Kevin: Can you introduce yourself to the readers?

Mark Fisher:  Hi Jeff. How are you? Capitol Records keeping you busy?
Jeff Fortson: I’m good man. Thanks. Yeah they are! We are just getting into stride now since the record comes out soon. 

MF: If you don’t mind, let’s start with Capitol Records. You guys were on Tooth and Nail Records for a bit and then you managed to sign with Capitol almost entirely under the radar!

JF: Well I guess it basically started about 3 years ago when we did a tour with a band called the Juliana Theory across America. At the time they had a lot of major label interest in them and a lot of reps were coming out to the shows. We played a show at the Troubador in Hollywood, California and it so happened that an A&R guy from Capitol was there. He was there to see the band before us and the Juliana Theory so we lucked out and ended up playing between the 2 bands he came to see (laughter)! He really liked our set and ended up coming the next night and bringing a friend. For about 2 years he kept coming to shows and trying to get people at the label interested in us. When EMI bought half of Tooth and Nail, which EMI is the parent company of Capitol as well, once that happened Louie was able to get enough people interested in us to have them buy our Tooth and Nail contract. So, since they were both under EMI it was an easier deal for them at that point. That’s pretty much how it happened. They just pretty much bought out the remainder of our Tooth and Nail contract and we reworked it a bit and signed with them last March. 

MF: I have seen you guys live a lot of times, I’m surprised it took the A&R guy so long to convince the label. 

JF: Oh, thanks man. 

MF: Everyone has something to say about Tooth and Nail, be it good or bad. How was your relationship with them?

JF: I would say it was amicable. We always got along really well with Brandon, the owner of the label. It was cool, he really wanted to sign the band back when we were looking to get signed and after a few offers we decided that Tooth and Nail was the right place to go. He was really into it and then after we made the first album, which was “Bombs Over Broadway”, and it kind of missed the mark. Live those songs have always been pretty cool and come off great but I think that we kind of missed it in the recording process. We tried to hard to make it something it wasn’t, it should have been a more instinctual and guttural kind of record than it was. It’s not that I think Brandon lost interest in the band…it’s just that for the kind of band that we are and from our lyrical approach and the way our shows go it just didn’t play up to Tooth and Nail’s main market, which is I guess the Christian music industry or whatever. We realized that if we were gonna make a living doing this then that wasn’t gonna be the market or the place that we could do it in. We just didn’t fit in. I know that Tooth and Nail has bands that do well in the general market but unless a band does well right of the gate and kinda takes it upon itself, or if the kids really get behind it, then Brandon will get behind it. If no one seems to be biting though then I don’t think he wants to put too much money into developing the band. He’s more or less the kind of guy that will wait for a band to develop on its own and then he’ll get behind it. He’s just not gonna put a whole lot of money into developing a band that’s only going to have limited success in the major market he services. I think that when the thing with Capitol came up he was more than willing to sell the contract and get the money. I see him every once and a while at festival here or there and we still talk. It’s not like we are great friends or anything but we still get along well you know?

MF: Onto the new stuff, enough with the rehashing of the past right?! (laughter) This album, “Late News Breaking”, is almost like starting over for you guys. With that in mind, what did you want from this album?

JF: I think we wanted to make and what we hopefully have made is an album that comes from the heart and from the soul of kind of like the 5 members of this band collectively, whether it be through the music or lyrics or the performance of the song or whatever. As a whole what we really wanted to do, and what we love about the bands that we love so much, is that rock and roll is soul music. Rock and roll comes from the depths of the human being you know? I don’t want to pigeonhole things but take like the emo music that is popular now, kids can relate to that because they are singing about things that they relate too. You know, like their girlfriend just broke up with them in eighth grade or their mom and dad not understanding them or whatever and that’s fine but to me music is so much more than surface issues. I think you can sing about those things and do it right but most music I see today is just very surface level stuff that doesn’t go past the fact of life that people get misunderstood. We have all been misunderstood at one time or another I suppose but I like a little more meat on the bones there so we tried to make an album that touched on all the things that we as a band think about, not just on the personal level but also on the political and social and spiritual level you know? Not necessarily taking a slant on those things but just putting it out there for people to decide on whatever issue we are singing about, whether it’s a spiritual issue or political issue or whatever. Hopefully we don’t slant it too much but instead just present it as a really human or a really personal look at what’s going on in the world or what’s going on in the government or anything like that. I think the things that I love about my favorite bands, like The Clash or whatever, The Clash never tells you what to believe, at least not as I take it, they just tell you to believe and to be involved and to be active and to not just sit idly by. That’s especially true in America, a country where we are led to believe that “We the People” control the future of our nation because we elect our leaders. So as far as we know we are still in control of that, I realize that some people would argue that with the way the last election went and stuff though. I have to believe though that the real change, be it political, social, or personal, starts with the individual. Hopefully what we have done is make an honest album that speaks to these issues and will get people interested and get people thinking and motivate people but at the same time is enjoyable and fun and is a release. One of the good things about rock and roll is that it can make you forget about your troubles for a little while even if it’s addressing them, especially on the live level of Squad Five-0. If you come to see us it’s a party! It’s an event that you can be involved in. It’s not just coming to see a band; it’s something that you are actively participating in. Hopefully this album comes closer to that experience than anything else that we have made. We want to be a band that is known for taking a stand and believing in something but also for just being a good band. 

MF: That’s cool because by about track 3 I found myself thinking that this was a lot more like your live show than your other records are. So it’s interesting you say that.

JF: We definitely tried to capture that whole live feel. We tracked the bass and drums as well as the rhythm guitar live because we wanted to capture the energy of a 5 piece band rather than do the boring overdubs and a lot of takes, I mean we did that with the vocals and the backing vocals and any kind of instrumentals but the core and the basic rhythm tracks were laid down together in the live room. I feel like the actual live energy is there instead of it just being the band performing as one member doing his thing at one certain time.

MF: A lot you wrote for this record, how did that affect the dynamic of the band and the material you put together in your opinion?

JF: Well it definitely created a surplus of material! (laughter) Dave has been an official member of the band for 3 years now, so this band has been locked in for 3 years and that’s the longest running lineup we have had since this name has been around. So it’s the longest we have ever had to grow together as a group and the longest Squad Five-0 has had to sort of become this entity in itself. The band is its own individual, its own identity, apart from the five members. It’s like a sixth identity. It’s like with anything, when Dave joined he was not only one of the best drummers we have seen but he was also one of the most prolific and great songwriters I have ever met in my life. He just has a surplus of material that he brings to the table, whereas Adam and myself are about the same in taking a long time to write a song or write a lyric. We don’t turn out as much material as Dave does but it challenges us to write better. It definitely has made us all step up to the plate and concentrate more and put out our best. Before, when I was writing most of the material, I always wrote from the place where you think about how the song turns out live. You know, “this part is where the crowd sings live” or “this is where we should put a chanting chorus” kind of deal whereas now we concentrate more on writing an actual song and the art of doing that. It’s always a bit of a challenge, especially for me because I was used to being in charge, to go from one guy doing it to being a 5 piece democracy. There is a lot of butting heads but right now the chemistry and the fellowship within the band is at an all time high. We cut out a lot of the competition and whatever of it is left is the healthy kind that challenges you to bring your best to the table.

MF: As the singer, do you have trouble singing someone else’s lyrics?

JF: Not really, the cool thing about getting a song from Dave or Adam is that I’ll get the lyrics first and then I’ll make up in my own mind what I think they are trying to say in the song. Then I’ll ask them where they are kinda coming from in the song. As a singer it’s important to be able to sing something with conviction because you want to convince other people of the sincerity of what you are singing about. So it’s not that hard but when I got some of Dave’s lyrics, especially the more political ones, I had to really read through them and decide whether I was convicted in such a way and whether I could really sing this song as my own or if I could sing it as if I came up with it out of my own convictions. At first I didn’t think that I necessarily lined up with a good bit of what some of the more political songs but I did think that they were very valid points and ones that could be made. In the long run, there are not points that are intended to sway voters or whatever they are just valid points that can be made and should be considered. That’s how I sort of came to terms with singing things with conviction and as much soul as I could pour into it. I love Dave’s songs, especially the ones that made the album. He is able to put a song together in ways that I could never have even imagined! 

MF: Take a song like “Bye American”, which is probably the best example, that’s song that you could have never done on Tooth and Nail. Did you feel less pressure in that respect? As in not having to play some of the politics that you had to play before. 

JF: Yeah I think we did. We felt a sense of freedom to, as artists, express ourselves and to voice our opinions. We know there will be a certain backlash from people who have bought our old albums from Tooth and Nail because they were looking for “Christian music” that might be an alternative to whatever else is out there now. As a band that’s never what we wanted, we just wanted to make good music that could be liked by all people regardless of their faith. I want to touch people on all levels, not just a spiritual level. When we got to do this album for Capitol we knew there would be a lot more leniency about what we could and couldn’t sing about and what words we could and couldn’t use in a song. Any words that we chose that may be offensive or whatever, I certainly considered. Like “Words don’t mean sh*t”, I really thought about what Dave was saying there and to reconcile with myself I came to the conclusion that while some people may find the word offensive, the point it’s trying to convey is offensive. An offensive word should be used to convey an offensive point and it’s in the right context and it’s used in an artistic way. No other word would have done there. What challenges me most in my life when I begin to change or sway in what I think is that at first I am offended by it and then I think about why I am offended by it. Sometimes it’s because it’s offensive! Sometimes though it’s because I am just being close minded and not considering other peoples opinions. So yeah we did feel a sense of relief and a freedom to be ourselves and not feel like we have to play up to a market that wants a pre-packaged version of something that is safer or cleaner than something that is already out there. Usually it turns out to be not as good as well! We don’t want to be someone’s safe alternative to something else. It’s opened up a whole new world of songwriting for us. 

MF: You’re fan base has traditionally been mostly punk rock fans. Whenever a punk band signs with a major label the fans start crying “sellout” almost right away. Happened to you yet? (laughter)

JF: Not really from like the punk fans but we have from what we like to call the “Tooth and Nail” kids. (laughter)Once you sign to a major label they think that all your morals and all your faith was evidently not strong enough for you to be on a Christian label so now you’ve sold out to “the world” or something. (laughter) You know, that’s just silly. As far as punk rock goes, that’s just an attitude really. People like Neil Young and Bob Dylan had that punk rock attitude before there even was punk rock. I think it’s just an attitude we have. We all came out of punk bands and out of that style of music. It’s a way of thinking that I think all 5 of us have and I think that’s what makes us punk. It’s not about mohawks or tattoos or spiked leather, that’s all just fashion. To me where I still a punk band, especially live. We have that sloppiness and that swagger, but you know that’s rock and roll too. I went to see the Rolling Stones play last year and the third chord Keith Richards hit was the wrong chord! (laughter) It didn’t matter though, that’s’ the great thing about it you know? It’s about feeling and soul and spirit not accuracy or fashion or things like that. 

MF: What do your tour plans look like now?

JF: Right now we are out on the road with a band from New York City that is the new band from Degeneration’s singer. Degeneration was one of my favorite bands of that era so it’s been really cool. They were this prototype rock glam weird band that nobody ever got. He’s doing his own solo thing now that’s really like this weird, but cool, Bob Dylan/Neil Young-ish style punk-ish thing. After that we are doing some stuff on our own and then we head out west. We’ll be on the road pretty much all summer. The label wants us to work, that the kind of label Capital is it’s a working bands label, especially one at our level. You tell them you wanna work and they will get behind you full force. 

MF: Parting thoughts?

JF: The new album is out and it’s called “Late News Breaking” and it’s available everywhere. Check out our website too. It’s www.squadfive-0.com. We have tour dates and band info and you can email us there and whatever. We look forward to seeing you guys at the shows! If you can’t make it to a show though you should still pick up the album! (laughter)


Aaron: Hello everybody. Thanks you for reading and listening. ~1340mag