While many of you are most likely pealing away the dead skin from your sunburn and slowly regaining hearing in your ear, we’re here to help remind you why you put yourself through that in the first place, for bands like Valencia. Luckily, LA.CityZine got a chance to catch up with these boys backstage and ask them some questions about the show, touring, and of course what it’s like playing Warped Tour.

Winnie: Please state your name and your position in the band.

Brendan: I’m Brendan, and I play guitar in the band.
Shane: I’m Shane, and I sing.
Max: I’m Max, and I play drums.
JD: JD, I play guitar.
George: I’m George, and I play bass.

Winnie: How would you guys describe your music?

Brendan: It’s like, pop punk, pop rock. Fun music.

Winnie: How did you guys come up with your name?

George: We were searching for a new band name because all of us kind of came together from playing in different local bands, and the history of the city Valencia in Spain kind of fit the history of our band coming together, so we thought that it would be a fitting name for us.

Winnie: How do you feel about your new album slated to come out in August?

Brendan: We’re really stoked. We’re really excited.

Winnie: Why did you choose this particular album title?

Shane: The album is kind of inspired by a song which is actually called “Reason to Believe”, but it’s also kind of inspired by the fact that we’ve been through a lot in the past 2 years. We wrote a bunch of positive songs about something that’s a very negative thing to go through and it’s just trying to give people an outlook that’s positive.

Winnie: What are some of the best compliments that you’ve gotten thus far?

George: I think some of the best compliments we’ve gotten are just that even though we are kind of stuck in a scene where bands who sound very similar, everybody’s kind of impressed with the fact that we can break the mold with our song writing. It’s something that we hear pretty often and we’re psyched about it.

Winnie: What is the best thing about performing live and in front of thousands of people?

Shane: The best thing for me is that we get a chance to share what we feel is the message in our music, and have a good time while doing it. Seeing kids react and respond to what you’re trying to get across is really awesome.

Winnie: What sort of things do you look to as inspiration when you’re writing songs or when you’re playing live?

Shane: I think we all look to previous bands that inspire us. We take instances that have happened to us in our lives and we use that to inspire us.

Winnie: Are there any particular bands that you’re inspired by?

Brendan: Millions of bands. Whenever I’m trying to write a song or something, I listen to old music that is insane to me. How they wrote these songs, how they put them together – I just think about how they did it and then try and re-create that.

Winnie: Besides being on Warped, how do you keep up with the music world? Do you read music blogs?

Max: Yeah, Absolutepunk.net is pretty much our source. It’s like the CNN News for all band information and updates. Plus, other bands tell you what’s going on about other bands, because they have the same agent, or the same management, or whatever.

Winnie: How do you feel your live stuff differs from the way you play on the album?

Brendan: I think we bring a lot of energy to a live show. We try and get people into it and get the crowd involved. We go out and interact with them personally in the crowd. It’s kind of the whole experience rather than just playing music. There’s a lot more to it.

Winnie: In July you guys are going to be doing a tour with Hit the Lights, There for Tomorrow, and All Time Low. Have you toured with the bands before? How do you choose what bands you tour with?

George: We’ve toured with those bands: Hit the Lights and All Time Low we’ve toured with several times. We make friends with everybody, and we just want to keep touring with our friends. It’s always a great experience to do it that way.
JD: I’m just saying something to say something, and I agree.

Winnie: What are some of the best and some of the worst things?

Shane: This is actually our third time on Warped Tour. I think the best thing about Warped is that you open yourself up to a large amount of people that come to these shows, even they just come to see a different band. You give yourself the opportunity to share your music with them. I think the worst thing about Warped Tour is definitely the heat and the sun. It takes a toll on you. By the end of the day, you’re pretty much wiped. All you want to do is go to bed.

(I have to be honest at about this point they all started talking at once and I’m not exactly sure who said what.)Winnie: What do you guys do to pass the time?

-We’re usually out there hanging out with people, trying to get kids into our music. That’s pretty much what we do all day long. We just stand by our tent, meet some kids, and –
-You know, there’s not so much free time. We’re constantly working. We’re trying to get kids into our music. We’re playing, we’re doing this kind of stuff [interviews]. It’s just so much to do. it’s a lot of work, but it’s a good payoff in the end.

Winnie: What bands are you looking forward to see?

-I think we can all say that we’d like to see Say Anything.

Winnie: Did you watch their set? They played earlier today.

Chorus: They were good.
- Yeah, they played right before us today. It was awesome.
- Set Your Goals is another band that we liked a lot.

Winnie: I know last year Valencia had some car troubles, with your van being broken into and all. How do these setbacks motivate you to keep persisting?

Shane: Well, they certainly motivate you to keep your van being updated with being checked out, and making sure that everything is ok before you go on a country-wide trek across the United States. But it also, motivates you to one day hope that you will be out of the van and in a nice luxurious tour bus.

Winnie: What do you guys plan on doing after Warped Tour?

-We’re going to be taking a little bit of time off to do a music video and some other stuff before the album comes out. Then once the album comes out, we’re going to be doing a headlining tour to support the album, and then another tour in the fall.

Winnie: What music video are you planning on doing?

-We’re doing it for a song called “Where Did You Go?” It’s the third track on our album.

Winnie: Do you guys have any closing notes for our readers?

- Go pick up the new album! August 26th!
- Come see us on tour!
- We all need A Reason to Believe.
- Thanks for Listening!
- Hello.

Thank you for your time Valencia!

For Further Warped Reading:

• Interview with Scott from Reel Big Fish
• Interview with Fred Mascherino of The Color Fred
• Warped Tour Review
• Warped Tour Photo Essay

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