What has been your most memorable experience of the tour so far?
There’s been a couple. These shows have been the biggest shows we played so far as bands. There was a show in Ohio that had like a 4,000 person sold out crowd, and the whole crowd just looked like a sea of people that was just moving around and it was crazy. So, we’re seeing how far we’ve come in the last year-and-a-half or so.
We’ve been talking basically about the new album. But ARTTM released a lot of material prior to this through MySpace. Did you think the site would turn out to be the promotional tool that it turned out to be?
No, I didn’t expect it to be as crazy as it turned out to be. MySpace apparently helps a lot of bands these days. At that time, it wasn’t the best thing in the world. I was like, ‘Hey, this is an interesting way to put up songs.’ So it was really cool to see how people reacted to, you know, a little kid in his bedroom making songs and posting songs by himself. So it was really fun.
But the fan base you obtained through MySpace was used to a more synthesized sound because a lot of things were done electronically. And then the Greetings From… EP was released, which featured a different sound for ARTTM. Why the change?
It was just something I think I wanted to do since I started Rocket. I didn’t want to stay with the electronic sound. It was cool at first, but then I gave it up after a while because so many people were trying to attempt it. I always wanted to be in a band. I love having a whole band and I find it a lot easier making songs with a guitar rather than a computer. It was just a lot more fun. I mean, nobody pushed us. It wasn’t that we signed to Fueled By Ramen and they made us change. It wasn’t that at all. We changed for ourselves. It was a decision we made on our own.
Some fans weren’t too pleased with the change in style.
People like to make up their own reason for things without actually knowing the real reason. So, people were automatically assuming, ‘Oh, they signed to Fueled By Ramen and Fueled By Ramen made them change their sound and I don’t like them anymore because they’re signed and they’re big.’ It’s like, whatever. If you want to think that, you can think that. But it’s crazy to think that. The actual band wanted to go down that road. It had nothing to do with the label. The label didn’t push us. The label was there to help us out and do what we wanted to do. It’s just crazy when kids make up their own reasons for things they have no idea about.
In the past, ARTTM was signed by both Fueled By Ramen and Pete Wenz’s vanity label Decaydance Records. You’re no longer with Decaydance. Why is that?
We never really signed with Decaydance because it was some sort of business decision that failed and never went through all the way, and it got in the wrong hands or whatever. So there was just all this weird stuff that went on. But, I still talk to Pete and I’m completely fine. We just don’t work together on a business level.
Red tape basically?
Yeah, it was just like bad communication and things got out there that shouldn’t have gotten out there soon enough. And, you know, it was just really weird.
Can you elaborate on that a little more?
I don’t really know much about it. I can’t explain a lot and I don’t want to get into personal stuff about it. But, I mean, what happened happened. There are no hard feelings or whatever, but we are with Fueled By Ramen now and we’re happy.
You have ‘All You Need is Love’ tattooed across your chest. Are you a Beatles fan and has that influenced ARTTM’s material?
Yeah! Everybody listens to The Beatles and if you don’t, you’re a liar. You know, everybody loves The Beatles. The Beatles are one of the best bands that ever existed. I grew up listening to them with my dad, so I kind of got [the tattoo] for that reason. They’re hands down my favorite band that ever existed, so they have a heavy influence on lyrics and songwriting and stuff.
ARTTM covered ‘Forever And Always’ and I believe ‘Our Song’ by Taylor Swift. I’ve also read in several interviews where you mention her fondly. So my question is, what’s up with you and Taylor Swift?
I just really like her music. I never met her before. I just think she’s a great songwriter and great musician. It’s funny to cover some songs every once in a while because everyone in the room knows those songs. She’s sold 10 million records, so obviously somebody knows her music. It gets you some attention from the crowd when you cover a pop song, so it’s pretty cool.
Any plans for a collaboration?
I’ve never talked to her or met her. It could be cool if we ever cross paths. It could be awesome.
On Your Side is available now. Catch A Rocket To The Moon at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, on Nov. 20, Electric Factory in Philly on Nov. 21 and 22, Nokia Theatre in NYC on Nov. 24, and back at Starland Ballroom on Nov. 25. myspace.com/arockettothemoon.
