In a pop punk world that is being clustered by bands making a jump to major labels before they're even out of diapers, I sometimes wonder the sincerity of such bands. I knew that the guys from Over It were sincere and knew their roots when they were drooling over my Dag Nasty shirt. But, aside from that, this band plays fast, which is enough reason to check them out.

PL: State your name and what you guys do.

Nick: Hi, I'm Nick and I play guitar in Over It.

Peter: (to Nick) Haven't you ever heard of age before beauty? I'm Peter, I play guitar, sing.

PL: It seems that you guys have been a buzz band for awhile now. Does that give you guys any higher expectations, fears, confidence?

Nick: Honestly, we try to have no expectations. We just try to have fun because no expectations leads to pleasant surprises.

Peter: Enough said (laughs). I think we do have pretty high expectations in general. We just try and live every moment the best we can regardless of what happens. We just want to give it our best.

PL: Do you think that bands really need clothing sponsorships?

Nick: Do bands need clothing companies? No.

Peter: Do clothing companies really need bands? Maybe.

Nick: I think so. I think clothing companies definitely need bands because bands are the perfect medium for promotion cause they're always in front of a lot of kids. Also, I think its cool for bands to have clothing companies, because being on tour, your underwear and socks get so dirty, and when you get free socks to wear all the time, its huge.

Peter: I'll agree to that.

PL: I asked A Wilhelm Scream this same question.

Nick: Wilhelm!

PL: You guys are going on tour with them tomorrow?

Nick: Saturday.

PL: It seems that you guys are touring with up and coming bands. How are the crowds at these shows?

Peter: For the most part, they're pretty cool. I'd say that this is probably the worst show of this tour so far. Its fun, but we never played here before and we'll definitely come back.

Nick: The awareness seems to be growing slowly but steadily. Its definitely fun to be on the road with new bands to make great friends and meeting new kids. Its definitely nothing huge, but its been a lot of fun along the way.

PL: Do you find it tough to win over new fans or do you even care if you do win over fans?

Nick: We definitely care.

Peter: I care. Thats object number one.

Nick: I think its hard to win over fans.

Peter: We just try and get in people's faces with who we are and what we do. We don't really throw any whistles or bells for persuasion.

Nick: There's no catch really. Its just this is who we are and this is what we play.

Peter: And if you like it you like it. We're trying to make it better all the time. Join us if you want to have fun with us.

Nick: (evil voice) Join us.

PL: Whats your take on doing interviews? I know I ask this question a lot, but I find it interesting to hear their perspective on the topic.

Peter: Its cool, as long as there is a Dag Nasty shirt involved in it, its really cool.

This leads to talk about Dag Nasty and how freaking good they are, which then leads to a talk about Dave Smalley and how great he is.

PL: (To Peter) You filled in for Yellowcard when the dude was sick, right? What difference was there when you were filling in for Yellowcard?

Peter: You mean the dynamic of their band as opposed to ours?

PL: Yeah, thats what I meant.

Peter: Well, they're definitely a little bit bigger than we are. I got to ride on a nice tour bus, be catered to and step into my guitar tech's office every day and tell him what to do and make sure my guitar was clean and not have to worry about it. Just get on stage and have everything ready for me.

But, overall, I feel like the bare bones performing of it was kind of similar. Its just a couple of talented dudes on stage feeding off of each other. Its cool. They've become really good friends of ours. I love their band. I don't know if I would have what it takes to do it for any other band, but I'm a big fan and I knew their songs. Its cool; good experience.

Nick: I wish I had seen it. We didn't even get to see it once.

PL: Really?

Nick: Well, the tour that he did was everywhere but where we were.

PL: I thought you guys were on tour with them.

Nick: Well, we have toured with them, but not that time. That was the Lagwagon tour.

Peter: That was probably one of the highlights; playing 40 shows with Lagwagon and getting to be in Bad Astronaut with Joey Cape.

Nick: Where did you start? You started in Texas, right?

Peter: We went to Dallas, and then up the whole East Coast, then we went to Cincy and then flew home and I came back a few days later.

PL: You were in Bad Astronaut?

Peter: Well, here's the thing: when Yellowcard first moved out to Cali, LP-their drummer, wasn't there at first, and just for fun, so they didn't get rusty on their instruments, Ryan and Ben started a Bad Astronaut cover band called Operation Bad Ass and they played their first EP. At the time, Joey caught wind of it and was pretty stoked and gave them a shout out on their website. And then on tour, Ben kind of casually, almost poking fun at Joey, was like: 'so when are we gonna do some Bad Astronaut covers on stage?'; and Joey was like: 'I've been meaning to talk to you about that.' And that kind of broke the ice by talking and I was like, "look, I figured out a song on guitar," and they were like: 'alright, lets jam.' Then, a few days later, he just came out in the middle of Yellowcard's set and we had a little intermission. It was me, him, Dan and Alex. We did two songs and it was really cool.

PL: Do you guys have plans for a new album anytime soon?

Nick: We are recording very shortly. We're writing as we speak and we should be recording the new record in June.

PL: Are you guys writing in the van?

Peter: Its very hard to write on tour. It comes sparsly.

Nick: Its easier when you sit down by yourself in a room with nowhere to be and you can just sit there and jam.

Peter: On this tour, I've made a conscious effort to pick up a guitar and just walk around with it whenever I've had some down time. Come up with a couple little melodies or a couple riffs, and then when we get back to Cali, just go back and try to figure it all out.

Nick: Its tougher on the road, but at the same time, its fun to be writing, so its not really too hard.

PL: Do you have a favorite lyric from any band?

Peter: I have my favorite lyric of today: "If I survive I will make you mine," by Reeve Oliver.

Nick: There's so many.

Peter: I'll speak for Nick. "Boredom is like a gun in hand," by the Donuts from Germany. Is that okay?

Nick: Thats fine. I have this Strung Out song in my head that I love.

PL: What song is it?

Nick: "Better Days" from Surbaban Teenage Wasteland Blues. And there's one cool line. He says "something something something something, I'm a weapon of my set." The line is actually from the song "Monster" and is: "Live by the sword die by the/Sword/I'm a weapon of my set."

PL: I'm gonna have to go listen to that CD now.

Peter: For the record, Strung Out has been a huge influence on us and we worship them and love them and I hope they read this somewhere, somehow.

PL: Do you like their new stuff, like An American Parodox?

Nick: I like everything.

Peter: We actually got to see them when we were in Japan over winter break. It was really cool.

PL: Thats awesome. NOTE: I'd love to see Strung Out live again. I haven't seen them in a couple years now.

Peter: We've kind of gotten to make friends with them a little bit since we moved to Cali.

Nick: Definitely one of my favorite all time bands.

PL: Do you think there's a band today that has the potential to write a timeless song?

Nick: Yes.

Peter: Of course. Yellowcard already has. The Matches have.

Nick: Hopefully we will.

PL: If you could do one thing and get away with it, what would it be?

Nick: Start screaming in our songs (laughs). I'm just kidding.

Peter: I would buy a 1959 Jazzmaster.

Nick: Run through the White House naked.

PL: Do you guys have any final comments?

Peter: Its been fun, Bobby. Thanks for coming out and watching us.

Nick: It was cool to meet you. Dag Nasty is an amazing band so I knew you were cool right off the bat.

PL: Thanks.

Peter: Hopefully next time the show will be a bit more exciting.

Nick: We'll definitely be back. Keep an eye out for our new stuff.

PL: Is the new stuff coming out on Lobster too?

Nick: Most likely.

Interviewed by RF

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