by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
Move over Black Kids. There's plenty of national spotlight to go around and The Sophomore Attempt is getting their share. The band will be featured in February's issue of Alternative Press. In the meantime EU caught up with Jeremiah Dunlap, lead singer of TSA, who filled us in about their new CD, their upcoming shows and their plans for the New Year.
EU: The last time I saw you guys was over a year and a half ago at the Florida Theatre. How have you changed since then?
Jeremiah Dunlap: I think every band naturally improves and evolves over that period of time, but we've made a definitive effort to have our live show be tighter and more interesting to watch. The addition of Ian (our guitarist) has really added a lot to our stage dynamic. We've also thrown in a couple new tricks. You'll have to come out to a show to see. We try to one-up ourselves at every show.
EU: You released an album a few months back. Tell us a little about it.
JD: We love Hallways. We really developed our sound and came into our own with this CD. Up until Hallways, we had been trying to figure out what we were trying to do musically. Everything just fell into place when we started recording. We're really happy with it.
EU: James Paul Wisner produced Hallways. How did you get hooked up with him?
JD: We are extremely lucky. It was kind of a friend-of-a-friend thing initially. We had someone pass on one of our demos to him, and then we got a call from him telling us he was really interested in working with us. After about 5 more of those calls, Logan and I drove to Orlando to meet him while he was mixing My American Heart's new record. A few weeks later we were in Orlando getting ready to record. He's a great guy and an amazing producer.
EU: How did you like the recording process?
JD: It was incredible. It was the first experience we've ever had where we actually enjoyed what we were doing without having to worry about time restraints or anything like that. We spent literally all day, everyday at his house trying different things and just having fun with our songs. He is an outstanding producer. He helped us capture the sound and feel we wanted for Hallways. We love recording and creating music with him.
EU: What do you want fans to take away from your music?
JD: We just want people to listen to our songs and identify with feelings and emotions that we've experience. More than anything, we want people to enjoy themselves. We put a huge amount of effort into writing musical versions of ourselves. Hopefully people can take our songs a number of different ways and apply them to things in their own lives that they need help or encouragement with.
EU: It's no secret you guys are Christians. What role does faith play in your music?
JD: In the past, and with Hallways, it didn't play a large role in the actual lyrics and music. It's not something we did purposefully, because we are very open about our faith and the effect it has on our lives, but it's not something we incorporated. Our newer stuff, however, is much more driven by it. We've decided to take a step in a different direction lyrically. It's nothing drastic, but the next record will be much more driven by our faith and things we struggle with.
EU: What band would you love to perform with if given the opportunity?
JD: Well personally, I would do almost anything to open for Taking Back Sunday or Coldplay, but we all have extremely different musically taste. I think as a whole it would be either be Taking Back Sunday or Jimmy Eat World
EU: It seems like you've built a substantial fan base over the past couple of years. What do you think contributed to that more- the Internet or your live shows?
JD: Probably the Internet. We haven't played outside Florida that much and the Internet gives us access to potential fans all around the world.
EU: You guys have a great rapport with your fans. Will you keep that up once you make it big?
JD: Yes. I know bands say that all the time, but we love our fans more than anything. We will run our MySpace/websites personally as long as we possible can, and we will always be the band to hang out and talk to every single person. We have some of the coolest fans on the planet. We are very blessed.
EU: What's one local band (besides yourselves, of course) that you would like to see get recognized on a national level?
JD: We would love to see The Wakeside get huge. They are the coolest guys and write some great music. I would tour with them until the end of time if given the opportunity.
EU: What's your favorite song to perform?
JD: 'The Turn.' That is hands down our favorite song to perform. It's just such a powerful song. It was written very naturally and it lyrically means the most to me. It's such a great song to end a show with because it's full of energy and group vocals, so the crowd really gets into it and makes it great for us.
EU: You'll be playing the Wherefore CD release show on January 5th. How did you meet those guys?
JD: We've been friends with members of Wherefore for a long time. We've played with those guys when they were all in separate bands and we're really excited they all came together. We haven't heard the CD yet. I talked to the singer Cory tonight about it and he explained the whole theme of it to me and it got me really excited. Hopefully we'll be hearing it this week.
EU: January 12th is a benefit show for The Sophomore Attempt. Tell us about that.
JD: Well, between recording/releasing Hallways, buying merch, and surviving without label support, we've left ourselves with a very small amount of money. We are in the process of buying a van and booking a tour, but that takes money that we don't have. We're just trying to get enough money to help us with that so we can get on tour full time. Maybe a label will pick us up and solve our problems [laughs].
EU: What are your hopes for the band in 2008?
JD: This is looking to be a really good year for us. We have a lot of very high expectations for ourselves. We're hoping to get signed, get Hallways in stores and get on tour. It seems pretty simple, but it's an amazing amount of work. Hopefully everything goes as planned and we can keep going full speed ahead.
The Sophomore Attempt will be playing at the Murray Hill Theatre on January 5th and Jack Rabbits on January 12th. To hear four songs from Hallways and learn more about the band, visit their MySpace at myspace.com/thesophomoreattempt.
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