How/When did you first get involved in music?
I first got involved in music when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I had been singing for my entire life, but it was at that age that I decided to start playing guitar and writing my own songs. I went to go see Projekt Revolution that year (Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, and Saosin were on it that year) and it was there that I realized i wanted to do THAT, and nothing else. This was also the year that "Big Momma's House 2" came out in theaters. That movie was a huge influence on my early work.
What does your family think about your music?
My parents have been really supportive of my music since the beginning. They came to all of my shows when I first started out, and they were cool enough not to do that parent-y thing that most parents do; where they're WAY too involved with your band and everything. But yeah, they've been awesome about it. My brother hates my music and laughed at me when he found Shit,Cops! online...nuff said.
What artists would you say are your biggest influences?
My BIGGEST influences--as far as writing goes--would probably be Brand New, Fall Out Boy, The Starting Line, Envy on the Coast, and, sadly, All Time Low (Put Up or Shut Up was a fucking awesome EP and I don't care what you say).
This summer you released an EP entitled “Rebirth”. How did that come together? Did you record it by yourself?
Basically, at the beginning of this past summer, I told myself that I would do something productive with all the free time I usually spend sitting around watching Arrested Development. So I just started writing. A lot. Every day. And the music I was writing all seemed to orbit around this central idea that the past year of my life was not the best by any means. Everything I was comfortable with just seemed to fall apart completely. So I took the 5 songs that captured this notion most vividly, and arranged them into an EP that kind of chronicled this past year. And yeah, I recorded it alone, in my basement, while everyone was out at the beach being all tan and beautiful. I don't like the beach. I found a diaper in the water one time. A used diaper. Come on.
Are you currently writing any new material?
Yeah I'm currently working on a few different projects, Shit,Cops! being one of them. But yeah I'm just trying to write as much as I possibly can.
You’ve played shows with your other band Here and Now. Do you plan on playing any shows as Shit, Cops!?
The idea has entered my brain a few times, but I haven't really acted on it yet. I would love to make Shit,Cops! a full band project and play shows, and hopefully that will come around soon enough. But, for now, Shit,Cops! is just me. Me in my rawest form...naked.
What has been your favourite show that you’ve played?
My favorite show I played was in like November last year. I played with Here and Now at this cafe in Freehold, NJ with some other local bands. We added our friend, Bruce, from Victory In Numbers on guitar to fill out our sound. The show wasn't anything remarkable at all. Neither was the crowd. We all just really FELT the songs. Like that was the first night I really got lost in the music. Plus, I got free pizza. That was cool too.
What’s Allentown, New Jersey like?
Allentown is a pretty small town nestled in the rural outskirts of Central NJ. I guess "quaint" would be the best way to describe it. Everyone knows everyone. All that kind of old-timey stuff. Don't get the wrong idea, there's a Wal-Mart like ten minutes down the road, but it's been an awesome town to grow up in.
How would you describe the Pop Punk scene in Jersey?
Pretty much ANY music scene around my area is dying. There's hardly anywhere for local bands to play in Jersey anymore unless you're willing to do a considerable amount of pre-sale. This may not be true for farther south or north Jersey. I know it's not true for Philly. The scene in Philly is alive and quite well. But for where I'm at, currently, things are looking pretty bleak.
Are there any local bands that you would recommend?
Local bands that I would strongly recommend include: The Engine Atlantic, Save Your Strength, The Cretins, The Long Shore Drive, Bright and Early, and A Love Like Pi (I'm not sure if they're still together but they put out one of the greatest albums of all time. OF ALL TIME).
What do have planned for the future, musically or other wise?
My future, as it stands, could go in a million different directions. With music, I'm working on a bunch of different projects. So hopefully, one of those projects gains enough momentum so I can drop out of college, quit my job, tour full-time, and be cripplingly poor. That would be the best-case scenario.
Thanks for your time, any final comments?
All I really have to say is, thank you so much for being so awesome. I've been following this blog for a while and I'm so stoked to actually be doing an interview for it. So thanks for posting my music, and thanks for asking me questions about it. I really enjoyed this.
=D
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