’re all
bored of our old songs but we understand we can’t just play all new songs.
They’re not necessarily what everyone wants to hear but we’ll definitely play
our favorite new songs.
Q – What are your favorite songs on the new album?
A - ‘Angel Eyes’ and ‘I’m No Good’ are my favorites.
Q - How do playing festival tours like Warped differ
personally from individual dates with fewer bands?
A - There are pros and cons with both. The festivals are
really amazing and I feel like I’m in a traveling circus, like a carnie, and I
love that. You get to meet a lot more fans in one day than you do on a
mini-tour and the camaraderie, the family and the atmosphere are really
amazing. The mini-tour is really cool because it’s more intimate and you get to
spend a little more personal times with fans. There is a little bit more down
time and it feels a little bit more like real life.
Q – You guys have been together for about 8 years now. I can
understand never getting sick of the music part of the business, but do
touring, interviewing, traveling and so forth ever get to you and what do you
do to offset those things to keep from becoming stale and routine?
A - You know, I’ve never gotten bored. I’m the type of
person who wakes EVERY day REALLY thankful for what I get to do that day. We’ve
always had that mindset and you really take nothing for granted and nothing is
really boring.
Q – The band has had, for lack of a better term, bad luck
with members coming and going and recently NYD had another line up change with
Matthew (Lindblad) being replaced by Nikki (Misery). What challenges do you
face with line up changes and do you approach music differently when new
members come into the mix?
A - It’s really hard to find five dudes that you have to get
along with every day. It’s hard enough to find one good boyfriend; try finding
five. It’s so hard. And then all those boyfriends need to get along with each
other. We’re really picky about who we keep with us. We tour a lot and some
people just decide that touring life is not for them. Some people you don’t
know who they are until you get on the road with them then you discover they’re
really not good people. I feel like New Years Day has finally begun. All the
rest was like practice and now here we are.
Q – Switching gears, you're part of a new book with Jeremy Saffer
called "Till Death… A Guide to Love and Loss." How did you get
involved with this project?
A - We met Jeremy when we did a photo shoot with him. We
kind of bonded over all things dorky like comic books and horror movies. We
just clicked. He started following me on Twitter and he thought some of the
stuff I’d tweet was hilarious. Like ‘If you want a hot boyfriend then light him
on fire.’ He thought all these ideas were so cool that he came up with a book
around my tweets. Oddly enough, what if there was this girl who guided readers
through a relationship that she puts this guy through just to be with her? And
that’s how it came about. It was all Jeremy’s idea.
Q – The book is pretty much a guy trying to get you to like
him, but you basically torture him throughout. With the general perception of
goth/punk rock kids associated with incidents like Columbine, what kind of
response are you hoping to get with the book?
A - I pay really close attention to what gets puts out there
and I pay more attention to how people react.
And the book already went out and it’s been nothing but really positive
reactions except for one. There was one person who was like, ‘It’s a bit too
extreme for me. I don’t like it.’ Well, that was kind of the goal and I’m happy
at least one person… I wanted it to be too much and I’m kind of upset that not
more people have said that. But for the most part it’s good.
Q - Do you think this lifestyle will ever be accepted in
mainstream culture? Do you get stares in smaller cities?
A - Oh yeah. I still get stares every day. It never fails; after
all these years. Just the other day, Nikki and I were going through a
drive-thru and the guy was kind of startled and said, ‘Oh, wow, you guys are
wearing crazy costumes.’ These aren’t costumes, this is how we dress, asshole.
BYLINE:
Jason
Tanamor is the Editor of Zoiks! Online. He is also the author of the
novels, "Hello Lesbian!" and "Anonymous." Email Jason at jason@zoiksonline.com.
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