Ask the self-proclaimed "best band on the Warped Tour" Story
of the Year why they feel like a brand new band, and they will dish
out quite an interesting tale. The band had to do what few major
artists survive doing, and, in fact, most often dread the very idea
of. An incredibly risky maneuver, the band left their record label
Maverick Records, now absorbed by Warner brothers, without a
back up record label to fall on to. Their album, In the Wake of
Determination, hadn't done nearly as well as their previous major
label debut Page Avenue. "We weren't on a label for about four
months," explains drummer Josh Wills. "We were at home writing
stuff in limbo for a while. Made us kind of refocus everything,
work that much harder." Singer Dan Marsala finishes, "We had to
go back and start over. We were kind of a local band all of a
sudden. We had to make demos and send them out to labels. I
mean not demos. We had a friend record some of the new songs
and shop them out to different labels. It was like starting over
completely. Luckily this time a few of the labels knew who were so
it was a little easier to get a hold of people." The band signed with
Brett Gurewitz's label Epitaph Records in spring 2008.
After the struggle with recording industry survival and the release
of a new album, The Black Swan, the band is now on the start of
what an epitaph announcement referred to as the beginning of
"exhaustive touring in support of their new record. " As veteran
Warped Tour performers, this summer will be the
of the Year why they feel like a brand new band, and they will dish
out quite an interesting tale. The band had to do what few major
artists survive doing, and, in fact, most often dread the very idea
of. An incredibly risky maneuver, the band left their record label
Maverick Records, now absorbed by Warner brothers, without a
back up record label to fall on to. Their album, In the Wake of
Determination, hadn't done nearly as well as their previous major
label debut Page Avenue. "We weren't on a label for about four
months," explains drummer Josh Wills. "We were at home writing
stuff in limbo for a while. Made us kind of refocus everything,
work that much harder." Singer Dan Marsala finishes, "We had to
go back and start over. We were kind of a local band all of a
sudden. We had to make demos and send them out to labels. I
mean not demos. We had a friend record some of the new songs
and shop them out to different labels. It was like starting over
completely. Luckily this time a few of the labels knew who were so
it was a little easier to get a hold of people." The band signed with
Brett Gurewitz's label Epitaph Records in spring 2008.
After the struggle with recording industry survival and the release
of a new album, The Black Swan, the band is now on the start of
what an epitaph announcement referred to as the beginning of
"exhaustive touring in support of their new record. " As veteran
Warped Tour performers, this summer will be the
band's fifth run at the event. "Warped Tour is easier now because
this is our fifth time doing it," says Wills. "You kind of know what
to do and what not to do. You know what to bring on tour to make
Warped Tour better for you. We've done it so many times now, we
feel more comfortable. We don't need to go out every day and
sweat. We can just sit on the bus." Another thing that makes this
tour more comfortable is the band's choice of tour bus, which came
equipped with both a working shower and toilet you are allowed to
go number two in. They definitely suggest this to all new bands on
the tour, but warned not to go broke trying to obtain said magic
bus. "We got a great deal and were really lucky. We aren't paying
anymore then a normal bus," tells Marsala. So if it will break your
tour budget, don't worry about stretching for the perfect toilet and
just use the port-o-potties like us regular Joes.
At the center of every tour is the live artist's performance, and as
long as Story of the year can keep performing they are satisfied with
life. "I just want to be able to keep playing shows," explains
Marsala. "I find about two hundred people at every show and
people keep showing up, keep being into the music. That's fine for
us. As long as we can make a living, we don't need Bentleys or
anything. We just want to hang out. Just hang out and play music,
that's all we need." Wills interjects, "I don't want a 9 to 5."
Hopefully, with the new release of The Black Swan their goals of
this is our fifth time doing it," says Wills. "You kind of know what
to do and what not to do. You know what to bring on tour to make
Warped Tour better for you. We've done it so many times now, we
feel more comfortable. We don't need to go out every day and
sweat. We can just sit on the bus." Another thing that makes this
tour more comfortable is the band's choice of tour bus, which came
equipped with both a working shower and toilet you are allowed to
go number two in. They definitely suggest this to all new bands on
the tour, but warned not to go broke trying to obtain said magic
bus. "We got a great deal and were really lucky. We aren't paying
anymore then a normal bus," tells Marsala. So if it will break your
tour budget, don't worry about stretching for the perfect toilet and
just use the port-o-potties like us regular Joes.
At the center of every tour is the live artist's performance, and as
long as Story of the year can keep performing they are satisfied with
life. "I just want to be able to keep playing shows," explains
Marsala. "I find about two hundred people at every show and
people keep showing up, keep being into the music. That's fine for
us. As long as we can make a living, we don't need Bentleys or
anything. We just want to hang out. Just hang out and play music,
that's all we need." Wills interjects, "I don't want a 9 to 5."
Hopefully, with the new release of The Black Swan their goals of
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