Interview: Emarosa
Jasmine Garcia. Warped Tour. June 19, 2015
Playing their first Warped Tour in five years and coming back with a new singer, Emarosa was ready to make their comeback. With new energy, and continued promotion of their newest album, Versus, the band was ready to show the crowds of this year’s Warped Tour what they were all about. USD Radio caught up with the members of Emarosa, looking back on Versus, talked about Warped Tour, and discussed the future for the band.
Question: So last time we talked, your album, Versus, had just come out – just about one month old. How has the cycle been with the album now that it’s been out for almost a year?
Jordan Stewart: It’s been good – we’ve still been pushing it. This is really our first tour since that tour in the U.S. But I think Warped is going to be the true sign of it all. We’re going to really see who’s heard Versus and who else we still got to get on board.
Q: And so do each of you have a favorite song off Versus now that it has kind of aged a little?
Bradley Walden: It depends on if you’re talking about performing live or just listening to. For me, performing live will have to be maybe “A Hundred Crowns,” and to listen to would be “Say Hello to the Bad Guy.” Or maybe reverse that…that’s a tough question. Next question.
JS: “Bad Guy” wins it both for me.
Will Sowers: I like to play “People [Like Me, We Just Don’t Play]” and I like to listen to the OG version of “I’ll Just Wait.”
Q: Is there an acoustic version?
JS: Eh, there’s even more.
Q: More? Why isn’t it out?
WS: It will be…
JS: We’ll find some time…
Q: We’ll be patient. So how did you go about choosing “But You Won’t Love A Ghost” as the newest single, as you just put out a music video for it?
BW: We had put out “People Like Me.” We put out “Mad.” We put out “American Deja vu.” Then we put out “I’ll Just Wait.” So we felt like it was a good “in-between” song to bridge the gap in-between those.
Q: That’s great. And you guys are just chugging them out!
JS: Yeah, it’s how people are listening to music these days. I think we’re focusing a little more on visualization in videos. More like, something to take in and digest, and stylize with the band.
Q: So I saw you guys were working with Aaron Marsh of Copeland – how soon can we be expecting new material?
JS: Before we get off this tour.
BW: Within the next three weeks I’d say.
JS: It’s like, half-new material – it’s re-approached old material.
WS: It’s not an acoustic record though.
BW: It’s a chill EP. It’s a “chillep.”
Q: That sounds exciting! How will it be different from Versus?
BW: We broadened our horizons are far as the genre would go. You know, with everything that we’ve been writing, it’s just becoming more and more mature, and it lets us – in a sense – show off a little bit more of what we’re capable of.
JS: And really enjoy it dearly, not just capability.
BW: I also think it shows the diversity of the songs on Versus. It shows that we can take them and give them any shape, and they still are great songs.
Q: This is your first time back at Warped in five years, and now with Bradley, it’s a whole new energy. How is this time different from any of the past times you’ve played Warped Tour?
JS: We’re ready to go.
WS: Everyone is really excited.
JS: We’re stoked to have people see Bradley in the band.
Q: For people who don’t know who you are or have only heard of you, why should they come out to your set on the Warped Tour?
WS: You’re gonna see some crazy s***… *laughs* But one thing though, you’re gonna get to go and watch people love what they do – having a lot of fun together, love music, and play it.
BW: I feel like there’s something special about this band, and I felt like that even before I joined it. I just put myself in that mindset when we’re performing. I feel like our performance is starting to take on an entity of its own. ‘Cause you gotta think – I joined this band years ago, but to the person outside the band, our record has only been out not even a year. Now is when we’re starting to gel – within the past six months. I get goosebumps just thinking about it, because I know – if I went to Warped Tour and I was looking at bands that I wanted to write, Emarosa would be at the top of my list, even if I wasn’t in the band.
Q: That’s really awesome. And how did you guys go about choosing the setlist?
WS: We just wanted to have a lot of fun.
JS: Yeah we leaned into Versus pretty hard. We’re here to let people know about the future of Emarosa and Versus. We did slip in an old song too. It’s all kinds of energy. I think it’s got a good mood to it, and we definitely saved some songs for the clubs and rooms.
BW: It’s a “Warped Tour” set. It’s a lot of bangers. We threw in an old one, we threw in a lot of the more popular ones off Versus.
JS: We slow it down, we speed it up, and we jump around. There’s one big throwback intro.
Q: If you had time to add one more song to that setlist, what would it be?
JS: I feel like “Bad Guy” for me, but I don’t know if it’s a Warped song. That’s tough – but it’s been really fun playing “Heads or Tails” in Australia. It feels good again, it feels really good.
Q: Who’s someone you’re really stoked on seeing at Warped?
BW: 68. They’re unique and they’re fun to watch. And Josh is great in-between songs – he’s just a funny dude and it shows.
JS: And they’re like, raw.
Q: And now, what can we expect from you for the rest of the year?
JS: Hopefully keeping seeing us. We’ve got some things.
BW: Yeah we’ve got stuff lined up for the U.S.
JS: I think some things that will make some old fans and new fans really happy.
BW: We’re just continuously growing – we’re gonna be doing some stuff where like, “Man, I thought this band was a post-hardcore band.” And it’s gonna be like, “Uh, no b***. We’re not.”
Stay up to date with Emarosa:
Referring to the “Chillep,” check out Emarosa newest EP Versus Reimagined:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/versus-reimagined-ep/id1020527304
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/versus-reimagined-ep/id1020527304
Emarosa will also be coming back to San Diego and opening for Blessthefall on November 20th. Pick up a ticket!