BAND: REV
INTERVIEWER: Rob Pratt (rob@bandvibe.com)
INTERVIEWEE: Steve Aguirre, Justin Warrick from REV
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 01.28.07

BAND MEMBERS:
Justin Warrick- guitars, Lead Vocals
Steve Aguirre- Guitars, Backing vocals
Shawn Ballard- Bass, Backing vocals
Brian Barth- Drums, Backing Vocals

First off, thank you for sitting down and taking time to do this interview. How did REV form?

Justin- Me and our old bass player, Mike Peters used to have a band called Centrifuge. That band broke up and me and him stuck together. Looked for a drummer for about 2 years and finally found a guitar player.

Steve- I actually had an ad out in the reader. I was playing guitar with a drummer, just about to graduate from college, they answered the ad and actually wanted the drummer. They came over and jammed. The drummer was really tight, but he was about to leave to go into the Navy or something like that. So they pulled me aside and said “you got some really cool riffs if you wanna hang around and go for it”

Justin – Then we met Brian at a gas station

Steve- We were searching for drummers left and right and auditioned like at least 5 or 6 people. Got flaked on by a couple. We had a tweaker that actually left his drum set. If you look at our old video for “The world is yours” that’s the old set the tweaker left that we throw down the sand dune. And after we were done we just left it down there cause it was so much easier than carrying it. Anyways. REV was born.

Recently REV won the 2006 LA Independent Hard Rock Artist of the Year. That’s quite an accomplishment. How could you sum up the feeling of winning that award?

Steve – Drunk.

Justin – Yeah. Pretty much. Nah. It was a great feeling. Cause it’s always good to get recognized for doing what you love to do. The awards ceremony was great. Getting up there and getting drunk

Steve- It was a great time you know. Meeting all the people. Getting a lot of respect. It was really fun. We also presented an award there. The best part was the next morning, Brian asked us, “Why didn’t you come find me? I wanted to present the award with you guys.” And going “dude you were right there with us”.

Outlett won the LA Rock Artist of the Year in 2005 and in September they opened for Aerosmith and Motley Crue. Is that what you are hoping for? Maybe not Aerosmith and Motley Crue?

Justin – I’d take Motley Crue and Aerosmith in a heartbeat!

Steve – Of course we’re trying to follow suit you know. Obviously, we want to rise to the top. We want to play anywhere and every where. But opening up for your idols? Hell yeah!

A few months ago, there was a line up change (Mike Peters quit REV and Shawn replaced him) How is the new line up working out?

Justin – Works really good. Shawn is a great bass player. He stepped in and filled Mike’s shoes very well. Mike used to handle some of the vocal parts. So we would switch off on vocals a lot and now it’s all on me. Which I don’t mind. I like it.

Steve- Actually, we distribute. He (Justin) is lead vocals, but every one fills in now and then. Shawn’s awesome. He worked out well.

Justin- Anyone who is cool, likes to drink beer, hang out, have fun and can play their instrument is awesome. It works out great. I can tolerate him for long periods of time. That’s a good quality to have in a band

Who are some of your influences?

Justin- Go ahead and start man. This is gonna be a long one.

Steve- That’s the cool thing about our band. There’s so many different influences. Bands that got me really going were like Deftones, Soundgarden, Pantera for sure.

Justin- Kyuss, Corrosion of conformity, Clutch

Steve- I even go down to like Elliot Smith and Radiohead. I dig those guys. Anything that’s real.. Pink Floyd.

Justin- Good music is good music, and I love it all. I think at one point we were listening to Donna Summers when we were coming home from Texas. I don’t know if you should print that.

Steve- Strike that.

Justin- That’s Pat’s Ipod not ours. It went from Twisted Sister to Donna Summers.

You said clutch is one of your influences. What is it like to play with a band that has influenced you?

Justin- That was awesome.

Steve- I just cant wait to do it again. It was great. We had Lil Jon show up. I mean what can you say? We’re at a Metal club, Brick by Brick, opening up for Clutch and High on fire, the first time we heard them. Opening for them is just a dream and then meeting my own personal you know- (screams) YEAH!

Justin- Lil Jon is down with REV.

In November, you played a show that sounded too good to be true to me anyways. The show with Opiate for the Masses. How did the show go in your eyes?

Justin- It was a great show! Man, that was a good night.

Steve- It was. We hooked up with a couple bands we’re friends with. Got them on the bill packed the house and had a great time. It was probably one of the best lineups in music I had heard in a long time.

Justin-I love to play with bands of that caliber. We brought Opiate down, and they’re an awesome band. Probably the second or third time we’ve seen them live. Either way, it was a great show. They always put on a great show. Great band.

Your high energy show is what REV is known for. More often than not if you’ve seen REV once you will see them again. Is that the reputation you guys are looking for?

Justin- HELL YEAH! Yes. We are a live band. Anybody who comes to the show man. That’s our focus. Playing live first. Recording and stuff and doing the albums is fun but doing the live show, the live show is where it’s at.

Who are some of your favorite bands to do a show with?

Justin- Outlett.

Steve- Our favorite bands are obviously our friends. We like Silver Side, Outlett, Testing tomorrow. They’re cool guys also. I’d love to do a show with Mastadon.

Justin- We could go on for days with bands we want to play with.

Steve- Anybody who is about the music and having a good time. That’s all I care about.

Recently, you have been passing out free REV ring-tones as a thank you to your fans. How did that come about?

Justin- Oh friend Stephanie, handles that for us actually.

Steve- She put that together, offered it to us, said “what do you think about these?” All the clips are good. I said, “Give them out for free”. We could have charged for them, but it’s not the point.

Justin- It’s pretty cool to hear someone’s phone ringing with your song.

You mentioned touring Texas last year. What was that like?

Justin – HOT! Very humid.

Steve- People there were awesome! There is some great music out there. That’s one thing I noticed. People were starving for it out there. Signing autographs. Sold tons of merch. That’s always good. It gets us from point a to point b.

Justin- It definitely helps put gas in the tank

Steve – Dodging a tornado by 5 miles kind of sucks.

Justin-We had our share of troubles out there, The van breaking down. Actually, the van didn’t break down. The wheel broke off. All the bands we played with were awesome. Every show was a good show.

If you could tour with one band who would it be?

Justin- Mastadon.

Steve- AGHH. SNAP. We were talking about this a few days ago. This would be a dream. DOWN. Phil Anselmo and Pepper Keenan? I mean come on.

What’s next for REV?

Steve- Another beer.

Justin- Touring.

Steve- We’re finishing up writing. We have a whiteboard covered with all our ideas. They’re coming together like a puzzle, and it’s awesome.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Justin- Could somebody bring me a beer? Buy a cd at www.revrox.com and check us out at www.myspace.com/revrox. Thank you.

For more official information on REV, please log onto:
http://www.revrox.com/
http://www.myspace.com/revrox

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