Balance And Composure

Following the release of their fantastic EP "Only Boundaries", Balance And Composure have cemented themselves as one of the best up and coming bands to keep your eye on. The band's drummer Bailey answered some questions for us.

Start of by stating your name, what you play in Balance And Composure and your favourite movie of all time?

My name is Bailey and I play drums in the band Balance and Composure. My favorite movie of all time has to be Apollo 13. Outer Space is awesome and so is Tom Hanks. The band's collective favorite movie is either basketball diaries or dumb and dumber...hard to say, both great for many reasons.

Can you tell us a bit about how the band was formed?

The band formed after Jon’s old band had broken up in my junior year of high school. Matt, our old guitarist and I we’re all in a different band together. Jon asked us if we wanted to start a new project with him and we agreed.

Who would you say are the band’s main influences musically?

Nirvana, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker and Built to Spill are bands who we all listen to on a regular basis and certainly gain inspiration and influence from.

The band’s split with Tigers Jaw will be released next month. Can you tell us a bit about the writing and recording process for these songs?

We all collectively contributed to the writing of the songs for the Tigers Jaw split. Garageband was definitely used quite a bit. We kept a shared file on the Internet for new ideas and such and ended up taking a lot of different riffs and chord progressions from separate ideas to form the songs; kind of like a puzzle. After the songs were written, Jon came up with the melodies and lyrics and we demoed them in Matt’s garage. After demoing we headed into the studio with Vince Ratti to produce the final product.

Has the band’s sound progressed much since “Only Boundaries”?

I’d say absolutely. It’s definitely not the progression that we had from our first EP “I Just Want To Be Pure” to “Only Boundaries”, but I do think that the songs are more raw and in many ways more mature than “Only Boundaries”. It’s the direction we all wanted to head in.

Who came up with the idea to release the split with Tigers Jaw?

Tigers Jaw came to us about the idea. They had four songs recorded that were supposed to go on a split with another band that fell through and didn’t end up happening. Jeff from Run For Cover confirmed everything with Chris at No Sleep and we were lucky enough to share a release with them.

The band’s latest EP “Only Boundaries” was released in August last year. What was the overall reaction like towards the EP?

It seemed to receive a very nice reaction overall. We were definitely nervous as to what people would think of it being that it was so much different than “I Just Want To Be Pure” but to our surprise it received good reviews and people seemed to dig it. A lot of it also had to do with the fact that Erik joined our band and for the first time the writing of our songs was being done together and not just by one individual. We consider it to be our first release as “Balance and Composure”.

Why did the band decide to release “Only Boundaries” on vinyl instead of a CD release?

Chris from No Sleep suggested it and having an actual vinyl release is something that we really wanted to do. There’s something more intimate and real about vinyl than any other format. It’s neat because I read somewhere not to long ago that out of any other musical selling format, vinyl had the most increase in sales from 2008-2009. Even though we probably didn’t contribute to that statistic its satisfying to know that listeners and artists are supporting the root of how most music is sold today.

When is the band planning on recording a full length?

We are currently writing our full length as we speak. We don’t plan to record it until late summer/early fall.

How did the signing with No Sleep Records fall into place?

I’m pretty sure Chris heard about us from The Wonder Years and started talking to us via email or something. He dug “I Just Want To Be Pure” quite a bit but when we kicked out our old guitarist he wasn’t sure if he wanted to release “Only Boundaries”. We recorded it, sent him the tracks and luckily he was into it.

The band is about to head out on tour with Man Overboard and A Loss For Words later this month, what are you looking forward to most about this tour?

Hanging out with good friends and making new ones. We’re also excited that it’s an acoustic tour. It’s something we’ve never really done before but it’s nice to have a change of pace once in a while.

Have you played with either of those bands much before?

We haven’t played with A Loss For Words before but have seen them live multiple times; definitely a great band to look out for. We’re great friends with the Man Overboard guys and have toured and played shows with them bunches of times. Best dudes, awesome band.

What does the band like to do when you’re not on the road?

Even though it may not be much different than being on the road, we all really enjoy practicing and writing new material. When not practicing and if the weather is nice enough we support the quarry life and jump off shit. Good hangouts and good eats are always a plus as well.

Who are some bands we should be checking out?

If you haven’t checked out these bands you are a fool: Daylight, Man Overboard, Transit, Makeout Party, Make Do and Mend, Into It. Over It., O’brother, Sainthood Reps.

If you could tour with any three bands, past or present, who would you chose and why?

Neutral Milk Hotel, The Smiths and Colour Revolt. Great bands, meaningful music.

Does the band currently have any plans on coming to Australia?

Without a doubt trying to make it out to Australia sometime in 2010 if you’d like us to! Seems like a great country with lots of fun to be had.

What are the band’s plans for the rest of 2010?

Aside from writing and recording our full length we plan on touring as much as possible. A bunch of stuff to be announced within the next few months so stay tuned.

Thanks for doing the interview, any last words?

Support the bands you love and a big thanks to Tom for doing this interview. Hope to see you soon!

http://www.myspace.com/balanceandcomposure
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Balance-and-Composure/63873166353
http://twitter.com/balanceandcomp
http://www.nosleeprecs.com