Interview with Austin Gannon

As I had stated in the previous post, I interviewed two members of the Mad Hops. This is the interview I had via email with drummer Austin Gannon.


QUESTION 1: when was the band officially formed?

January 2011

2: How did you guys get going and start getting gigs?

Gannon: When i met Tyler we somehow ended up having a conversation about him playing guitar and he said that he already had a band. (Little did i know it wasn't really a serious thing). That night i saw a picture of our bassist Conan recording and i was like "I wanna do that." So i told Tyler the next day that i wanted to drum for his band. (I thought they already had a drummer with the non-serious band, but i wanted to let him know anyway). He said yea (i guess they didnt have a drummer) and we arranged to have practice at my house. We started playing blink songs and that was it. Our first show was at a skate shop right across the street from our school. From there it really was all about getting online and facebook pages to get shows. and thats still how we do it

3: Why did you choose to play pop punk? basically, what about pop punk made you guys play it?

Gannon: I was never really into the pop punk scene. I knew a lot of blink songs but i didnt like realize they were all sung by blink 182. (I was young, sue me) So when i got older i started to look up blink 182 and i found out that i knew every song, without knowing i knew them. Then one day Tyler asked me if i had heard of this band called The Wonder Years. I said no and when i got home i looked them up and i fell in love. The lyrics were honest and real. All the songs werent about girls and not a lot of people really knew them so i thought that was cool too. Now i try to write drum parts like the wonder years and other pop punk bands. Most songs are just fast. But theres others that are different and have complicated beats, which i adore. 

4: How have you been able to get your recent album out to people?

Gannon: Mostly online, we bring physical copies to shows and we gave a few to our close friends. But we figured online would be the best way to get our music out there since everyone is doing it now, so we might as well join the crowd. People in our school who actually listen to it say they like it. They tell us their favorite songs. its kinda cool really, im like very mini famous.


5: Describe the ups and downs of being in a band like the Mad Hops.

Hmmmm...well there are way more ups than downs. The ups are that i get to play music that i love with the people who feel the same way. Were all friends and we get along. We work well together, everyone has different ideas for songs or whatever it may be. The downs for me personally are that lack of passion some days. I'm currently in 2 other bands. Along with school and school band. All my days are planned out all the time even on the weekends (which is just awful). Some days i get up and i dont even wanna play music. Theres days where i want to quit and not play or take a break or whatever. But i know if i do, Ill wake up the next day and miss every second of it. But lack of passion turns into songs so its really full circle with music for me. Which is an up...so i guess you could say that my down is still up?

6: What's the ultimate goal that you guys want to achieve with your music? 

I want people to enjoy it. But at the same time i want the band to enjoy it. Writing music to make sure other people enjoy it is not what you should do. I'm not saying you should write it for yourself, but just write the songs you wanna write. If people dont like that kinda music, oh well. you cant please everybody. I want someone that i dont know come up to me and say "that was good." or you guys are really good." Its happened before, like with adults or friends or friends of friends. But its not the same. I want someone that i dont know and that is my age say "i love your songs." That tells me that someone else feels the same way i do and thats always a good feeling.




CITATION: 
Gannon, Austin. Email interview. 13 May 2012.