UN: Things seem to be coming together fairly quickly. You guys formed in 2003 and now in 2004 you have an EP out. How did Spook City come into the picture? Were any of you in contact with them in previous bands?

Eric: We’ve all known Shawn from going to shows. He’s worked with friends of ours (Dead and Buried, Punishment, Repercussion) so we all knew him personally and knew of Spook City Records. He came to one of our first shows and the next day emailed me about working with Spook City.

UN: I think SSOA stands out like a sore thumb right now. With so many bands playing metal and calling it hardcore, it’s nice to see a band playing fast, loud and keeping it heavy without resorting to bad metal riffs. Was it the bands intentions to start a band that played hardcore the way it was meant to be played?

Eric: When we started the band, I had songs written for my old band (At Fault) which were a bit different from the previous material I had written. Those songs basically become our demo. We all agreed on what style and sound we were going for and took it from there. We just wanted to play fast, simple hardcore with tons of mosh parts.

UN: What do you think is making for the lack of old school bands these days? I don’t remember the hardcore scene ever being this trendy before, but the metalcore thing just seems to be huge. Do you think a lot of this has to do with kids not taking the time to see where this music comes from? They may know Poison the Well, but chances are they have no idea who Minor Threat or Bad Brains are.

Eric: I think kids today have a real convoluted sense of what hardcore is. It’s sad that people think a band like Avenged Sevenfold is a hardcore band. And it’s sad that people think a band like Avenged Sevenfold is a metal band. Kids don’t have hardcore or punk rock roots. They think hardcore started with Opposite of December. When I was first introduced to hardcore I got into bands like youth of Today, Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits, and Inside Out. But I couldn’t go to the mall to pick up these albums. Hardcore has become commercialized and made readily available in mass quantities to the public. There are plenty of pros and cons to this, and I could go on for hours about it, but that’s not the issue here. Those kids who are into hardcore for the right reasons will be around, while it’s just a trend for everyone else.

UN: Would you say that keeping the record self-titled serves as a good introduction for people? It basically tells people We’re Sad State of Affairs and this is what we’re all about.

Eric: Actually we couldn’t really think of or agree on a new for the EP. It was originally called “Dead Ends” from the track on our demo, but then we decided to not re record that song. We just said “Fuck, call it self titled”

UN: You guys re-recorded one of your demo tracks for the EP. I was actually thinking that you could have included the entire demo as bonus tracks. Is the demo still available? Why did you guys decide to record Jump Ship?

Eric: There are actually 2 songs on the EP that were on our demo. Jump Ship and 105. We decided that those 2 songs fit the direction of the newer songs we had written. Plus we didn’t have any new material written to replace those songs on the EP haha. We still have maybe a dozen or so demos left, but we aren’t making anymore. It was a real pain in the ass to dub cassette tapes over and over again.

UN: I was really impressed with the production of the EP. It sounds like it was recorded quickly but it still sounds amazing. Was it important to capture the bands energy on tape when recording? Did you guys record live in the studio?

Eric: We didn’t do anything live in the studio, but we pretty much banged out each of our tracks (guitars, bass, drums, even vocals) in less than three takes usually. A lot of bands today you can say “Much better live than on recording” or “The recording doesn’t do them justice”. We hope that our recording captures the energy we have on stage. I haven’t heard any complaints about the cd or our live show so far, so we must be doing something right.

UN: Would you say that the band serves as an outlet for your frustrations and anger? The lyrics seem to serve as a way to get things off of your chest, almost like you are screaming directly into the face of the person that has wronged you. Do you think that lyrics are cathartic at all?

Eric: The lyrics are the only thing the band doesn’t do as a band. Derm (our singer) writes the lyrics himself. We don’t know what they’re all about all the time, but you can see that they’re pretty much about the daily bullshit we all have to live through with relationships and hardships in our daily lives.

UN: At this point in time, is the band still mainly playing random shows? Would you say that it’s too early to embark on a big tour, or is one in the works? It seems like it would be the ideal way to get the name spread throughout the scene.

Eric: The biggest problem we have is the distance between all of us. George, Reed and Derm all live down the Jersey shore, right outside Atlantic City. I live about 10 minutes from Philadelphia (in NJ) and Mike lives in West Philadelphia. So in order for us to play a show, everyone has to meet at my house, load up and then travel from there. Plus, George and Reed are in high school, and the rest of us are in college, and not all of us drive. We all work, so our different schedules prevent us from playing out as much as we’d like to. And to top it off we don’t have a van and we’re all broke, haha. We’re booking a short tour at the end of July, we just want to play a few dates out of the area. Once we get our name out I’m sure it’ll be easier for us to do weekends and play in farther areas.

UN: I know that the EP was just released, but I’m dying to hear more. Is a full length album still a long ways off? Do you have a deal with Spook City for more then just the EP? It seems like a good home for the band.

Eric: We only have one new song written since the EP has been released. We all want to get started writing new material soon, but we don’t want to jump the gun. Even though the songs on the EP are old to us, they’re still new to everyone who hasn’t heard them. We don’t plan on playing any new material any time soon. We don’t have any contractual agreement with Spook City, but like I said, the EP is still brand new, so we don’t really knows what the future hold for us.

UN: What drives you guys to play hardcore music? I think you guys embody the fun aspect of it quite well. Few bands these days play hardcore that actually retains the fun attitude. Casey Jones comes to mind as one of the few other bands. Is it all about having fun for you guys.

Eric: Basically we just want to have fun and play music. It’s awesome to see kids mosh and dive and sing along to songs we’ve written. We all love hardcore and love playing it.