HEAD 2 HEAD WITH THE STARTING LINE

On October 10th, 2001 our mission started at the ticket booth of the Trocadero in Philadelphia, where we were met by the manager who escorted us backstage to meet The Starting Line and then we proceeded  out the back doors.  Once there we were let loose with the newcomers of Drive-Thru records, The Starting Line, for probably one of their first interviews.  We talked to Ken Vasoli and Tom Gryskiewicz.  It ended up that Vasoli, vocals and bass, did most of the talking.  Standing next to one of the band's trailers we chatted with Vasoli about Sept. 11th, the meanings behind some of his songs, and the future of The Starting Line.  Standing in an alley, with sirens of fire engines and ambulances passing by, is not a typical interview, but our brief time did prove to be worth it.

Music Head (MH):  How have things been going for The Starting Line?  What have you been up to?

Ken Vasoli (KV):  Basically everything is going pretty well.  We just got back from a lot of heavy touring for a couple months.  Pretty much supporting our CD.  Right now we are just home writing songs and getting our shit tied together for our next CD.

MH:  I know it's a hard time now for musicians to be touring.  How have the incidents of September 11th affected you guys?

KV:  Pretty much all of our Movielife and Finch tour got cancelled because of it.  Even if it wasn't even near the terrorist attacks everything was just cancelled because the shock of it.  The repercussions didn't last for much longer than that.  Pretty much only four dates of ours got cancelled.

MH:  How did it affect you guys personally?

KV:  It's scary.  The most I can say about it is that I'm just really scared about it.  My generation has never really lived through anything this drastic.  It's a scary thing to think.  

MH:  How have the crowds in general responded to your music and how does it feel to be playing to a hometown crowd?

KV:  Our crowds, it's pretty much depending where we play, have been good.  For the most part we've had good reactions towards the crowds.  North Jersey is a really cool place to play for us.  We haven't really played hometown too much.  We played a hometown show a couple weeks ago and that was a really good turnout.  So, this is the first time we are really playing in a city.  It's been a dream of mine to really play the Troc, so we're definitely psyched for that.

MH:  Being that you guys met and were discovered on the Internet, what are your feelings on the Internet age and it's impact on the music industry?

KV:  It's done a lot of good.  Bands usually can't promote themselves very well.  It's easier to promote themselves.

MH:  Having only released a 5-song EP, what can one expect to hear at a Starting Line show?  Any songs off the unreleased new album or your previously recorded 12 track with We The People Records?

KV:  We try to do a spilt of both.  We do old stuff for people that actually have it and we do new stuff for people that are anxious to hear what we have coming and then we pretty much usually play all of the EP.

MH:  Do you ever play any acoustic or cover songs during your set?

KV:  We don't do any other cover songs.  We're not a huge fan of cover songs.  We do do an acoustic set that we've been opening with lately.  It's actually off that 12-song CD.

MH:  Being a young band, do you feel any pressure from anyone thinking you can't handle the road and what it takes to survive in the music business?

KV:  We get labeled as a young band just because of me.  Everybody's like 'What the singer is 17?  They must all be like 12.'  But really the rest of the band is about as old as the rest of (the band).  They really don't have any trouble with the road.  I really don't either.  I've been waiting to do this my whole life.

MH:  How important do you feel image is in the music industry?

KV:  Image?  Image helps.  There are some ugly bands out there.

MH:  What is it like being on the Drive-Thru label?

KV:  It's a dream come true.  It's what our ultimate goal was for a label.  Being on it is a great feeling.  It's like we accomplished what we set out to do.  Definitely the nicest people.  I can't even imagine another label treating us as good as they do.  And there's just a relationship between all the bands.  It's just incredible.

MH:  Where do you find the inspiration for the lyrics to your songs?  Also, is it a group effort or does one member do most of the writing of the lyrics and music?

KV:  I do all the lyric writing.  I write whatever is on my mind.  I try not to stick to a certain topic.  Like what I'm thinking about at a time and whatever I feel inspired by.  We make all the music together.

MH:  Speaking of lyrics, I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about the day 2/12/99 and the significance of the song "Leaving"?

KV:  It's pretty much just a date.  The night of that was 2/12/99.  It was a really good night.  I met a girl.  We just hit it off.  It was like the first really romantic experience I've ever had.  But she's a whore. (laughs)  (She is) nothing special to me anymore.

MH:  She got a whole song for herself.

KV:  Yeah, I don't think she's ever heard it though.

MH:  Speaking of writing songs for people, can you tell me about your friend Greg and why a whole song, "Greg's Last Day", was dedicated to him?  Are you still in touch with Greg?

KV:  Yeah, a lot of people are sad by the song or saddened by the song, "Greg's Last Day," because like 'aww you're best friend moved away.'  But of all those people he actually moved back a year ago.  And me and him are still really good friends.  We were pretty much the epitome of best friends.  We lived like 50 feet from each other.  It was just like every day we'd always be together.  I don't even remember meeting him because we just grew up at the same time.

MH:  What does he think about the song?

KV:  At first he made fun of me.  He's like 'dude, you're a pussy, you're writing a little love song about me.' And I was like 'shut up dude.'  But he really likes the song a lot.

MH:  Can you tell us about the full-length album you have coming out this fall?

KV:  We're actually still finishing writing songs, but we have enough songs.  We're (going to) try and keep playing and see if anything better comes up.  We record in December out in California with Mark Trombino who did all the Jimmy Eat World records.  It's due to come in the spring of next year.

MH:  If there was one thing that you could wish to happen to the band what would it be?

KV:  I guess for more people to hear us and if they like it then more people to support us.

MH:  Where do you see The Starting Line at in the next few years?

KV:  I see us still doing what we're doing.  Still just trying to make music that we like and not having a lesser live performance.  Our live performance is still high energy.

After the interview the guys managed to pose for some photos and we got to meet some of the other band's members.  They then went on to play a high energy performance opening for The Juliana Theory -Todd Wojtowicz