{"id":1517,"date":"2011-05-24T17:11:59","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T00:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1517"},"modified":"2014-08-01T20:29:24","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T03:29:24","slug":"eastern-conference-champions-in-cincinnati-with-neon-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1517","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Conference Champions in Cincinnati with Neon Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Eastern Conference Champions is a Philadelphia based Indie band that has been gaining steam through their soundtrack appearances, gaining most fame from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse<\/em> soundtrack with the song \u201cA Million Miles an Hour.\u201d They have also gained fame through songs appearing on the small screen in Melrose Place, Friday Night Lights and Gossip Girl. They have given audiences two studio albums, with their most recent offering Speak-AHH<\/em> being released last month.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy spoke with founding member Josh Ostrander about their new album and life on the road. The band will be playing alongside Neon Trees on Thursday at Bogarts in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Have you played at Bogarts before?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: I don\u2019t know. We\u2019ve been doing this for so long, I don\u2019t even know anymore. I\u2019ll know when I walk in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: You\u2019ll know when you see it. I was just in there Friday night and they had remodeled the whole backstage area and painted. I almost didn\u2019t recognize the place. It\u2019s a really cool place to play. One of the questions I had is about the tour. You have been out on the tour for just a week with Neon Trees right? Any crazy stories yet?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Not too crazy yet. Let me think. We almost asked a homeless man to jump in the van to be our roadie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: That\u2019s probably not the safest move.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: No, we decided not to. It\u2019s just the three of us traveling, and it\u2019s so much driving. We have just been like, \u201cMaybe if we just asked a homeless guy to jump in. We\u2019ll give him a 40 and a pack of smokes and have him drive.\u201d We\u2019ll give him the 40 after we get to the club and then he can help us load in. But we were so tired, we played Philly last night and we\u2019re from Philly, so it was a late night. So we almost did it today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So I got your new album two weeks ago when I was traveling a lot so I got to hear it. I really liked it. So can you tell me a little bit about the new album?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: We\u2019re super proud of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: It\u2019s called Speak-AHHH <\/em>?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Speak-AHHH<\/em> yeah. The live show right now, we\u2019re pretty much primarily playing off the record so that\u2019s pretty cool. We\u2019ve been moving a lot of copies on tour which is great. But yeah, the record just came out really good. I think it\u2019s got a nice mix. It moves really well. Like the piano stuff on there I think fits really well next to the rockin\u2019 stuff. It\u2019s an eclectic mix that I think we got going on on the record.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So hopefully you guys will find some new fans in Cincinnati this week and move some records.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: That would be great. I love Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: What do you like to do there?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: I don\u2019t know, drink. I\u2019ve been to a few bars there. I don\u2019t remember the names of them but I always remember having a good time there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: We have good bars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: You do have good bars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So I know you guys had a record deal and you walked away from the record label right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Yeah, I mean it came time. We put out good shit through Interscope, but\u00a0 we signed a two album deal with them, and then it came time to do the next record. And the band was just like, \u201cThis is not working.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Why? Was it taking away your creativity? Were they trying to control it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: No, they kind of let us get away with anything. They let us do whatever we wanted. But I just think they didn\u2019t know how to work a band like us. They had a lot of pop rock groups like Weezer and bands like that and they knew exactly the formula and how they should release those records. Then they had ECC on there and they were hoping it was going to be like their critic\u2019s choice kind of band. I don\u2019t think they knew how to handle us. They were sending our records to the same people they sent the Weezer record too or other bands like that. They just didn\u2019t have the right connections for us to take that next step. So we asked to get out of the deal and they were like, \u201cYeah.\u201d It was sad because everyone there was really great. It wasn\u2019t a \u201cFuck you\u201d kind of conversation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: It was just not a good fit?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Yeah. It was just we were gonna try to go do this on our own. So we left. And we took some of the money we made from the deal and invested in a studio. It\u2019s a shitty studio but we can record our own stuff. So we started recording our own stuff and things started going really well for us. You know from getting Gossip Girl to Melrose Place or Friday Night Lights, things started happening. We were kind of like, \u201cThis might not be the coolest thing to do but it\u2019s paying our rent.\u201d It\u2019s making us be able to keep doing this and then we got Twilight. That was all based off stuff that we have done on our own. We had no representation. So when it came time to put out Speak-AHHH<\/em> after we got on the Twilight soundtrack, the labels started calling again. And we took a bunch of meetings and we were faced with that decision again where it\u2019s like \u201cDo you want to go through this rollercoaster ride again?\u201d And we were like “No, let\u2019s just keep doing it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I\u2019m talking to more and more bands that are trying to do the same thing. The only problem that they\u2019ve been presented with is distribution, if you want to get the CD in stores and things like that. It seems very expensive to do on your own.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: It\u2019s really expensive to do certain things. The only thing I really miss about being on a label is the tour support. They would be like, \u201cHow much will it cost to do this tour?\u201d and they\u2019ll give you the money to go do it. That was the best. So now we have to be really careful with money, that\u2019s why we don\u2019t have anybody out on the road with us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: That\u2019s why you\u2019re driving the van right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Yeah, we just got a van. We have to keep the overhead really low so that we can keep playing since we\u2019re taking off work to go on tour. We\u2019re not rich by any means. But we each get a PD, and we really try to sell merch because it\u2019s filling up the gas tank.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Are you doing this full time yet?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: It\u2019s a full time gig. I\u2019ve been playing with my drummer for 13 years and we\u2019ve been touring pretty much non-stop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So you don\u2019t have day jobs or anything going on?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: We do. Greg\u2019s a bartender. Melissa teaches guitar and I do like freelance recording or artwork. Stuff like that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: It\u2019s pretty flexible. The other thing I thought was interesting is that you guys have a female bass player. I\u2019ve seen three bands the last two weeks with female bass players.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: She actually plays guitar. So we both play guitar and Greg has like this little tape thing with the bass on it. So Greg plays to a click with the bass. We\u2019ve been auditioning bass players forever but it just seems like, you know hopefully you\u2019ll see the show and see how it works well as a three piece.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Yeah, it\u2019s just funny because I saw Sick Puppies two days ago and they are a three piece with a female bass player so I thought of you guys a little bit. It sounded great actually. There\u2019s a lot of bands that I saw with eight or ten members and it sounded really produced and they couldn\u2019t play right without the tracks. And Sick Puppies kind of killed it with just the three of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: That\u2019s cool. I haven\u2019t seen them yet. I want to see them soon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So we were talking about the new music. The other question I had specifically for you is, you guys say you do everything. You\u2019re driving the bus and you don\u2019t have help. But you also do the graphic design for the artwork and the stuff on the label?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Yeah, we do all the artwork. We do all the re-mastering. We actually had help mastering the record. But we record, engineer, and produce. We do it all and we take great pride in that. Seeing the whole process through every step of the way from writing the songs to making sure the CD label looks correct.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: It\u2019s just like your baby a little bit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: It\u2019s our baby. Exactly. We thoroughly love the records that we put out because of that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Do you have graphic design background or how did you get into that?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: No, I am a total hack. I taught myself how to do Photoshop and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m doing it all wrong. Every time I send the files into the printer guys, they say, \u201cCan you do this?\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cNope.\u201d And they are like, \u2018Can you export this?\u201d And I\u2019m like \u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.\u201d \u00a0But I like that. Because I taught myself how to play guitar, we taught ourselves how to use Pro Chords, we taught ourselves how to use Photoshop. And it\u2019s like I\u2019m glad I don\u2019t know how to do it correctly because it kind of gives it a like this shitty little vibe to all of our stuff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: That\u2019s IT talk. They can fix it.\u00a0 Just fix it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Just make it look cool but don\u2019t change anything is what I usually say.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I agree. So I really am looking forward to the show. I really like the album and look forward to hearing it live. I have never seen Neon Trees either.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Josh: Yeah. They\u2019re killing it right now. It\u2019s just been a really good tour. We\u2019re so happy to be on this tour. It\u2019s great. Everybody is a sweetheart. It\u2019s a blast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eastern Conference Champions is a Philadelphia based Indie band that has been gaining steam through their soundtrack appearances, gaining most fame from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack with the song \u201cA Million Miles an Hour.\u201d They have also gained fame through songs appearing on the small screen in Melrose Place, Friday Night Lights and Gossip […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[838],"tags":[842,233,1780,839,840,841],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1517"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1519,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}