A new, modern and unconventional band is going to conquer the Victory rooster... 
    these charming guys' ascending from the devilish Long Island band pool aren't just 
    another band performing aggressive stuff with emotionality and sensitivity. well, in 
    one way yes' but there's much more behind, which makes Bayside outstanding! 
 

    frk: as i read in the press sheet you're from long island, which is predicted to be the next 
    big music scene overseas. so tell us more about the place where "the magic happens"?;)

    Long Island is kind of wierd. There are definitly alot of great bands from here but none of 
    them really play here. the bigger bands from here like Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, 
    Glassjaw etc.. are all too big to play anywhere here. They all play thier "hometown" shows 
    in Manhatten. Long  Island is a suburban wasteland filled with houses that all look the
    same, tons of fast food, trailer parks and plenty of bad bar bands and cover bands. I think 
    the boredom you have to deal with living in Long Island is kind of the inspiration for the 
    music as well as the motivation to succeed and get out.

    frk: your name: bayside... seems that you like the sea. don't you?

    well living in a city made up mostly of islands for 21 years, you get  used to spending time 
    at waterfront parks, at the beach and things like that. Those are big parts of living in this area. 
    The name actuallycomes from the name of the town that I live in in Queens, Ny.

    frk: you guys just entered the victory family... in the past the smashed masses of releases in 
    our local stores, with some shit' but generally good stuff. anyway, you're not the only band, 
    which was signed in the very young  past. but whats the pretty essence that makes bayside 
    outstanding?

    We are so happy and proud to be a part of Victory Records and to work with what 
    I believe to be the best record label staff in the world. The biggest thing that makes us 
    different from most of the bands that we are compared to and we are in the same scene as 
    I think is that we concentrate totally on music. I think we are a very honest band. Very real. 
    We are'nt doing this for any reason besides that we love to play music and we really believe 
    in everything we play. We are'nt trying to fit in or be anyone else. I think that's such a huge 
    problem with the punk world today, everyone is trying to fit in or be the next big thing. 
    We just want to play music

    frk: let's take a journey through your life in the last few months... how was it doing a record 
    for a huge independent record label? and first of all' how did you get the attention of such a 
    "releasing machine"? 

    We first hooked up with Victory about a year ago or so when we sent them in a demo we 
    did in a friend's house. The got the demo and called us back and eventually came out to a 
    show we did in Chicago. The last few months have been incredible and totally surreal. Our 
    shows have been getting much bigger. Things are getting alot easier for us and we are real 
    happy about it. We have, however, been extremely busy and have'nt had any free time but 
    it's all been worth it. Doing the record was amazing. We got to go into a great studio and 
    make music with an incredible producer for a month. It was such a dream come true.

    frk: a simple role game: you're a prouct and you have to sell yourself to a group of buyers' 
    who know nothing about you or your product... what would  you say?

    I would hate to have to talk people into buying our cd, I would love for music to speak for 
    itself but hypathetically speaking.....i guess I would say that we are a catchy, real rock band. 
    no frills, no glam. nothing cheesey. just matrure and meaningful.

    frk: what about money, are you guys fulltime musicians now or you still have something to 
    do besides to earn bread and water? 

    We are full time musicians now. We have been for about a year and half. We tour like 10 
    months out of the year so we don't really have any time to do anything else. I would'nt want to.

    frk: how many people recognize you on the street? 

    It is happening more and more lately. It depends on the city I guess. In cities we do real well 
    in it happens at the malls or places that punk rock kids hang out. Not at like the bank or the 
    supermarket or anything. We are'nt celebrities or anything. 

    frk: are there any things that influence your songwriting, except music from other bands? 

    Nothing that I really know of. My life is pretty much all music. I'm either playing it, listening to 
    it or reading about it. It's all I think about.

    frk: what if you had the chance to get one question in an interview asked from your own side: 
    what would you ask yourself? 

    I would ask if there have been any people in particular that have influenced them. like a 
    particular member of a band, a friend, family member, actor, politician etc... No one ever 
    asks that and I think it would be good information to know.

    frk: we got a section in our magazine called "crimes in the past"... so have you guys experienced
    any funny sort of criminal activities yet? 

    Not as a band. We all act like old farts. I don't think I'm capable of breaking the law anymore.
    I'm way too afraid of consiquences now. I got all of that out of my system when I was younger.
    I used to be a terrible teenager. I got kicked out of high school for graffitti, used to steal cars, 
    do drugs. Bad little kid. I'm glad I grew out of that though.

    frk: what are the further bayside plans? 

    In a few weeks we leave for a US/Canadian tour with the Juliana Theory for 5 weeks. 
    After that we are going to be in the UK for 2 weeks in May. Not  sure about what happens 
    from there but we definitly plan on being on tour non stop for the next year or so at least. 
    We have alot of hard work ahead of us. 

    text: frankie