Interview with Anthony Mascarin of We Outspoken!

L-R: Anthony, Chris, Joe, Lex

There's no better way to kick off my return to the world of band interviews and music blogging than by interviewing Canadian punk/rock band We Outspoken, whose 13-track album State Of The Art  is set for release on May 17, 2019 through Cyber Tracks (label owned by Jen Abeyta and El Hefe of NOFX), who they have recently signed with!

I got the chance to interview to lead vocalist/ rhythm guitarist, Anthony Mascarin to discuss their journey to this major milestone in their career! Here is the interview:  

Congrats on the new record deal! What are 3 major moves you had to make on your journey to getting signed?

AM: Thank you so much. It has been surreal. To be honest, I wouldn’t say that we made moves. For every record that we have done, we have sent it out, got opinions and put out feelers to see if anyone would be interested in working with us. We did the same with this record and we caught the attention of a few companies and had to decide what was the better fit. 

Photo: Fernando Aragon

I would say it’s more about timing, the right sound, etc. But if I were to pick three moves that brought us to today, I would say: 

1. We practice and write songs all the time. 

2. We made our own way, booked our own tours and took a leap of faith. 

3. We never gave up.

You guys have done a lot of touring over the years.  What is your favorite part of touring, and your least favorite part?

AM: We love touring. You get locked into a groove with your best friends and you get to see the world. Our favorite part about touring is that we get to see all of our friends again, be it other bands, fans, or family. 

Our least favorite part is how fast we are in and out of cities. Sometimes it nice to have a few days in one particular city, but our schedules are so hectic. 

Touring for long periods of time can be mentally taxing. How do you stay centered and focused?

AM: Good question! Touring is not glamorous. It is emotionally exhausting at times, and can wear you down if you are not use to it or not prepared. What helps us is that we

Photo: Fernando Aragon

are all going through it together. We can tell if one of us is not having a great day on the road. The important things are communication, space, and LOTS OF SLEEP. I can’t stress this enough. 

We used to sleep on floors, share beds- we would take whatever we could get. After a while, you find that the schedule is so hectic that you need a good night's sleep to deal with performing and traveling, as it plays a big part on your mood. 

What has been the toughest hurdle you had to overcome to get to this point in your career, and how did you overcome it?

AM: We are still jumping over hurdles! Ha! I would say the hardest thing is to keep going. It takes real strength to do what we do. Looking back, what we have accomplished has pushed us to this point, and that is what has kept us going.  

We also love songwriting, so if we are not touring we can be in the studio or at each other’s houses, coming up with ideas. Especially when we finish a new record- we can’t wait to play the songs live!

With your busy schedules, how do you balance your work life and personal life?

AM: Scheduling. We know when we record, we know when we tour, so we know where we can fit in our personal life. We are in control of the when and where, so it’s easy to fit everything in. 

If a restaurant were to name a burger after the band, what would be in it?

AM: Lettuce, Mayo, Ketchup and hot peppers!

Photo: Brendan Purdy

Any tour hacks you would like to share?

AM: Always carry those Tide travel packs. You can do laundry anywhere. This saved us countless hours. 

Any shout-outs?

AM: Thank you Krystal for another great interview!

Thank you, Anthony for your time! Always a pleasure!

For upcoming We Outspoken tour dates near you, get social! Give these guys a follow on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram

                    @thatchickkrys

Interview with Alex Mascarin of We Outspoken!

Hey readers!

I am stoked to share with you my interview, via email, with frontman, Anthony Mascarin of Toronto-area based

L-R: Chris, Alex, Anthony, Joe.

 band, We Outspoken!  Ever since I saw them play back in June with Belvedere, I was floored by their performance!  Great live band, great performers.  Check them out!

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JGIC:  Who are the current members of the band?

AM: Anthony- Vocals/Guitar, Alex-Drums, Joe- Guitar/Vocals, Chris- Bass

JGIC: How did you get into music? 

AM:There is a quote, “you don’t choose music, music chooses you”. That basically sums up how we all got into it. We all had an attraction at an early age. Music was always around us growing up, being introduced by our parents, friends, and media such as MTV, Much Music, FM Radio etc. Music made us want to learn an instrument.

JGIC: How did you form the band?

AM: In 2001 my brother, Alex and I decided that we wanted to start a band. I was 12 and Alex was 10 years old. We didn’t know much about our instruments so we both enrolled in guitar and drum lessons. We practiced with our child hood friends and it wasn’t until I was 16 that we played our first show. From that point on we started to play more, tour, songwrite, release records, open for bigger bands, these were some amazing years. We learned a lot about each other.

JGIC: What musical influences inspired your sound?

AM: A lot of music and bands from the early and late 90s such as Green Day, Blink 182, Stone Temple Pilots, Ever Clear, Pennywise, and even newer bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Biffy Clyro and The Swellers.

JGIC: So you have a new EP- tell us about it.  What's it called and where can we buy it?  What is the first single off it called?

AM: We just released our Musicomania EP on November 13, 2014! You can pick up the album at all digital stores such as iTunes, Deezer, Spotify, Google Play, Amazon, Beats Music, Sony Music Unlimited, XBOX, and many more. Physical copies will be made shortly after. The first single is “ It’s Not Alright”. We wanted to create an album that is would make people fall back in love with music as the definition of Musicomania suggests. We all have an attraction to music and we all fall under its beautiful spell. This phenomenon is called Musicomania. This was exactly what we were after when we started to record these songs. The feeling of music, if that makes sense?

JGIC: Absolutely!  Great music is just like love= the universal language.  Your band has a very seamless sound.  How often do you rehearse?

AM: Thank you. That means a lot. We do work hard. It depends really, when we were younger we made it an effort to practice at least 3-4 times a week. Now, we only practice that much if we have a tour or show coming up, sometimes more depending.

JGIC: I've noticed on social media that you have toured around Europe and South America a few times.  How did you guys land these amazing tours?

AM: Yeah, we have been all over the world, its been a blessing for us to be able to tour, travel, see different parts of the world, and play music. We booked all of the tours on our own. Speaking with bands and clubs 

EP Cover

all over the world, offering show trade offs, it really is amazing how much we have accomplished.

JGIC: If you have significant others, how do you keep them close while you're on the road?  How do you make time for them with your busy schedules?

AM: Yes, some of us do. They all understand. I mean, this is what we want to do. This is who we are.  It is hard at times, especially when we are gone for weeks at a time, you can become very homesick but we have each other on the road so it really helps having your friends with you. I guess on the other side of that coin, it is hard for our loved ones at home, but we try and communicate with them every day while we are on the road. In a way, it feels like home isn’t so far away after all, especially with some of the technology that is already out there, Face Time, iChat, Skype etc. We make the time to see them as well especially in between tours and records.

JGIC: That's great! Any advice for new bands?

AM: Just keep at it. You need to focus on song writing and getting tight. Practice, practice, practice. Start to play more shows, venture out on tours, show trade off with other bands. Learn how to fail and succeed—you will learn from your mistakes and become better for it. There is no right or wrong way on how to do succeed in this business. The biggest thing is the music. It always is about the music. Focus on songwriting, see what your favourite artists are doing. Write with other songwriters, write with your band members; all of this will help.

JGIC: Upcoming shows you want the readers to come out to?

AM: We will be playing our cd release party as soon as our physical CDs are ready. We will have more information up at www.weoutspoken.com

JGIC: Oooh- Looking forward to that! Any shout outs?

AM: Thank you Krystal and Jamsterdam for doing this interview with us! I want to say hey to all of the bands that we have toured and played with, our friends and fans. We love you guys.

JGIC: We all love you guys too! Thank you for your time, Anthony!  Looking forward to hearing and seeing more from you guys!
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@rockdinthe6ix