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HOUSTON CALLS
with Kenny Ryan

Emily: What are some of your musical influences?
Kenny: We each have our own influences, but I think for the most part we grew up listening to a lot of pop punk stuff. I know personally I was a huge Fat Wreck Chords fan going through high school, while Tom and Jarrett were big Lookout fans.

Emily: How did the band get started?
Kenny: Tom, Jarrett, and Okie used to play in a band called Face First for about 7 years. After their second guitar player quit they called me up and asked me to join. I think about a week later Jarrett calls me up and tells me that face first is breaking up but they are starting a new band with a fresh start. After about a year with Houston Calls, we needed to get a new drummer. Our good friends in the band Madison call us up and tell us they have a drummer that we need to try out. Here enters Josh, his old band Riding Bikes had just broke up and he was looking for a new band. He came down to tryout and the second we finished the first song we knew he was it. Houston Calls was now fully formed.

Emily: What is your best tour memory?
Kenny: In the summer on 2004 we were driving back from Chicago having just finished the PureVolume/Absolutepunk.net tour with Madison, Action Action, HIPV, and Hellogoodbye all feeling bummed knowing we had to go back to our shitty jobs and shitty schools after having such a great tour. Jarrett was on his laptop in the back of the van when he gets an IM from Richard of DTR/Rushmore asking us to sign to Rushmore Records. I think at that point we all pretty much were feeling on top of the world.

Emily: What are some of your current favorite bands?
Kenny: I think the new Junior Varsity record absolutely rules. Anberlin has defiantly stayed in the CD player longer then expected. I can’t get enough of he new Reggie and the Full Effect. Some other bands that rule I’d are Foster, A hero from a thousand paces, saga-core, gotlieb, intense, and just cause I can’t get enough of it…Strung Out.

Emily: Your first full-length album is coming out soon. Has there been a big progression musically since your previous releases? How does the new album compare to your older stuff?
Kenny: We’ve defiantly progressed in our writing, and I think you can even hear it on the record. One More Won’t Hurt was one of the first songs we wrote, a very straightforward song, and then listen to “A Bottle of Red, A Bottle of Spite”. That was the last song written for the record and I think you can hear a difference in styles.

Emily: That’s really cool of you guys to donate money from the sales of your new album to cancer research. What gave you the idea to do that?
Kenny: We wanted to donate money to a close to home foundation where we could make somewhat of a difference. It’s a small local charity and we figured we could make more of a mark with them then us donating to a huge charity. We have played benefit shows previously for The Steinburg Foundation as well and they have been very helpful for local bands out of our area.

Emily: Is there a story behind the band’s name?
Kenny: Yes but its not a very exciting one. When we were looking for a band new we starting going through the chapter titles of some of our favorite movies. Houston Calls stemmed from one of the titles off of “Apollo 13”

Emily: How did you guys hook up with Rushmore?
Kenny: Tom Jarrett and Okie have known them for years and years. Their old band was actually on one of the old school DTR comps called “I’ll Never Eat Fast Food Again”.

Emily: What was it like working with Ed Rose?
Kenny: The whole experience was amazing. Ed is such a great guy and we clicked with him instantly. He really sat with us and made this record the best that we could. He knew when to be serious and buckle us down and when to goof around. I know we’d love to use him again and couldn’t have imagined using anyone else for this record.

Emily: What’s the songwriting process like for Houston Calls? How do you divide up the songwriting duties and how long does it take to write a song?
Kenny: There’s really no formula, each song is created differently. Someone comes in with a song idea, usually Tom but sometime Okie, Jarrett, or I, and we’ll sit there and work with each part until we create a song. The music is usually done first, but there are times when Tom’s got a certain melody that we work around until we make it work.

Emily: Would you say there’s any specific message you try to convey through your music?
Kenny: Overall, we’re just trying to have a lot of fun. I know a lot of band say this but we really are a group of best friend playing music together.

Emily: Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics?
Kenny: Well Tom writes most of the lyrics, so I can’t really speak for him, but I know he likes making his lyrics in to stories that are third person. It makes it easier to relate to and I think that’s what he’s going for.

Emily: What’s your favorite part of being in a band and touring, etc.? What’s your least favorite part?
Kenny: Being about to hang out with my best friends and seeing the country. I never thought I’d be able see some of the things I have and its been amazing. Playing in front of kids every night is defiantly one of the best things life has to offer. As far as the negatives go, it really sucks missing out on things back home. I know personally speaking I have 3 of my sisters and my dads birthdays in July that I end up missing due to touring and really bums me out.

Emily: Which bands have been the most fun to tour with?
Kenny: Hidden in Plain View and us are pretty tight, we always have fun with them. The Junior Varsity are defiantly fun guys. We about to go on tour with Hellogoodbye for the second time and I know were pretty excited about that.

Emily: If you could tour with any band, whom would you choose?
Kenny: I know a couple of us would kill for an opportunity to tour with Green Day and Jimmy Eat World.

Emily: What is your favorite city to play in? How do other cities compare to your home scene in New Jersey?
Kenny: The Chicago area has been pretty good to us, but pin pointing one city is pretty tough. I know we love playing New Jersey, the kids there are amazing. The scene is defiantly crazy and unpredictable. There are a million bands all competing for the same goal so everyone is constantly pushing each other to get better and better. I’ve seen some great band go nowhere just cause they were lost in the mix.

Emily: What do you do in your spare time?
Kenny: We each have our things were do when were home, Jarrett does film work, I try helping my father doing electrical work for his company, Josh does web stuff (exactly what I’m not too sure), and Okie love to cook.

Emily: What does the band plan to do in the future?
Kenny: tour tour tour… and make record more albums.

Emily: If you were a piñata, what shape would you be and what would you be filled with?
Kenny: I would be a music note and full of shit…

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