Tied for Last ***New Interview***

Tied for last is a great band from New York. They have played over two hundred shows and have released two albums. They have done some touring as well. They really do put on a good show and have bunch of funs in their local scene. I got Steve to tell their story...

Introduce yourself…
Tied For Last is a kickass punk band from the NYC area.
I’m Steve. I sing and play guitar.  As for the others:
Tommy plays guitar and sings.  Pixie (Jen) plays bass and sings.  And Andrew drums and sings.  All of us are pains in the ass.  Or loveable.  I guess it depends on who you ask.

How did the band start?
With Tommy and me on acoustic guitars in my living room.  Eventually, my cat got really annoyed with us, so we figured we had to find a bassist and drummer and find a real place to play.
How did you come up with the name?
Anyone who doesn’t come in first is basically, tied for last.  We’re not exactly the first-place type.

Who would you say are your influences?
Mine in particular?  Coffee.  Burlesque.
Tommy and Andrew?  Nicotine, alcohol and old Wrestlemania vids.
Jen?  Sparkly things and ponies (she’s a girl dontchaknow?)
Seriously - all four of us have huge appetites for all types of music, movies, cartoons, and television, but we all like different things, so it’s hard to narrow it down.  Our overall sound borrows from bands like the Ramones, Cheap Trick, Nofx and Rancid, but we also listen to everything from metal to surf to rockabilly to country, so you’ll find all that somewhere in there as well.
We’ve been compared to the Vandals, early Green Day, and early Replacements, but I think I liked it best when someone described us as “a cross between NOFX, Elvis and Tom Petty.”  That felt about right.

What is the punk scene like in New York?
Usually, it’s awesome! There are a hell of a lot of great bands that play any variation of punk you can think of.  And because there are so many bands (punk and non-punk), and a limited number of places to play, the bands have to get good quick, or else they don’t stay around very long.
We get those who complain about how it used to be better when this club or that bar was around, but I think you get that kind of glorifying the past anywhere you go.  For as long as I can remember, NYC has an audience for good punk, cool venues to play at, and a few really great bands.  What more could ya ask for?
Unfortunately, we also have some folks who try and play “punk police” by labeling a band or person that they don’t like as being sellouts or somehow not “real punk.”  But none of the punk bands I know are making any money doing this, so there’s no one to sell out to!  Luckily, the punk police are in the small minority.

Describe the song writing process...
Even though the songs are sometimes silly, we take ‘em very seriously.  Tommy and I write most of the songs separately and then bring them to the band to work out arrangements, our individual parts, and any other ideas.  So we all contribute.
For me, I always start with the lyrics and once those are done, I labor to fit music around it.  I think I’m always trying to prove something with the music because I’ve never had lessons, and I’m a bit insecure about my musicianship.
Tommy on the other hand, he seems to have this gift of ridiculously catchy choruses, so I think he starts there and then fills in the rest.  Can you tell I’m fucking jealous?

Your first release was the 'Sorta Live' CD, tell us about the CD...
That was with our original rhythm section.  We needed a demo to get gigs, but we didn’t have money to do the full-on studio thing.  So we opted for a live-in-the-studio 8-track recording with no overdubs.
We recorded the entire album in one afternoon just a few months after our first show.  We basically played each song in our set two or three times, and kept the best takes.  It was super-cheap, and it gave us a decent enough starting point.
Because it’s live, there are a few mistakes that can be heard, and on some of the songs my voice is rawer than normal because I’d been singing all day, but on the whole, I’m happy with it.  Most of the songs sound good, and because it was live, it gave a real accurate record of where we were at that point.  After awhile, so many of our friends had been asking for copies that we finally just pressed the damn thing onto CDs and put it up on I-Tunes.  To this day, our best-selling I-Tunes song worldwide is the cover of “Eve of Destruction” from that CD.  It’s such an awesome fucking idea to think that some kid in Japan is right now listening on his I-pod to a song we recorded on a random Saturday afternoon.

You then released another CD 'KICKASS YES-MAN CORPORATE HACKS', tell us about the CD...
Our old bassist had bought a digital recorder, so we thought we’d try and record a single on our own to learn how to use the thing.  If it turned out well, we figured we may do an EP.  We recorded the song “Sailor” and gave it away as a Christmas present at one of our shows.  The response to the recording turned out so well that we decided to try a whole album.
It was recorded in our basements and living rooms and I mixed it on my Mac (Garage Band) in my kitchen.  It was as DIY as you could get – but that’s out of necessity and not choice.  If ANYONE wants to give me money to record and hire a producer for me, I’m there!

It’s our first “official” studio album and I’m really fucking proud of it.  For a group learning how to do all this as we went along, it came out far better than I’d hoped, and the response was all positive.  One of the songs , “Achiever,” was featured in a documentary film about Lebowskifest, and another of the songs, “She Was Just a Girl” was played on Sirius/XM on Little Steven’s station, so that’s cool.

What else have you released?
We’ve released a few singles as giveaways at special shows – a few cover tunes, a Christmas song, and some originals.  Because we know what we’re doing now (kinda), they sound even better than the last CD.  Some of them will be remixed and end up on the new album.

Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
We’re closing in on having done about 200 shows at this point, and since many of our shows are on 4- or 5-band nights, the list would be overwhelming.  We have played with some semi-name bands, and that’s usually cool.  The biggest name we played with was Agent Orange, and not only are they a fantastic band, they were just the nicest guys.  Zero bullshit, and they stayed and talked to every fan that wanted their time.

Have you toured?
We’ve toured a few times and we’ve played a bunch of out of state shows.  Playing to a completely new audience is always a blast because no one knows what to expect – us or the audience. At home, we know the venues, we know the audience, and they know all the songs.  On the road, most of those things are unknowns, so we have to work a little harder to win over people.  We tend to be pretty good at that though.
The only real downside is that touring at this level is generally a money loss situation, so we can’t be on the road all the time.

Do you prefer small clubs or large venues?
We have no delusions about where we fit in, so my definitions of large and small are likely gonna be smaller than most people’s.  That said, we have played in some very large rooms and I don’t think we really have a preference.  Of course, we want the room to be crowded, because that makes it more fun for everyone.  But as far as actual clubs, attitude is more important than size.  Some clubs really know how to treat bands and their patrons, and some just don’t.
To be fair – lots of bands can be assholes too.  But if a club treats us as friends – or at least not as adversaries – and if they treat our crowd well, we’re gonna like playing there no matter how big or small the stage and room are.  If they have a built-in audience, that’s often a good indication that they know what they’re doing.

Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
Over the years, we’ve met and played with a lot of great bands.  When you see a good band, and when the musicians are cool people, you wanna play with them as often as possible.  So we’ve played a lot with bands like The Heaves (from Brooklyn), the Trakes (now defunct from PA), The Flyswatters (from NJ), and lately, we’ve been playing a lot of shows with our new friends The Bloody Muffs (also from NYC).  I’m sure there are some that I’m leaving out, too.  Basically, if we play a show with a band more than once, it’s a good indication that we really like playing with them and we think they’re a good band.

Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
Much like playing with bands often, if there’s a venue we play a lot, it’s because we like it.  We’ve played the big name NYC stages for bands of our level (CBGB, Continental, etc.), and many of them are gone now, but there are always really cool places that spring up.  Our current favorite is Otto’s Shrunken Head in Manhattan.  It’s a punk-rock tiki bar with a great staff and a strong built-in crowd.  They have good music almost every night there.  Also, we like Trash Bar in Brooklyn. It’s a great punk/metal club in the middle of hipster hell (Williamsburg).  We started playing Local 269 (Manhattan) recently and those shows have been fun, and we’ve always played Desmond’s Tavern in Manhattan.  Desmond’s is cool because it’s an Irish pub and about as far from a traditional punk venue as you’ll find, but our crowd loves it and the staff treats us real well, so we always go back there a few times a year.

What do you see is the future of Tied for Last?
In the immediate future, we’re working on a tour for October/November.  Not sure where we’re headed yet, but I think we’re gonna try and do states that we haven’t played before – maybe New England.  Also, we’ve been recording tracks that will eventually be the next album.  I’d say that, optimistically, we should look for that in early 2012.

How can people contact the band?
Well, we’re on the interwebs.  Facebook of course (facebook.com/tiedforlast), and our own page (tiedforlast.com).  Of course, they can listen to and buy recordings through I-Tunes and interpunk.com, and if they have questions about interviews, booking, or if they want any personal blackmail info, they can write us at revlina@tiedforlast.com