Four Year Strong: Band Profile

Four Year Strong: Band Profile
By: Paul G. Atkinson IV
I had a chance to catch up with a few of the guys from Four Year Strong on their ongoing tour with Bayside, Straylight Run, The Status, and Look Alive. Dan O’Connor (guitar/vocals) and Alan Day (guitar/vocals) talked about everything from the coming summer’s Warped Tour and new songs to downloading music and being straight edge. Here’s a glimpse of what they had to say.

One of the main questions on my mind was simply “Beards?” Every member of Four Year Strong sports a substantial beard, with some that would give any lumberjack a run for his money.

“We all like beards” Dan said, though “It’s not a gimmick” he asserted, it was just easier not to shave on the road. Now it’s turned into a joke, they even make their tour manager grow a beard.

Most tours these days are corporate sponsored, single genre minded, out of control creations, but this tour was Bayside’s own creation. Basically Bayside asked Four Year Strong if they’d like to come out, and they said “Fuck yeah! Why wouldn’t we?” This friendship worked out well later in the tour when Four Year Strong’s transmission died in their van; Bayside and Straylight Run offered up space on their buses and kept the ball rolling.

The guys were pretty happy as they recently signed a deal that put them on a joint record label set up with current label i-Surrender and indie powerhouse Decaydance. To celebrate the good news the guys put their album up for free download on their website. When asked how they felt about the so-called downloading epidemic, “Why not embrace it?” is what they questioned back. With major labels in confusion, the existence of the cd fleeting, and the Internet exploding, the guys feel that downloading spreads the word further and faster than traditional means ever could. “We understand where these kids are coming from, they’re broke like we were, and otherwise wouldn’t be able to listen to our record.” Now kids get to hear what all the hype was about and will most likely scrounge up enough money to make it out to a show and probably tell their friends all about it. “It’s not something we can avoid, and it’s not a big deal.”

After writing last week’s article on the vegan and straight edge movements in the underground rock scene, I was curious if any of the guys followed either lifestyle. It just so happened both the guys were straight edge and have been for nearly a decade. They guys held similar sentiments to my own, it’s a personal decision:

“We’re not the type of people that push our beliefs on other people, I respect the decisions that [others] make. I made my decision, but that doesn’t mean everyone should be the same. You gotta decide what you personally want to do and just roll with it.”

They live the lives they’ve chosen for themselves and wouldn’t have it any other way. They don’t succumb to the pressures of peers and don’t feel listeners should either, that’s why they never preach about their lifestyle choices.

The band got to play their hometown date on Warped Tour last summer, but this time around they have at least the entire second half of the summer to showcase their live show insanity. Four Year Strong have a chance to bring a fresh face to the often over done, cookie cutter line-up that has plagued recent Warped Tours. The band’s mentality is, “do your own thing, even if not as many people like it, it’s so much more respectable that you can go out there and do what you want to do.” As opposed to wondering what people will like and following musical trends that leave most bands sounding the same, they take their own path:

“It’s the same reason we all look like shit, we don’t have any fashion sense, we know we’re not the best looking dudes in the world. Why try to pretend we’re some sweet pop punk band that’s trying to get fucking girls and shit like that? We’re just trying to play music, that if I were at a show, I would want to see.”

Combining influences from Boston hardcore acts like “Blood For Blood and Hope Conspiracy” with pop punk bands like “New Found Glory, Saves The Day, The Movielife, and of course Bayside” the band makes sing along music with catchy choruses, but with a solid saturation of metal guitar riffs and grinding double bass drum breakdowns. The guys said the sound wasn’t really a conscience decision; they just played what was fun, a menagerie of what was in their record collection. Speaking of records, if you still haven’t picked up their latest album, Rise Or Die Trying, then you’re really missing out. It’s in stores right now, and as of April will be available on a limited edition 12” vinyl format, with three different colors.

While the album just recently came out the guys are already looking forward to writing new material. Though they admit it’s hard to do on the road, they’ve recently started messing around, throwing back and forth guitar riffs and potential melodies. Don’t hold your breath for new songs anytime soon though. Get your fix by seeing them live, after I did I was blown away, and I’ll have a show review next week to show you how Four Year Strong and the other bands on tour move the crowd. Don’t forget to check them out on their upcoming tour with Bayside and The Starting Line hitting Orlando’s House of Blues April 13th.