Interview with The Longest Monday

This Is Pop Punk Promotions with an interview featuring The Longest Monday. The Longest Monday is a pop punk band from Nanuet New York and check out their new record being dropped on black friday! https://www.facebook.com/thelongestmonday/info

TIPPP- Where Is the longest monday from?

TLM- The longest Monday is from the Lower NY and Northern NJ area

RIPPP- How long has TLM been a band?

TLM- TLM has been a band for three years now, it’s crazy how fast time flies.

TIPPP- How did you guys come up with the name the longest monday?

TLM- We struggled for a while initially to find a name that fit us. We were looking for inspiration in literally everything we did, and it ended up that one of my favorite episodes of the nickelodeon cartoon Hey Arnold! (The episode where all the 5th graders throw the 4th graders in the garbage cans one day a year) was named “The Longest Monday.” I suggested it to the band and it stuck haha.

TIPPP- How is the local scene at your hometown?

TLM- In our personal hometown, we unfortunately have to do our best to keep the scene going. Local venues that used to do a show a weekend have pretty much stopped booking shows. Elio does an awesome job booking bands from all over for house/garage shows that usually do really well. We gather up our friends and a few local bands and rock faces and it’s a ton of fun. We usually feed and house touring bands as well, and have made a ton of great friends and heard tons of great music through the experience

TIPPP- What has TLM been up to in the past few months? (shows, touring, recording)?

TLM- We’ve had to take a break from shows due to our placement at different schools, but we do have shows planned during our November and Winter breaks that we’re stoked on. We’ve also released two singles form our upcoming EP to amazing response, which is awesome!

TIPPP- You guys are releasing a new 5 song ep tell us about it!

TLM- Our latest EP, titled “Cease and Desist”, is ready to drop on black Friday (11/29/13) and we couldn’t be more anxious about it. We can’t wait for everyone to hear what we’ve created

TIPPP- How was the writing process?

TLM- The writing process was similar to how we’ve written most of our music. Usually one member has an idea, whether it be a guitar line, bass line, or lyric/melody, and we just all jam on it and flesh out a song. Most of the songs finish instrumentally first with vocals to come after. We actually finished writing two of the new songs while were recording them in the studio haha

TIPPP- How was the recording process?

TLM- The recording process was a blast. We recorded with Anthony at Small Room Studios in Yonkers, and couldn’t have had a better time. Ant was a great producer with a great ear that definitely helped us while we were tracking, and the EP sounds amazing (in our opinion of course.) As a band collectively, we have never been more proud of something we’ve written

TIPPP- Do these songs have a special meaning to you?

TLM- As the lyricist, I guess I have the opportunity to craft lyrics that really mean something myself personally, but most of the lyrics describe feelings and situations that people can relate to, especially my bandmates and I. Specifically, Dr. Girlfriend is half based on dealing with my childhood best friend’s battle with drug addiction, so that one hits me the hardest. The rest of the songs are really about personal growth; they are about personal growth, they are about removing negative aspects of your life, and moving forward no matter what.

TIPPP- Do you guys have any big plans for the upcoming months? (shows,touring ect.)

TLM- Elio booked an awesome show at The Meatlocker that we are playing, along with a ton of other great bands. The show is on November 27th and people in the area should come out! We also have our EP release show coming up in December. The card is stacked with all our talented best friends, and we are gunna have a great time. More details to come shortly!

TIPPP- What has been the favorite show you guys have played?

TLM- My personal favorite shows have been the ones where we have opened for my favorite bands (With The Punches, Mixtapes) but we always have a great time performing. Some of the garage shows we’ve played have been off the walls.

TIPPP- Have you guys had any favorite moments together?

TLM- My favorite moments are probably when we are being least productive haha. Moments where we can just jam and chill and troll each other to death. I try to appreciate all the times we have where we can just enjoy the company of our brothers and everything seems easy in those moments; outside stresses seem to melt away in those instances and it’s definitely therapeutic.

TIPPP- Whats other things do you guys like to do besides playing music?

TLM- The usual I guess; play video games, watch movies, goof off with our friends, enjoy the sunshine. White Castle trips are a regular thing haha, We enjoy any chances we have to get together and hang

TIPPP- What kind of music do you guys play and what do you think sets you aside from other bands?

TLM- We play pop punk and have fun doing it. I think our overall genuineness is what sets us apart from other bands. All we want to do is be ourselves, we have no desire to be anybody else or live anybody else’s life. We put our hearts into writing music we like, and we get on stage with the intention of having the best time we can, and hope to provide a fun and fulfilling experience for whoever comes to see us.

TIPPP- What bands currently influence you?

TLM- The Wonder Years, Four Year Strong, New Found Glory, With The Punches

TIPPP- Is there anything else you would like to say or mention?

TLM- Thanks for having us, and be sure to check out/download our new EP “Cease and Desist” when it drops on Black Friday!

Interview with First Class Ticket

This Is Pop Punk Promotions with an interview with First Class Ticket. FCT is a pop punk band from Berchtesgaden Germany, they're releasing their new EP "We Are" in 3 days on November 13th! You can check them out here, https://www.facebook.com/firstclassticket

TIPPP- So you already filled us in that you guys are releasing a new ep and video, tell us about it are there any specific details you would like to share?

Mo (FCT)- Our new EP “We Are” is very special for us. It’s the first CD without our lead singer Martin. After 6 years he quit the band. Now Simon (our guitarist) and I doing the lead vocals and we are very nervous about what the fans will say about our new stuff.

TIPPP- You’re new Ep is called “We Are” where did you guys come up with this name from?

Mo (FCT)- Well, it’s the answer of our other EP “Already there?” from April 2013. We are on a point of life where we have to start from the beginning in the view of our music. “We Are” ready for what’s coming next.

TIPPP- Recently your singer quit the band, how has this changed the atmosphere as a band, and who stepped up to the roll as lead vocalist?

Mo (FCT)- We started FCT in 2007. We have always been 5 dudes. Martin our lead vocalist quit the band in May 2013 because of personal reasons. That was a big shock for the rest of us. We talked about a new front singer or starting a new project, but it wasn’t a possibility at all! We decided to continue as “First Class Ticket” and Simon and I are doing the lead vocals from now on. The atmosphere is great. We see things easier than the last year. We will see what the fans say about the “vocal change”.


TIPPP- The usual question, where is FCT from, and how is the local scene in your hometown?

Mo FCT)- We are from a village called Berchtesgaden (Bavaria/Germany). It’s on the border of Austria. The Pop Punk / Punk Rock scene fell asleep the last 3 years but now it's coming back rapidly. The scene in Austria is growing faster here then in Germany. Germany has great Punk Bands, but its bigger than Austria, so its harder to make a mark than in Austria.


TIPPP- What has FCT recently been up to in the past few months besides recording the new EP?

Mo (FCT)- From January to May we played a lot of shows to promote our EP “Already There?”. Since the break up of Martin we wrote songs as fast as possible to promote us as a 4 headed band! That was all we’ve done since then.

TIPPP- Does FCT have any upcoming plans in the near future? (Shows, touring)?

Mo (FCT)- Our plan for the future is to play as much shows as possible. The biggest dream is a festival tour for 2014. We hope that our new EP “We Are” will help us with that! Among other things we plan a full length Album for the end of 2014!


TIPPP- Do any of you guys have a favorite memory from the band?

Mo (FCT)- Hahaha good question! We’ve been collecting memories for about 6 years. The greatest memories we have about shows are in Czech Republic. We always freak out totally when we are in this country! But I think I can't get any closer to the details :D!


TIPPP- What has been the best show you’ve ever played?

Mo (FCT)- Puhh, that’s difficult. But I think the best show was in a courtyard of an abbey in “Benediktbeuern” (Bavaria / Ger). We were support of one of the greatest live Bands from Germany “LaBrassBanda”. There were about 7000 people there. That’s a great memory!


TIPPP- Has anything absolutely just bizarre happened to you guys while on the road?

Mo (FCT)- Last Febuary we were on tour in bavaria and at this time we were planing our shoot for our music video “The Road Song”. We still needed this special van for the shoot and suddenly we were cruising right behind this kind of van. We wrote on a piece of paper “PLEASE STOP” and put the sign to the window so the driver could read it. After crazy passing maneuvers the van stopped. We get out of our car and told the guy who drove the special van “Dude we need your car for our music video next week. We are a Punk Rock Band and you are our last hope”. He just said “Of course you guys can use my van. I don’t know you at all but you all seems to be nice boys”. Call it coincidence, destiny or whatever.


TIPPP- What is the bands favorite thing to do outside of playing music?

Mo (FCT)- We all worke from Monday to Friday. Simon is a mechatronic technician, Michael is an electrican, Bert works at an office and I am a driver for the red cross. Its hard to get all of this under one hat. If we are not working, we are playing music or hanging out together!


TIPPP- Do you guys have any particular influences or favorite bands?

Mo (FCT)- Every band has! We love music from bands like “A Day To Remember”, “The Story so Far”, “Blink 182”, “Four Year Strong”, “Snoop Dogg”, “Johnny cash”, “Rihanna” or “Title Fight”.


TIPPP- Do you have any tips or tricks to bands just starting out?

Mo (FCT)- If you’re planning to start a band, do it with friends!! I’m not a fan of band castings or something like that. In my opinion, if people come together to play music they have to know eachother.


TIPPP- Is there anything else you would like to mention or say?

Mo (FCT)- We need shows all over the world! If anybody is interested in our music and wants to book us, write us! booking@fct-music.com