If you're heading to the Vans Warped Tour at Cricket Wireless Pavilion today and are a little overwhelmed by the array of band choices in front of you, newbies We Are the In Crowd might be worth a listen--especially if you're a fan of female-fronted groups with catchy pop hooks. The band from Poughkeepsie, N.Y. hasn't even recorded a full-length album yet, but the year-old group attracted the attention of Hopeless Records, which quickly signed the band and released their current EP, Guaranteed to Disagree.
This is quite the experience for the young band, whose members ages range from 19-22. The group originally started as a studio project, with founding member and singer Tay Jardine posting a song on MySpace. Things quickly snowballed, with the addition of a full band and some do-it-yourself touring.
"I feel like a lot of things we do move really fast," Jardine, 20, says. "We adjust really quickly, too. It's the way we work--we like to keep moving and not look back." Jardine gave Up on the Sun more insight into the making of their debut EP and how the band's feeling about their sudden success.
New Times: What do you attribute to your fast success?
Tay Jardine: We have really bad luck, but it's always a blessing in disguise. We're probably known more for these situations than any band I've ever known. What happened was, our MySpace got hacked in April 2009. We were super-bummed about it. We ended up getting a post on absolutepunk.net about it, and from there, Hopeless was looking at the site, and they saw us and were really interested. We get a call from the label, and we all thought it was fake. We thought, 'No
way.'
NT: Have you received any backlash because the band didn't have an album out before you were signed?
TJ: No, not really. I think people understand our relationship with our label. Our relationship with Hopeless is much like a family. We felt they had a lot of pride in us. More so, people are surprised and say, 'That's really awesome.'
NT: How did you come up with the EP name, Guaranteed to Disagree?
TJ: It's the way we work together and how everything comes together. We really do argue until everything's settled. That's something really good with all of us. We can point fingers and scream at each other, but we all contribute our ideas. It's a really democratic situation.
NT: What was your inspiration behind the songs?
TJ: Other than everyday situations, we're all really inspired by our parents. All of our parents have been involved in the music industry and contribute to why we play music. It's nice to have their support. My dad was a musician, and I started playing violin when I was in first grade, and I played it all the way through high school. I would play in bars--my
dad would sing and play guitar, and I would accompany him on violin. Ever since then I couldn't stop.
NT: You have both female and male vocals in your band. Why did you decide to go that route?
TJ: It makes things a little different. It kind of separates us from that mold of having one lead singer. We just really like the dynamic of it.
NT: What do you hope people take away from the EP?
TJ: I just hope people can listen to it with their windows down in the summer. We put it out to be really fun and say, 'Hey, this is who we are. We're a fun pop band.'
NT: How do you feel about playing Warped Tour?
TJ: I used to go to the one in Buffalo, N.Y. all the time. I was so stoked when school got out to go see it. I remember I told my mom one time, 'If I could play Warped Tour one day,' I could kill myself the day after, I'd be so happy.
NT: Why should people stop by your stage?
TJ: They should check us out because we're real. We want to meet them, and we love learning about everything. Even if what they have to say is negative, we always take something away from it.
