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Magical Mountain Interviews Stereo Skyline At Disney's Shop Til You Rock Event
8/31/2010 3:05 PM EST
Magical Mountain: All right, so I am sure you get asked this often, but how did the band come together originally?Stereo Skyline: Well, me and Rob went to high school together, and then we were in another band that did a couple of shows out of state, not really touring, but played a bunch of shows and met Brian and Clayton over the course of like a year or two.
Magical Mountain: Also, we sort of noticed when doing research that the band has had many members move in and out over time, but how have you dealt with that? Do you feel stronger because of that and that there is a closer bond?
Stereo Skyline: Definitely stronger. I think every band deals with member changes, but don't think the public sees it as much as it does with us. We are all kind of young compared to most of the bands we tour with. It is not a silly fad though. They got to see all of the member changes.
We had the advantage of letting our fans watch us grow up since high school whereas most bands don't, that is why most of the member changes are pretty public.
I don't think many bands have people following them since they are in high school. Whenever you start off in a high school band, it is usually just for fun.
The truth of the matter is that every high school band is now it is fun, but then you usually go off on your separate ways.
For me personally, that is why with the other bands I was in, I wanted to do it because that is where my passion was, but I feel this group of guys is the reason we are so strong.
Magical Mountain: Your first album just came out, and it is relatively new. It just came out in July. How do you think it was perceived? Are you excited about it?
Stereo Skyline: The first day it came out, July 20th, we did an in-store performance on Long Island where we are from, and the kids knew all of the words. It was awesome. We were obviously very nervous how kids were going to feel about it, but even the first show we played on tour, the kids knew all of the new songs.
I think it was one of those things that was a very anticipated wait because there was no release in about 2 or 3 years, so as soon as our fans had something to latch on to, they went for it. It was really great.
Most bands don't really have their fans see what is going on until their first record, which we just did. We have the core fans, now we have the record. We were nervous and wanted to be sure they were still happy…exactly.
I think what is really cool too is that some people make the name sound like Slater, but they still say it is a good record…but it is a really good album.
Magical Mountain: Have you given any thought about your next one will be coming out?
Stereo Skyline: No we are just living up this one.
Magical Mountain: Now how has it been working on this tour - the Shop Til You Rock experience?
Stereo Skyline: It is awesome. It gives you a chance to really meet your fans personally - face-to-face instead of in a show experience.
We even have kids coming out that want to see us. Like today, we noticed that more people can come, and their parents are more comfortable dropping them off at a mall.
Magical Mountain: That makes sense, that's good. Have you had any interaction with Demi Levato on this tour, or working with the group that works with her?
Stereo Skyline: Not on this tour. A couple of us are friends with her, but we haven't seen her because we are both so busy with this stuff.
Magical Mountain: Plus, part of this tour, they are promoting Camp Rock. How has that affected people coming just for Camp Rock II and then discovering you here, or is it more vice versa.
Stereo Skyline: I think the promotion helps our band a lot; we have a lot of definitely newcomer fans because of this. But it is awesome to get new experience with Camp Rock. I think that we have been touring for year in a market that is not really Disney oriented, so we might even have some of our fans be introduced to that. It is cool that we can bring our fans into a whole Camp Rock Disney thing, and we also have all of the support for the people coming out for Camp Rock.
Magical Mountain: Where do you foresee for the rest of the future for you guys for this year at least…just touring a lot, and as far as touring; you have been touring for quite some time so is it getting that you need a break.
Stereo Skyline: I think that we have a couple of weeks off in September, and then we are hitting the road in October for about 7 weeks to see our friends. I think a week is really all we need. We do like four days but we really need to rest and catch up on sleep, we love to be on the road though. We would rather be on the road because we would get bored after being off for more than two weeks. We are so used to it. If you are used to doing something every day and then just stop doing it, you want to keep on doing that.
I am excited, I am one of the newest members of the band, and we are heading internationally this year.
Magical Mountain: How long will you be doing the international circuit?
Stereo Skyline: Who knows, they didn't talk specifically, but we are excited about that.
Magical Mountain: If you could take away one experience from this entire tour or just from today with Shop Til You Rock, what would you say personally you could take away from this whole thing?
Stereo Skyline: I personally think it is incredible to play in the middle of a mall and have all of these kids come in and show support. When we were playing Houston, they were screaming so loud and with the acoustics, it was like an encore. Personally, when I was playing music, I never thought that I would be playing in the middle of a mall and having kids screaming and freak out…that was all I needed.
Magical Mountain: It is like a dream come true basically for you.
Stereo Sky: Not too long ago, we were the kids out there. Exactly.
I was working in a mall for two or three years when I as in high school, so now It is weird to be on the other side of things. So coming in here every day, I remember I worked in LA in a Hot Topic, but one day I just didn't show up…this is not what I want to do…I want to play music.
Here is the cool thing for everybody is just having a CD in stores, and whenever you have security guards around you are not thinking about getting in trouble.
Magical Mountain: All right, I think that is all of the questions I really had prepared, but are you excited that this tour is winding down and looking forward to the international part?
Stereo Skyline: It is always a bummer when the tour is coming to an end. Sometimes it is a relief because you know you are getting a break, but it is always a bummer because we have so much fun, we meet so many people - it is like the last day of school. I could do these every day.
If we were doing mall signings everyday, I would be fine with it.
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