Erik - Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Rancid, Thrice, Lagwagon, Millencolin, Suicide Machines, Face to Face, 88 Fingers Louie, Misfits, Smackin' Isaiah, East Arcadia (an important one...I'll explain later), Social Distortion, Black Flag, Descendents/ALL, Screeching Weasle, Against All Authority, Beastie Boys, Goldfinger, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, AFI, Pantera, Deftones.....whew....Pennywise, Propagandhi, NOFX, MXPX, Anti-Flag, Pulley...probably forgot some. East Arcadia is an important influence on me because before I heard them, I didn't know local bands existed. My girlfriend at the time made me listen to a short demo song from EA and I was blown away..."There's no way that's from a local band!"...then she took me to see them live..again i was blown away. I didn't know a local band could play like that, and it made this music so much more real to me. Before that, it was just Metallica, Pantera, and Nirvana. I'd never see the guys from those bands, and I sure as hell wouldn't get a change to hang out, be friends, and play shows with them. (Nick if you're reading this: i saw your balls when you guy played at bogarts and you were wearing the Scooby Doo boxer shorts...sorry man.)
Marcus - Greenday and the Offspring got me into punk music. They were my first two CD’s and I played them until…hell, I still play them. Mxpx was a big influence as I was getting more into the scene. After that I got into everybody’s favorites like NOFX, Millencolin, Suicide Machines, NFG, No Use For A Name, 311 was rad, a little old Korn here and there, a whole lot of Face to Face, and even some Jazz and Blue every once in a while.
What do you think is the most diffcult part trying to do the whole band thing? and getting into the bussiness?
Erik - From my experience, the hardest part is getting people who are as totally focused and dedicated to the band as you are. Money is a big, dumb, unavoidable part of it too. It's nearly impossible to get a van, tour, buy merch, record, put out an album, eat, etc. if you don't have any money. However, if you have the right people, you'll find ways to make it work. Getting everybody's schedules to sync up is hard too. We all have lives outside of the band; school, jobs, girlfriends (not me!), etc...It's a juggling act, but in the end when you look around and you haven't dropped any of them, you've done it right. Getting into the 'business' isn't really something we think about. We play shows, people like us, we play more shows, we record and send stuff to labels, we get on compilations, tours, interviews...before you know it, we're in the biz.
Marcus - The hardest part about doing the whole band thing is actually getting everyone to want it just as bad as you do. With work, college, social lives and girlfriends it’s hard to keep everyone focused and on track. Money is a pretty big deal also simply because no of us have any. Time is really difficult to manage too. Getting everyone in the same place at the same time is a lot harder than it seems. As far as getting into the business, it has always been a dream on mine to live off my music. I think we’ve got what it takes; it’s just a matter of doing it.
Where can people find your music?
Erik - Anywhere that knows what good music is (wow, that makes me sound like an asshole, sorry.) For right now, you can listen to our songs at http://www.mp3.com/onsidered When the new website gets finished, hopefully in early '03, people will be able to listen and order music directly from our site. Eventually we'll get stuff to Interpunk and the other web distributors. Our official webpage can be found at http://onsidered.cjb.net.
Marcus - Right now you can find our music on mp3.com, and through us. We have a demo CD with six songs on it we did about a year ago that we usually hand out at our shows. We are about to head back to the studio to get out some new music. So we are really looking forward to that. Other than that, just keep your ears open.
If you had to describe your live show, what 2 words would you use?
Erik - "Catchy"...and um..."super-happy-fun-ultra-energetic" (that's one word b/c it's hyphenated)
Marcus - Technical Difficulties! No, not really, but our last show we did have a lot of problems. I’d say that the two words you could describe On Side Red’s live shows would be…KICK ASS!
One final question, What are some random facts about you guys?
Erik - The Encyclopedia Britannica lists me as the best lover, EVER (i'm single!!!!) Kevin is a high-risk driver. Brandon is a hermaphrodite. Marcus is a born-again virgin and fascist...er, vegan (oh i'm going to catch hell for that one..fuck it!) We throw stink bombs in random businesses around town, and fireworks at stupid kids we see walking along the road. We've held drunken wheelchair olympics at Marcus's house.
Marcus - Kevin is drunk and tall. Brandon is sick. Erik would lead you to believe that he is funny, but really he is queerer than a three-dollar bill. As for myself I’m a pretty normal guy with an abnormal growth in my pants.:) We like to do dumb shit, play music, party, drink and have a good time. Kevin likes to fall backwards through ladders coming off trampolines with a skateboard nailed to his shoes. Brandon likes to laugh like Riff Raff try to pimp out his Neon. Erik likes to bitch about McDonalds even though his argument his totally hypocritical. I like long walks on the beach and romantic nights with that special someone.
"*note: Erik's arguments against McDonalds are valid. He is in no way a hypocrit with those regards."
For More infomation on, On Side Red check out there site at http://www.onsidered.cjb.net/