Over It

Nick from Over It took some time out of his busy schedule to do an email interview with us. They are currently on tour with Rufio, and hope to tour Europe in the near future! Check out their website at www.overitonline.com for up to date information on the band, or keep your eyes peeled to our website to find out the next time they're back in town!

LosAngelesPunk.com: First and foremost, how is the current tour going?! You're out on the road with some amazing bands that put on amazing shows.. have the kids just been eating it up or what? The show here in LA sold out before I even had the chance to buy my tickets!

Nick: I must say in the past few months we have been really fortunate to play with some great bands on some great shows. Kids definitely seemed to be pretty stoked. Hopefully we can keep playing on solid tours and build the fanbase. We are in this for the long run so slow and steady is just fine for us!

LAPunk: You've had quite a nice history of tours in the past (Warped Tour, Yellowcard, Rufio, etc).. which of those would you say was your favorite tour and why?

Nick: Its hard to claim a favorite, we have had some great experiences and made so many close friends on the tours. If I had to chose, however, I would pick warped tour just because for us it was like punk rock summer camp. Yellowcard and Rufio were both on it, as well as a ton of other bands we admire and love! It was a lot of work and a bit humbling at times but definitely an experience we will cherish for a lifetime.

LAPunk: On the touring note, what is your opinion of the LA scene and the LA kids? (Honestly!)

Nick: LA is an interesting place. There are so many good shows and good bands that come through we sometimes wonder if kids take all that for granted. At the same time though, the scene is definitely much stronger in LA then a lot of places and we can see that first hand on tour so i gotta give props to the LA kids.

LAPunk: Any future tours coming up that the kids should know about?

Nick: We are working on a trip to Japan with YC at the end of nov, then planning on moving to a new house in orange county. Along with all the writing we are doing and coming back to our families on the east coast for the holidays we are a little unsure of next touring plans.

LAPunk: How did you guys get hooked up with Lobster and how has that been working out?! Some of my favorite bands are on there (Yellowcard, Park, you guys, etc..), do you guys have a "family" connection going on? Or just comeraderie as label-mates?

Nick: Lobster was a label we stayed in contact with for a while before we began working with them. We would stop by the office on tours and talk to steve about different things well before we were on the label. They kind of watched us develop a little bit and then decided to sign us in 2002. On the "family" tip, i think there is a a good connection between the bands. We are all good friends with all the bands on the label and that was definitely a huge reason we were so excited to go with lobster because their bands we among our favorites as well.

LAPunk: Who would say are your biggest influences, both as a band and as a guitarist/vocalist?

Nick: So many influences its hard to narrow down. The boys and I listen to many styles these days its crazy. Metal, rock, punk classics, country, pop, classical. Definitely very inspired by metal guitar work and the vocal melodies in pop.

LAPunk: What CD is in your player right now?

Nick: I have a 10 disc changer with:
HIM - love metal
Outkast - the new shit
Funeral for a Friend - casually dressed for a deep conversation
Lucky Boys Confusion - Commitment
Amity - new demos
Story of the Year - Page Ave
Park - it wont snow were you're going
Third Eye Blind - Out of Vein
Bodyjar- Plastic Skies
Dont Look Down - Five EP

LAPunk: Which is your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? (This is an important question.. think hard about it)

Nick: Wow haha its been so long since i've seen that movie but i was always kinda partial to Donatello (purple i think). yea he was like the chill, sensitive one right? thats what I can relate to most.

LAPunk: Okay, now it's time for questions from the fans! Amber of Ventura, CA asks: Virginia and California are two totally different places. Besides missing family, how are you guys dealing with the move? And how do you guys like Ventura? (when you are not on tour!) Cuz Ventura loves you ...

Nick: The east coast and west coast are totally different, but to be totally honest, we love the west coast. Its a great place for us so we are really excited to be fortunate enough to live out there. Ventura is a rad little spot, close to the beach and really nice. Its fun to hang out there when we are not playing shows or running around LA.

LAPunk: Amber also wants to know: You were part of that awesome Yellowcard/Autopilot Off/Don't Look Down Tour.... How was it being on tour with some of your really good friends? Was there anything you learned from them on tour?

Nick: Its hard to describe just how rad it is to be on tour with some of your closest friends. It really is like an a road trip with your best friends and i think its important to realize just how lucky we are to be doing it. Everyone on that tour was definitely really smart about music so i think we just kinda feed of that and also it helps us to never take getting to do what we do for granted because we really are so lucky!

LAPunk: Ian wants to know: Ive always thought that the more music at an earlier age the better. At what age did you start finding an interest in music and who were your earliest influences?

Nick: I agree, I think the earlier you get exposed to a certain style, the more time to find more bands but at the same time its never too late to get into music. I found out about bands in this scene when i was in like 5th and 6th grade though surf and skate videos. The first bands i got into were Pennywise, Nofx, Bad religion, Dag Nasty, Big Drill Car and Green Day. No record stores around us would carry anything like that so i remember just watching the videos over and over again to hear the songs while i waited for a special ordered cd to come in for months at a time. Pretty crazy how far music has come because now just about any record store will carry those cds. But yea the surf skate scene was definitely my source at the time.

LAPunk: Becki also asks about early influences, but wants to know what made you choose the guitar?

Nick: I chose the guitar because i wanted to figure out how to play all my favorite songs. Guitar was the cheapest and easiest way to do that. i would just sit in my room and play green day and samiam songs. I sucked pretty bad but stuck with it. Now i only suck a little bit. haha

LAPunk: A question from Pero: when will you come to Europe? When you come, please play in Croatia or even Slovenia! Thanks!

Nick: Wow! Im not sure when we will make it to Europe but when we do, we will definitely play everywhere. Im hoping we can get over there sometime in 2004.

Thanks so much for writing in guys!!!! See you at the next show!
:)

Interview by Jason Kaminsky