Exclusive Interview with Dusty from The Almost
The Almost is a band from Florida and consists of Aaron Gillespie (Underoath) on vocals and drums, Dusty Redmon on guitars, Jay Vilardi on guitars, and Alex Aponte on bass. I am a sucker for good pop punk music, so I figured why not talk to Dusty and see what is really going on with The Almost.
BnR: The Almost has been around in some form or another since 2005. Aaron Gillespie did most of the work on the previous efforts Southern Weather and No Gift to Bring EP. However, Monster Monster is the first EP where Aaron stated "the album will be more of a complete band effort." Was it?
Dusty: Oh yes, 100% right out of the gate. We were all writing and recording. It was a totally different dynamic for him [Aaron].
BnR: How was the recording for this record? Was it smooth?
Dusty: We are located all over the country. A couple guys live in Florida, I lived in Philadelphia, our bass player was in Salt Lake City. We would send the riffs around and see what everyone could do. I guess it was in March, we got together down in Florida near Tampa. We hammered some demos out together. That was the only time we sat down and cohesively wrote things. But once we got into the studio is pre-production, man, it just took wings. We had more songs than we had space on the record.
BnR: Do you think you will have a second effort following this one? You know to make use of those songs?
Dusty: We are releasing this EP thing right now. It is kind of like a pre-order EP. It has two songs not on the album. Then we have a couple other songs that we might do some exclusive with some retailer like iTunes. We definitely have a few B-sides.
BnR: You are currently on tour with The Used. I know it is in the early stages, but how has this tour been going for you?
Dusty: It has been awesome. The shows have been great. I don't want to say I have been surprised by The Used, but they are packing them in for the first four shows. They are just killing it live. We are just really stoked and really thankful to be on the tour.
BnR: How have the kids received your music?
Dusty: It seems really good. It is not 100% new fans, there will be a couple of kids singing along. But my gage if we are just blowing it or doing awesome, is the applause after the song. Normally when we stop playing it gets pretty loud and everyone is into it. It is what we hoped for so far.
BnR: Where do you fit on the lineup bill? Are you direct support?
Dusty: Yea, there is a punk rock band called Drive A, they are opening. We are on after them and then the Used. So we are direct support.
BnR: I was watching Ghost Dad last night starring Bill Cosby. For some reason, that movie makes me cry. What is the last movie that has brought tears to your eyes?
Dusty: We were just talking about stuff like this the other night because Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was on. We were like "dude we can't watch that or we will be crying." I remember I saw Click, that Adam Sandler movie. I think I may have cried during that. I saw it on tour and I was like, 'What am I doing with my life?'
BnR: How often do you see this band getting together? Every two years?
Dusty: I don't know. That is the thing with this band we take things a tour at the time. We exist off the Underoath album cycle. They are off so we are on for probably about a year. We are going to Australia in a couple of months. Then we will probably do a headliner after that. I don't know for sure, but we try and take advantage of it when we can.
BnR: What do you work on when you are not working with The Almost?
Dusty: I write a bunch of country songs in my apartment. I worked a 9-5er when I worked in Philly. I worked at the Urban [Outfitters] home office with my wife. That was an easy job. They just let me come and go. I basically sat around and searched the internet and got paid pretty good.
But now that I am going home, I don't know. Me and a couple of guys in the band are talking about working stuff out together. We will probably get more serious about that later. We did start talking about it when we were in the studio, but we just wanted to get the album done first.
BnR: Who was your musical hero?
Dusty: I dig Ryan Adams a whole lot. He is like a North Carolina guy. I think, as a guitar player, I really like Keith Richards. He just a cool old bastard. He keeps it simple.
BnR: Would you want to try and tour with the Rolling Stones?
Dusty: [laughs] I would push Keith's gear on stage every night. I would sell hot dogs to watch the Rolling Stones every night.
BnR: On the Monster EP, what is your favorite to perform live?
Dusty: Probably the title track of the record called Monster Monster. We did a twelve date run to get our set ready for this tour. For the last two shows, we started playing Monster Monster as the encore. That song is awesome. It is probably the most aggressive song we got, so it translates pretty well. That is probably the most fun to play right now.
BnR: I would like to play a quick game with you. You know how Porn titles are always strange and funny. It is called Porn or no Porn. The idea is simple, you have to determine if the Porn title I read to you is real or one I just made up.
K19:The Babymaker
Dusty: [laughs] That one is fake.
BnR: Very good. It is fake. Ok, Edward Penishands.
Dusty: That has got to be real.
BnR: That is real. You are 2 for 2. Lord of the Cockrings.
Dusty: Oh God please let that be real. Real! If not, you are going to be making so much money making up titles.
BnR: It too is real. To Fist a Mockingbird.
Dusty: No way. That is fake.
BnR: You are four for four. Our final one is Harry Twatter and the Sorcerer's Bone.
Dusty: I am saying real because I really want that to be real.
BnR: That is right. You are five for five.
Dusty: YES! The guy from the Christian band got the five porn titles right. Sweet!
Thank you Dusty for taking the time to talk to us. Make sure you go out and pre-order Monster EP now so you can get some of those exclusive tracks. The album hits retailers on November 3rd. See the band's MySpace orwww.thealmost.com for tour dates and any other information.
BnR: The Almost has been around in some form or another since 2005. Aaron Gillespie did most of the work on the previous efforts Southern Weather and No Gift to Bring EP. However, Monster Monster is the first EP where Aaron stated "the album will be more of a complete band effort." Was it?
Dusty: Oh yes, 100% right out of the gate. We were all writing and recording. It was a totally different dynamic for him [Aaron].
BnR: How was the recording for this record? Was it smooth?
Dusty: We are located all over the country. A couple guys live in Florida, I lived in Philadelphia, our bass player was in Salt Lake City. We would send the riffs around and see what everyone could do. I guess it was in March, we got together down in Florida near Tampa. We hammered some demos out together. That was the only time we sat down and cohesively wrote things. But once we got into the studio is pre-production, man, it just took wings. We had more songs than we had space on the record.
BnR: Do you think you will have a second effort following this one? You know to make use of those songs?
Dusty: We are releasing this EP thing right now. It is kind of like a pre-order EP. It has two songs not on the album. Then we have a couple other songs that we might do some exclusive with some retailer like iTunes. We definitely have a few B-sides.
BnR: You are currently on tour with The Used. I know it is in the early stages, but how has this tour been going for you?
Dusty: It has been awesome. The shows have been great. I don't want to say I have been surprised by The Used, but they are packing them in for the first four shows. They are just killing it live. We are just really stoked and really thankful to be on the tour.
BnR: How have the kids received your music?
Dusty: It seems really good. It is not 100% new fans, there will be a couple of kids singing along. But my gage if we are just blowing it or doing awesome, is the applause after the song. Normally when we stop playing it gets pretty loud and everyone is into it. It is what we hoped for so far.
BnR: Where do you fit on the lineup bill? Are you direct support?
Dusty: Yea, there is a punk rock band called Drive A, they are opening. We are on after them and then the Used. So we are direct support.
BnR: I was watching Ghost Dad last night starring Bill Cosby. For some reason, that movie makes me cry. What is the last movie that has brought tears to your eyes?
Dusty: We were just talking about stuff like this the other night because Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was on. We were like "dude we can't watch that or we will be crying." I remember I saw Click, that Adam Sandler movie. I think I may have cried during that. I saw it on tour and I was like, 'What am I doing with my life?'
BnR: How often do you see this band getting together? Every two years?
Dusty: I don't know. That is the thing with this band we take things a tour at the time. We exist off the Underoath album cycle. They are off so we are on for probably about a year. We are going to Australia in a couple of months. Then we will probably do a headliner after that. I don't know for sure, but we try and take advantage of it when we can.
BnR: What do you work on when you are not working with The Almost?
Dusty: I write a bunch of country songs in my apartment. I worked a 9-5er when I worked in Philly. I worked at the Urban [Outfitters] home office with my wife. That was an easy job. They just let me come and go. I basically sat around and searched the internet and got paid pretty good.
But now that I am going home, I don't know. Me and a couple of guys in the band are talking about working stuff out together. We will probably get more serious about that later. We did start talking about it when we were in the studio, but we just wanted to get the album done first.
BnR: Who was your musical hero?
Dusty: I dig Ryan Adams a whole lot. He is like a North Carolina guy. I think, as a guitar player, I really like Keith Richards. He just a cool old bastard. He keeps it simple.
BnR: Would you want to try and tour with the Rolling Stones?
Dusty: [laughs] I would push Keith's gear on stage every night. I would sell hot dogs to watch the Rolling Stones every night.
BnR: On the Monster EP, what is your favorite to perform live?
Dusty: Probably the title track of the record called Monster Monster. We did a twelve date run to get our set ready for this tour. For the last two shows, we started playing Monster Monster as the encore. That song is awesome. It is probably the most aggressive song we got, so it translates pretty well. That is probably the most fun to play right now.
BnR: I would like to play a quick game with you. You know how Porn titles are always strange and funny. It is called Porn or no Porn. The idea is simple, you have to determine if the Porn title I read to you is real or one I just made up.
K19:The Babymaker
Dusty: [laughs] That one is fake.
BnR: Very good. It is fake. Ok, Edward Penishands.
Dusty: That has got to be real.
BnR: That is real. You are 2 for 2. Lord of the Cockrings.
Dusty: Oh God please let that be real. Real! If not, you are going to be making so much money making up titles.
BnR: It too is real. To Fist a Mockingbird.
Dusty: No way. That is fake.
BnR: You are four for four. Our final one is Harry Twatter and the Sorcerer's Bone.
Dusty: I am saying real because I really want that to be real.
BnR: That is right. You are five for five.
Dusty: YES! The guy from the Christian band got the five porn titles right. Sweet!
Thank you Dusty for taking the time to talk to us. Make sure you go out and pre-order Monster EP now so you can get some of those exclusive tracks. The album hits retailers on November 3rd. See the band's MySpace orwww.thealmost.com for tour dates and any other information.
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