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All Time Low - Alex Gaskarth Interview

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http://dcnlyt.com/atl

Interview with Alex Gaskarth from All Time Low

The Shortest Tour Ever - July 2008
by Avalon Kenny (with DD Thornton)

Avalon interviewed All Time Low's guitarist and lead vocalist Alex Gaskarth during All Time Low's headlining junket called "The Shortest Tour Ever" - a ten-day summer tour with supporting bands Hit The Lights, Valencia, and There for Tomorrow.

Alex invited us to chat with him in the back of the band's tour bus. As we sat down, Alex lowered the volume on the HDTV on the back wall, where the film Deep Blue Sea was in progress.

-- Posted 19 July 2008 (DD)

Listen to This Interview with Alex Gaskarth (10:40)

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What's your name and MySpace link?

I'm Alex Gaskarth and our Myspace link is myspace.com/alltimelow.

How did you guys meet?

We met in high school. Jack [Barakat, ATL's guitarist] and I knew each other from 8th grade, and once we got into our freshmen year we met Rian [Dawson,ATL's drummer] who went to our high school, and Zack [Merrick, ATL's bassist], who went to a different high school but was in the same grade through a mutual friend. We found him and added him as a member of the band last just because we didn't have a bass player.

Were you guys in any bands before All Time Low?

Um, not really. We kind of messed around with different combinations of people but it was never really a real band.

What city are you guys from?

Baltimore.

What were some bands you guys listened to growing up?

Blink[-182], Green Day, New Found Glory. Before that I listened to Metallica and the Foo Fighters and Third Eye Blind. And the Backstreet Boys. I had pretty eclectic taste for a twelve year old.

What are some bands you currently listen to? What are some bands in your iPod right now?

Man I have so much music in my iPod right now it's ridiculous. It spans from genres like classical to rap to anything really. Not a big fan of country. A few things I've been listening to a lot lately are The Maine's new record. It's really good. I really will always be a big fan of Third Eye Blind. I listen to them all the time. The new Lil Wayne CD is really good.

Has being in a band changed you in any ways?

Yeah I mean I've learned a lot about the music industry. It's let me stay I think a little less focused towards maybe acting sensible and grown up at times. I can definitely put on the face when need be but being in a band for sure keeps me younger, which is cool. It's given me a sense of the world cause we get to travel a lot.

What are your favorite brands of guitars, drums, and basses?

Rian plays SJC drums. They're customs. Zach uses Fender bass. Jack and I up till now both play Gibsons, but I'm thinking of possibly switching over to Fender, too.

Do you have a favorite guitar that you own?

Yeah right now I have three of the same guitar. They're made by Gibson. They're called SG-X. They were limited edition. They were put out for one year. They're all bright colors like blue-green, a yellow one, and a pink one. I enjoy them. Oh my God Samuel L. Jackson just got eaten by a giant shark.

[Editor's note: Alex was quite attentive during the interview but when the shark jumped out and chomped on the tasty Jackson, it was hard to ignore.]

What's your favorite song off of So Wrong, It's Right??

I'd have to say "Poppin' Champagne." It's kind of a reflection of my life. We just shot a video for it, it comes out soon.

Do you know the exact date?

I think August 1.

If you could get stereotypical, how would you classify your music?

We call it pop-punk.

What are your future plans for your band? Do you have any tours coming up?

This tour's ten days long, then we join on the Warped Tour [starting July 23] til the end of the summer. We're really excited about that because we love Warped Tour. And then right after that we do a couple UK dates, then we take September off to write more music because we're getting ready to do the next record at the end of the year. And then as soon as end of September/October hits, we're doing a big headliner.

You mentioned Warped Tour. How many times have you played it?

This will be our third year playing it, but last year was the only time we played the whole thing.

Who impressed you? What did you learn?

Paramore was amazing. Starting Line was great. I really enjoyed watching The Gallows. They're a heavier band from London but they're really fun to watch. And Set Your Goals are a Warped Tour favorite by now.

What were some of your real all time lows?

I almost failed out of high school. I just didn't like high school, I really didn't care to try or anything. By the end of it I was so focused on doing this band thing and I was convinced it was going to work out that I didn't really consider anything else an option. I had confidence in it though. That was one of my all time lows - having that conversation with my guidance counselor day after day where he told me I wasn't going to get into college.

Where do you get your crazy/goofy video concepts?

For our music videos? We just like to have fun of it. We've been taking some heat for it. There was a picture from the new video shoot posted on AbsolutePunk.net recently, and it was being torn apart. Everyone was like, "this video's going to be so stupid. they never do serious videos." I was like, first of all, it's one still shot from a three and a half minute video and you're saying the whole video's going to suck. But I don't know, we're not really a serious band. If we put out a serious video all of a sudden, people would be so thrown off and confused and I don't think it would work either. It's a good time filming stuff that isn't too serious.

What's your ideal tour?

Jimmy Eat World... we would open. Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182 and the Foo Fighters co-headlining.

How big of a Blink-182 fan are you?

I'm a huge fan. They're my favorite. It's one of my main reasons I play in a band and it's the real reason it's the kind of music we play.

Who's the biggest Blink fan?

Jack is probably the biggest Blink fan. I would say either Jack or Rian.

One word about each member of your band?

Rian is the nicest one. He's the most polite. Zack is mysterious. Jack is insane. It's hard to describe yourself.

Coke or pepsi?

Coke.

Heineken or Pabst Blue Ribbon?

Heineken.

What kind of underwear do you wear?

Boxer briefs.

What's the longest sets you get to play?

Usually an hour when we're headlining.

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