New Years Day Interview

Using questions that Tony had written, Emilee interviewed Ashley Costello of New Years Day on June 29th, 2007.

BD: Bandictionary
AC: Ashley Costello

BD: Have record labels treated you differently because of your age?
AC: Not really, no. They really don't. I think that in this day and age, there are some bands that are playing bigger stages than us that are younger than us, so I don't think labels discriminate against age.

BD: What band are you most excited to be with this summer?
AC: Coheed and Cambria and Bad Religion.

BD: What do you think about Paramore?
AC: I think they're great! I respect what they do a lot, and Hayley has a kickass voice, plus she's really cute! They're awesome, and I hope that someday we can do an all-girls tour kind of thing, like all girl bands. There needs to be more women in rock. There's never been enough.

BD: Do you think TVT will ever give your street team the funding they need?
AC: Yes, I think they will. I started the street team myself, and right now is kind of a hectic time for New Years Day, like we're starting to do this Warped Tour and there's all kinds of things going on with the street team that kind of got pushed to the side. I think when things slow down a little bit, we'll actually have a lot of time to focus on the street team.

BD: How did it feel to find out you had a two-page spread in last month's AP?
AC: It felt the same way it felt when I found out we were playing the Hurley stage on the Warped Tour. I always wanted to be in a band that AP thought was cool and I always wanted to be in a band that got to be on Warped Tour. It felt right. It felt awesome.

BD: Is it worth it to miss out on "normal" teenage things to do what you love?
AC: You know, I was just just thinking that the other day because I haven't been home in a couple months. I've been home for a total two weeks in the past four months. I love Disneyland and I don't get to go! So I think I miss all the old days where my friends were just bored and were like, "What do you want to do, you want to go to Disneyland?" But no, I think what I'm doing is more fun.

BD: In your opinion, what does a band have to do to sell out?
AC: Well, I can understand wanting to write catchy music and wanting to write music that other people are going to hear and be able to express themselves with, but selling out to me, isn't writing music for other people, because I do write music for other people. I want to write music that girls my age can appreciate. So I don't think that's selling out. I think that selling out is playing music for the wrong reasons. You know, like Ashlee Simpson, to me, that's a tad bit selling out. So yeah, someone who just does it for the fame or whatever, that's selling out.

BD: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
AC: I know it's going to sound cheesy, like I'm totally making it up, but I've always wanted to be a singer in a band. When I was about nine, I used to pretend that I was the singer of Save Ferris in my living room. I used to sing "Come On, Eileen." I just always wanted to do this. We recently moved, and my mom found a journal in my bedroom. It's from when I was maybe eleven. There were band names that I came up with and songs I was writing. One of the band names was Monster Grass, which is a really bad name. What was I thinking? So yeah, I've always wanted to do this.

BD: What do you want kids to get out of seeing you live?
AC: I definitely want them to walk away thinking that they saw a good show. I want them to walk away not only liking our music, but thinking, "that band put on a show!" I always talk about how I think love sucks. I want girls to walk away thinking that Valentine's Day isn't worth their time and not to get upset over relationships. Guys, too! I don't want guys to stress out over girls and I want them to walk away from our set thinking, "Screw love, man! I don't need it." That's what I would like.

BD: What is the song "Razor" about and how does it fit in with the rest of the album?
AC: "Razor" is about a nameless person... I'm not going to name any names because I promised I wouldn't do that anymore; I got in trouble for it. But his name does start with an R, so we switched it to Razor. It's about someone who's just a really abrasive person. Someone who has no consideration for other people's feelings and is very defensive. If you ever try to talk to them and say, "Hey, what you're saying and doing is really bothering me," they'll just automatically get defensive. It's someone you can never win an argument with, which was someone I was dating at one point, so that's what the song is about. It fits in with the rest of the album because the whole album was about this relationship that I had that just tore me apart, so it definitely fits in there.

BD: What's the lamest band your parents listen to?
AC: Well, my mom listens to Hilary Duff... I mean, no offense to Hilary! But I guess that would be it. I like all the old school classic bands my mom listens to, though. She has good taste, but there's a few mix-ins like that, like maybe Jewel, that she listens to.

BD: What's your weirdest habit?
AC: I knock on wood obsessively. I knock on wood so much! I'm very superstitious. I don't know what makes me knock on wood, but I always find myself knocking on wood for something, so that's my weirdest habit, for sure.

BD: What sport do you think the world would be better off without?
AC: All of them. I'm not really a sports person, but I do think that football is the weirdest sport out there. It's like this weird-shaped ball and big, huge guys just throw it and catch it. I don't really get it.

BD: If you had a pet penguin, what would you name it?
AC: You know, that's weird that you asked that. I had a dream the other night that this boy I had a crush on gave me this ring and inside the ring it said, "You must taste the flesh of a penguin." So I guess I would name him Fleshie. Fleshie the Penguin, in honor of the dream. ★

To learn more about New Years Day, go to myspace.com/newyearsday.

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