The Story So Far

California's The Story So Far are one of the best up and coming pop punk bands around at the moment. With every member of the band being under the age of 20 (one of them not even having finished high school yet), it is safe to say the band has a bright future ahead of them. The band's split 7" with Maker is out now, and the band's guitarist Will and singer Parker answered a few questions for us during their current tour with This Time Next Year and Matt Foster.

Start off by stating your name, your role in The Story So Far and your favorite childhood memory?

My name is Will and I play guitar in TSSF and my favorite childhood memory is my in the 4th grade I went to Arizona for SF Giants spring training and he took my brother and I to a hooters. That was cool. My name is Parker and I sing in The Story So Far. My favorite childhood memory is when I crowd surfed at the Foothill/WCI inter-city 7th grade dance and got kicked out. They let me back in though.

Can you give us a brief run down of the history of the band for those who might be unfamiliar with you?

TSSF formed in 2007, with Kevin Ambrose and Kevin Geyer jamming in their garage. They added Ryan Torf on drums shortly after and then asked Kelen Capener to jam on bass. Parker Cannon was next to come in to complete TSSF. Few months ago Kevin Ambrose moved to Oregon for college and I joined shortly after.

Who are your major influences musically and non-musically?

First To Leave, The Fullblast, Dillinger Four, Lifetime, Thursday, Living With Lions, New Found Glory, Guns Up, Comeback Kid, Mac Dre and the Crestside rappers, Dr. Dre, Bob Marley, Blink obviously & Boxcar Racer. Rush. Into It Over It. Such Gold. Taking Back Sunday. Mike Kinsella. Rocky Vatoloto. Non-musically, Mary Jane and that PMA.

I have seen a lot of posts talking about how young everyone in the band is, exactly how old is everyone in the band at the moment?

Kelen and myself are 19, Ryan is 17, Kevin and Parker are 18. Ryan is finishing his senior year of high school.

At this very moment you are on tour with This Time Next Year and Matt Foster of First To Leave, how has the tour been for you guys so far?

Tour has been a blast! It’s been snowing and raining but Washington is a beautiful state and we love it here.

What has been your favorite thing about touring with This Time Next Year and Matt?

I think the fact that we are all from Walnut Creek, is pretty cool. Most of us went to the same high schools which is pretty cool. We’ve been going to shows together for the past few years now and it’s cool to just hang out and get to party with them.

The band’s split with Maker is out now, how would you compare the songs on the split to the songs on your previous records?

The songs are in my opinion, faster and heavier. The band took some time on these more than the other songs and I think they show some growth in the band.

Are you stoked that the record is finally out for everyone to hear?

Yes, very stoked to finally have it out. We’ve had these songs since June and have had a hard time keeping them to ourselves but we think it’s worth the wait.

Did you do anything differently writing or recording wise than you have with the previous records?

We recorded everything at Sam Pura’s new Panda Studios, which was the best time ever. We blew a shitload of vape bags and came out with songs that we love.

How did you come up with the idea of releasing the split?

Well it was really Maker’s idea. We hung out with them in Stockton, CA at a show and clicked and exchanged numbers and Eric and I just started going to work. Such Gold helped us along with it as well which was tight.

Pure Noise Records released the split, what was it like working with them once again?

Can’t say enough good things about Jake. He puts a lot of work into this stuff and the result is killer. Couldn’t be happier to be a part of the Pure Noise Family.

What was the reasoning behind choosing a vinyl release for the split?

We love vinyl and think it’s cool. We wanted to put out something that we can look at and say “fuck yeah this is sick!” and most of us collect vinyl so it worked out.

Have you been writing any new material as of late? If so, what can we expect with the new songs?

Yes we have been writing a little bit. The new songs are going to be cool, happy songs and they will make you want to dance and groove in your bedroom. And they’re heavy as fuck.

When is the band aiming to release a full-length record?

By Summer 2011 We want a record out. But no promises.

Earlier in the year you released your “While You Were Sleeping” EP as a free download before it’s release date, what influenced the band’s decision to do this?

We had the songs, and we weren’t thinking of releasing them officially so we just wanted people to hear it.

One thing I have noticed with the band is that the lyrics on all of the releases have been great. Do you all work together with writing the lyrics or does one member primarily write them all? And what the major influences when writing them?

Kelen and I (Parker) worked together on While You Were Sleeping for the most part. I was listening to so many different bands and going to shows all the time and I guess it just wrote itself. Kevin (Geyer) and I saw Killing the Dream and Verse at 924 Gilman and that had a major impact on us as musicians and writers. For the Maker split, I wrote all the lyrics in every class of my senior year of Northgate high school. All the kids that I had been to school with for my entire childhood Stress and relief, friends and foes you know.

Yourselves and Second To Last are often regarded as two of the front-runners of the new wave of younger pop punk bands to come out of California, do you ever feel any kind of pressure considering a lot of people have great expectations for the band?

Hype is hype. We just do our thing, we love writing music and playing shows. As long as we keep touring and living and keepin that PMA, everythings gravy.

Back in September you announced that Kevin had decided to leave the band to focus on going to college, but he was quickly replaced on guitar by Will. How did you decide that Will would be the best person to join the band?

He was ready and available and has been hanging with us for a long time. It wasn’t something we thought about for very long and we didn’t look for anyone else. He’d been filling in for a while and so we just adopted him when Kevin left.

Can you ever see the band becoming a full time thing?

Yes. As of this very moment, no, but in the near future we plan on it.

Does the band ever have any confusion with the other bands named The Story So Far?

No, I know the Wales one broke up, but we didn’t care when they were a band.

Do you have any goals that you would like to achieve with this band?

Go to as many places as possible and play as many shows as possible.

What is the most memorable show you have played with the band?

We played a house show in Concord, CA with Such Gold this summer and I think that was the most fun I’ve had playing a show.

Who are some bands that we might not have heard of over here in Australia that we should be checking out?

Stickup Kid and Transit.

Do you think we could expect to see the band make the trip over here one day to play some shows for us?

That would be insane and we would love to.

What are the band’s plans for the rest of the year and into 2011?

We are going to keep writing some jams, and playing shows. Do some heavy touring in the summer.

Thanks for doing the interview, any last words for anyone reading this?

Thank you, thanks to anybody who is reading this, picked up a record/shirt/listened to our band, looked at your myspace, made fun of us, etc. We really appreciate it.

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