Vans Exclusive: Set Your Goals

We sent over some questions for Set Your Goals before they left for their tour with Parkway Drive. Check it out to hear their favorite Warped Tour story, insight on the new album and what a pair of Set Your Goals Vans would look like.

Mariachi El Bronx on to 2nd Album

Mariachi El Bronx have been busy working on their much anticipated second album! So stoked. There is no news yet on a release date but we know it's in the works after the release of tons of photos from the recording process, some of which you can see below. Mariachielbronx.com has also been seeing updates, so keep your eyes peeled for some info on the new material.

The rest of the recording session photos can be found on the band's Facebook.

Want to know how Mariachi El Bronx got started? Check out our interview with Matt last year at SXSW below:

Wings + Teeth Tour with P.O.S.

Hip-hop outfit Doomtree has announced a month-long tour featuring all of its seven artists. It will include P.O.S., Dessa, Lazerbeak, Cecil Otter, Paper Tiger, Sims and Mike Mictlan. I can't even imagine what this tour is going to be like. Have you ever seen 7 bands perform one night in venues like these?! I'm expecting some collabs. Lots and lots of collabs.

The tour starts this week! Check out the dates and get your tickets early:

11/4 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep

11/5 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theare

11/6 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court (AA)

11/6 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge (21+)

11/7 - Missoula, MT - The Palace

11/8 - Seattle, WA - Neumo's

11/9 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret

11/10 - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan

11/12 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's

11/13 - Los Angeles, CA - Roxy Theatre

11/16 - Austin, TX - Red 7

11/17 - Denton, TX - Hailey's

11/19 - New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's

11/20 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade

11/21 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506

11/22 - Virginia Beach, VA - The Jewish Mother

11/23 - Washington, DC - DC9

11/24 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's

11/26 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory

11/27 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East

11/28 - Portland, ME - Space

11/30 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore

12/1 - Toronto, ON - Sneaky Dee's

12/2 - Pontiac, MI - The Pike Room at Crofoot Ballroom

12/3 - Chicago, IL - The Bottom Lounge

12/4 - Grinnell, IA - Gardner Lounge (Grinnell)

12/5 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon

Speaking of P.O.S. I thought it would be fun to bring up an interview we did about a year ago!

The Death Set at Jelly NYC's Pool Parties

The Death Set played Jelly NYC's Pool Parties at East River Park last Sunday July 25th in Brooklyn. Dan, Johnny, and Jahphet aka Roofeeo, of course, were batsh*t crazy. Our friend Colin Devin Moore shot a bunch of photos of their set. Then, he ran them down for the most uninformative interview in the history of man.



At some point shortly after this interview the crowd went over to Brooklyn Bowl where Johnny threw a bowling ball at Japhet.





So what the hell is going on with them? Here's a state of The Death Set email Johnny Sierra sent out this week:

"The big news is that we have finished our new album! Its called "Michel Poiccard". Some may recognize that name as the bad ass lead character from the French New Wave movie "Breathless". Dedicated to the rough and tumble dude he is.

 The record was mixed and executively produced by XXXChange, producer for Spankrock, The Kills and remixer of a gazillion from Thom Yorke to Kylie Minogue. We are super psyched on it! Includes a collaboration with Diplo on a track and Spankrock on another.

Expect a mixtape in October, singles with videos from November and the record to drop in January. Coming out on Counter records. The rock sibling of Ninja Tune."

The Death Set will be playing The Mad Decent Block Party tomorrow in Philly with buds, Ninjasonik. Shortly after, they're getting all fancy & going to France to break a bunch of really old, historical stuff after drinking a lot of beer. The France tour dates are listed on The Death Set's site so have yourself a look.

Interview: Dilinger Escape Plan

Liam from Dillinger Escape Plan was cool enough to sit down and answer some questions from the Warped Tour Pit Reporter...who also happens to be me! He tells us who he's liked working with, what it's like getting this far on the band's 10th year, new releases he likes and more- not to mention a prank the band pulled on The Bronx a few years ago on Warped.



If you haven't already picked up the band's latest album Option Paralysis, be sure to give it a good listen.

PARAMORE! Win tickets and Ask Questions

I'm pretty excited to let you guys know about a new band we're working with...

Starting on June 15th, Vans will be giving away 30 pairs of tickets (that's 30 chances to win!) to a date near you to the upcoming Honda Civic Tour Featuring PARAMORE. Trust me- you'll see more details on that coming up.

Now on top of that, Paramore is going to be taking questions from YOU, the Vans fans, for an interview that will be right here! All you have to do is leave a comment on anything you want to know and we'll take it from there.

Darkest Hour interviews Dillinger Escape Plan at SXSW

Darkest Hour and Dillinger Escape Plan were both at SXSW with us in Austin. We thought just throwing a microphone at them could turn out to be a good time. And it was indeed:

Interview: True Widow

Meet True Widow. Find out who they like at SXSW and what 2 things go best with their music.

Interview: Mariachi El Bronx

Matt from The Bronx, and maybe more importantly Mariachi El Bronx, is sad you aren't at SXSW with him! He tells us how El Bronx got started...and he wants Vans to make what!? Shooo you crazy!

Interview: Year Long Disaster

Catching up with Rich, bassist of Year Long Disaster, about our showcase, his favorite bands, Vans and some silly face.

Vans Exclusive: Bayside

I caught up over the weekend with Bayside drummer (little) Chris to get the latest on their newest album. Oh, you didn't know they were writing one? Well...now you do! Chris also has a very, very specific Bayside Vans collab in mind. I'm taking notes on this one. Maybe as thanks for the interview, I'll send you a custom pair, Chris. Durn...I may have ruined your Christmas present....

On with the interview!

So word on the street, or around the Vans office, is there's a new album in the works. Spill it! Where are you guys in the process?

Yes!! It is true!! We are pretty much right in the middle of writing our new record. At this point it's us in a room with no windows writing songs. The coffee drinking is at its max! We've got a pretty good amount of songs and we're all definitely psyched on how they're coming out.

What is writing like for Bayside? Any sort of crazy systematic formula you've developed, do you guys mostly work together, does everyone do their part, etc etc.

Our writing formula is pretty simple. Basically Anthony will come up with a verse and chorus idea and send it to all of us via "the world wide web." We shoot emails back and forth about developing the idea and than we get into our practice space. This is where we actually play out the idea, get a tempo and track the idea onto garage band. We record the songs using a condensor microphone straight into garage band and us just playing live. Believe it or not it sounds pretty decent for what we actually need it for. After we track the song we'll sit and listen back to it and figure out where to "cut out the fat" (aka fix what sucks) and then we retrack it till we think the idea is where it should be. After practice we go home, send each other the songs and work out our own parts. This is definitely a formula that works for us.

Anything people should (or shouldn't) be expecting for this release? New influences maybe? Different sound?

What NOT to expect from the new Bayside album:
An obnoxious amount of auto-tune, dance beats and the color neon green.

What TO expect from the new Bayside album:
If Walking Wounded and Shudder had a baby and he was really handsome. When we write we constantly think about what our fans like, what we like and what new listeners will like. We also write keeping our live show in mind. Its important for us to have fun on stage and for people watching to have fun. That is the whole point isnt it? Hope you all like it cause i know we will.

It's hard to say as far as any new influences for the record. I know that each one of us individually are being influenced by different things but not the band as a whole. We are all influenced by different genre's, musicians and bands. I would have to say the only band we all collectively listen to and grew up on is NOFX.

Have an idea when we can expect this anticipated album? And what's the game plan after the release- are you thinking that far ahead yet?

I'm not allowed to say, but the record will be coming out before November 6th of 2014. After the new record comes out we plan on touring and touring and touring and touring, other than that there are no specific plans as far as what we'll be doing after the new record comes out. We've been putting all of our focus into writing this upcoming album.

What's your most favoritist part about touring?

My favorite part about touring is getting to hangout with my friends, making new friends and playing music everyday. It's also really fun waking up in different places everyday. Touring makes being home feel like everything is moving in slow motion. On tour you're around hundreds of people and what feels like total chaos almost every day.

What have you been listening to lately?

Recently i've been listening to alot of Creedance Clear Water, Chuck Berry, the Suicide Machines, The Police, the new Propagandhi record, Piebald and I've been really stoked on a drummer named Steve Jordan. I know i'm behind, but my girl friend just showed me a band called The Swellers and im really into what they're doing.

Vans style you can't live without!?

My Vans gear I can't live without would be all of my Authentics and Skate Mids. I won't wear anything else, AND IF YOU STEEL MY KICKS I'LL STAB YOU!!

If you could collab on a Bayside Vans shoes, what would you have in mind? Take your time on this one if you have to....

If I could collab with Vans on a Bayside Vans sneaker not only would I be psyched, but I'd be psyched!!!! I would do black on black slip-ons with White Collar Lining, White Foxing stripes and White Elastic gore with half of the Bayside Bird in White on each sneaker so when you put your feet together TA-DA!! it makes the full bird!! AND!!! Written on the Exterior Soul (bottom of the sneaker) it would say "IS A" on the left and "CULT" on the right . I think this is something our fans would really be into. Not bad yea?

Andy of ETID Answers your Questions

If you recall, we reached out not so long ago on Twitter and Facebook if you had any questions for Every Time I Die guitarist Andy Williams. Andy dropped by the Vans HQ with about 286 tacos to give you the answers you were looking for.

There are tons of more hilarious Andy answers, yes, as he continues to chow downs some tacos, on our YouTube.

And believe me. They couldn't have been answered better than this:

An intro from Andy and his first question: What's better for shoes, purple or red?


Does any grooming go into that gnarltastic beard?


What's your favorite of all your songs?


What's your goal as a band this year?


And a serious taco throwdown:

Oh Man (Man) this is going to be good

Since 2006, Honus Honus of Man Man has had the idea of working with Islands' Nick Thorburn.

Here we are, 4 years later, and the two have been meeting and writing and working to form what will surely be an epic collab suitably dubbed as "doom wop." They call themselves Mister Heavenly.

See, kids? Dreams do come true! Not for only musicians, but for the rest of us craving something musically new. And I don't know about you, but this new genre or what have you sounds perfect.

To top it off, the guys will be may releasing their tunes for free. According to Honus, they are..

...trying to have fun with it at this point. We don’t want it to get too serious or too involved and anyone to have too high of expectations, because naturally that’s when it gets destroyed. So far so good, it’s been fun. We’re even thinking about maybe doing an album. But just because we only put together four songs and it happened very quickly.

To get the low-down and all the details on the side project, you can catch the rest of the interview with Honus over at YANP.com.

Considering these song-writers, I think we'll be in for something rad. I'm excited to see the outcome of this. Until then, wrapping my head around combining the two sounds is going to drive me crazy...in a good way, mind you.

Vans Exclusive: Trash Talk

I recently caught up with Trash Talk's front man Lee Spielman to catch up with what's going on now, the US punk/hardcore scene compared to the US and exactly why you should check out his band. And who listens to Lady GaGa!? Thanks again Lee for taking some time out of touring to talking with us!

---

So let's start out with what you guys are doing at the moment! You are on tour with my friends Gallows in the UK and they tell me the tour is going well. What's it like for you guys?

We actually just got home to California last night from the UK just in time for Christmas with our families! The tour with Gallows was so rad. We got to play to a bunch of new people who probably would have never heard of us if it wasn't for that tour. Playing to a new audience is the best. It's like starting over from scratch. We went down pretty well with all of their fans and what not so it worked out perfect. Touring with Gallows was super easy too because we all clicked right off the bat. It was like we've known each other forever or something haha. Touring with people you actually like to hang out with/get along with makes tour so much better.



I've also heard your live show is intimidating even Gallows fans. I know their antics are pretty intense, so what is it you guys are bringing to the table?

Haha we definitely scared a few people over there in the UK. When we play we just go for it 100%. There is no reason not too. It's hard for me to get into a band that doesn't give it their all when they are playing. Why should anyone be into a band that doesn't even seem to be into the music they are playing? We all feel that we should put 100% into everything we do with this band. Live show included... even if that means flipping your body off of everything in the building and throwing your guitar to the back of the room.



I've seen you have a release Eyes & Nines planned for 2010. Can you tell us a little more about that? What else do you have going on for next year?

We just finished recording our new LP "Eyes & Nines" with Joby Ford of The Bronx right before we left for the UK. The record is in the mixing stages right now. The final recording should be in our hands within the next few days. We are all super excited about this record. It's the first time that we have actually taken longer than 2 days to record a record! We took our time writing this record/recording it and I think it'll show. There are tons of surprises all over the record that will throw you for a loop. I think it is our best shit to date. It should be out sometime early [this] year. Keep your eyes and ears open for more details on that as they come. After the record comes out we plan on hitting the road full force like we always do. In 2010 I would love to hit Australia/Japan/Europe again plus some new places like Afghanistan and Africa.

What's the hardcore/punk/music scene like in Sacramento? Seems like you've been in the UK for the most part lately as well- how does that compare to the music scene in the States in general?

I honestly can't speak on the music scene in Sacramento that much because I'm barely ever here! We are on the road more than we are home as of late but there are tons of shows that go on here in Sacramento. There seems to be a solid scene with a good amount of bands and people working hard to keep it afloat. Northern California in general is always on top when it comes to hardcore/punk in California! The music scene in the UK/Europe is so different than the scene over here in America. It seems like people over in Europe are so much more pumped when bands come through because it doesn't happen all the time. Here in America it seems like people kinda take shit for granted sometimes cause they get to see every band they want too all the time. Both places are awesome in their own ways.

On a personal note, what music are you guys into? Do you typically listen the type of music you write?

Haha our music tastes are all over the board. It's insane! Our guitar player Garrett listens to a lot Soul/R&B/Rap. He actually just made a sweet soul mix tape for our friends clothing company Actual Pain(www.actualpain.org). You can download it for free from our blog(www.trashtalkca.blogspot.com). I highly recommend checking it out if you like groovin. Our bass player Spencer only listens to David Bowie/Little Boots. Our drummer Sam listens to a lot of different music. It's hard to put my finger on all of the shit he listens too. I exclusively listen to Tegan & Sara/Lady GaGa haha (joking.. kinda). It's pretty wild that our band sounds the way it does with all of the shit we listen too. I would like to think that we take influence from tons of different styles of music and create our own sound out of that.

Who are some of your favorite people you've worked it? Be it label-mates, who you've toured with, became friends, etc. etc.

This is such a hard question! I love most of the people we have worked with in one way or another. I would have to say my favorite person we have worked with would be Keith Morris (Circle Jerks/Black Flag). Having that dude sing on our record was gnarly. I've been listening to his music for a long time so to have him come into the studio and work with us was insane.

And of course I have to ask- if you could pick one style of Vans to live in the rest of your life, which would it be?

Vans Half Cabs! My favorite skate shoe of all time! Real shredders know what's up.

Let's wrap up with 3 reasons someone should check out your band.

1. It's a different experience every time. No two shows are the same when it comes to the crowds and us.
2. We are on tour for about 80% of the year so there is no reason you shouldn't come check us out when we come through your town!. Chances are we will probably be coming through pretty soon.
3. We know how to party.


As always, give them a listen. And luckily for you, Trash Talk will be heading out again soon (in the US) with Anti-Flag and Cancer Bats. It's a small run, but that's a tour you don't want to miss if it's coming near you.

1/19/2010 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
1/20/2010 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
1/22/2010 - Hollywood, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater
1/23/2010 - San Diego, CA @ Soma
1/25/2010 - Tempe, AZ @ Clubhouse
1/27/2010 - Austin, TX @ Red 7

Mike Muir vs. Your Twitter Questions

Mike Muir of Suicide Tendencies was cool enough to take some of your questions via Twitter just for Vans! If you've ever wondered what makes him angry, what he thinks about Senses Fail's cover or what his take on the future of cholo metal, I suggest checking out our videos. And though there are many, they are a fun, short watch.

Vans Exclusive: P.O.S.

I had the privilege of talking with hip-hop artist Stef Alexander, better known as P.O.S., today about his current tour, punk rock band, and ideal pair of Vans.




P.O.S. is currently in the running for Spin's Best Rap Artist of 2009. Pretty sweet, huh!? Vote for him everyday until the poll closes on January 5th. He's actually beating Jay Z, Little Wayne AND Kayne West. He deserves it- so grab your friends and let's keep him #1 in the ranks.

For more info on P.O.S. you can check out www.rhymesayers.com and www.doomtree.net and don't forget to pick up his latest album Never Better on iTunes.

And if you're lucky, there's one week left to catch P.O.S. on the PacSun tour with Saosin, InnerPartySystem and Eye Alaska:

Mon/12-14 McAllen, TX @ Las Palmas Race Park
Tue/12-15 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
Thu/12-17 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
Fri/12-18 Phoenix, AZ @ The Marquee
Sat/12-19 San Diego, CA @ Soma
Sun/12-20 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues

Rise Against takes punk message to Russia

This is an amazing video of Rise Against talking about punk mentality, newest album "Appeal The Reason" and more. It's spliced with some great live footage from a performance in Moscow. I'm glad we have these guys representing us from the US when it comes to matters of politics!