INTERVIEW BY SHELBY BAKER
PHOTOS PROVDED BY COPPER & STARS
COPPER & STARS came into fruition as a band only a mere year and half ago, but in the short amount of time they have been together, they have maintained a steady pace. The band has played various shows and most recently at Localpalooza in their hometown of Virginia Beach, with some of their old favorite bands; a dream come true for musicians. Around the end of summer of last year, they released their debut EP, The Realist I Can Be, where the band put forward their clear punk influences and roots with just a touch of a rock and roll. I was able to speak to guitarist/lead vocalist Bryan Tobin and drummer/backing vocalist Seth Peters where I learned about their EP and its intended “raw” sound, as well as their future projects.
What inspired the band name?
Bryan: It’s actually the name of a song by the band PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS, from about 14 years ago.
Seth: The hardest part of being in a band is naming it, and we went through so many. That one just hit us, and we all liked it; it also sounds cool when you say it.
Who are your biggest influences and inspirations?
Bryan: Well I’d say, like most people our age, we grew up listening to BLINK 182 and NEW FOUND GLORY. Then some of us listened to RANCID and NOFX. We kind of just like the idea of putting everything we listen to together. We all have punk roots, but we all listen to different stuff.
Seth: Bands like JIMMY EAT WORLD and THE FOO FIGHTERS influence me; stuff that’s a little “punky” or more poppy. I’d even also get as far as saying THE MARS VOLTA and BALANCE AND COMPOSURE.
You guys are from Virginia Beach and have played at The Jewish Mother. What did the venue mean to you, and how did you react to it being closed?
Seth: You know, it was weird and sad when we heard that that place was going down. It’s like, where is there to play now? That venue to me was always special.
Bryan: Especially since some of our favorite bands and a lot of our old bands played there.
You guys played at Localpalooza. What was that like for you and the band?
Bryan: I was really excited. One of my favorite bands is FAIRWEATHER, and they were my ultimate obsession when I was younger. Playing and meeting those guys was really cool. Pretty much anything with a lot of bands and people is awesome to me.
Seth: I just really liked the fact that it was outdoors and you get sort of a community-feel.
What is the theme behind the EP, The Realist I Can Be?
Bryan: The theme for that was essentially to not have a theme (laughs). We just threw a demo together. We left flaws in there purposefully, to leave it as raw as possible.
Seth: The title is a line from one of the songs, and it turned out pretty cool. None of the recording was doctored, and it’s really cool because a lot of bands are choosing to be doctored. It was good to prove to ourselves that we could do it. It’s kind of a thing we’ll just keeping doing.
Are you guys working on any new projects?
Bryan: Right now we have a few songs we’re working on. We like take it about four or five songs at a time. We feel really good about the songs and enjoy them. We’re going to put them out in a month or so, and then we should have another five songs after that.
Seth: We’ve got a whole new EP coming out. We decided we will probably never release an album. We also have a show at SHAKARAWKA coming up. It’s May 10th, and it’s kind of similar to Localpalooza. We’ll be playing with our friends AUDIOSTROBELIGHT, and it should be really cool.
