Suburban Horror: So how did you guys come up with you band name?

Andrew Foresman: We just flipped through a history textbook and pointed at something. That’s how we came up with our first band name, Thirty Years War. Yeah, same deal. So we stuck with that. It worked out all right; we could have gotten something pretty bad like World War II.

SH: If the Fall of Troy was caused by Helen, what causes the Fall of Troy for the band?

AF: Girls. Girls and the problems that the people in the band have with them. That’s not the sole thing, but it has a lot to do with our song writing. Just relationships, not necessarily romantically but friends as well.

SH: You get compared to the Blood Brothers all the time. Do you see the comparison?

AF: We’re both from Seattle, we both have spazzy parts. We both have screaming, and we definitely listened to them a lot when we were starting out as a band. But, I think especially with the new record a lot the comparisons will die out because our old stuff compares with them, but our new stuff, the stuff that we’re writing now, is completely different from what their doing now. I understand but I disagree at this point.

SH: So the new record is scheduled to drop in the spring?

AF: Yeah, I think the end of May.

SH: So the recording is all done?

AF: Yeah it is. It’s going through the mixing right now.

SH: So at a 2006 show, you guys announced that that would be the last time you played a song. All these rumors about the band breaking up came out. But then you were like, "No we’re not breaking up!" What was that about?

AF: We had just been on tour for too long. We had lots of drinks. And Thomas said some things he didn’t mean. We’re all good now. A lot of it came from we were all living together, and we spent some time apart since we got home. Our relationship is really good at this point. I think we’re stronger than ever. We’re doing good. We’re not breaking up. That’s on record.

SH: Is it hard being on tour as a band?

AF: I really enjoy it. It’s just hard being stuck 24 hours a day with the same six people that you’ve known for the last six years and spent almost every day with them for the last six years. Fights happen. We’re so close that we rag on each other all the time; people get sad sometimes. We get through it. So far this tour has been going swimmingly.

SH: You guys are like an old married couple.

AF: Yeah we fight, and then make sweet love with our instruments.

SH: What’s your favorite song to play live?

AF: I’ll just say "I Just Got This Symphony Goin’" because we always play it live, and the kids seem to like it. And, it’s got a fun beat.

SH: Are you excited to have some new material to play?

AF: Yeah. This tour we’re playing three or four new songs each night. But, we do old stuff too. We do stuff off of "Doppleganger" and our first record.

SH: Since you all are from Seattle, is it as depressing as everyone makes it out to be?

AF: Before we left it was overcast for two weeks straight, and I swore I was going to shoot myself. But, when we got here it was blue skies and 65 degrees. In Seattle, it’s probably about 25-35 degrees right now.

SH: Well it snowed here!

AF: Yeah it snowed six times in Seattle, and it never snows here. It’s been a weird winter. And, it didn’t snow in New York City for the first time in 100 years. That’s insane. Global warming is fucking shit up. Word.

SH: What bands are you listening to right now that everyone else should?

AF: I don’t know. TV on the Radio is really good. There’s this band called "Second Tomorrow" that we toured with that I really like. The new Fear Before the March of Flames is really, really good. I’m really happy it came out the way it did. I got to hear some demos when we toured with them in Europe. I thought, "This is going to be the best record." And, it was.

SH: What is the creative process of your band? Who writes the songs, and who writes the lyrics?

AF: Thomas will write the songs and guitar, and he’ll bring it to us. Me and Tim will write the drum and bass parts. And then, he’ll do the lyrics after the song is fully completed. That’s how it works for the most part. Sometimes we’ll jam some parts, but for the most part he’ll come to us with the song mostly written.

SH: So Thomas does all the lyrics?

AF: Yeah he does all the lyrics. Sometimes he has some help from some friends, but he basically does everything. Sometimes Tim will do his own lyrics, but for the most part, Thomas.

SH: Did you guys pick your opening acts? How did that happen?

AF: Yeah, we picked Portugal the Man and Tera Melos. Damera, they just got signed up by Equal Vision, so we took them out, and they turned out really good.

SH: If you could go on tour with any band, who would it be?

AF: The Beatles and Radiohead. It would be awesome. We would be lame on it, but I just would want it.

-Magic Stick Mish