Interview with Circle Takes The Square \ Pics by Scott Smallin
a big thanks to Drew\Circle Takes The Square for doing the interview.
CircleTakesTheSquare
I’ve read what you wrote about your records being reflective of the changes that have happened to you, is it something you always felt should have been ever since you started CTTS or did it just end up being that way?
i think what you're referring to is a statement one of us made regarding the slight differences that are apparent from one recording to the next. again, i feel the differences so far have been rather slight, but any evolution in our songwriting betrays the fact that alot has happened in our lives between all the previous recordings, especially in terms of personal growth. this progression hasn't been something that we've intentionally persued, it just kind of happens, especially since alot of time has passed between our recording endeavors. i predict there will be a much more obvious sign of development, slightly more drastic variations, and an uncompromised amount of shred in our upcoming release, which we are working on now.
One of the things I noticed first about As The Roots Undo, was its artwork and graphics, you must have put a lot of work into it (since you have a design website too), what was the idea and is it related to the lyrics in any way?
if you notice the artwork first, you aren't listening to the record at an apporpriately offensive volume level. joking... yeah, a lot of homework assignments were sacrificed in order to get the artwork and recording together for as the roots undo. it was an epic journey completing that whole project, and a great learning experience. the artwork highlights a couple of the repeated motifs in the lyrics, such as birds, a tower, and decay as a natural process, to name a few. that said, i'm a firm believer that even if you aren't exactly sure what the connections or meanings are in the projects you take on at the time you are doing them, hindsight will shed some light on the interrelations or relevance of those endeavors to the events in your life at the time you took them on.
Do you write the lyrics all together or not? Was it hard to put together all the material that ended up in your full length?
jay (drummer on as the roots undo) and i were in school when we were writing and recording that record, so that was the main obstacle in getting it finished up. our intention was to offer as complete a package as we could, including artwork and album content, and we all worked hard to bring our concepts to fruition. we couldn't have done any of it without the help of anthony stubelek, who recorded and mixed the record. I wrote the lyrics for as the roots undo, kathy's a great editor, pointing out repetitive lines and whack rhymes.
Musically your band tends to mix elements from different kinds of music, keeping an punk\hardcore root, is it something you wish too keep on doing\do more in the future?
i think our music is an outpouring of the styles of music that we listen to as well as things that we want to hear. more emphasis on the latter, probably. but I think our tastes have evolved in the last few years and i'm excited to see what affect that has on our new songs. the most satisfying elements for me in the past have been the more experimental aspects of circle, and or intention is to keep an open mind, musically, as we always have. we'll see what comes of it.
Looking back at As The Roots Undo, are you satisfied with the overall outcome of the record? The recording process was smooth or did you have some difficulties?
as i mentioned before, the process involved alot of time sharing with school and other activities, so that was a bit frustrating. but overall the recording went smoothly and we definitely learned alot about what will expediate or make easier our next recording experience, so that's a positive thing. overall, yes, i'm definitely satisfied with the way it came out.
Looking back at your relationship with Hyperrealist, Perpetual Motion Machine and Robotic Empire, are you happy with the way things have been with your record labels?
the people we've worked with on our previous records have all been passionate individuals who want nothing more than to put out music that they sincerely believe in, and that's a pretty amazing thing in my opinion. we are lucky to have met as many incredible people as we have in the context of playing shows and touring in ctts, which includes label folks, show promoters, audience members, etc. we are truly appreciative of all of these people and their rolls in perpetuating an independent music community.
Are you already working on your next record? If so will it be a split 7’’, an ep or another lp?
yes, we are working on a new record. it will be full length, and epic. and when i say epic, i mean it.
Have you been playing songs written after As The Roots Undo live? If so how has it been?
We played a new song a few times on a recent tour. The song itself is a piece of a longer song that will be on our upcoming record, so it wasn't totally finished... but we just really wanted to play something new, so we went for it.
You’ve played an incredible amount of shows in the last years, and and you’ve just finished another tour, what kind of experience has it been as a whole?
Our last tour was extremely long, nine plus weeks total, which spanned the entire u.s. it included a lot of west coast shows, which was great, because we hadn't been out west for a couple of years. it was exhausting and we're now ready to move forward with writing and after so much touring we feel pretty justified in taking some time off from being on the road. we have played alot of shows in the last couple years, and the experience has been nothing short of amazing. its gotten to the point where i feel a bit antsy after being in one place for any substantial amount of time, so its safe to say we'll find ourselves making tour plans yet again in the not so distant future.
Are you planning\wishing to do a full European tour?
yes, its extremely high on the list of priorities, actually. once we get a substantial portion of our next record arranged, we'll definitely be scheduling a euro tour. we can't wait.
Everything has been happening quite fast since you formed the band in 2001, are you happy about the way things are going? In witch direction do you see your band going in the future?
honestly, we're overwhelmed by the response that as the roots undo has generated. its been a long five years, but we couldn't be happier with what we've acheived and path that brought us here. i don't know exactly what direction we're headed in the future, but i do know that if there's such a thing as heaven, we're going straight to hell. maximumfuckingshred!
