BAND: This Providence
INTERVIEWER: Kelly Engle (kelly@bandvibe.com)
INTERVIEWEE: Ryan Tapert, Drums/Vocals
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 11.14.06

BAND MEMBERS:
Dan Young (vocals/guitar)
Gavin Phillips (guitar)
Ryan Tapert (drums/vocals)
David Blaise (bass)

BV: When did your band form?
Ryan: The band, with the original lineup, started in 2003. The band was originally called T -1.

BV: What are your ages?
Ryan: Dan is 22. Gavin is 21. I am 19. David is 18.

BV: How long have you been touring?
Ryan: This is my fifth tour, but the band has been touring since 2004.

BV: How do you like being on tour with The Hush Sound?
Ryan: We love it. They're so cool. We always love doing the tour with other Fueled by Ramen bands. Our last tour had Paramore and Cute Is What We Aim For. It's cool to meet other people from the label because all the bands seem to have the same motives.

BV: When did you start recording?
Ryan: Our old CD, "Our Worlds Divorce" came out in 2004 by a label called Rocketstar. Our new CD just came out in September. It's self-titled and is on the Fueled by Ramen Records label. It's been doing good so far, we had a great first week. The tour had been helping the numbers and they keep going up.

BV: How does this album compare with the first?
Ryan: Everyone in the band would agree that we love the new album so much more. We had twice as long in the studio; we had two months. From August 2005 to April 2006 we had seven months off which gave us a lot more time to define our sound and really work things out.

BV: How does you writing process go?
Ryan: Actually, ours is really different. We haven't found anyone else who does it. Gavin writes all the music. He puts it into the computer then he emails us the files and we practice at home. Then when we come together for band practice and put it all together. We get all the music set first. Then Dan will write a melody and lyrics. Seventy-five percent of the new record was done that way.

BV: What are your influences?
Ryan: We have a lot of influences. Our new CD is so varied, there's not one song that sounds the same. There's a couple songs that sound like our last album. There's some Beatles in there, The Faint, Gatsby's American Dream, any band you can think of had an impact on us. Whoever is driving the van gets to pick the music that's being played. It has an impact on us for the amount of time we spend riding in our van. It really effects how we write.

BV: What do you like most about being in music?
Ryan:The fact that my whole life my family was very musical. Music was always my life growing up and I always knew I wanted to do something in music. The fact that I'm 19 and I get to drive around, playing music every night; I wouldn't want to so anything else.

BV: Is there a message you try to get across with your music?
Ryan: From sixty to seventy percent of the songs are kind of Dan and what he's going through in his life. But we also have songs such as "The Road to Jericho" which is about how we don't think we love people enough in this world right now and how we need to do a better job with that. We're all Christians in the band but we aren't a Christian band. Our messages aren't blatantly religious but some of our lyrics are pretty spiritual. Even though on our last CD we weren't trying to hide anything we didn't feel like we did a good job putting out there who we are and what we believe in.

BV: Is there a certain song you enjoy playing live?
Ryan: I really like playing "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing". It's one of those raw, in your face type, songs.

BV: What do you think of your fans?
Ryan: Our fans are the greatest fans in the world. I'm sure all the bands say that, but it's awesome. And when we do home shows in Seattle it's ridiculous. Our fans are so accepting. No matter what we do they always support us.

BV: What do you do when your not touring?
Ryan: I used to have a couple jobs basically because we weren't making any money and the new CD hadn't come out. When I go home I just hang out with my friends, playing frisbee golf or going to movies. My best friend is doing merch for us on this tour. It's cool to have someone who does everything I do to be with me for two months.

BV: Where do you see this band in the future?
Ryan: Hopefully, the biggest band in the world. That's what everyone has to shoot for because if you set your bar low you're going to disappoint yourself. If you set the bar really high, you'll always have something to try for.

BV: How's your fan base in San Diego?
Ryan: Every time we come to San Diego it's great. Other than just playing here I love San Diego. The only places I would ever live would be Seattle, San Diego, and Denver.

BV: Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans at Bandvibe?
Ryan: If you haven't picked up our record, please do.

For more official information on This Providence, please log onto:
www.thisprovidence.com
www.myspace.com/thisprovidence