IVM Eric: well, to start off, give your name and what you do in The Tide.
Aaron: Aaron Newberry, I play guitar and BGV’s
IVM Eric: How long have you been a part of the band?
Aaron: I joined officially in June, and I relocated to Michigan and started playing with the band in early July. So, about 3 months now.
IVM Eric: How long had The Tide been around before that?
Aaron: A little over 2 years
IVM Eric: Has your recent addition then brought any noticable changes to the band’s sound?
Aaron: I think so personally, everything seems to be a little more upbeat with the stuff we are writing because I’m pretty hyper. But, I came into the band with the current EP pretty much written and recorded, although we’ve written more songs since completing that. We also added an awesome dude, Josh Moblo after Josh Clark left the band, and he’s been a great addition. I wouldn’t say the sound has been extremely noticeable, but our listeners seem to be responding a little more, enthusiastic.
IVM Eric: That’s cool. When is that EP set to release?
Aaron: We haven’t set an official release date, but most likely it will be available near the end of October
IVM Eric: Is there any way we can hear these new songs before then?
Aaron: Yes actually, we teamed up with AbsolutePunk.net for an Absolute Exclusive stream of our entire EP. That will be the one place you can hear the songs for a while, and once that is down, we will begin uploading them on our myspace and purevolume. But, the entire EP should be up for at least a couple of weeks, if not more. We’re really excited about it
IVM Eric: That is exciting. I’ll have to make sure to check it out once that’s up. Any touring plans in support of the new EP?
Aaron: Absolutely, we have been doing spot dates since we’ve been home from our previous tour, but we are going out for 6 weeks starting October 11th, with Farewell Flight, a great band from Pennsylvania. We’ve got tour dates up at our MySpace, and we update that daily pretty much. And following that tour which ends on Mid-November, we have some things in the works but nothing confirmed. I can promise you we will most likely be doing something every month of the year for a while.
IVM Eric: How have people been responding to the new songs live?
Aaron: We are extremely pleased with the response we’ve been getting. People seem excited about it, and getting into a lot. We actually just played this big show in Indianapolis, with Haste The Day, and although we didn’t fit the bill we got an incredibly positive response.
IVM Eric: haha… that’s awesome. Any really metal kids buy your merch?
Aaron: I’m not sure, but we had these ICP fans come up to us and speak their minds about it, it was pretty humorous. They were younger, but we got a good kick out of it. We don’t discriminate though either haha.
IVM Eric: haha… so your myspace shows that you’re playing at churches a lot. How does this fit into your band?
Aaron: We are all Christians, so playing churches is pretty normal although we don’t make it something that we do often. We actually had some dudes drive up to us and ask us if we were in a band, and then they asked if we were a Christian band and Steve said, “I suppose so.” I think that’s pretty relevant, I wouldn’t imagine we would be marketed a lot to the Christian industry, but we tell the truth and are up front about our beliefs. Not usually from stage, but when we hang out with kids and stuff, we just love people ya know. I can’t speak for all the dudes, but I think they would agree that’s about right.
IVM Eric: Okay, so does this play into your lyrics? What are the major themes throughout your songs?
Aaron: Honesty really. Steve writes all the lyrics, and he just straight up tells the truth. We talk about struggle a lot, because we understand that no matter who you are, you have struggles. And, it’s not to necessarily relate with anyone, although that is definitely a great thing to have, it’s just to be honest.
IVM Eric: That makes sense. According to your myspace, “If Coldplay is the new U2, then The Tide is the new Coldplay.” Does this hint at any plans to sign to a major label and play stadiums in the near future?
Aaron: I don’t even know if you’d call that a goal of ours, but I don’t think any of us would have a problem doing so. If labels bite on this stuff, I’d say it’s a definite possibility and we have a lot of people behind us that believe in us a lot. I also think we’ve kind of decided that we would like to take the Major route, just kind of feel like that’s where we fit a little better, but only time will tell.
IVM Eric: Name one band besides The Tide that our readers should listen to.
Aaron: Well, since I’m not just speaking for myself here, I’m gonna have to go with Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. We pretty much love that band.
IVM Eric: Alright. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Anything else you would like to say in closing?
Aaron: Just that we are excited for the future and thankful to everyone that supports us, including you guys. Haha, we actually just got an email from Brandon, entitled “You are AWESOME” and that’s a direct quote. haha. Thanks so much to everyone!
IVM Eric: haha, I totally believe that.
Aaron: All the more reason to love IndieVision!
IVM Eric: Well, good luck with everything. Be sure to let us know when the EP is officially available.
Aaron: You got it man, thanks again.
Check out The Tide at these links:
Official Site
Myspace
Purevolume