Punktuation-What is the name of your band, who are you and what do you play/do in the band?

The name of the band is The Rise. I'm Cory, I sing and do a lot of the electronics.

P-Who are the other members of The Rise and what does each person play/do?

TR-Well there's Kemble-drums, Stuart-guitar and more vocals, Ben-guitar and Danny-bass.

P-Why do you think it is that The Rise has not been around for overly long and you have become my (as well as everyone elses) new favorite band?

TR-Wow, that's a very nice question. Thanks. I don't know, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are all very diverse people. We set out to basically not be bored. When we started I was really into electronica and wanted to incorporate it a lot more. If I'd had my way everyone would've had samplers and keyboards and we'd be a very different band. All of us would have considered it a complete waste of our time to just be in a band get on stage and chug away though. So we decided to just have fun and try whatever we wanted to. Originally we thought kids would hate it. We were very nervous at our first show, but the reaction has been great. I really don't know why. We're probably just lucky, getting a shot is such a lottery.

P-How would you describe your sound to Axl Rose? And how about to Yanni?

TR-"Axl, I'm not going to describe my band because I'm way more interested in knowing what drugs you were on when you thought dolphins swimming through the streets was a kick ass concept for a video." As for Yanni, fuck him, what am I doing talking to Yanni? Where'd Axl go?

P-Where are you guys from and what's it like there?

TR-We're from Texas, it's big, hot, and kicks the shit out of every other state.

P-What would be the one thing to make sure to check out if someone were to visit your city?

TR-Crazies. We have lots of crazies and they rule. We have at least two famous transvestites. One is a mute who thinks he's in KISS and plays buckets on the street. Every now and then he'll have a show.

P-How did it all start with The Rise forming (ie. past bands, when, why), and what is the history of releases you guys have put out?

TR-Well, I moved back from Florida to play in a band with some friends in north Texas. It didn't work out, so I asked a previous friend who I was in an old band with to move up there. He did but that didnt work so he said he knew of a couple kids in Austin. So we moved down there and met Stuart and Ben. Colin and I knew a bass player who had moved there so we convinced him to join. We started playing together and clicked immediately. After the first show, this girl Kristin approached us to do a 7 inch. So we did that and that is the only other release that's out. It's 2 songs limited to 1000 but we rerecorded those 2 songs for the full length. The only other change was Colin, we parted ways with him and Kemble joined. Kemble joined in time to play on the full length and shit's been nice with him in the band. He's very laid back and helps us relax.

P-What song that you guys play pumps you up the most?

TR-Hmmm, me personally. I think I like 'An Automated Response,' we start the show off with that and it just puts me in the right place.

P-What are your songs about?

TR-Well there's not one subject, a lot of them are about technology issues, but we've written songs about other stuff and leaving ourselves open for other subjects.

P-Who recorded/produced your new album 'Signal To Noise'? some of the effects on it are pretty dope...how did you do that?

TR-We had a lot of options, but ultimately we chose Kevin Ratterman. He plays drums for Elliott. We chose him almost solely based on the work he did with 'False Cathedrals,' that and this band he recorded that sounds like Daft Punk. We went to Louisville for 3 weeks and recorded in his warehouse. No tape. It was all digital. We didn't even use a mixing board! We got all the basic stuff done and then just messed around with beats and effects for days. We could have easily spent another 2 weeks dicking around with stuff. We're very happy with the job he did. We basically did everything in a program called 'Nuendo' and spent many hours sequencing and trying different effects on everything.

P-Why is it that you guys play the style that you do?

TR-For a while I was scared we were gonna break up due to the extreme differences in what we listen to. I thought for a long time that Stuart was gonna leave to go play more indie rock stuff in the vein of Elliott Smith, or Jimmy Eat World. Until he told me that he'd be bored playing that live. And I think that's it for us. Live we have fun. We get to hump around, throw guitars and release a lot of energy. Recorded, we're wide open to experiment. It's really really fun for all of us. Maybe one day a different style will be fun for all of us. But that's why we do what we do I suppose. Also it's hard for tough guys to mosh to drum and bass beats. We like that.

P-Some people say 'Oh man, those guys must have a lot of anger.' Is that true?

TR-I'm not angry. I'm bitter.

P-Who are some of your influences, and also who are some bands you urge us to check out?

TR-Well I think the obvious are Refused, Atari Teenage Riot, At The Drive In. But some other stuff would be like Cave In, we listened to that a lot during recording. Umm, Squarepusher, Kid 606, Daft Punk, New Order, The Hives, Rage Against The Machine, Company Flow, Ink And Dagger. Truth Is Everything we listen to influences us in some way or another. Even pop culture bands, whether it be musically or reactionary. Bands you should check out, well any of the above mentioned if you haven't heard them. Our boys Recover. Umm, some Texas bands like Meanest Capacity, Storm The Tower, and Of Death. I'm also listening to a lot of these bands: The Red Light Sting, Woven(holy shit look these guys up, wovenmusic.com, I think, seriously some of the best music I've heard in a very long time), Sparta, The Now, VHS Or Beta, the new El-P full length and Aesop Rock 12".

P-What do you think the raddest lineup for a show would be (you could be included in the lineup)?

TR-Hmm, for me, first off a small venue, no p.a. like a house show with a tie between Radiohead and The Deftones opening (just cause I'll never go see them in a big arena and I'd like to see them live) then move on to a little Neurosis maybe, shit's just amazing. Then I think I'd end on Cap'n Jazz, cause I never saw them and I always wished I had. Haha, that's a ridiculous show, I don't mosh or anything so from an audience point of view for me the sound and experience of hearing what this band offers naturally is what's important to me. That's the kind of stuff I like.

P-What is the weirdest experience you've had out on the road while touring?

TR-Well I haven't really been out with this band yet, but in old bands, shit maybe Cincinatti. We saw a guy get gunned down and went looking for a midget in a lime green leisure suit that beats on cars with baseball bats, but instead wound up finding a transvestite prostitute who threw hummus at us and we returned fire with this poor kids remote control we hijacked from his house. That and weird kids in Tallahassee. That city is like another fucking planet. Weirdest kids ever, they scare me.

P-Where are some of your favorite places outside your own town to play?

TR-Well like I said we haven't been out much, but I always like San Antonio and Gainesville.

P-What do you see the evolution of 'hardcore' (or music in general for that reason)?

TR-I don't know. It seems that it's being assimilated more into mainstream. The line that defines underground will disappear sooner or later. I hope it will get more and more creative. The few kids that I've met that record at home digitally, now that it is very accessible to do so, love experimenting around and come up with cool shit. I hope more kids continue to do that. I hope kids don't accept fingerpointing and crew shouts as the end all be all of hardcore. I never thought hardcore definitely had a sound. One of my favorite labels is Hydrahead because he shows such diversity, he takes a lot of risks for musics sake. The whole double h noise industries thing I'm in love with. The Atomsmasher CD. Great. I think the future of hardcore is whatever is sincere, genuine and reacts to the time it's in. Musically, sky's the limit.

P-What do you guys plan for the future?

TR-Make more records, tour a lot. We are working on writing the new full length as well as an all electronic record. About half would be comprised of original electronic compositions and the other half remixes. Some of which are kids who got loops from our website and do them. We make them available there. It's been fun to see what kids do with some of our riffs and stuff. We're going to start putting some of them up on the site soon.

P-Any closing comments?

TR-Come see us this summer, have a good time. Pick up a guitar or download a program. Just start creating. The cool thing about music now is that you don't have to learn to play anything really. Just find your niche. Get involved, and keep with it. Take care.

Coco.