Interviews index.

I emailed a few questions to Jason Toth, Drummer with Runforyerlife, and he was cool enough to reply.

What are the bands plans for the coming year ?

In July we hope to tour for a couple weeks to the East Coast of the US. We'll continue to play shows again in Chicago in the Fall.  We've got some new material but there are no plans to record again anytime soon.  If touring  goes well this summer, perhaps we'll try it again in the Winter.

The band were on hold for half a year, so when did you actually record the album ?

 The band took almost eight months off last year, from May to December.  Kelly was doing an internship through school in Ecuador.  Jim was doing a similar internship in Jordan.  Dave took a semester off from school and was living in Boston.  Everyone came back to school (Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois) in January.  We recorded the CD in Chicago in the Spring of '98 right before everyone left to do their things.

Have you had any other releases before signing to Jump Up ?

No official releases.  We appear on a couple compilation CD's of bands from our school, but those are just available at the school.

How did you guys get signed to Jump Up ?

Chuck Wren's intern John Ciba saw us play in Chicago and brought us to Chuck's attention.  They asked us to record a song for a compilation they were putting out, Everything Off Beat II.  We recorded a demo along with the song for the comp.  When Chuck heard the demo, he liked it and asked us to put out a full length on Jump Up.

What are the bands main influences ?

We're definitely a jazz influenced band, not just in the music we play but the way we approach the music.  Most of the band played together in the Wheaton College Jazz Ensemble so we've had some experience in that genre.  Elements of our music such as improvisation, song structure and style are drawn from our experience with jazz. Other influences include acid-jazz, some hip-hop, and other ska bands such as the Skatelites and the Toasters.  Between the eight of us though, our preferences in music are extremely broad, from rock to classical to experimental.

Whats the last album you bought ?

      It's hard to remember, I don't buy them often.  I can give you a list of  those I'd like to buy:

       The Sea and Cake - self titled (Thrill Jockey),   Sam Prekop - new solo album (Thrill Jockey)
       The new Jamiriquai album,        Brad Meldhau - Art of the Trio Vol. III

Is there any chance you’ll be playing overseas  ?

We would love to play overseas.  If the record does well enough overseas to make it economically practical, we would love to play outside of the United States.

How did you come up with the bands name and haven’t you heard of spaces between words !! ?

The band's name is taken from the title of a jazz chart by the Yellow Jackets that we played in the Jazz Ensemble.  We decided to go with it at the last minute before our first show and it stuck.  We used to spell it as four separate words but we thought that it looked stupid so we smashed it together  into one word.

 What have been your best gigs so far, or the best bands you’ve played with   ?

A couple weeks ago, we played in Chicago with the Skatalites which was a wonderful experience.  The Skatalites, in addition to their musicianship, are extremely friendly and kind.  Another favorite show was in Chicago with  Skavoovie and the Epitones.  Other bands of note that we've played with include the Articles, The Eclectics, Deals Gone Bad, Hot Stove Jimmy, the Slackers, Spring Heeled Jack, The Scofflaws, and Unsteady.

What are thoughts are being marketed as part of the Christian music scene along with Five iron frenzy and the Supertones ?

That reference on the bio is misleading and has since been corrected.  We may share similar religious beliefs as the Supertones and Five Iron Frenzy but we do not consider ourselves a Christian band.  Our beliefs are an
 important part of who we are but we do not explicitly express these beliefs in our music.  We do not use our music as a form of crowd evangelism as the Supertones do.  We simply want to play the best music we can for whoever will listen.  As far as being promoted in the Christian scene, that's fine -- we  want Christians to buy our music and we want those who aren't Christian to buy our music.  We do not wish to be isolated to one or the other.

 Thanks for your time