Punktuation-What is the name of your band?
A Thin Line Fading.
P-What is the meaning behind the name?
ATLF-Well, it's meant to be kind of vague. I think the meaning can apply to a variety of issues, but to me personally it symbolizes the division we see within people. Just fucking put aside differences, and show people respect and courtesy.
P-What part of the world are you guys from?
ATLF-The New Jersey Shore. We're all from Toms River, except John, our singer. He's from Fair Haven, which is right next to Redbank. His house is really nice, and he has a better vinyl collection than all of us put together. He is good at Proskater too.
P-How would you describe your musical stylings to a local scenester and how would you describe your sound to your grandma?
ATLF-I don't know....we're really just trying to play the music we like to listen to. We're trying to play something that we would listen to, even if we weren't the ones playing it. Our influences are mostly older hardcore stuff, like Cro-Mags, Youth of Today, Judge, Turning Point, etc....and some early 80's stuff, like Minor Threat and 7 Seconds. Lately, I've been listening to a lot of more aggressive stuff, so a lot of our newer songs are more angry and less melodic. But oh well. I love you grandma.
P-Who or what is the source of inspiration for you guys?
ATLF-I don't really know how to answer this for everyone else, but I do know that I'm really into this mostly to have fun and enjoy my youth. We're a straight edge band, so I guess that probably keeps us together. We're really just out to have fun and stuff.
P-How long have you guys been together and what motivates you to keep going?
ATLF-We started out about May 1999. Our old band, Rise Above, was breaking up, so we started a new band. We called it Falling Behind, and our friend sean sang. We were playing mainly melodic hardcore stuff back then. We parted ways with him, and that poppy shit too, mostly. So we got John from Down in Flames to sing for us, and it's pretty cool right now.
P-What are future goals for the band and how do you wish to accomplish them?
ATLF-We just want to have fun. We're looking to do a 7" soon, so look for that maybe late spring, early summer. We'd like to play lots of shows, and just really hang out and make new friends and shit.
P-Do you or anyone else in the band have any fears?
ATLF-I don't know about the rest of the guys, but I don't have any phobias or anything really. Maybe heights and shit haha. No, I'm really afraid of the future right now. I'm still undecided about what I want to do with my life, so I'm a little nervous about that.
P-Who writes the lyrics and what sort of messages are conveyed?
ATLF-A lot of people have contributed lyrics. Dave wrote one of our songs. It's about being in a relationship where you get trampled on emotionally, and fighting back. I've written a few, mostly about the feelings I'm having. Our old singer wrote a few, but I don't wanna talk about that. And John wrote two new ones. One is about how a lot of kids get full on into hardcore, and then drop out of it a little bit after that, although I shouldn't say anything about that, since I'm still really young and all. And the other one is really just about being an individual.
P-What is the most memorable experience that has happened while playing a show?
ATLF-The most memorable experience ever for me playing a show was with my old band, Rise Above, when kids actually sang along haha. And at our last show with Rain on the Parade and No Justice...it was just cool hanging out with good friends and talking with Ronnie Little was cool too, he's a really nice guy. It was awesome seeing Down In Flames finally release their 7". Those kids are some of the fucking coolest people I know. They deserved it so badly.
P-Who comes to an ATLF show and what can they expect?
ATLF-It depends who we play with I guess, but they can definitely expect sincerity and emotion. That's what we're all about. And fun cover songs. For us, anyway.
P-What sort of strong beliefs can somebody find while listening to ATLF?
ATLF-Well, again, we don't really have any political agenda or anything. We try to preach individuality and self-respect and positivity and shit I guess, but we're not really out to spread a message either. We're just having fun, and speaking our minds really.
P-What sort of direction do you believe punk and hardcore is heading in?
ATLF-A good one. I think it's awesome seeing kids even younger than myself going to shows and full on being into it. I think it's awesome knowing that I can see familiar faces at like every show. I think it rules that people can be as into a modern hardcore band as they can be into like GB or whatever. That's fucking awesome. Hopefully, one day people will enjoy us that much. I know that there are fucking cool as shit sincere kids in the hardcore scene still. Punk rock is weird though, a lot of those kids are really wacked out and fucking not smart. But the same goes for hardcore too. Actually, now I wanna vent, it bothers me that some kids are so fucking quick to attack a kid who is new to the hardcore or punk scene, just because he/she isn't like crucial or whatever. That's fucking gay as hell. But whatever. I love hardcore more than anything in the world. It's such a great thing. I really love this.
P-Do you believe change is for the better?
ATLF-Sure, but it depends. Socio-political changes take time and consideration, before you jump on some guilt-free bandwagon. I think change starts within. Just live a good life, and try to maintain happiness within yourself and those you love. Maybe then some of these stupid fucking issues would go away.
P-What might you hope somebody gets out of seeing or hearing ATLF and what valuable memories might they take home with them?
ATLF-Just enjoy the show. Hang out, maybe get something (cliched as fuck term) positive out of it. Feel something real. And come up and talk to us, we don't give a fuck who you are, we love making new friends and shit. We love talking about our opinions, and believe me, we're worlds apart on most matters. So maybe enjoy yourself, have fun, and listen to the cro-mags.
P-Any final comments?
ATLF-I think that's really it. If you wanna talk about anything else, feel free to contact us or whatever. We have demos available for 3$. Email me at XthereisalightX@aol.com for one. I'd like to send shoutouts to all our friends in bands and labels and shit, and I'd like to wish luck to my boy Anthony Atlas who is currently locked down for a crime he did not commit. Take care!