Call To Preserve | On The Road Again…
his music scene is what it is, not because of over-night over auto-tuned bands but because of the hardworking dedicated musicians that hit the road year after year… after year, for months on end in order to live out the values that are the cornerstone of their music. For Call To Preserve this is not a passing fad, it is not about making money or ever playing to thousands of kids. They do this cause they believe in it. They do it cause they are serious and passionate about it. This is what we need more of these days. If you are thinking that music is something you want to do for a “living”, check out a band like Call To Preserve and see if this is something you could survive… Then ask yourself if this is something you still want to do. My hat is off to these guys.
This being our first interview with you guys, fill all the readers in on the meaning behind your name and a little on what you guys as a band are about.
Harbor Partin:We are a hardcore band that wants to play the music we want to play, talk about the things we care about, and play with the bands we want to play with. We started touring around four years ago and since then have had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people all around North America and Europe all while doing what we love to do. That’s what we’re about in a nutshell.
As you went to record your sophomore release for Facedown Records, was there anything that you wanted to do differently on the new album compared to the last?
HP:Overall I think the album is much darker compared to our previous stuff and it has much more of a punk edge to it. Everything is a little dirtier and grittier and every song has its own mood so to speak. I think we just wanted to make sure this time around every song had its own purpose and conveyed what we were trying to say. The album is definitely more diverse than anything we’ve done so far. It’s not just a bunch of heavy songs, but it’s not all melodic stuff either. Every song is all its own.
Talk to us about the meaning of the album title Life Of Defiance…
HP:Most of the songs deal with living in a world where people are manipulative, apathetic and selfish. A lot of what we sing about has to do with resisting that impulse to become those things. It comes from looking around being disgusted with what we see and deciding to never be apart of it. Because of that, much of the lyrics have much more anger behind them then our previous songs.
Having spent so much time on the road you must have a couple good stories, hit us with your best.
HP:We were on tour with Advent last summer and a couple nights in a row we would literally camp out in Wal-Mart parking lots. A lot of bands sleep in Wal-Mart parking lots, but we actually parked our vans in a wagon train circle, stretched a tarp between the two and slept on cots on the asphalt. Advent’s guitar player Mike even bought a hammock and tried to hang it between the vans and sleep in it. I don’t think it worked as well as he thought it would though.
You guys are all straight-edge correct? These days we see straight-edge as a fad in the scene and all too often not taken seriously. What does being straight-edge mean to you?
HP:I always hear about straight edge just being a fad but it’s hardly a fad compared to the crap being sold to kids today under the guise of “hardcore”. Yeah sure some kids sell out and move on, but here we are 30 years later and there are still straight edge kids and straight edge bands keeping it alive. You know what’s a fad? Most of the garbage on Warped Tour that no one is going to care about in two years. That’s a fad. Most straight edge bands aren’t making money. They’re booking their own tours and playing basement shows like they’ve always been.
That being said I’m straight edge because it was the right choice for me. And I made that choice for myself and no one else.
There is a lot of conviction and passion in your lyrics. What are some topics that we can expect and why did you choose to write about them?
HP:We tackle a lot of different topics in this album. One of my favorite songs is called “Functionary” and it deals with someone who only sees relationships with people as a way to fill some need of their own and basically denies the other’s value as a human being. It’s something that weighs heavy on my heart because I see so many people who act so selfishly all the time and in the end they only end up hurting themselves because living like that isn’t fulfilling.
Another issue we deal with is those who take something that’s so sacred to us like our faith and use it for their own ambitions, whether it is political reasons or if it’s just plain selfishness. I think the broad outlook of what we talk about has to do with looking for sincerity and purity in times when it’s so hard to find.
What are your summer touring plans?
HP:In a couple weeks were doing some dates in the south/ Mexico with Take it Back! and Kills and Thrills. Then we’ll be out for a month with a band called Renae and another band called Nothing to Nothing. That tour ends with us playing Cornerstone. We have a few other plans after that that are still in the works.
Come June 8th where can we look for your album?
HP:At Best Buy, FYE, some Hot Topics and your local independent record store. You can also get it at the Facedown Records webstore and I-Tunes.
