Check out the Q&A Below and don’t forget to subscribe to SerTop for the latest updates on new music.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the making of your new album. How   has the music evolved or changed since your previous music?

A: All of our previous projects were self-produced and self-  engineered, so right out of the box we new that working with   producer Stephen Leiweke was going to push us to a new level.  His   creativity and musical intuition really breathed new life   into these songs, taking them to a new sonic dimension. Beyond that, we really pushed ourselves with the   songwriting process.  We were far more delibarate with the parts,  lyrics, and concepts.  We really wanted to do more than just make   good music on this record, we wanted to say something.  So in that   way, our approach was entirely different.  This is also our first   record as a five piece band, the addition of keys as the most   obvious difference, and it has opened some new avenues for us   stylistically.  FE has been through a lot over the past two years   individually and collectively, so this album really was an   accomplishment and a statement for us on many levels.

Q: What is the song “Cryin Shame” about?

A: Cryin’ Shame is about living in the tension.  We daily find   ourselves struggling between the way things could/should be, and   the reality of the messed up world we see around us.  The song   states, “It’s the cycle we’re living in; keep on trying, keep on   giving in…”.  On one hand, we know that things could be better,   so we’re inspired to pray and love and work towards that end.  On   the other hand, we know that this planet is full of broken people   who make mistakes every day, and we know that it will never be   perfect until the end of the world as we know it. That is the   cycle.  That is the tension.  So I’m left with the choice to either   “shake my head and keep on saying it’s a cryin’ shame,” or to take   action, even if I get nowhere.  The song presents us with the   contrast of these two opposing ideas and then begs the question,   “what are we gonna do about it?”

Q: What do you all do when your not jammin? (hobbies, activities)

A: On the road, our free time is usually filled with intense   PlayStation rivalr
ies, watching seasons of Flight of the Conchords   and The Office, or playing wiffle ball.  We really enjoy food,   which is a huge part of life on the road… finding great food!   Most of us are pretty big baseball fans, too.  Four of us are   married with kids (the other has a lady, too!), so we definitely   appreciate down time from the road to be with our families. We all   enjoy time with friends, sports, movies, etc., and are quite active   in our churches and communities.

Q: Bad question, but I just added you to my playlist on   facebook, so I have to ask…Facebook or MySpace?

A: We’re prob. split down the middle on this one.  Personally I   (Russ) prefer Facebook.

Q: Which person/band/artist inspires you the most as a band?

A: Probably depends on who or when you ask.  We all have very   diverse musical influences.  I’d say across the board, some of the   ones we are inspired by as a band over the years have been Stevie   Wonder, Robin Thicke, John Mayer, Michael Jackson, Justin   Timberlake and the Black Eyed Peas.

Want To Know More About Fe?

Official Site
MySpace
Facebook
YouTube
iTunes

If you got a few extra minutes check out the video below which is “Swimming or Sinking?” by Der Bomber. If you don’t than its your loss

Who out there happens to be from New York? We’ll if you’re one of the ones from Long Island New York then you may get the chance to see “The Overunder” live. This band came together last April and already have collected a rather impressive fan base. “With a boatload of determination, energetic live shows and songs that will most likely be stuck in your head for days, “The OverUnder” is showing no signs of going away anytime soon.” These five guys have some very great songs make sure to check out “Circles and Squares” or visit them on myspace.

Yea sure, we’ve seen bands get social with their fans through YouTube videos, download-able songs, at concerts, ect. It takes a band like The i Spies though, to make their very own radio station. It is probably the most unique thing I’ve stumbled across in a while. To check out Spy Radio click the links below:

Spy Radio Episode One - Part 1

Spy Radio Episode One - Part 2

Stay tuned for a Q&A with The i Spies!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

I was recently introduced to a new band right out of Northeast Pennsylvania. This group of five guys has some real amazing songs. Just take a second visit their myspace and sit back close your eyes and listen to the tunes, you’re guaranteed to love it. Make sure you listen to “The Descent” and “Run” those are my favorites. “They are known for the tightest musicianship of their unique genre that doesn’t even have a name because it’s so original. Their incredible harmonies are thicker than a milkshake. Their guitar licks are tighter than a squeezing python. Their beats are so phat, they need liposuction. Their bass has more boom than a boomerang.”(BT2 Bio) If you want the chance to see them live check out some up coming shows their booked everywhere on the East Coast over the next few months.

“Self-Titled Debut” is a group of five. If you’re from Queens New York you might have got the chance to see them live. This group consists of some major talent, Sal is the vocals, they got Gian working the drums, Mike and Tom control guitars and they saved Kris for the bass. They put their strengths in the right spots because all I hear is some amazing music. This band wants to play at warp tour and they are more than qualified so vote for them at here. If you want to here some more of their songs check them out on myspace.

As I said before “Pillar of Autumn” is a unbelievable band, this guys are kicken ass all over Detroit. They’ve taken off with some out standing songs like “Asthma” which took #1 Detroit City.com Also make sure to check out “Miles Away” and “Carpe Diem” on myspace. We had the chance to talk these guys and learn a little more about them and there history. Check it out.

“Pillar of Autumn” is an awesome name, does is stand for anything?

The name came from the name of a spaceship in the video game Halo. We decided to use the name because of the influence the game has had on the creative process of the band. When we find ourselves stuck in a song, playing each other in first person shooters is something that helps us clear our heads. Except for when Rob cheats. He always knows where to hide and find the good weapons. Alright, maybe he’s just really good… but we’ll still call it cheating.

Spencer: “Rob Wishes he was as good at me at Halo.”

Rob (replying to Spencer): “Spencer wishes he was as good as me at anything.”

Know how your working on a six song ep, when can we look forward to its release?

We are currently in pre-production and are finalizing dates to get back in the studio to record the final tracks. So we’re shooting for late summer but we haven’t settled on the year yet.

You guys come up with some amazing lyrics, what’s the writing process like?

Our writing process is quite crazy. We usually begin by jamming out melodies or rhythms that the band members have written that have caught our attention. Rob brings most of the musical elements to the table in the beginning, then we try to take the mess of parts and make it better. We repeat that until we find something that inspires us. Once we find that inspiration the song takes off. If we get lost, we look to each other to help out. Every member in the band can play all of the instruments we play enough to help with any part; it’s a team effort to the fullest. Then when Frankie says it sucks, we try it all over again.

If you were given a million bucks and had to spend it in 24hrs what would you do?

Frankie; “Well, we’d probably start with our laundry.”

Rob: “Buy new jeans so I don’t have to do laundry. Ever again.”

Spencer: “Forget our laundry. Let’s throw a party for everyone who wants to come hang out.”

Ed: “Cars and guitars.”

Chris: “I’m with Ed on this one.”

“POA” has done some kick ass shows in the past, what ones can we look forward to in the future?

We can guarantee that you will see plenty in the future. Our booking agent, Derrick, will be setting up our shows from arenas to your basement. We’ll play them all. In fact, if you don’t see us in your hometown and you want to see us play at your favorite venue, contact us and tell us about it. Don’t let us get away with it. That’s just lazy. We like to say “Every show we play will be better than the one before it, so if you come to all of the shows, every time you see us it’s the best show you’ve ever seen from us.” So to answer your question: You can look forward to every one of them.

Other than music, what’s another thing you like to do in your spare time?

Rob: “In my spare time I play my acoustic (poorly), play open mic nights and listen to new bands. I guess if there is anything else I do, I drink and swear. A lot.”

Ed: “What spare time? I guess it would have to be listening to sports radio on my way home from work. Most FM radio sucks and I don’t have one of those fancy shmancy satellite radio do-dads.”

Spencer: “I eat sleep and breathe music. I’m a musical fusionist and I work at Pearl Sound Studios in Canton, Michigan. It’s a whole lot of fun and I love all the facets of working, writing, producing and engineering. It’s great stuff. My favorite thing to do is write harmonies and crazy chord progressions. Other than that I party, make beats, play my acoustic and hang out.”

Chris: “I really just love working on my cars.”

Frankie: “I try to put every spare second I have into graphic design. I love many forms of art, but digital artwork has always been something I enjoy most.”

If you could rock out in any city in the world that you haven’t been too, where would it be?

Chris says “I’ve never actually been to California, and L.A. holds a lot of desire for me.”

Spencer: “Tokyo, Japan. I hear they go crazy over there. That or somewhere in the UK.”

Ed: “Somewhere in Brazil, cause backstage would kick ass!”

Rob: “LONDON!”

Frankie: “One of those ancient cities in China. A city that you would have to fly everybody to in a helicopter because there are no roads. Those do exist right?”

“Miles Away” is a great song, what’s the meaning behind it?

Miles away is a song for a girl who shows no interest in a man’s desires and hobbies. It is to the point where he writes her a song to see if she even pays attention enough to realize the song is about her.

You have a huge fan base, any special things they should know about?

Earl Grey tea is named after the Earl of Grey, who was the Prime Minister of Great Britain about 100 years ago. At least that’s what the Snapple bottle said. And also, Rob is single.

Adam already told you all about Good Luck Varsity. Now I’m here to get up close and personal with them. Enjoy the interview and be sure to check out Good Luck Varsity!

First off i just want to say thanks for doing the interview and best of luck with everything in the future.

Thank you for asking us! I think your website is a really awesome idea!

How’d you all meet?

The origin of Good Luck Varsity is a really long and twisting story but I’ll try to keep it short. Essentially my brother Evan and I both played in a band called The Rising Tide. When all was said and done at the end of TRT we we’re actually pretty relieved to be done with it because it had strayed so far from what we really wanted to be doing. At first we recorded a couple demos in our basement and put them online and then we eventually recorded our EP Head High Heavy Hearted. We used the EP to get potential band mates interested in joining us and put an application up online. Richie and Tim we’re already our good friends and they we’re an easy choice.
Drew and Dan both responded to our search online and after hearing both of them play we canceled all of our other auditions because we knew that this was going to be our line up

Jordan, those are some rad YouTube videos! Anything out there that people MUST see if they haven’t yet?

Haha thank you! I guess besides music editing and directing videos has always been something I’ve loved to do.
Everybody should definitely check out “No, Frankenstein” I did the editing on that video and actually won an award for it

7 Members, wow, thats pretty amazing. What’s your writing process like?

Well we actually only play with 6 members live. Our good friend Jeriah is filling in on Guitar and vocals while Tim is away taking care of some things.

We’ve just recently started to write new music for a new EP that we’re planning to record and release sometime this year. Generally somebody brings the shell of a song to practice and we all work together to fill it out.We just recorded our first real song as a full band on Sunday and we’ll be posting it sometime soon

Tell us a little bit about the meaning behind the song “The Show Must Go On.” We really like the upbeat sound and keyboard effects in it.

“The Show Must Go On” was kind of our way of laying The Rising Tide to rest. Evan and I we’re a little disappointed with the way that everything went down at the end of TRT and the song addresses some of those issues. The song is definitely different than everything else we’ve written and it was the first song/demo we ever released. It’s strange in that it’s extremely upbeat and happy sounding but the only really happy part is the last verse which basically says that despite the fact that one door had closed in our faces God was there to open another one with even better things in store. I guess that’s why the song is called “The Show Must Go On”. I don’t write the lyrics for the band but in my mind I see “The Show Must Go On” as a precursor to “Plan B” which has a similar message to that last verse that I mentioned.

What does everyone do when you guys aren’t jammin out?

Well you already know that I do videos sometimes, and I also like to go to the movies every chance I get. Evan spends a lot of time playing and coaching soccer, Richie is really into Airsoft and recently Xbox 360, Dan loves playing his guitar and Legend of Zelda games, Drew seems to really enjoy selling computers at Best Buy and reading the Chronicles of Narnia out loud and doing different voices for each character, Jeriah is really into watching reruns of One Tree Hill, and Tim loves creating new sandwiches out of strange ingredients.

As a band, what would be your dream show? (any venue, any line up, ect)

Oh man that’s tough. I’m sure every one of the guys would say something different but I think we’re all really looking forward to being on Cornerstone Festival this Summer.
I think that we are the only unsigned band on the actual festival which is really amazing

A shout out to any fans?

We have really awesome fans, we love all of the kids that come out to support us in our home town and at the Wayne shows which are always a huge success. We love playing free shows for our fans and I think that they really appreciate that. We try really hard to have at least one or two free shows every couple months as our way of saying thank you to all of our fans. We love all of you and without you we’d have really really boring weekends.