By Christine Natanael
LINKS:
Summer is the height of the big touring season and the time when most bands are out on the road to make sure that the rest of us all have a really good vacation. In short, it's the busiest time of the year for most, but in the case of those lovable boys from Long Island known as Taking Back Sunday, things are getting ready to get to a whole new level of busy when they head out with Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, HIM, Placebo, Julien-K, Mindless Self Indulgence, Saosin, The Bled, Madina Lake, and Styles of Beyond on this year's Projekt Revolution tour. Well, not that the band hadn't already been dead-nuts busy since the release of their album Louder Now, back in April 2006...
Band founder and guitarist, Eddie Reyes, took a bit of time out of his insane schedule to answer my email questions. At least technically that's what happened...but I prefer to think of it as our interview at "virtual exit 152".
CHRISTINE NATANAEL: Do you still sometimes wake up in the morning and have to pinch yourself over how far you've come so quickly and how much your life has changed?
EDDIE REYES: Yes, every morning I wake up and say to myself, “This is a dream, and this is weird because I'm just a simple, normal person.” I'm blessed.
CN: What are you most grateful for at this point?
ER: The kids at our shows, being able to start a wonderful family, and being able to take care of them, the fact that so many people believe in us...
CN: What is your earliest memory of music? (situation & song)
ER: My brother blasting AC/DC's "Back in Black" through my wall and loving it.
CN: Did you take any music classes in school or privately?
ER: No classes, just taught myself (well tried to) by jamming in my basement.
CN: When did you know that music was in you and something you absolutely needed in your life?
ER: Whenever I heard a song I would daydream the video with me in the band, and I was like, “I can do that!!” Haha.
CN: When did you make the decision to actively pursue music as something much more than a hobby, and how did your family, etc., react?
ER: Well, I told my mom that my friend and I wanted to start a band, and she was down. And my mom and dad came to my shows...I think everyone was pretty supportive about it.
CN: Who is your favorite author? (fiction & non-fiction)
ER: Clive Barker. I was a fan of his movies and books. Into the Flesh is a great horror book, as is Nightbreed, and the list goes on and on.
CN: If you had the chance to sit down and interview anyone, living or dead, who would you choose and why?
ER: Jimi Hendrix, because he changed music in so many ways...guitar riffs and just the sounds. Living, I would say Brian Baker (Bad Religion, Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, etc.). Even though I've met him a couple of times, I didn't ask him anything...I had to keep my cool, haha. But I would ask why he's so awesome...
CN: Which of your musical influences would you most like to meet (or have met, if they are deceased) and why?
ER: I would have to say Fred Smith from MC5. He was just a great songwriter and was part of such an influential band that I would say started punk rock...but that's just my opinion.
CN: What's in favored rotation in your cd player/mp3/ipod, and why?
ER: I go back and forth between three CD's: the new Underoath, the new Dimmu Borgir, and a lot of Mew. Can't go a day with out Mew, they rule my world.
CN: What disciplines other than music inspire you, and why?
ER: I love dance, dancing, and yard work. Haha.
CN: Tell me what steps you've been taking to ensure that the Projekt Revolution Tour is a "Green" tour, specifically. Are you actually using bio-diesel in the tour buses and other such things? (I'd be going too far to think they've invented a hybrid tour bus yet, I'm sure...)
ER: Well, personally (aside from recycling), I'll be picking up garbage, like cans and cigarette butts around the venues, and I plan to set up ashtrays so smokers in our bands and crews aren't littering butts on the ground. I mean, did you know that just one cigarette butt thrown to the ground has the potential to contaminate 8 gallons of water??
CN: Who inspires you most right now as a humanitarian?
ER: My sister-in-law, Bre Hohman. She is my county's watershed coordinator and has inspired my entire town a lot about the environment, and the importance of water conservation and sustainable plant life. Go out and buy a 55 gallon rain barrel...it collects rain from the roof of your house after a storm. It's really cool to see how much water I save and how much money I save on my water bill. www.kentuckybarrels.com, go check it out...
CN: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.
ER: My pleasure.