As folks begin to make plans for summer tours and festivals, we thought we'd dust off this exclusive interview with The Devil Wears Prada from the Warped Tour in 2008. We spoke with Jeremy DePoyster and Andy Trick at the Scranton, PA stop. Unfortunately a bad sound quality from the press area almost stopped this interview from going to print, but we were able to salvage some good conversation.
inReview: I'll admit, I am not a huge fan of hardcore music, but I like your sound. Why do you suppose that is?
Jeremy: We don't approach it the same way, I guess, a lot of times ... I guess it all comes back to just trying to be as real as possible or whatever.
inReview: Your Myspace page indicates that you are a Christian band. Some bands that may be comprised of Christians don't want that label. What do you think of that?
Jeremy: I guess there are a lot of bands that are, I think, especially bands that have creative people, they look for an outlet whether it is politically or if the band is straight edge. You know you want to write about love or depression or whatever things you are going through. I guess we feel like Christianity is important part of our life. There is a verse in the Bible that says, "Whatever you do, do it for the Lord."
inReview: I remember when you guys were a new band, it seemed you became known quite fast. I mean, I remember when you first played at Purple Door, I had never heard of the group, but everyone was all, "Gotta see The Devil Wears Prada!" Now that you have some experience under your belt, if you could do things over, how would you do it differently?
Andy: I don't know. Things just worked out really well for us.
Jeremy: I wish we had more time to work on the first record. Like all the songs on it were kind of - we were just not in a serious perspective as a band formed in a garage. So we never expected it to be on shelves or anything like that. But I wish our first record, now that it is out there representing us to everybody, could have been a little bit better. But, I don't know, I am kind of happy with the way things went so far.
inReview: When was the first time you noticed that music influenced your life in some way?
Andy: Since I was young. Like when my dad was bringing me up on Pink Floyd and Queen and stuff like that. It has always been a part of my life. That is mainly how I interacted with my parents.
Jeremy: Same kind of story for me, I guess. I grew up on classic rock of my parents. There was just kind of like a bonding thing. All of us have that in common with our friends, I guess. So it was always a really big part of my life. It definitely never thought that would be my life. So it is kind of cool how it worked out that way.
inReview: What kind of fun things can you tell us about being on the Warped Tour?
Andy: There are some wild barbecues every night and it is kind of fun. Everybody has a blast. I don't know it's all the bands really cool. Like we did not know what to expect coming in. Like you can hang out with bands that sound nothing like you and have none of the same fans as you but yet they are all just really cool people. So it's a lot of fun.
inReview: Who are your ideal tour-mates? Like if you could pick out a tour, and describe the venues, etc.
Andy: A lot of people are saying that smaller is better. I don't necessarily think that way. Because the bigger the venue the more aggressive it is. Obviously we are going to play the same show whether or not it is a hundred kids, or a thousand kids. But for the bigger shows, there just seems to be a bigger energy. You kind of feel it, almost, on the stage and in the crowd. As I Lay Dying is a band that has a similar style to us and that a lot of the kids would get into, but we are also friends with them, so we would have a good time.
inReview: Describe your ideal fan.
Andy: It's not what people would expect, really. A lot of people think that if they come up and say like, "I have listened to you for so long!" or "I was there since your first record," and all that kind of stuff, that we will like them more, perhaps. But honestly, anybody that really likes their music and really likes what we are doing, and I am talking really genuinely likes what we are doing. That means more to me than someone who is trying to look cool. If you like the music, that is enough for me. We try to be genuine people and to meet genuine people. Whether it is the fans or in the crowd and what-not.