Myslíš, že je celá fanouškovská
základna větší a silnější po stickam chatech a po Warped
Tour?

Nevím, jestli chaty pomohli, nemyslím si, že by ublížili. Ale vždycky se snažíme zůstat v kontaktu s našimi fanoušky. Předtím než jsme měli naší aktuální stránku Yellowcardrock jsme měli nástěnku a tam hodně přátel, známých tváří, které momentálně vidáme pořád po celém světě a s některými z nich jsme se už bavili právě tam. Ale ty stickam chaty byli opravdu dobré na to zůstat v kontaktu s každým během nahrávání. Obvykle je tam obrovská díra, mezitím co odejdeš pryč a vrátíš se zpátky, ale my jsme viděli známé tváře a přezdívky a to bylo pro nás definitivně hodně zábavné. Celý nahrávací proces pro Southern Air byl krátký, připadá mi to, jako kdyby jsme vůbec neodešli na tak dlouhý čas.

Kolik máš momentálně
houslí a kolik z nich jich bereš na turné?

Mám 3, které beru na turné. Pak mám dalších 5, které jsou v takovém provozuschopném stavu, a mám další dvě, které mám doma a které jsou trochu starší. Znějí dobře, ale jsou jemnější a jsou už pár let rozbité a ještě jsem se nedostal k tomu, abych je dal dokupy. Měl jsem jedny, které se mnou většinou jezdili na turné, ale teď už ne, a které mi moje máma darovala a které jsou asi 110 let staré. Pak mám asi 400 let staré housle, které používám ve studiu a kterých pořád posílám fotky. A pak mám 2 housle značky Bridge, které sebou beru na cesty. Mám jedny černé a jedny bílé, které jsou zabalené jako japonská námořní vlajka, což je zřejmé, protože jsem poloviční Japonec, moje máma se tam narodila. Pak jedny Irské, které mám. A pak tahle společnost jménem Eastman Strings mi darovala tyhle krásné červené housle a zní to dobře a já jsem prostě šťastný, že je mám.

Co říkáš na to, že jste zpátky v České
republice?

Nevěřím tomu, že jsme tady tak brzy a oni nás ubytovali v tonto
krásném středisku s touto krásnou zemí za námi. Je to úžasné, máme dva booking agenty – jednoho pro Spojené státy a jednoho
mezinárodního. Řekli jsme jim, jak moc jsme si užili, když jsme
byli v České republice naposledy – před méně než rokem, takže tohle
je jedna z cest, jak se snážíme o to, abychom tu mohli hrát častěji. Hrajeme festivaly jako je tento a je to pro nás opravdu vzrušující. Za dva dny budeme na Slovinsku a Maďarsku, kde jsme ještě nikdy předtím nehráli. Yellowcard se dostávají do celého světa!

Je na line-upu Trutnov Open Air Festivalu nějaká
česká kapela, kterou znáš?

Ne, dívali jsme se na line-up a opravdu nepoznáme ani jedno jméno a já ani jedno nemůžu vyslovit, protože mluvím jenom Anglicky,
protože jsem Američan. Ale nemůžu se dočkat toho až se vrátím
zpátky a poslechnu si nějaké kapely.

Znáš nějaké české slovo, nebo chceš něco říct svým českým
fanouškům?

Zrovna jsem si nějaké zjišťoval….
ale jsem tak stydlivý a ani nevím jak říct „Děkuji“… Je vtipné,
že čím dál ve východní části Evropy jsme, tím méně kultury a
poznání máme, takže pokaždé když jsme tu, tak se snažíme užívat si
to, co to jen jde. Ale téhle části země rozumím a miluju a je to
prostě úžasné, že jsme tady.

Jaký je to pocit mít jeden z
nejlepších prací na světě, hrát po celém světě pro hodně lidí a
možná jim pomáhat dostat se přes těžké časy vaši hudbou a texty
vašich písní?

Je to úžasný pocit, mám tu nejlepší práci na světe. Říkáme to pořád, a nevyužíváme toho. Někdy nespíme celý 36 hodin nebo letíme okolo světa, někdy jsme prostě tak unavení, tak daleko od domova, a tak podobně, ale každý den nám  připomíná, jak moc šťastní jsme a jak moc podpory a lásky dostáváme od našich přátel, rodin a fanoušků. Je to úžasné. My jako skupina přátel jsme začali tak mladí a teď můžem vydávat alba a vyjet na turné po celém světě a vidět známé tváře a mít lidi na druhé straně planety v zemích o kterých by mě nenapadlo, že bych mohl někdy navštívit a teď rozeznám. Je to opravdový dar a my jsme hodně vděční.

Myslíš si, že nahrávací proces Southern Air byl těžší nebo lehčí než práce na předchozích albech?

Myslim, že tento cyklus byl jednodušší a je to rozdílné pro
každého. Odešli jsme na dva roky, aby jsme jenom relaxovali.
Obětovali jsme toho hodně tím, že jsme byli na cestách, izolování
daleko od našich rodin a přátel a to je právě způsob, jak vy
dobíjíte baterie, když pracujete. Ale když my jdeme do práce, ne
vždy můžem relaxovat, jak jsme dobili své baterie, když my jdeme do
práce, ne vždy můžem relaxovat, takže za dva roky jsme se stihli
zamyslet a pochopit, jak můžeme být lepší nejenom jako umělci, ale
i jako lepší přátele k sobě navzájem. Takže tento proces minulý rok
- hrát ve 32 zemích, být na cestě téměř 300 dní za rok byl velmi
obtížné, ale věděli jsme přesně, co chceme dělat, každý člen
Yellowcard měl ten přesný a stejný cíl a měli jsme hodně energie a
boje a myslím, že díky tomu byl nahrávací proces Southern Air o
hodně jednodušší, i přesto že jsme všichni měli ma překonání své
osobní problémy. Spojili jsme se společně, bojovali jsme společně,
a jsme zpátky na cestě a všechna naše tvrdá práce se vyplácí, díky
tomu jako moc… máme hodně úžasných fanoušků, kterými se stali
lidé z venku našeho normálního podpůrného systému a kteří milují
naší hudbu. Tak trochu to ukazuje, že tento proces, ta tvrdá práce
- že jsme všechny tyto problémy překonali. Myslím že celkově je to
mnohem lepší.

ENG:

Do you think the whole fanbase is stronger and bigger after the stickam chats and also after Warped Tour?

I don’t know if the chat helped, I don’t think they hurt but we
always try and stay in touch with our fans. Before we had our
actual website Yellowcardrock, we had a message board and so many
friends, familiar faces that we see all the time around the world
now are some of the people we used to talk to on that website. But
the stickam chats were great to stay in touch with everyone even
while we were recording. Usually there is a big hole where you go
away then you come back but we were able to see familiar faces and
screen names and that was definitely a lot of fun for us. The whole
recording process for Southern Air this time was short I feel like
we almost didn’t really go away for that long.

How many violins do you actually have and how many of them
go on tour with you?

I have 3 that go on tour, I have 5 that are kind of working order,
I have two more that are at home that are a little bit older and
they sound good but are more delicate, they have been broken over
the years and I’ve had to put them back together. I had a blonde
one that used to come on tour with me that I don’t tour with
anymore that my mom gave me that is about 110 years old and then I
have a 400 year old violin that I use in the studio which I show
pictures of all the time. And then I have 2 bridge violins that I
take out on the road. I have a black one and a white one that is
wrapped like a Japanese naval flag which is obviously I’m half
Japanese, my mom was born there. The irish one is up. So then I
have that one. And then this company called Eastman Strings gave me
this beautiful red violin and it sounds great and I’m so lucky to
have it.

How do you feel about coming back to the Czech
Republic?

I can’t believe we’re here so soon and then they put us up in this
beautiful resort with all this beautiful land behind us. You know,
it’s amazing. We have two booking agents, one for the States and
one internationally, we told them how much fun we had in the Czech
republic maybe less than a year ago and so this is one way that we
are trying to make sure that we can play here more often so we play
festivals like this and it’s still very exciting for us. In like 2
days we will be in Slovenia and Hungary as well, we have never
played in those places before so Yellowcard is taking over the
world, we’re doing it!

Is there any Czech band you
know on the line up of the Trutnov Open Air
Festival?

No, we were looking at the lineup and we didn’t recognize any name
and I couldn’t pronouce very many, cause I only speak English,
cause I’m damn American, but I’m eager to go back and listen to
some bands.

Do you know any Czech words or is there anything you want
to say to your Czech fans?

I looked up … but I’m so shy and I don’t even know how to say
„thank you“. It’s funny the more far east on the European side the
less culture and knowledge we have so every time we are in a
country we try and soak up as much but this part of the country I
understand and I love and it’s just so amazing that we’re here.

How does
it feel to know that you have one of the best jobs in the world,
rocking around the worldfor tons of people and
maybe helping them past through some rough times with the music and
the lyrics of your songs?

It feels amazing, I have the best job in the world. You know we say
that all the time and you know we don’t take advantage of it.
Sometimes you don’t sleep for 36 hours or flying over the world and
you know sometimes you get so tired so far from home and things
like that but everyday we’re reminded about how lucky we are and
how much support and love we get from our friends and families and
fans it’s amazing. We as a group of friends who started young and
then we are able to release records and tour the whole world and
see familiar faces and have people on the other side of the planet
in countries I never would imagine to go to and I recognize. So it
absolutely is a gift and we’re very thankful.

Do you
think the recording process for Southern Air was
harder or easier than working on the other
albums?

I think this cycle was easier and it’s different for everyone, but
I think we came off two years on a break to just relax and we
sacrificed a lot being out here on the road isolated away from our
families and friends and that’s how you recharge your batteries,
when you go to work but when we go to work, we don’t get to relax
sometimes so for two years we got to reflect and understand how we
can be better not just as artists but better friends to one another
so this process last year playing 32 countries, being on the road
for almost 300 days out of the year was very difficult we knew
exactly what we wanted to do, every member of Yellowcard had the
exact same goal and we had so much energy and fight and I think
that’s what made Southern Air the recording process so much easier
even though we all personally had our own challenges to overcome.
We bound together, we fought together, and we’re back out on the
road and all our hard work is paying off because of how many..like
we have such an amazing fans becoming people outside of our normal
support system are in love with our music, that sort of shows that
this process, the hard work, we all overcome challenges together. I
think that overall it’s much better

Did you expect that much
love and positive reactions on Southern Air from your
fans?

I guess, we just didn’t expect that it would be so outpouring,
there is always this sense of pride, when you finish a studio
recording and in Yellowcard’s case for me the best time is when
it’s finished recording and before it’s released, because this is
the only time that people aren’t tearing us down or building us up
and so once the release date comes, you don’t really know what’s
going to happen. Everyone’s support and love has been overwhelming,
we’re just so happy that people have heard Southern Air and have
enjoyed it.

Were you surprised when Southern Air was #1 on the
Alternative chart on iTunes?

Ya we were very surprised. It was only for one day, now I think
it’s #7, but that just shows how many people preordered the record
and instantly overnight you know how many people other than the
other incredible artists that are on the top. It’s such not a
competitive thing to have music and sales for a small window of
time. It’s really really sweet that we got to see our names at the
top of the list. That’s really really awesome.

Was it hard to find the name for your new record
Southern Air and who was first that came up with it?

Ryan Key actually came up with the idea for Southern Air and he
usually kind of takes control of that just because he is such a
narrator for Yellowcard and I think the idea, when we wrote last
year and released When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes, it was
more about the idea that the songs coming back and kind of going
over material that we wanted to write for a long time. Southern Air
I think lyrically we really said a lot of things and really
realized how happy he was that moment that we had a little break
between 2008 and 2010, He spent a lot of time with his family and
so I think looking at that sort of moment in time and lyrically
what he spoke about on this record I think that idea of breathing
in that southern air and it just kind of cleansing you is a very
vivid image that we all can relate to and understand and that’s
ultimately where we came up with the idea.
Has it been really hard to write all of the strings for
Southern Air and how do you see the whole recording
process?

It wasn’t that difficult, it actually was relatively easy
songwriting wise, logistically it was harder, the guys were very
supportive when I had some health things happening and so just the
way that everyone sort of rallied around one another. Ryan Mendez
worked really hard recording the demo versions of the songs and
emailing them to me and Longineu so we could all get on the same
page. But once we were in the studio working with Neal Avron and
just having the yellowcard vibe all working together it was pretty
effortless and a really exciting time. We would come up with an
idea and say „what do you think about that?“ „Oh I love it, I could
do this with the violin, this for the vocal..“ so it was really an
exciting time and I don’t think we’ve had that type of an
experience since Ocean Avenue and I guess in a sense of our
listeners, you can feel that.

Do you want to share a story
behind any song off Southern Air?

I don’t have a personally a lot of stories, my favorite song that I
have right now is Sleep In The Snow, it’s one of my favorite songs.
Just right now you know kind of go through pocket of which song you
are sort of drawn to. We had this song as sort of as it is without
an outro and Ryan’s like „I wanted to add this outro, I want to do
piano and have this whole new thing“ and well I don’t really know,
I haven’t heard it yet this song is pretty pushed forward it’s kind
of a more raging song and the guys keep coming back to me, I don’t
know if that violin part is good, it could be better or maybe not
as good or whatever and you know maybe you should work harder so
this song proved to me to be a little bit more difficult just
because we had to re write the violin part and then we put on this
outro, this sort of like really elegant quiet dynamic part and it’s
totally different from the rest of the songs. I think that song I
think we worked the hardest on just the most to complete it and you
know finding new things everyday, every time I listen to it that I
can sort of attach to it. That’s a good story for me when you look
back and find new things that you admire. I’m a fan of my band. I
have really good musicians in my band, so..

Have you found any new bands at Vans Warped Tour or at the
European festivals that are now your favorite?

I actually had mentioned that I had fallen in love with music again
since Warped Tour and everything else, just the energy and all this
wonderful music and all these wonderful artists out there and I’ve
been listening to just a little bit different You Me At Six, they
put out a new record and then I also discovered We Are The Ocean -
some wonderful UK bands. A German band Nations of Flame I believe
and we played a show with them yesterday – very very good band. So
a lot of really great music out there that’s kind of outside of my
bubble of what I normally listen to. I’ve re fallen in love with
music again.

When you were in Italy, did you make a release party for
Southern Air?

Kind of, not really. It was a smaller festival, but sharing the
stage with MXPX and Anti-Flag you know bands that we’ve looked up
to for a very very long time and just how warm and responsive they
were to what a great day it was for us and then that night we had a
day off the next day in Milan so we had all of our friends, the
whole crew, everyone just kind of having drinks and just enjoying
the moment having the new Yellowcard record out and having us all
be together, we were far away from our families and loved ones but
like I said before the support and the love was outpouring and
overwhelming so it was a really good moment between us.

What is your favorite memory from Vans Warped
Tour?

I have a few memories just like hanging out with friends everyday,
we wouldn’t normally get to tour with Taking Back Sunday, The Used
or you know those are the bands that we toured with in 2002 and
2004 on Warped Tour. Most of our year last year with All Time Low
getting to see those guys every day and waking up and just talking
on the bus was a lot of fun. Ryan Mendez and I kind of had a ritual
with Alex and Jack from All Time Low where we would shotgun beers
almost on daily basic. Drink Responsibly! But yeah we had a lot of
fun.