interview: eye alaska (aug. 29, 2008)

got the chance to catch eye alaska's set the other night. excellent live show. if you like the EP, they'll probably play the entire thing and you'll love every second. lead vocalist brandon wronski acts a little odd (don't ask) on stage, but i got the chance to talk with him about the band for a brief minute after the show. anyway, read the entire thing, so i could say i didn't transcribe the whole thing in vain.

Roshan Bhatt: What’s your name and position in Eye Alaska?
Brandon Wronski: My name is Brandon Wronski and I sing in Eye Alaska.

RB: Mind giving me a brief summary on how the band started?
BW: Cameron and I started when we were in middle school, and we played and toured with a band called Dead Letter Diaries, and then over time, we wanted to change the music and we wanted to change the name with that. So then we met up with the other guys and just started calling it Eye Alaska


RB: How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard of your band before?
BW: We want to create a soundtrack to life. We call it ‘soundtrack-rock’ or ‘cinematic rock.” There’s a bunch of different genres on the EP, and each song plays with different genres. There are songs like “I Knew You’d Never Fly” and [inaudible] that have that cinematic feel to it, and then you have songs like “Roll Right Over” where it’s kinda R&B and pop, then there’s “Through Willows and Streams” that’s just more rock, and “Stop Me Now” is more hip-hop. You don’t go through life listening to one style of music, and we feel that making a record for everything and not limiting yourself to one genre is great.


RB: Typically, the influences question is kinda textbook and corny, but since you have a diverse sound, I have to ask.
BW: One of my main influence Han Williams and Hans Zimmer, I listen to that stuff all day long. Then old Motown, Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Eat World and the Jackson 5. I try to take something from every single artist.


RB: What are your favorite bands of the moment?
BW: Hard question. Who am I loving right now? Definitely The Dear Hunter and Lydia. We just got off of tour with them. Two great bands and I was just stoked to be on tour with those guys. And Anarbor, their new record just came out and I’m loving that right now.


RB: What are your plans for the next album as far as themes go, and will it be on Fearless?
BW: Yeah, it’s gonna be on Fearless in 2008. We’re keeping the same thing going, and we’re keeping it genre-less. It’s pretty much written already and it’s gonna be awesome.


RB: How did you sign to Fearless?
BW: We were talking to a bunch of labels at the time and Fearless approached us at one of our shows and they expressed interest in wanting to meet with us. We met with them and it instantly clicked. They are an awesome, hard working group of people. They know what they are doing. We knew it felt right.


RB: Weird question. Is Dustin Kensrue a fan of your band?
BW: Haha, I have no clue. I don’t even know if Thrice has heard our band. I love Thrice, but we’re not really affiliated with them.


RB: Who has been the best band you’ve toured with so far.
BW: Well this is pretty much still our first tour. We did one with the Summer set and Anarbor and then we just got off of the tour with Lydia and The Dear Hunter, and I have nothing but good things to say about them.


RB: When people ask me to describe your band, I point out the fact that if they like As Tall as Lions, they’ll probably love Eye Alaska.
BW: I love ATAL. The first show we played as Eye Alaska was with As Tall as Lions at Chain Reaction.


RB: If you were the opening act on a tour, who would the dream lineup be?
BW: I would straight up say Justin Timberlake. Or Radiohead.
RB: I’d see the Justin Timberlake tour working.
BW: (Laughs) Dude I feel it’d work great. Or the Goo Goo Dolls.

RB: And lastly, what the hell’s in the backpack?
BW: Haha, everyone asks that. It’s just a bunch of stuff that’s close to me to keep reminding me where I came from.

RB: Well, that pretty much wraps it up. Thanks a lot.
BW: No problem, dude. Thank you.

eye alaska on myspace.
buy the yellow and elephant ep

-grizzly