Conditions

By Jackie Cular

Conditions is a band on the rise and a band on tour. Whether it’s igniting fans at last year’s AP Spring Tour, Warped Tour, or playing South by So What, this band continues to impress new fans. Alex answers questions at South by So What in Dallas, Texas.


TCEC: “This show teases in one way or another at South by South West, which you guys played yesterday. Why do so many bands play that show and this show?”

Alex:  “Well yeah I get it, the south by south west is a great festival and it’s a very industry driven thing. This is our first time here; it just seems like a lot of fun. And it’s also a little more laid back, something that’s for fans who really come and enjoy it. As south by south west you get a lot of industry folk and people just kind of come in and get free drinks and food or whatever and just kind of stand around, watch the bands and move on to the next show where here it actually feels like a festival and it feels like a show that people are coming to get in to the music. And also being three hours away from Austin so I’m sure not all the kids in Dallas can always make the trip down. AND you know it’s kind of different there with the badges at different shows blah blah blah. Here you have everything consolidated where the kids can come and have fun.”

TCEC: “Did you see any acts while you were down there?” 

Alex: “I saw Say Anything yesterday and they were awesome. Unfortunately we missed a good amount; we drove all the way from Tampa to Austin so we got in pretty late and didn't have a whole lot of time down there. Yeah, I saw a couple and I think we’re gonna try and go back down tonight since we’re done pretty early today and try and go see Penny Wise tonight so hopefully i can get back there in time.”

TCEC: “Today is Saint Patrick’s Day; does your band have any pre- performance rituals that you do for good luck?”

Alex:  “Most of the time we kind of just gather around our drummer, Ryan, and we just kind of put our fists in and kind of give a little chant. More so just for fun, you know whatever. We take the music very seriously but we also take ourselves very not seriously so it’s just all about having fun. We tend to always have a good time.”

TCEC: “Because you tour a lot, you just came back from Australia recently. Like you said you just came from South by South West: what’s the best part of touring?” 

Alex:  “There are so many parts, clearly I love playing that’s the most rewarding part I guess. You know when you’re so far from home and you get up and you actually see people singing along and getting in to the music. I think my favorite part aside from just discovering new places, I love to travel. I just love having people come up and say, ‘hey man I really enjoyed your set I really like you guys blah blah blah.’ It’s even more surprising when someone will come up and say, ‘I have you lyrics tattooed right here, this sing means a lot to me.’ So you know that kind of makes it all worth wild, but we definitely have our off days and our shitty days like meh, I just want to be home right now. It happens and you can only deal with it for so long but when you talk to somebody like that it just makes your day.”

TCEC: “What is your least favorite part about touring?”

Alex:  “NOT sleeping much, uh eating terrible food. It’s just always going, you know when you get to stay in a hotel room and just relax its nice. We all are pretty active and it’s nice that when I’m at home and I don’t have scheduled things and I wake up at a decent hour and go to the gym and do normal stuff as where here you drove through the night and slept for three hours and eat taco bell. It’s a lot but it’s also so much fun at the same time, we have a blast.”

TCEC:  “This show has a lot of hardcore bands, are there any bands outside your genre that your fans would be surprised that you like? You mentioned Pennywise.” 

Alex:  “Yeah we listen to a lot of heavier music surprisingly, we all come from somewhat of pop-punk back rounds. But growing up we did listen to, I mean our singer was in a metal band called Scarlet that we all loved. As far as bands here today, I’m trying to think of who is playing. As a band we listen to Lamb of God, The Agony Scene, For Today. We listen to a wide variety I think that people would be surprised.”

TCEC:  “How do fans in Australia differ from here?”

Alex: “ I will say that Australia was pretty similar live wise. But when we went to the U.K I felt like people went way more crazy and got way more attached. I feel like in the U.K it’s not as much cycling through stuff, and kids in the U.S have so much more access to it all the time. That it’s like favorite band today and then gone tomorrow. But over there we haven't been in over three years, it’s been a while. We still get people hitting us up all the time saying, ‘when are you coming back to U.K? Blah blah blah, we love you here.’ In Australia it had kind of a mixed vibe, we had some people that would come up saying, ‘we’ve been following you for years now I’m so glad that you came to Australia finally.’ But the shows were pretty similar to this, like they were out door. A good amount of people singing along with it.”

TCEC:  “What is the first concert you have ever been to?” 

Alex:  “My first show was the Foo Fighters and they were opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers that was a hell of a show. I was like eleven or twelve when I went to that. I got to see a lot of good shows growing up actually. At the 9:30 Club right before they blew up I saw Blink-182 with the Ataris and Alkaline Trio and I was like twelve when that happened. So I saw a lot of pretty good shows growing up. I’m thankful for that.”

TCEC:  “Plans to make a music video any time soon?”

Alex:  “Um yeah actually, when we get to California there will be a film crew following us like for four or five days. So it gonna be a live kind of shot music video. Like some show footage and touring life footage so it will be a little more laid back and not like a story line. Just kind of showing us doing our thing, so I’m pretty excited about that, I think it will turn our pretty cool especially since they will have like four or five days to follow us. We are actually going to be playing paint ball against Sleeping With Sirens, and we have like jerseys and everything, so that would be kind of cool to get some random footage of that. Music videos are almost kind of dead for T.V but at least it can draw people in a little bit more, like when we have had a record out for a year now to keep people more interested. Something that is fresh, especially doing that and after this tour we’re going to be doing a new record. Trying to just keep new stuff coming out to that people keep up with us and don’t just say, ‘oh they’re still around?’” 

TCEC: “Do you have songs ready for the next album?”

Alex: “Yeah we have like six or seven songs, so we’re almost there. So when we get done with this we’re gonna crack down on some of the writing for a little while. And also trying to figure out who we are going to do the record with right now, we’re aiming for like May, June, and then try and have it out in the fall. The summer will be wrapping up the record, maybe some touring I’m not sure yet and then Fall the new record.”

TCEC: “Are there any charities that your band works with now?”

Alex:  “We have worked with the American Diabetes Association; we play at this high school every year where they donate to that. We have done that. More and more, every time. I have been more interested in the music and education ones. I’ve been kind of scoping out Music Saves Lives, I know VH1 does a lot with that. I think it is a really cool think to keep programs like that in schools funded properly and have that available to kids. It would just break my heart, to know that there is a kid that wants to do something with music but can’t because of the materials not provided to them. I grew up playing in the school band from middle school to high school; I was kind of a band kid. My brother is a music teacher in high school actually.”

Go to the band’s website for more information (chances are, they are on tour).