JuicyBands.com: The Starting Line

The Starting Line's Kenny Vasoli has been in tune with the music world since he was a teenager. As a teenager, Kenny teamed up with The Starting Line after playing with such bands like, The Prize Fight and Smash Adams. The Starting Line has since gone on to score a few #1 hits and top selling albums on the Billboard charts! Despite a tumultuous time with Geffen Records, The Starting Line has pumped out a new album with Virgin Records called Direction. (The album kicks ass! if you haven't heard it, it's definitely worth checking out!) With The Starting Line out on tour, front man Kenny Vasoli has only one other thing to set his sights on: more music with his side project, Person L.

JUICY BANDS: How was the warp tour?

KENNY VASOLI: It was really good. We had a blast! We really enjoyed Four Years Strong and Sound the Alarm and Permanent Me.

JUICY BANDS: Is there a more of an appeal to doing college shows?

KENNY: Yeah. I mean, it's usually hot or cold. We have a lot of college fans, so depending on the area, it's kind of hot or cold. But around Atlanta, we seem to do pretty well.

JUICY BANDS: How has touring evolved for you since you first started with The Starting Line?

KENNY: The biggest change we've been blessed with is being able to tour on a bus. That really helps us out, as far as keeping healthy and getting enough rest. Besides that, not really a whole lot. We've kind of become a little more adapted to it since we've been on the road so much. It's a little bit stranger being at home sometimes.

JUICY BANDS: What's the most important thing you bring with you on tour?

KENNY: Mostly, I'd say Wet Ones. When you can't shower, Wet Ones can really come in handy for making you feel clean again. [laughs]

JUICY BANDS: [laughs] That's a good point Kenny, those must come in handy.

KENNY: Yeah for sure.

JUICY BANDS: Have many fans picked up the new album?

KENNY: Yeah. They've actually been catching on a lot. It seems like the newer songs have been coming off pretty well. It's been some of the best reactions of the set, actually.

JUICY BANDS: Okay, I have to ask this because along with all your fans i'm also dying to know, who were the big party bands on the Warped Tour?

KENNY: We hung out with a lot of mild-mannered partiers like Bayside. I would also see Escape the Fate getting wasted. That was probably the most wasted band on Warped Tour.....by far.

JUICY BANDS: Was it difficult changing record labels?

KENNY: I think more in the sense that we had more freedom to be the band we wanted to be after we switched. Virgin definitely understood what kind of band we were much better than Geffen did. Also, just being in a happier home like that just made for more optimistic lyrics and a more overall sunnier attitude, which I think came through on the record.

JUICY BANDS: What prompted you to go with Virgin after your experience with Geffen?

KENNY: Virgin was just true fans of the band. They listened to it, enjoyed, and cited songs that they liked from obscure EPs that we've done. That kind of stuff really won us over, because it's just such a change from being on a label where, really, nobody had any idea who our band was and [they] were just trying to learn about it as they went along. Since they [Virgin] were already educated on us, they understood what they could do with us. And just personality-wise, those people, I would hang out with them even if I wasn't a business associate of theirs. They're just really great people. I really like everybody over there.

JUICY BANDS: What were some of the things you were apprehensive about about signing with a new label?

KENNY: You know, there's apprehensions with every label. Pretty much, just because you were on the same page and we all want the same thing - we all want a career out of this and we're really not trying to be disposed of - and they understood that. That apprehension got squashed real quick.

JUICY BANDS: What did Howard Benson bring to the table when he sat down to work on Direction?

KENNY: I like him because he's really cut and dry about how he feels about something. He doesn't tell you what to play, but he tells you what he does and doesn't like. That made it really easy for me, because instead of being forced into an idea that I wasn't completely behind, he would more leave it up to us until it got to a point where he felt it was finally ready. Also, he had the same less-is-more mentality along with us, so it was cool being on the same page.

JUICY BANDS: Did you get to choose "Island" as the first single from the album?

KENNY: We didn't have a whole lot of say in it, but I think between us, Howard, and the label, that was kind of the obvious choice once we finished tracking that song. Everybody seemed to be so excited about it. The song got written kind of late in the process, and I think everybody was kind of bugging out, like, "What is the first single going to be?" It seemed like it was the obvious choice.

JUICY BANDS: What would you have chosen?

KENNY: I think I would have done that song. I would have either done that, or the song "21".

JUICY BANDS: At one point, weren't there a few acoustic tracks recorded?

KENNY: It was pretty much just demos. We did the same thing for the last record, and most of the songs start off as just an acoustic guitar and vocals. It kind of makes it easy to build on top of the song.

JUICY BANDS: How is Person L. going for you? Is it hard to split your time between the two projects?

KENNY: It's going really good. I mean, it's coming kind of slow. I would say I am about three-quarters done the record, and my goal is to have it mixed by January. I actually brought some recording equipment out on this tour so I could finish up some guitars out here. It's not too hard to balance them, because I have a lot of sporadic free time, and all I really want to do is make music. As much music as I make with The Starting Line, I always feel like I have unfinished business with music, and that I have a lot of things that I haven't touched on yet that I want to.

JUICY BANDS: Kick ass, you guys rock! Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

KENNY: Yeah, listen to us! [Laughs] Thank you so much for your support , it's appriciated, thanks for coming to our shows and buying our albums. We'll going on tour March 2008, so be sure and come to our show because it's going to rock!

JUICY BANDS: Thanks you so much, you rock! The Starting Line kicks ass and have a blast touring, I know your fans are going to freak out when they hear you'll be touring in March, so stay kick ass!

KENNY: Yeah thanks for everything, come to our show! [laughs]

JUICY BANDS: [Laughs] You know i'll be in the front row screaming rock on!