New Found Glory – Interview

For New Found Glory, it’s not just a matter of having a chance banner year or fluke popular album that has kept the act at the forefront of the pop-rock scene. It’s more like a banner career – built through the efforts, determination and talent within the band.

Two years ago, the quintet released their most successful album to date, the Gold-awarded (now with sales approaching Platinum) Sticks And Stones. That album was the follow-up to the band’s self-titled, major-label, debut – which sold in excess of 500,000, generating their first Gold record.

But not great bands are not made based on their impressive sales figures. Fortunately, New Found Glory understands, and perhaps more importantly, practices the concept of success via a strong dedication to the material they’ve penned and a commitment to the enthusiastic audience that’s supported them throughout the years.

Get the scoop on New Found Glory as we speak with bassist Ian Grushka.

You have to be excited to have the record coming out.

Well we were on the road so long for the last record that we needed a break and now that we’ve had a nice long break we are going crazy because we don’t know what to do with ourselves. For me I only have my wife and dog at home, I don’t have any friends. You get antsy to play shows and lose some pounds.

Being on the road doesn’t help keep friends either.

Well, yeah, but I have trouble trusting people. Where we are from in Florida that is where all my real friends are and knew me before the band. Not that everyone knows who we are, but now that we are in California whenever I meet someone and they find out I’m in a band it’s all about that stuff, but when I’m not on the road I don’t want to be Ian from New Found Glory all the time. I want to be myself.

You get your fill of that. Are you getting back into tour mode?

I’m ready. We haven’t toured in a while. Even going to shows, I went and saw Michelle Branch and you just want to be on stage. You have something you really enjoy and it’s taken away from you and you get antsy. Especially for Warped Tour. That is the best tour to go on. You can hang with dirt people, and new people, and there are fifty bands in there and everyone is equal. There are no egos. No one complains, you just go there and have a great time. Plus you get free t-shirts from all the merch booths.

Is it cool to hang with the fans?

For the fans it’s a rough day hanging in the sun. After going to one Warped show as a fan you are so tired. But as a band you have to be careful how long you stay in the sun. A reason lots of fans go to Warped is to meet bands. It’s great to tour with bands like NOFX and Bad Religion is great for us because they paved the way for us.

What are your feelings about all the bands that are out now that wanted to be NOFX and even New Found Glory?

It’s kind of cool. Bands like Pennywise and Blink so when you are growing up you want to be in a band like that. If you are playing an instrument you have to pick a style. I liked punk because I’m not a great musician. So growing up I was the worst on the guitar so the only songs I could really play were the punk songs. (We both laugh) I had friends who would be playing Megadeth guitar solos and I could keep up.

So you were ripping three barre chords and they were guitar prodigies.

Yeah, and it’s weird that I was the worst out of all of them. I asked them to teach me but they got frustrated because it took me so long to learn. I thought they would all be successful musicians and all those guys who were great don’t even play their instruments anymore.

You’re like “I told you punk rules!”

(Laughs) I know.

And “I told you that Megadeth wouldn’t last!”

(Laughs) For real, but you know I wish I could play that metal stuff. I wish I could play like Joe Satriani, but it’s never going to happen.

I’m with you. (We both laugh) When Nirvana came out it was great because it was pretty simple guitar riffs to play.

To play like crazy solos is a talent you are born with. My fingers just don’t move like that.

I remember talking to a country singer who is a guitar player who told me he used to practice ten hours a day to be mediocre.

(Laughs) Sounds familiar, I mean, I can’t even play any song all the way through except for our songs. I’ll learn a riff here and a riff there, but I always learn the cheesy way and not the real way. I just do it my own way. (We both laugh) No I play drums for fun. I plug in my Ipod and play. I’m not playing what they are playing on the recording, but it feels good. (We both laugh)

It’s hard to get your foot going and your hands and the rest at the same time.

I wish I was a drummer, but I’m not good enough.

Okay, well since that dream is gone… what about the record. When do you say “it’s time to work on the new record”?

Chad writes the majority of music in our band. He is a writing machine. He’ll go into the bathroom and go number 2 and has written some of our songs with an acoustic guitar while on the toilet. The new single “All Downhill From Here” and he thought of the riff while driving to practice. Then he figured it out at practice and we wrote it that day.

Isn’t it interesting how you say he works the songs out on acoustic guitar and it’s a punk song—fans just don’t think of a punk song starting on an acoustic guitar.

If you really break it down with like Buddy Holly, one of the greatest rock bands ever, they were punk rock songs. They were just slower without the distortion. Punk rock is just rock with more energy. It’s kind of weird from an outside perspective, but you just plug in and play it.

Is it natural for Chad to come in with a song and the chemistry is so good it just comes together naturally.

We’ve had the same formula since we’ve been together. Chad will work with Cyrus to get the drum kicking and then we’ll practice. And then we all pitch in and try different things. I think between the five of us like different kinds of music so we all put in different influences. I listen to pop stuff but also ‘80s hair bands and Phil Collins. Chad likes hardcore stuff. Steve likes slow Emo music. It’s cool because we all have different input.

If you could be any artist who would it be?

Phil Collins. That guy is a genius.

For him the beat was everything. Having that history as a drummer made his songs better because of the back beat.

Yeah, and the fact that for one song he was playing drums, then the next he was playing keyboards. He was an incredible musician.

What keeps you sane on the road?

Xbox.

What games do you like?

Steve is really into CounterStrike and the Xbox live games. He talks to his friends on the headphones. I like sports games like College Football, baseball, Madden, but Steve likes shooting and counter terrorist games.

I love sports games too.

Me too, but I also like the games with only a few buttons. I can’t do all that left, down, up, right, a, b, right trigger, start. I can’t remember all those combinations. I like Hockey games.

I can’t get the power play going and the quick passes. I get too frustrated.

I got the new NHL because they have my favorite player Kirk Muller. He’s a free agent on there; I wish they had turn-back-the-clock in NHL where I can play all the old teams and stuff.

They have that on some of the football games, but they don’t give you names, only numbers and you have to type those things in. That’s a pain in the ass.

Yeah, you have to go online to search for the old rosters.

I like Barry Sanders in like 1992 and he’s 100% on everything. He’s like a rocket.

I know.

Does everyone play or do you have to play by yourself?

When we are on tour its crazy. Like Jordan brings his own videogame and sets it up in his bunk because he doesn’t want to wait to play. Chad will play a game for two seconds and leave the game paused and no one can play. Usually we take turns and play Vice City and sports games in the back of the bus. On this tour we are wiring the bus so that the back of the bus can play the front of the bus. They are into the gaming stuff. I let them set it up and I’m ready to go.

+ Charlie Craine