The band might be called All Time Low, but their music is anything but depressive. Their Hopeless Records EP Put Up Or Shut Up is filled with pop punk anthems that many in the overcrowded Knitting Factory were singing along with. A few minutes prior to their exuberant set, we spoke with singer Alex Gaskarth to learn more about the amazing musical paradox who go by the name of All Time Low. Read on...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in All Time Low, and what was the last song you played on your IPOD?
My name is Alex. I sing and play guitar for the band All Time Low, and the last song I played on my IPOD was probably Lily Allen LDN.

Where are you guys from and what is the music scene like in your hometown?
We’re from Baltimore, Maryland and the scene is amazing. I don’t think we’d be where we are now if the scene like from the time we started as a band till now had not been as strong as it has been. From the get go, we had a lot of opportunities to open for a lot of bigger bands as they came through. A lot of venues in the area are very supportive to local bands popping on those bigger shows and getting to play for a larger crowd. I think that really helped us grow. You see how the real bands quote unquote do it. From a very young age, we had a better idea how it should be done, so we could step it up and really try our hardest to come off as that professional band that really aspires to take it seriously in its career. So yeah, and the kids are amazing every time we go home. Our hometown shows are insane – a thousand kids screaming and crowd surfing – it’s awesome!

For such a happy band, why the name All Time Low?
I came up with that. Actually it’s from a New Found Glory song, who are a band we grew up listening to, and obviously influenced us hugely to play the kind of music that we play. It’s from the song Black And Blue. I think we were going through the process of writing down all these names and trying to find the one that sounded coolest, we were listening to that song and it kind of stuck out. The name sort of sticks in your head, so we were just like “why not?”

Didn’t anyone think that might be a bit of a depressing name?
Yeah, it is a little depressing, but at the same time I think it’s kind of ironic, seeing as how we’re very up-tempo, we’re very positive – none of our songs are really dwelling on anything too sad. I think the irony is sort of interesting. And we’re signed to Hopeless Record nonetheless. So there’s a whole bunch of positive – All Time Low on Hopeless Records!

How close are you guys to recording new music?
Very close actually. We have a few more days of tour, and then we’re heading home to actually record our full length with Matt Squire from April 15th to May 20th. Hopefully that will be out by August.

Do you have a working title for it?
Not yet. We have a few ideas that we’re spinning around, but we want to keep them under wraps until it’s ready.

Will The Party Scene be re-released by Hopeless?
We’ve talked about it. We obviously want to get out new stuff more importantly to the much wider fan base that we’ve now been exposed to through Hopeless Records and the Warner family and all of that. But yeah, from the get go, we talked about wanting to support Emerald Moon Records – the label that put out The Party Scene and our first EP, just because they’re a label that completely started and built themselves from the ground up. Anything we could do to help them out would be amazing – to kind of show what they have been doing and what they did a couple of years ago with us. Because they got us where we are now. So yeah, we definitely talked about in the future putting out maybe a DVD along with maybe remixes of the old songs for people to kind of see where we came from and what we used to do.

The only place I’ve ever heard The Party Scene on is Limewire. What do you think of the kids who go and download your stuff off the net for free?
Personally, I’m not that bothered by it. On behalf of our music, I think it’s amazing if anybody is listening to us. It’s a huge compliment. In a more general sense, I think obviously it’s killing the industry a little bit, just because the less that people are buying CD’s, the more expensive they’re gonna get. If there’s no demand, then it’s going to die eventually. Unfortunately I think because of the Internet and because of downloads, I think the day of the CD is kind of coming to an end. I think the day of the MP3 is very much on the rise. Ten years from now, I don’t even think we’ll have CD’s anymore – we’ll probably just buy everything online on Itunes and put it straight on your IPOD.

Are you guys going to be on Warped Tour this year?
We are. We’re actually confirmed for the whole Warped Tour on the Volcom Stage. So yeah, we’ll be on the whole thing and it’s gonna be a good time.

Will this be your first time?
Last year we did like 11 days, but we did it in a van and it was brutal and rough and hot and sweaty. This time we get to do it for real – we get to be in a bus and we’re going to be doing the whole thing. So hopefully we’ll be a little more comfortable and a little more well rested when we meet everybody.

Are you sharing the bus with anyone?
Yeah. We’re actually going to share the bus with a clothing company that we are sponsored by and friend with called Glamour Kills Clothing. It’s an amazing clothing company, so check it out.

Do you have any messages for your fans out here in the Los Angeles area?
Anybody that is involved with us – thank you so much. We can’t thank you enough for being a part of what we’re trying to do. It’s a dream, and to know that you guys are supporting it is amazing! So thank you very much. And come hang out with us at a show! Come hang out with us at Warped Tour. We’ll see you there! (Kenneth Morton)

All Time Low links

All Time Low: The Official Home Page!
All Time Low on Myspace: Their Official Myspace Page!
Hopeless Records: All Time Low's record label!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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