Recently, I was given some time to get in touch with another great Belmont Band, The Only Good Thing About The Forties. These guys have been working hard at getting together a new EP entitled “Verses of Vice”, which will soon be out, ready for the masses to enjoy. Here’s a little bit about the band, what they’ve been up to, and what you can expect from them in the future.
Nashville, TN
United States
Genre: Indie / Rock
Album(s): Verses of Vice EP
Website: http://www.myspace.com/fortiesrock
BOBBY: So what has the only good thing about the forties been doing with their time in the last few months?
STEPHEN: We’re always practicing to get our songs tighter. We’re planning a lot of recording at the moment, and we’re waiting on Jordan to get back from Florida so we can get going at full force again for the first time since last winter.
BOBBY: How would you guys describe your band’s sound?
STEPHEN: Simple rock and roll. We’re not trying to prove anything about our musical ability.
JORDAN: Warm cascading guitar soundzzz mixed with indie pop sensiblilities hahaha…
CHASE: Rock without care.
RYAN: hahaha
BOBBY: What have been some of your groups biggest musical influences?
STEPHEN: For this band: The Strokes, Joy Division, Colour Revolt, Ethan Durelle, Asobi Seksu. A lot of people think that I like The Killers because of the way I sing. Let me clear this up: I really don’t like The Killers. I mean, there were a few decent tracks on Sawdust, but I’ve never liked anything off of any of their real albums. Plus their Joy Division cover is just really awful. Ok, Killers rant over.
JORDAN: My Bloody Valentine, Autolux… shoegaze.
CHASE: For me, Ronnie Vannucci (The Killers) is the incarnate of Keith Moon these days so he inspires much of my playing.
BENNETT: I’ve been told my bass lines sound Radiohead-influenced but i feel like that’s just something that people say. Plus I haven’t really listened to a lot of Radiohead.
RYAN: As far as my guitar playing, I’d like to be able to say Radiohead too. Colour Revolt. Cursive. The Cure. Mostly bands that start with the letter C.
BOBBY: I know at least one from the group has been missing for the last few months, but it looks like you’re all reunited. Now that the whole band is back in Nashville, what to you guys plan on doing now?
STEPHEN: We actually won’t be fully back until the beginning of the Fall semester when Jordan gets back in town. We’re starting to record our EP with Michael Hardesty and Stephen Turney in the middle of August. We’ll also be playing shows whenever we can.
BOBBY: How would you all describe the type of shows you put on?
STEPHEN: Fun. They can get crazy at times. A friend of mine actually got a mild concussion at our show at This & That last December. We’re taking small steps away from the chaos to focus on being as tight as we can be. Ryan’s is the only one of us that wasn’t in the original lineup, so he’s the only one of us that has experienced it from a spectator’s perspective. He might be the best judge for this question.
JORDAN: They teeter between trying to sound really good and trying not to destroy everything to the point that it cant be fixed. Sometimes people complain about how loud we play.
CHASE: Faithfully decadent.
BENNETT: Growing up in Florida, sometimes we would get off from school because of a hurricane, but then it wouldn’t come anywhere near us, and it would just be a beautiful day to roller-blade with your friends and catch an afternoon showing of Jurassic Park 3. It’s like that.
RYAN: Our shows sound like hundreds of balloons popping around our overzealous Audio/Visual friends tinkering with their gear. Sometimes it sounds like 3 other bands are playing in the same venue. Sometimes it sounds like the soundtrack to Tombstone. It’s safe to say you’ll hear a lot of guitar. Or, at least, a lot of guitar amp and Big Muff. There’s yelling and there are sing-a-longs. There’s pushing and there’s hugging. It’s great.
BOBBY: It’s always interesting to get an idea of what bands themselves are listening to. What are some of the recent songs or albums you guys have had frequently on repeat?
STEPHEN: This summer for me has brought a lot of Those Darlins, The Clash, Caesars, The Depreciation Guild, The Dodos, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I also just recently warmed up to Vampire Weekend.
JORDAN: Jordang’s playlist= a kid named cudi mixtape by kid cudi, santigold s/t, bright flight by silver jews, and daydream nation by sonic youth. the cudi mixtape is like a gift from God… especially songs 5-7… man on the moon, the prayer, and day n night.
CHASE: I’m still nurturing my love of the Replacements. As far as new, there’s a group out of Scotland, We Were Promised Jetpacks, that I’ve been digging. There’s a good scene coming from there including Frightened Rabbit. Plus, Brent Knopf of Menomena has a side-project coming soon that is amazing. It’s called Ramona Falls.
BENNETT: Anathallo, Annuals, mewithoutYou, Menomena, ect.
BOBBY: Are there any upcoming recordings or shows that people can look forward to?
STEPHEN: We’ll be recording our debut EP, entitled “Verses of Vice,” and hopefully we can have that ready for a big release party in October or November. It’s been a long time comin’ for us. As far as shows go, we’ve got a back to school house show on the 29th. If you want the information on that, you can see our myspace at www.myspace.com/fortiesrock or email us at fortiesrock@gmail.com. Also if you’d like to download our tracks (paid or free, you choose), you should go to fortiesrock.bandcamp.com. Stay tuned for a lot more shows this fall.
