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10 Questions with ... The Fold
May 21, 2007
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NAME:The FoldTITLE:Band
Line-up:
Daniel Castady (vocals, rhythm guitar)
Aaron Green (lead guitar)
Mark Rhoades (drums)
Keith Mochel (bass)Label: Tooth & Nail
Discography:
Secrets Keep You Sick (2007)
This Too Shall Pass (2006)1) Introduce the band members using personality traits and musical background.
Keith is the big spender. He grew up raiding his big brother's music collection of punk rock.
Mark is the loner; yet he also is the mediator. Go figure. He doubles as a mechanic. Music-wise he always throws on some Johnny Cash and Deftones.
Aaron is the quiet one, and likes bluegrass and art rock.
Dan is the spacey one and also very accident prone. He's always humming a song, grew up with Screeching Weasel and Face To Face but loves the pop music.
2) Give us a brief rundown of how the band got started.
We met a couple years ago. We had all done our time in other bands. When Keith and Mark quit their post as the rhythm section for another local Chicago band, they met up with the already active songwriting duo Aaron and Dan, and didn't miss a beat. Tooth & Nail quickly took notice, and the four got into the studio to make their debut full-length within that first year of the line-up's existence.
3) Is there an underlying thought or theme to "Secrets Keep You Sick"?
Dan answers: Absolutely. We found the title scrawled on a truck stop bathroom wall somewhere in middle America. I didn't know who wrote it, but it seemed to be written with such passion and desperation that I couldn't help but keep the phrase in the front of my mind. When we started writing songs for SKYS I had just gone through some pretty heavy stuff in my life that dealt with the same theme, so we went with it. Then, when I lost my Mom late last year to pancreatic cancer, the themes took an even deeper turn. I could have admitted defeat and walked away from my life. It was just that kind of year. But I knew that I needed to put it all on the line and keep writing songs if I was ever going to get through it. That said, I think it's an album that I'll listen to until the day I die, as a sort of therapy. I needed to say the things that I said in these songs.
4) What's the story behind the single "New Skeptic"?
That was about being on the road through the times of uncertainty and sadness when my Mom was first diagnosed. I found myself trying to be everything to everyone, and the truth was all I wanted to do was be at my Mom's side every second of every day. I couldn't entertain; I couldn't even sing at times. So that song was just about trying to get above the pain and turn myself around.
5) Which do you enjoy more: the process or the performance?
The writing. I've always studied the greats of the past, so when I get to sit down with a pen and paper, and just map a song out, that's probably when I have the most fun. Or maybe in the studio, it's tough to say. I love playing live but I would never trade it for the songwriting process.
6) What are you most looking forward to this fall? Warped Tour '07?
That's a big part of this summer, but really all of the tours coming up will be the best stuff we've ever done, so we can't choose. I'm sure it will be clear in hindsight which was the most fun, but we'll just have to do another interview then. Haha!
7) What's your favorite song to play live?
"Medicine"
8) Was there a moment while you were in the studio that you thought, "Ah ha! Now we have a record"?
It was when we got the final vocal laid down for "Beside You Now". There was a moment where the producers pushed me to write a few extra lyrics at the very end of the song. I took a minute to think about it, and then I yelled "I got it". The lyrics just poured out of me. That song is super emotional for me, because it's written about my Mom, from my Dad's perspective on the day of my Mom's funeral. I just couldn't stop crying when I was trying to sing it, it was such a sweet and beautiful moment. I think everyone in the studio cried a little bit.
9) If you could try your hand at anything outside of music, what would be it be?
I think I would be lost without some music in my life. I don't want to think about that.
10) If you could design your own Chicago-style pizza, say Giordano's creates "The Fold," what would be on it?
Cracker-thin crust with cheese and sausage. Gotta have the ingredients UNDERNEATH the cheese. Mmmmmm. Get it together rest of the country!!!!
Bonus Questions
1) What is your favorite city to visit?
Right now we are loving Dallas, Columbus and Chicago. Canada tends to fly off the handle as well; we like that.
2) What is your favorite road meal?
Cracker Barrel
3) Musical guilty pleasures
Avril
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