Yellowcard

Yellowcard guitarist Ben Harper was nice enough to let me ask him a few questions as they toured through Edmonton during their first headlining tour. He was really friendly and gave some good answers, he was speaking softly, so some of theses words may not be exact. I’d like to thank my buddy Wayne for helping me with some questions and coming to the interview, everyone at Capitol Records for setting it up, and then Ben for doing it! Enjoy:)

Please note: All photos were taken from their site and are copyrighted by their rightful owners.

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Bobby: It’s been a little over a year since you guys released “Ocean Avenue”, and with that release you guys have received a steady climb in popularity. How does that feel?

Ben: I don’t know. I mean, it feels great. It makes you a little bit more conscious of your band because we’ve been a band for so long and it’s been a long, winding road, and it’s been very rewarding. I think every band has their own story and I think our story is really really pure. I think we’re living the dream right now, words can’t really describe what you feel right now. I really don’t know.

Bobby: What do you think your most memorable moment was from this past year?

Ben: The VMAs were sweet. Going platinum. This headlining tour. Travelling to New Zealand and Australia for the first time. I could go on and on and on and on. Going gold. Playing TRL or whatever the fuck it was… excuse my language.

Bobby: Is it ever weird seeing yourselves on TV and hearing your songs on the radio?

Ben: It’s always weird to us. We’re definitely a little more used to it then last year. Last November when it first aired on MTV2, we all freaked out. We were all on the bus screaming and jumping up and down. I remember the first time we heard the song we were right outside Jacksonville. We’re a little bit more used to it, a little bit more seasoned. It’s natural, we’re growing up.

Bobby: A little over an hour ago, we saw LP and Sean walking in the mall and then get mobbed by fans. Does that ever get annoying? People running after you and recognising you?

Ben: Ya, I think some people get it way more then others in the band, especially in a show environment. We tend to get a lot more fans every week. Does it ever get annoying? I think we appreciate it more then a lot of bands in someway.

Bobby: Do you think people ever look at you differently because you’re on a major label instead of Fueled By Ramen or something?

Ben: I hope not. It all depends. I hope that people just like our music and like us and don’t really look into things like that. I think that’s why we have things like Takeover Records, to try and stay connected in the indie world.

Bobby: Two days ago the bidding ended on Pete’s bass signed by all you guys. It sold on eBay for 1050 dollars, all of which went to the Rock School. Can you tell us a bit about the charity?

Ben: Ahh God, you know what? I don’t even know much about it, it was totally Pete’s thing. Some friend, who had a charity, I don’t know a whole lot about it. I don’t personally, that was totally all Pete who hooked it up for his friend. I think it was great.

Bobby: What was going through your mind as you won the MTV2 video award at the Video Awards?

Ben: Complete chaos and shock. I don’t know how to describe that moment. Ryan was freaking out, he was crying, jumping up; dude, after we got the award we got into the hallway and he was like [waving arms around] “ahhhhh!” just freaking out. He was jumping, like literally, he was freaking out like he just won three million dollars or something. It was that kind of emotion. Seriously, like he had just won the Superbowl emotion.

Bobby: You are the owner of Takeover Records right?

Ben: That is correct.

Bobby: How did that all start?

Ben: It started the same time Yellowcard started to release some high school records. We released a couple records before Ryan joined the band in high school. Ryan toured with Yellowcard in his other band.

Bobby: Craig’s Brother?

Ben: No, he was in Modern Music in high school. We played locally together. We released records and Modern Music released a cassette. We had this little high school scene and that was where Takeover Records came from. Now it’s just like we’re using it. We’ve always kept it up, kept it up. We released a record in 2002, our friends band, and it’s just been an outlet ever since. And we always kind of bet on Yellowcard getting success, to be complete honest with you. I mean, we grew up indie label fans. Fat, Epitaph, Hopeless, that whole scene that we grew up on pioneered our band; so of course we’re going to have our indie label and release every band that we think we can, and more.

Bobby: The “Sign My Band” contest, how did you come up with the idea for that?

Ben: Me and my friend Greg, who helps run the label, had this crazy idea and we’re doing it. And it’s been like six months in the making and we’re announcing the bands on November 1s; and then it goes up on PureVolume which is the most freshest music site for bands; every band goes on that site. You see ten bands that get a chance to release a record and open up for Yellowcard and get every resource that we have has a label; which, as the label is growing, and growing, and growing, and I don’t know. Whatever, we’ll see. We had 100s of demos, and a lot of them weren’t that good. But we’ll see, may the best band win.

Bobby: What is the transition like from selling herbal breast enhancers, to being in a band known around the world and owning your own record label?

Ben: Like what does it feel like?

Bobby: Ya.

Ben: You know, a lot of the questions these days are like that. “How does it feel to be huge? How does it feel to make it?” And we just don’t know how to answer them. It feels good. Its what we wish on every band. We’re lucky to be a band, we’ve gone through so much and now it’s about what we can do in the long run. Making a way better record then “Ocean Avenue”, and then a record after that, and then a record after that.

Bobby: You guys are releasing a DVD on November 2nd, why did you guys decide to release a live DVD?

Ben: You know what? It’s just a crazy idea from our crazy label and we were into it because we’re definitely that band that says yes to everything; and we want to release a lot of DVDs, a whole bunch of them. We recorded it strictly live, no overdubs, just a raw concert, levels are mixed of course. Great film and we get to release the documentary, which will really open up a lot of people’s eyes as to where we came from.

Bobby: There are supposedly a lot of hidden “Easter eggs” on the DVD, but I haven’t been able to find any of them yet.

Ben: I haven’t had a chance to see it yet, but I have the codes.

Bobby: Cause I’ve been looking for them and I can’t figure it out.

Ben: I’ll make a phone call and get them sent to you, and then you can write them out.

Bobby: Do you guys have any plans on recording a new CD anytime soon?

Ben: Oh yeah, lots of riffs, lots of plans. We know where we’re going to write, we know where we’re going to record, we know who we’re going to recording with, we know when we’re going to do it, we know when we’re going to release it, we don’t know what we want to call it, and we know it’s going to be good.

Bobby: Any idea when it’s going to be out?

Ben: It will be out anywhere between July to the end of August of next year, same time as “Ocean Avenue” was released, just two years later.

Bobby: You guys recently did a song of the Rock Against Bush Vol. 2 compilation? Why did you decide to do that CD?

Ben: Because we’ve always wanted to be on a Fat compilation, we grew up on Fat bands. We wanted to take a step into political activism. We have a statement to make, we are not happy with the way things are. We wanted to do our part, and that was our chance to do our part and a platform for us to talk about it. We handed a couple copies to John Edwards the other day at the Jay Leno show. And we wanted to have the chance to cover a Lagwagon song, and we had never done that before.

Bobby: Why did you decide to cover the Lagwagon song?

Ben: We love Lagwagon! We grew up listening to them, they were inspiration to us, and the song is called “Viloins”.

Bobby: You guys were also on the Spiderman 2 soundtrack. Why were you approached to do that one?

Ben: I don’t know. Ryan loves super heroes. I mean, if you were in a band, wouldn’t you write a song for “Spiderman”? We just wrote a song out of nowhere, and we’re actually playing it tonight, I’m excited to play it. It’s really cool, it features Pete on piano. We’re showing you where we’re going to go a little bit.

Bobby: You’re currently on your first headlining tour, how is that going so far?

Ben: You’re right, it is kind of our first big headlining tour. It’s been great. All the shows are sold out, I think we’re doing good. It sucks because at a lot of the clubs, the ceilings aren’t big enough for our production. I think we overshot our backdrop and our lightning, so we’ve having to size down every night; I think we’ve only had our full production like twice. I heard Ryan bitching about that tonight.

Bobby: When you first formed in 1997, did you ever think you’d be doing a cross country tour with Drive-Thru Records bands and Epitaph bands supporting you?

Ben: Nope, good question. I had no idea. I always used to say “Dude, I would run around the street naked if I sold a million records! I’d be so happy I’d do cartwheels with no clothes on!” that type of thing.

Bobby: So did you?

Ben: No, no. It’s funny, how you go through all the steps to get there, and you’re like used to it almost. You’re like “I deserved it.” [laughs] No, it’s just like… I don’t know, you grow up with it. We’re not just some band who got huge overnight or something.

Bobby: Yeah, you’ve worked hard for it. Okay, Halloween is one week away, do you have any plans for it?

Ben: Yeah, we’re all dressing up as ex-presidents, I’m Bill Clinton. We figured why not? It’s close to Election Day. Ryan’s Reagan, umm… I don’t know, they’re all there.

Bobby: Can you tell us something about the band, or a member in the band, that people don’t really know about it?

Ben: We get asked this question a lot, and I always don’t answer it. Because why would we tell something that we know they don’t want people to know? But give me a chance to let me think of something, I can see the other side of the question too.

Bobby: Okay, like I interviewed Billy Talent on Monday and they said that Jon always said “Pallow” instead of “Pillow” and “bagal” instead of “bagel”. Something stupid like that.

Ben: Oh, so like a stupid thing? [Thinks for a couple seconds and laughs to himself] Ryan is obsessed with the Georgia Bulldogs, the college football team in the United States. For a year he has been trying to find an actual bulldog like their mascot, and he found the specific bloodline from the actual mascot of the college; and he’s buying a dog from that bloodline for himself. He’s been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and now he found it. It’s like the offspring of “The Dog” or whatever. There you go.

Bobby: That’s a good story.

Ben: Let that one fly through the internet.

Bobby: Last time you guys were here I talked to Ryan and I asked him if you guys were stranded on a desert island with no food, who he would eat to survive; and he said that he’d Alex because he falls as sleep so easily. But now Alex is no longer in the band, so who would you eat to survive?

Ben: [laughs] I don’t know. You’re asking me who I would eat?

Bobby: Yeah.

Ben: I would eat… I don’t know, that’s a tough question. I would just go fishing, I wouldn’t eat anyone.

Bobby: If you could be a member of the opposite sex for one day, who would you eat and why?

Ben: I’m sure you probably hear this a lot, but I’d probably just be Angelina Jolie and masturbate all day.

Bobby: [laughs] That’s a good one, I haven’t heard that one yet.

Ben: [laughs] I can’t believe I just said that! That’s a great answer though.

Bobby: Awesome, I guess that’s about it. Do you have any shout-outs before we end?

Ben: Ya, just go to www.takeoverrock.com and thank you to… are you just based out of Canada, or where are all your visitors from?

Bobby: Based out of Canada, but visitors from all around.

Ben: Well, we’re happy to be out here in your hometown playing on this tour. Come see us in Canada, we’re lucky to be here. I guess that’s about it.

Bobby: Thanks a lot for doing it.

Ben: Thank you.