The Next New Things: Editors picks for Warped Tour 2013

This piece originally ran in the iPad edition of AP 301, but we love these bands so much that we wanted to share. 

Sure, we all have our fave bands we want to see at Warped Tour. But really, don’t you want to see something new? Of course you do, that’s why you clicked on this link in the first place. Here are the AP editors’ picks for bands who are worth standing in the blazing heat and glaring sun to witness.

REAL FRIENDS
STORY: Brittany Moseley
ON THE TOUR
6/15 – 7/13
STAGE
Kevin Says

“It was the greatest summer of my life and the worst summer of my life.” Kyle Fasel is recalling the first time he played Warped Tour in 2010 with his previous band, Breathe Electric. The worst parts: sharing a van with eight other people and little sleep. The best part: playing Warped Tour. Now that he’s picked up a few tips on how to survive Punk Rock Summer Camp, Fasel, bassist for Chicago pop-punk band Real Friends, is excited to spend a couple weeks out of his summer playing Warped. “You grow up going to Warped Tour; everyone knows Warped Tour,” he says. “That was one of my things when I started growing up and was in bands. I was like, ‘I want to play Warped Tour.’ It was one of the big goals on my list. On a personal level, it’s a big deal to know that you did that and accomplished it.”

Since their inception three years ago, Real Friends have released a handful of EPs, including their latest Put Yourself Back Together, which came out in June. And they’ve done it all without a record label, building their name up on their own, and, as Fasel is quick to point out, with the help of their growing fanbase. “I think we’re a fan-generated band,” he explains. “Anything that we’ve done is fueled by our fans, from posting stuff online to keeping that buzz around. We definitely owe it to all our fans.”

 The only thing that could put a slight damper on Real Friends’ Warped Tour experience? The epic heat. Fortunately, Fasel isn’t too concerned. “That’s really the only thing I’m not looking forward to. Everything else is great. I was just saying I wish Warped Tour was in the fall so it wouldn’t be so hot. It’s really all worth it, though. If the heat is the most of our worries, then whatever. I’m not worried about it.” 

CROSSFAITH
STORY: CASSIE WHITT
ON THE TOUR
All Dates
STAGE
Ernie Ball

When we caught up with frontman Kenta Koie of international metalcore wall-breakers Crossfaith, he was fresh off the first AP Tour Japan, where his tourmates (and Warped veterans) the Used and Silverstein offered some advice for the band’s first U.S. Warped run. “They told us Warped Tour is fucking hard for a new band.” 

True. Bands both new and old can attest to the difficulties of surviving the traveling festival. From the early mornings to the grueling heat to even so much as making the trip from one city to the next, it’s a no air-conditioned walk to the green room.

Still, the reality of Warped hasn’t diluted Crossfaith’s long-lived dream to play it. “My first time being around Warped Tour was listening to a Warped Tour compilation album,” says Koie. “In 2005, I bought the CD when I was a high school student. I [discovered] Atreyu, Underoath and a lot of other great bands. I thought, ‘I want to be there. I want to be playing Warped Tour,’ so it’s been a big dream for a long time.” With the full conviction they will “blow out” the tour, Crossfaith are ready to take on an audience that is more their speed this summer. “We would like to break [through] the walls of Japan to Western culture music.”

In their native Osaka, Japan, Crossfaith find themselves battling a music scene that is more enamored with sugar-laden pop acts (“Fucking K-Pop,” Koie sneers, laughing. “I fucking hate it”) than of Crossfaith’s aggressive tech-metal. Just don’t be quick to lump them in with America’s metalcore minions. “I think now people call us a ‘scene’ band in the States,” says Koie. “I don’t like that style; there are so many similar bands. It’s fucking boring. It sucks.” >>>
 

ALCOA
STORY: Scott Heisel
ON THE TOUR
7/11 – 8/4
STAGE
Acoustic Basement

As Defeater frontman Derek Archambault struggles to wake up at a local Starbucks near his Portsmouth, New Hampshire, apartment, he begins to explain the genesis of Alcoa, his folksy alt-country project, whose roots date back more than a decade. “It just kind of sat on the back burner,” he says between sips of his coffee. “I was always fumbling around with songs, and playing a show maybe once every couple of years.” Once Archambault joined Boston hardcore band Defeater, however, he was able to give his softer side breathing room on their albums, most notably the final four songs of 2011’s Empty Days & Sleepless Nights. The response to his acoustic material was overwhelmingly positive, giving him the motivation to complete Alcoa’s debut full-length, Bone & Marrow, released earlier this year on Bridge Nine Records.

Of course, with Defeater’s star continually on the rise, it makes it difficult for Archambault to properly tour as Alcoa, which is why he decided to pull double duty on Warped Tour this summer. Don’t expect to hear any of Defeater’s acoustic songs when Archambault is performing as Alcoa, though; he’s trying to keep the two worlds separate. “I think it kind of cheapens it if I’m just relying on, like, ‘Oh, in my other band, these songs are really popular. I’m going to play these,’ and forget I just put out an 11-song full-length that I’ve been working on for 10 years,” he says. “I think kids are definitely going to [request Defeater songs], but kids will be kids.”

At 31, Archambault is no longer a “kid” by conventional definition, but he’s definitely a novice when it comes to the world of Warped—he’s never played it before this summer, and he hasn’t even attended since the early 2000s. But when asked if he’s concerned about adapting to the intense grind that is Warped Tour, he seems unfazed. “I’m just kind of going to wing it,” he admits. “Everyone just says get prepared for the heat and the boredom and the hustling of it, like making sure you’re at your stage because if you’re not, you’re not playing. I’ve never done a tour like this, [but] I’m definitely excited about the whole experience.”

EMILY'S ARMY
STORY: Jason Pettigrew
ON THE TOUR
6/15 – 7/11
STAGE
Kevin Says

“We were on the tour for nine days last year,” recalls Emily’s Army bassist Max Becker about his band’s first Warped experience. “It was nuts, man! You’d get up every day and it’s 100 degrees outside. You wouldn’t put on any clothes, but you’d feel disgusting from the night before. You’re low on water, and you have to find ways to get people to watch your show. But in a way, that was all so much fun. I mean, I walked around in a Speedo to try and get people to watch our show.”

Emily’s Army got on the greater rock radar in 2011, having issued their self-titled debut through Adeline Records. While that album’s collection of brisk, old-school pop-punk was certainly to be celebrated, most media outlets focused on drummer Joey Armstrong’s famous father, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. (Becker’s brother, frontman Cole and guitarist Travis Neumann round out the band.) With the angle of next-gen punk progeny being sufficiently played-out, writers and music fans can get their pogo on with Lost At Seventeen, the quartet’s new album and first for Rise Records. The Army’s new music conveys the madness of dudes slammed together, spitting on each other when they sing. The songs on Lost At Seventeen are taut and lean, like they should only be played in a room where 150 people can just barely fit into, and not necessarily the wide-open parking lots of Warped. “There’s a disconnect,” Becker admits. “Playing clubs is a lot more intimate. Playing Warped is pretty tough: People stay for four or five songs; your crowd changes throughout the performance. You do need to work harder at Warped. Who knows who could steal the show from you?

“I do think we’ll need to prove ourselves [on this year’s tour],” he continues. “The new album is a pretty big step for us, and we need to be able to deliver that during the performance.” He begins to laugh. “Who knows, maybe we’ll pull a Ramones kind of thing and do 15 songs in 10 minutes.” ALT