by Kenneth Morton

The music of Oceana may be pretty brutal, but the lyrics are filled with a spiritual wisdom – and these aspects combine to complete a compelling musical journey called The Tide. We emailed the band some questions and drummer/vocalist James sent in his replies, which commence now…

Where is the band from and what is the music scene like there?
We're from St. Petersburg, FL. The music scene is actually pretty awesome, it's very diverse, and it's mostly very supportive of the music we write. It's a plus that St. Pete is so close to cities like Tampa and Clearwater, the younger population is pretty high, and they love shows. At each show we have, we see kids from every "scene" out there, like the kids into more traditional hardcore music, others that are into the hardcore/screamo type, and people even come out to see us just for particular parts of our songs, like guitar work or vocal work, etc. We've also been noticing that we've been appealing to a younger crowd too (11-14 years old). We see more and more of that range with each show home.

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title The Tide?
When we wrote the album, we didn't really have any specific theme or title in mind to be completely honest. We had a song called The Tide, and the lyrics in a way summed up how we all felt about our personal lives at the time. So we picked that song to name the album, and it just so happened that the name fit perfectly with Oceana.

Where do you get the ideas and inspirations for some of the song lyrics? Please cite a few of your songs and what they are about.
We get our inspiration and ideas from our own lives. We write what our hearts tell us to. The Accountable was written after some of us got into binds in our lives where nothing but lies could get us out of a bad situation, and that would be taken advantage of. Eventually what was done would catch up to us and put us in an even worse position. We are the Messengers was written like a conversation with God. After going through a series of hard times, we all turned to God, and it paid off very well in our favor.

How did you wind up being signed to Rise Records?
We recorded two demos (Mindless and The Accountable) with Cameron Mizell (our producer on The Tide), and sent them to Rise in an email with high hopes. No less than 10 minutes later, we got an email back and Rise was interested in us. By the next morning, we had a contract offer. We officially signed to Rise on Halloween day last year.

How much work did noted producer James Paul Wisner do on your CD and what was it like working with him?
James helped out a lot with the mixing and mastering process of the CD. Although we never really worked with him in person, it's safe to say he left his mark on this album. Our CD wasn't over-produced, but still has a rich sound, and that's what we were going for. Not to mention, Cameron is also an amazing producer, and he is to thank for a lot of the progression on this album.

What kind of touring have you been able to do so far, and how easy or difficult has it been with a few of your members being 17?
The only one of us left in school is Alex (Guitar), he's technically a Junior in high school, but he takes his classes online, so when it comes to touring we don't really have any limits. We've covered the East coast and the mid-west twice now, and are going West next month.

Describe a live Oceana show for those of us who have yet to see you play.
We just have as much fun as we can. I would say our show is pretty energetic. We don't really plan anything out, and we really just feel the music really hard when we're up there. We'll do our best to turn your head toward us for at least a couple seconds during our set.

Are there any Oceana groupies wandering around the great state of Florida or beyond?
Haha, of course! Every band has their groupies ;)

How has the Rise vs. Tragic tour been going so far, and what have been some of the highlights?
It's been very fun! The tour was kind of short notice, but the turnouts have still been awesome especially under those circumstances. All the bands are awesome and it's safe to say we've built some good friendships with them.

What's up next after the tour?
We'll be going on a West coast tour with Confide, Here I Come Falling and Take the Crown. We’re totally stoked about it, HICF are our best buds and we can't wait to hang out with them more, likewise with Confide. So far we've been with another Rise band every tour, and this one we'll be with two. We hope to have some really good times with Take the Crown, because we definitely have with the others! After April we're not too sure yet of what we're doing, hopefully more awesome tours!

If there was one thing you'd like someone to remember after hearing your CD for the very first time, what would that be?
The raw emotion that we put into it!

Any final words of wisdom?
If you work hard and have confidence and an open state of mind, you can accomplish anything. We've prayed for progression, worked hard for it, and it's come to us so fast, and it's still happening quicker than we can comprehend. God has blessed us so much thus far and continues to answer our prayers.

Be sure to check out Oceana on The Warped Tour, playing locally at the Carson/LA date on August 17th!!!

Oceana Links

Oceana on Myspace: Oceana's Official Myspace Page!
Rise Records: The Record label for Oceana!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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