Always searching for the new and the exciting, Jim F interviews exciting Californian Melodic Hardcore band Capsize about, well, being new and exciting..
I’ve always liked new music. John Peel said something to the effect of always trying to discover something he hadn’t heard before – Similarly Gilles Peterson, at the other end of the musical spectrum is always searching for the perfect beat. I’m probably somewhere between all that. The near misses have made me even more determined. The nearest miss of all came when I was a student. Me and my mate used to go to gigs all the time, and we’d heard a whisper about a couple of supposedly decent bands on at the Warehouse in Leeds, a tiny venue which probably held about 100 people. Come the day, and I had a sore throat and my mate said he had some work to do, and well, absolutely no doubt we’d see them again in a few weeks. So we didn’t bother. And so the day passed when, for £2.50 at Leeds Warehouse, we missed these new bands, I think if I remember rightly they were called The stone Roses and The Happy Mondays…..
Since starting Backseat Mafia I have been extra vigilant about new music and not missing the exciting talent out there. After hearing San Diego’s Capsize, I know that I needed to make sure I didn’t have another one of those awful dawning moments like I had a couple of months after that night we should have been in Leeds. I immediately made a beeline for vocalist Daniel Wand, for the lowdown
Hey, for those people new to your music, can you introduce us to the band?
Capsize is a melodic hardcore punk band from southern California.
How did you all get together?
We just formed at the end of a few local bands we were in. I (Daniel, Vocals) got with James (Guitar) as both of our bands ended around the same time, and we both were extremely on the same page with what we wanted our next musical move to be. I brought in Andrew from my last band to drum for us, we recorded a demo and picked up the rest of the line up from there.
Who were/ and are your influences?
Killing The Dream, More Than Life, Dead Swans, Comeback Kid, The Carrier, Landscapes
What is the scene like in (San Diego) California?
The scene here is huge. There’s so many kid wanting to get to shows right now. The local metalcore scene is just…..huge…and the post hardcore, more indie hardcore bands are doing better everyday it seems. Our little circle is growing really fast and we are really exited about that.
Who’ve you been playing with?
We’re just trying to stay on tour, really. We just did a show with Terror, Backtrack and Code Orange Kids and another with Gideon the next night. But we play less than 10 local shows a year at this point.
Are there any cool bands we should keep an eye on from over there?
Some of our favorite bands from down here are Being As An Ocean, My Iron Lung, Idlehands, Keyes, and a band called Brave Coast.
And you’ve a couple of singles on bandcamp, tell us about those?
Yeah. We went under the radar for a while, but we recorded “Weight” and put that out in September of last year, then recorded a new 7″ of songs we had been sitting on for a while, but never made it to the studio the next month. We put out Fade To Grey which is track 2 of our next 3 song release.
Sounds good – what can we expect from that?
We recorded with Taylor Young (Nails, Twitching Tongues, Disgrace) in LA. The first song, Unwanted, is about my unstable living situation, and the lack of a welcoming home I deal with and my father. The next song, Fade To Grey, is just about counting on someone to pull you out of a rut you’re in. Asking someone in your life to save you. The last song, Pleading, is about the passion for music and honesty I feel like the hardcore scene is losing.
Is there an album on the horizon?
Our new EP, Live A Burden, Die A Curse will be out in May. I’d say you can expect a full length around this time next year.
Looking at, and hearing about you’re live shows, they’re pretty wild affairs, right?
Haha, we usually always break something or one of us hurts ourselves. It’s like a 30 minute organized temper-tantrum of melodic hardcore, haha.
So you enjoy playing live?
Of course. It’s the emotional release we wait for constantly.
And life on the road, how do you find that?
Our life on the road is great, we’ve all become much closer since this year started and it’s nothing but a good laugh most of the time. Soundtrack wise We jammed Counterparts “The Current Will Carry Us” about 100 times our last run, haha.
And away from the band, all good clean-living boys who worship their mothers?
Nope. We’ve all sold our souls.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Well, we are doing another west coast tour in March, a full U.S in June & July, and are planning to hop on a plane at the end of the year.
The best record I’ve heard this year so far is…..
We’re still early on, so I don’t have a record just yet. I’m personally really exited for new TSSF and new Defeater though.
So do yourselves a favour. Get loads of cough medicine in, and if capsize are coming close to you – make sure you go.
