Band: Yellowcard Member: Ryan Key Label: Capitol Records Location: Edmonton, Alberta Date: January 19th, 2004 Interviewer: Bobby Gorman

Bobby: So Ryan, you're the singer and guitarist of Yellowcard; how long have you been playing the guitar?

Ryan: Since I was about 13 years old, so it's been about 11 years.

Bobby: Okay, "Ocean Avenue", your newest CD name. Where did you come up with that name?

Ryan: It's a street in our home town of Jacksonville, Florida, out at the beach. It was just a place where a couple of our friends lived and we spent a lot of time there growing up. Our last few years before moving away, our last few summers, it was just a memorable place for us.

Bobby: What would you say is your favorite song off the album is and why?

Ryan: Umm, that's a hard one. I think "Only One" probably. Because we sort of wrote that song in the studio, it was sort of the least expected song. We didn't plan it out, we just made it out as went along. So it was kind of fun because we don't ever write like that. On the fly, you know? We usually have everything really prepared. So I really enjoyed putting that together in the studio.

Bobby: Why did you pick "Way Away" as your first single?

Ryan: I think we wanted to go with something that was a little more tough, a little more edgy, to put out there first. We didn't want to fall into some sort of poppy thing; we didn't want people to get the first impression that all we write were poppy songs we wanted them to know that we can write harder stuff as well.

Bobby: Okay, you recently filmed a video for your next single "Ocean Avenue", why did you pick that as your second single?

Ryan: I don't know. The label did. They just really felt that the song had a hook to it that was gonna do well on the radio. I mean, we don't really care what the singles are as a band. We're just out here rocking. Whatever the record label wants to do with all that stuff, that's kind of their deal. If it goes well, that's awesome; but we're more concerned about playing live and having the best shows that we can have.

Bobby: What is the video about?

Ryan: It's really cool actually. It's kind of like an action-adventure. Like we have cars blasting through stuff and peeling out. Two guys, Sean and LP played like these two villain guys and I played sort of the good guy. There just like lead girl in it and she takes something from me and I'm sort of chasing her down to get it but these two guys are chasing me. So it's really fast and action packed; it's gonna be pretty rad I think.

Bobby: How do you guys normally write all your songs?

Ryan: I usually write a melody and a chord structure, core production and come to the band and just sort of sing the melody for them and then we just work from there. We just build it from the ground up. So it's like the skeleton is sort of written by me and the band really puts the skin on it and makes it a song.

Bobby: All right, so you guys went from Lobster Records to Fueled By Ramen Records to Capitol Records; how did all those transitions happen?

Ryan: Well we left Lobster when Capitol came and asked if we wanted to sign with them and there were a few other major labels that wanted to do it; but Capitol ended up just being the best place. We actually went straight to Capitol from Lobster and Capitol put out our EP on Fueled By Ramen. They sort of licensed it out to them to keep more of a indie thing going before we launched the big major release. We wanted to keep it underground and keep it real accessible to our fans and the underground kids. Everything was real smooth though, good transitions. Nothing's been bad.

Bobby: That's really good. Okay, so I've heard a couple rumors about Sean. First I heard he fell out of a third floor balcony last year in January. Is that true?

Ryan: It's true.

Bobby: How did that all happen?

Ryan: He was just a little intoxicated and goofing around. And the wood on the balcony broke out from under his feet and he tumbled to the pavement. That was pretty narly.

Bobby: Okay, I've also heard that he punched you in the face and broke your jaw.

Ryan: That's also true.

Bobby: How did that end up happening?

Ryan: Another night of alcoholic beverages, a few too many of them. We were just fooling around and it got out of hand. It was probably the most stupid thing we've ever done. But whatever, you make mistakes, you know?

Bobby: Ya, everyone does. You guys play a lot of high school shows and give the options for high schoolers to ask them to play for you on the day of the show. Why do you do all of that?

Ryan: I don't know. We had done it a couple times in California once we moved out. Sean and I were waiting tables at Chili's and some of the kids would come in and would be like "Hey, you guys should come play at our high scool, we're having this event or this function." And we'd go do it. Last year when we started the tour, we decided we should try and book those kind of shows, like high schools across the country because; I don't know. Because there's a lot of kids at high schools, especially freshman I think, at high school that their parent's don't really let them go out to shows. I think a lot of parents think that it's a really bad place to be, they don't really understand that it's really actually a positive environment for kids to go. So it's kind of a way for us to bring our music to them, instead of them having to come to us.

Bobby: You guys are about to embark on your first tour of the year, with Jersey and Eve 6, are you excited for it?

Ryan: For the Eve 6 tour?

Bobby: Yes.

Ryan: Yes, it's awesome. This is our, like you said, first tour of the year and we're in Canada; we've never done a Canadian tour before. We've only done Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City and we've done each of those cities twice, but we've never been to central or western Canada. I wish it wasn't negative one billion degrees outside, but it's nice to get up here. And finally, the kids up here who know who we are, it's nice to finally get to play for them.

Bobby: Sadly, it's a lot nicer now then it has been. Today's really hot compared to what it has been the past couple days.

Ryan: Well we here that in Toronto it's gonna be so cold, we're not going to know what to do with ourselves.

Bobby: Ya, from Florida to Canada.

Ryan: Ya, from Florida to Southern California to Canada, it's a bit different.

Bobby: Well, it is the beginning of the new year, 2003 just ended. What would you say were your favorite moments of 2003?

Ryan: My favorite moment of 2003 was on the Warped Tour last year, in Toronto actually. I got to play guitar on-stage with Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, which is made up of every legend. I mean those guys were everything to me when I was in high school growing up. So I was playing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" standing next to Fat Mike and running around with Joey Cape. And ever since them I've made such good friends with those guys and it just blows your mind, you know? You never would've thought that now you could just call them. You can just call Joey Cape, "What's up man? How's it going?"; it's the coolest feeling ever. But that moment was definitely the highlight of my year. I'll never forget it.

Bobby: If you could pick one person or band, dead or alive, to tour with, would you pick and why?

Ryan: Bens Fold Five, because they are my favorite band on the whole planet.

Bobby: What is the one thing you like most about touring?

Ryan: The shows, man. Getting on stage every night and seeing everyone singing back at you, it's the best feeling in the world?

Bobby: What's the thing you hate most about touring?

Ryan: Having to put all your clothes in a plastic bin underneath a bus and have to get out and dig through everything to get to one thing. Living out of a duffle bag. I hate it. I hate it. That's the worst part.

Bobby: You guys use a violin in most of your songs, that's not something a lot of bands do. Why do you decide to do it?

Ryan: When the band started in high school, Sean just started jamming with the guys. We were all friends and Sean and Ben did some stuff together, like Coffee house type classical pieces, and when Ben started the band, he's said "Hey Sean, come jam on this one song." And it turned into more then one song and he just kind of never went away. And he's been in the band ever since.

Bobby: How has being in a band changed your life?

Ryan: I mean, it's completely changed my life. I don't know, it's like a big dream of mine and I'm actually making it come true. It's changed it in everyone I know. I'm not at home working at my dad's car dealership anymore. I'm not going to college anymore. All the things I necessarily wasn't really into. I'm getting to do what I want to do with my life and I hope more people can experience it. Whether it be in a band or whatever but can kind of get off their ass and stop doing stuff they don't want to do and go for whatever they want, you know?

Bobby: Ya. Now-a-days you can find MP3s all over the Internet, Kazaa, Morpheus, things like that. How do you feel about it? Good? Bad? What's your opinion?

Ryan: I'm on the fence. Because if they weren't available, I don't think the band would be half way where it is. You know? A lot of kids found our first record by downloading it, and that's most of our fans, I believe. But at the same time, now, as you start to make a career, it's true: you want to sell records and you want to be able to sort of make a living, you know? I think it definitely does hurt it, but I haven't noticed it to a level where I'm against it. I think it's still better that kids are getting a hold of our music, whether it's by buying it or not. As long as they are listening to it.

Bobby: I recently read an article in Alternative Press, and one of the main themes was "Through Music You Can Live Forever". What do you think about that quote?

Ryan: I back it up. Like, I don't know how to explain it, but I just turned 24 in December and I still fell like I'm 19. You know what I mean? Because we are having so much fun out there and I don't feel like I'm getting older because all we're doing is music.

Bobby: If you were stranded on a desert island, with no fun or anything to eat. Which one of the band members would you eat first to survive?

Ryan: Oh God. Probably Alex because he falls asleep like anywhere. So he would probably be the easiest to sneak up on and kill him and eat him. 'Cause he can fall asleep sitting straight up in a chair, so he'd probably be the easiest kill.

Bobby: If you could have one thing at this moment, anything at all, what would it be and why?

Ryan: One thing right now?

Bobby: Yes.

Ryan: Ahh, man... Like a material thing or...?

Bobby: Anything.

Ryan: Ahh jeeze, man. Honestly, this will sound like I'm coming up with the "right" answer, but I'd like to, I don't know what I want to do, but something I could do for my dad. If I could do something big for him, like buy him a boat or retire him or something. If I could do that right now, I would love to be able to do that.

Bobby: I guess that's about it. Do you have any shout outs before we end?

Ryan: No, but if you could put something on your site to check out a band that I'm managing called "Reeve Oliver". It's spelt R-E-E-V-E and then the name "Oliver"; they have a website, reeveoliver.com. And they're just writing some incredibly music that's really different and fresh.

Bobby: I will do. Thanks a lot for doing the interview.

Ryan: Ya man, thank's a lot.