A FEW WORDS WITH GUITARIST JIMMY LADUE...

IE: Can you tell us about what the band has been up to within the last 6 months? With just a demo out you guys have criss-crossed sections of the US with an insane amount of touring. Where have you gone and when and what has the experience been like?

Jimmy: The last 6 months have been pretty good to us, we've just been trying to tour and write as much as possible. We were lucky enough to be able to hop on the first portion of the Expire/ Take Offense/ Fire and Ice/ Bent Life Tour in November. The shows for that tour were insane, and we'd love to do more tours like that in the future. Great bands and great people. Other than that, we did a tour in January with a band out of Texas called Vulgar Display, along with a couple of short runs with bands like Backtrack and Expire. After our EP is out, we hope to be on the road even more.

IE: What have you learned about yourself and the other guys in the band with this time of being on the road together?

Jimmy: In the time of us being on the road, or even us being a band, I've learned that nothing will happen over-night, you have to put in your time and effort. Especially being a band from the Midwest, where everything is so spread out. You have to do twice the work to get half the results as opposed to a band on the coast. That being said, we've grown pretty close as friends and a team which I feel happens pretty naturally when you're within 10 feet of each other for days/weeks on end.

IE: Describe the Cross Me vehicle that has been getting you all from point A to point B during this time frame.

Jimmy: The Cross Me van, also known as "The White Rider" is a tin-can that constantly gives us issues, but has held up pretty good considering the bullshit we've put it through.

IE: What’s going on back home? Has anyone had to quit jobs/put school on hold or anything family related to do this amount of touring?

Jimmy: Chris and I both have had to quit jobs in order to tour. It sucks, but it’s a necessary evil. None of us are in school, As of now we all have bullshit jobs that will let us off whenever we want, and however long we want.

IE: You got a new 7” on the way on Flatspot. Can you tell us the details on when it will be out, how many songs, the title, where did you record it and all that other fun stuff?

Jimmy: It'll be out sometime in late spring. It's a 5 song EP called "Paid In Full" that includes one song off the demo, and a single we released in summer called "Bad Company." We recorded it at Howl Street Studios in Milwaukee. Honestly I couldn't be happier with how the new songs turned out. I hope everyone is as stoked on them as we are. 

IE: When I saw you guys on Long Island someone in the band walked up to me and handed me a CD for free. How many do you think you guys gave out for free and how much would you guess that has set you back $$$ wise?

Jimmy: All of those physical copies of demos came out of our own pockets. I don’t even want to think about how much money we spent on just CD's. When I got my tax return this time last year I spent roughly $600 on materials just to make them. If I were to guess I'd say we burned around 2000 demos in total. But it's definitely paid off.  

IE: Name one band that you guys have run across during all this touring and thought to yourself “damn these guys are good”

Jimmy: There's a few bands we've played shows with that when I watched them, I was blown away. One band that comes to mind is "Killing Session" out of Cincinnati. They're pretty young dudes that play straight up thrash metal, and it's so sick to watch. I wish I could play guitar half as good as those guys. Another band that stuck out is "Cold Hearted" out of Florida. They were on our show in Pensacola, and after their set I thought to myself "How the fuck are we supposed to follow that?" That band is insane to watch, and they are definitely worth checking out. 

IE: You guys are from Milwaukee and got a little Expire influence to you as well. How big have those guys been with helping you guys come along and make a name for yourselves?

Jimmy: Expire has definitely been a huge help to us. Those dudes have backed us since day one. If I ever need help or have questions with anything, I go to them first. Those dudes are our brothers. Keep your eye out for their new LP "Pretty Low" being put out on Bridge 9.

IE: That’s all I got… anything else you may want to add that we may have missed?

Jimmy: Just keep an eye out for our new EP "Paid in Full" on Flatspot Records. Thanks for taking the time to do this for us man!

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