BAND: Emery
INTERVIEWER: Jennifer Stumpp (jenns@bandvibe.com)
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 03.22.06

BAND MEMBERS:
Toby Morrell - vocals
Matt Carter - guitars
Josh Head - keyboards
Chopper - bass
Dave Powell - drums
Devin Shelton - guitar, vocals

Emery is a group of six talented guys, Toby Morell (vocals/guitar), Matt Carter (guitar), Josh Head (keys), Chopper (Bass), Devin Shelton (vocals/guitar), and Dave Powell (drums) that have a Rock/Screamo/Alternative sound. Their success started in 2004 when their album “ The Weak’s End” came out and skyrocketed the charts. After Signing with Tooth and Nail records along with other bands such as MeWithoutYou, Anberlin, Waking Ashland, UnderOath, Further Seems Forever, Dead Poetic, and Number One Gun, these guys are only at the starting point of their amazing journey. Traveling all around the United States and having a busy schedule, I got a chance to talk to Joel (Bass) before they performed March 22, 2006 at Soma in San Diego, Ca. Here are a few things that I, being a fan was interested in finding the answer to and I’m sure many of you have wondered the same thing.

Q: Do you find it hard being a Christian band and being successful?
A: “ Yes and no I guess, we get a lot of misunderstood people who ask why we do the things we do and why don’t you play at churches? I read in a magazine that you guys drink and smoke. It’s hard in that sense. We feel like we don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves as a Christian band because we can only go so far. I feel like we let some people down at times but you have to do what you feel is right.”

Q: Who influenced you growing up?
A: “ I listened to R and B growing up but the biggest influence on me was 80’s heavy metal. Guns n’ Roses is my favorite band of all time. I love Iron Maiden, Skid Row pretty much any heavy metal band you can name from the 80’s is rad. I got into blues for a while and listened to Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Hendrix and stuff like that, then at some point I started listening to Sunny Day Real Estate and that’s when I started listening to music like we do. As far as influences go, I have listened to so much. I like Jazz, Classical, I’m a big fan of Bach, anything he ever composed I love. If I had to name who is the best songwriter in the world I would have to say Bach. He’s written the most perfect music ever.

Q: Do you have a favorite place you like to perform at? Where you would love to go again?
A: “ I don’t know as far as clubs go you never really remember the good ones, you always remember the bad ones. I could tell you a right now a huge list of ones I would never want to go back to. But as far as cities go I love playing The Trapdoor in Hollywood. We played at The Avalon in New York City and that’s pretty cool. Honestly though, House of Blues by far are the best clubs. No way around that, we were with Hawthorne Heights on the last tour. We played with them at House of Blues, Myrtle Beach and they had an elevator backstage because the dressing rooms were upstairs but I never used the stairs all night because of it. It was pretty cool. They do good catering too, it’s not like you get your food and stop they have it out buffet style and keep it out all night. It’s amazing; they know how to take care of the bands.

Q: How do you feel your second album did? Did it go the way you expected?
A: “ Ya, So far it’s doing really well. We’ve been recently trying to get one of our songs on the radio and get it going. I think that’s going okay I’m not really sure but hopefully that will help boost our sales. I think it’s doing pretty good, we’re rolling along and kind of talking about when we’re actually gonna start working on our third album. We’re excited about it but not sure when it’s going to be.

Q: Is there something crazy a fan has done that you will always remember?
A: “ Ya, actually this girl we know from Phoenix we actually saw her last night. We know her but we know her from seeing her at shows, which sort of developed a friendship over a year and a half. But she came to a show in the fall and she had this gray t-shirt on and I guess she took a pen or something and had written Emery and then The Question on it and then wrote every lyric to every song all over the t-shirt. She said it took her like seven and a half hours but she wrote the whole album out on it. At the end of the night she gave us the shirt and I kept it. Hopefully I can put it in a frame sometime, but ya we’ve gotten some cool stuff on the way. A lot of people make us baked goods and stuff like that but that t-shirt is probably the coolest thing we’ve ever gotten, a real true fan.”

This band definitely has an amazing talent and they are a really rad group of guys. I would like to express my appreciation for their time. Be sure to check out Emery on their website emerymusic.com or on Myspace at www.myspace.com/emery. Their second album “The Question” is out in stores now everywhere.

Check out Bandvibe's photo coverage of Emery:
+Tooth and Nail Tour 2006 pics by Liz@bandvibe.com - 04/06/06
+Tooth and Nail Tour 2006 pics by JennS@bandvibe.com - 03/22/06
+Emery w/As Cities Burn, Gym Class Heroes, Gatsbys American Dream pics by Molly@bandvibe.com - 09/26/05