Push to Fire: Alternative Music Webzine

Push to Fire Interview: All Forgotten
All Forgotten are a 5 piece rock band from Woking in Surrey. The band began to tour the country in early 2008 after establishing themselves amongst local fans. Their high energy, perfectly executed blend of post-hardcore has already dealt them a very impressive year, completing 5 tours in the space of 9 very short months with the likes of You Me At Six, We Are The Ocean, and Forever The Sickest Kids and rounding up their year with an incredible appearance at the London Astoria date of the Taste Of Chaos Tour alongside Atreyu, As I Lay Dying and Story Of The Year, and an opening slot at the Leeds Slam Dunk festival.
In March 2009 Suzy interviewed singer Jonathon Thorne to find out about their forthcoming Transitions EP, tour plans and life on the road...

How did the band form and when?
The short version is the lineup as it is now came together over a couple of years, from the ashes of previous bands, and we all know each other from school or playing in bands together before.
Personally the last time I saw you guys was at Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds last May. Tell us a bit about what you been up to since then - what have you been doing over the past year or so?
That seems so long ago now! We've been touring a lot, writing a lot, recording a lot, and trying to push our name out there as much as we can I guess, we've had a ton of really great opportunities since Slam Dunk and it's been a lot of fun!
How is 'Transitions' EP coming along? Have you finished it yet? When is it out?
Transitions is finished! We're actually getting the mastered version back tonight, then we can get on getting it pressed. We've discussed getting it out early May, just so it gives us enough time and we're not rushing with it. There's no release date confirmed as of yet. It's safe to say it's the most proud of anything I've ever been; we've definitely found our sound on this record.

All Forgotten Press Shot

How did the joint tour with Deaf Havana come about?
We know the dudes from playing shows with them in toilet venues back in the day. We'd both had some good press as "up and coming" bands, so we decided to join forces and see what happens! I'm really excited about this tour, should be a lot of fun!
Last year you played Taste of Chaos as a result of your fans voting. How was that experience?
Amazing, the fact that people like us enough to go out of their way to vote us in is incredible. It gave us a real sense of meaning to what we do, and we cant thank our fans enough for that.
On your MySpace it says you are unsigned. Is this still the case and if so, any plans to sign with a label?
Yeah we're still unsigned, and we've had interest from some smaller labels, but we figure we'd rather do it ourselves while we can and get in debt (which is pretty much an eventuality being in a band) with the right people as and when they come along.
So, would you say you are very DIY in your approach to promotion and touring?
We've got a lot of great friends who have helped us out as and when they can with touring and things like that which is amazing, but most things promotion wise are done by us just communicating with our fans through the internet.

All Forgotten Press Shot

How important do you think the internet is in modern day band promotion and getting the message out about your music? I'm guessing from your previous answer that you think the internet is a help?
Definitely a help. As I said, we use the internet to communicate with our fans when we're not playing shows, and the whole reason this band is even recognised is because we started it on MySpace. It's a great tool for musicians, and should be used as much as possible.
Which bands inspired you to start playing music and why?
I was influenced by a lot of vocalists I guess, people like John Nolan, Jesse Lacey and Anthony Green. But i think we're all inspired to play music whenever you hear that amazing song or just a great record in general, and our music taste is so varied I couldn't name any particular bands.
Tell us a bit about Art is the Cure (we saw the link on your site and are wondering about the connection with the band)? Would you say art has been the cure for anything in your life?
AITC is a great way of influencing kids to do something positive out of a negative situation. It inspires kids to know that no matter how bad things get, there is always art to vent it, no matter what it is either, just whatever medium you use to express yourself, it could be painting, music or something like skateboarding. I relate to it so much just because when I'm pissed off, I write a song! AF itself has been a great way to scream to people about what annoys me, and is a great way of feeling better about things.

If you weren't in a band what do you think you'd be doing?
Having our souls destroyed by working our normal jobs a lot more, and being a lot more depressed!
What keeps you going when times get tough on tour?
Laughter and banter on tour, we all get pissed off with each other just from being in an enclosed space with each other for 99% of the time, but we all deal with it by just having a laugh with each other.
What are your plans for summer 2009?
Touring the country again! Pushing our EP as much as possible.
And finally, if someone was to ask why they should come and see you on tour what would you say to them?
Because we'll hurt you if you don't. =]

We're sure they won't really hurt you if you don't go and see them on tour in March 2009, but we really think you should go and check the band out all the same! Thanks very much to Laura for organising the interview and providing the press shots by Tom Barnes. And also thanks to Jonathon for answering our questions! Check out the band's MySpace for more info and to hear some tracks: http://www.myspace.com/allforgotten

Push to Fire Interview: All Forgotten All Forgotten are a 5 piece rock band from Woking in Surrey. The band began to tour the country in early 2008 after establishing themselves amongst local fans. Their high energy, perfectly executed blend of post-hardcore has already dealt them a very impressive year, completing 5 tours in the space of 9 very short months with the likes of You Me At Six, We Are The Ocean, and Forever The Sickest Kids and rounding up their year with an incredible appearance at the London Astoria date of the Taste Of Chaos Tour alongside Atreyu, As I Lay Dying and Story Of The Year, and an opening slot at the Leeds Slam Dunk festival. In March 2009 Suzy interviewed singer Jonathon Thorne to find out about their forthcoming Transitions EP, tour plans and life on the road...
How did the band form and when? The short version is the lineup as it is now came together over a couple of years, from the ashes of previous bands, and we all know each other from school or playing in bands together before. Personally the last time I saw you guys was at Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds last May. Tell us a bit about what you been up to since then - what have you been doing over the past year or so? That seems so long ago now! We've been touring a lot, writing a lot, recording a lot, and trying to push our name out there as much as we can I guess, we've had a ton of really great opportunities since Slam Dunk and it's been a lot of fun! How is 'Transitions' EP coming along? Have you finished it yet? When is it out? Transitions is finished! We're actually getting the mastered version back tonight, then we can get on getting it pressed. We've discussed getting it out early May, just so it gives us enough time and we're not rushing with it. There's no release date confirmed as of yet. It's safe to say it's the most proud of anything I've ever been; we've definitely found our sound on this record.
How did the joint tour with Deaf Havana come about? We know the dudes from playing shows with them in toilet venues back in the day. We'd both had some good press as "up and coming" bands, so we decided to join forces and see what happens! I'm really excited about this tour, should be a lot of fun! Last year you played Taste of Chaos as a result of your fans voting. How was that experience? Amazing, the fact that people like us enough to go out of their way to vote us in is incredible. It gave us a real sense of meaning to what we do, and we cant thank our fans enough for that. On your MySpace it says you are unsigned. Is this still the case and if so, any plans to sign with a label? Yeah we're still unsigned, and we've had interest from some smaller labels, but we figure we'd rather do it ourselves while we can and get in debt (which is pretty much an eventuality being in a band) with the right people as and when they come along. So, would you say you are very DIY in your approach to promotion and touring? We've got a lot of great friends who have helped us out as and when they can with touring and things like that which is amazing, but most things promotion wise are done by us just communicating with our fans through the internet.
How important do you think the internet is in modern day band promotion and getting the message out about your music? I'm guessing from your previous answer that you think the internet is a help? Definitely a help. As I said, we use the internet to communicate with our fans when we're not playing shows, and the whole reason this band is even recognised is because we started it on MySpace. It's a great tool for musicians, and should be used as much as possible. Which bands inspired you to start playing music and why? I was influenced by a lot of vocalists I guess, people like John Nolan, Jesse Lacey and Anthony Green. But i think we're all inspired to play music whenever you hear that amazing song or just a great record in general, and our music taste is so varied I couldn't name any particular bands. Tell us a bit about Art is the Cure (we saw the link on your site and are wondering about the connection with the band)? Would you say art has been the cure for anything in your life? AITC is a great way of influencing kids to do something positive out of a negative situation. It inspires kids to know that no matter how bad things get, there is always art to vent it, no matter what it is either, just whatever medium you use to express yourself, it could be painting, music or something like skateboarding. I relate to it so much just because when I'm pissed off, I write a song! AF itself has been a great way to scream to people about what annoys me, and is a great way of feeling better about things.
If you weren't in a band what do you think you'd be doing? Having our souls destroyed by working our normal jobs a lot more, and being a lot more depressed! What keeps you going when times get tough on tour? Laughter and banter on tour, we all get pissed off with each other just from being in an enclosed space with each other for 99% of the time, but we all deal with it by just having a laugh with each other. What are your plans for summer 2009? Touring the country again! Pushing our EP as much as possible. And finally, if someone was to ask why they should come and see you on tour what would you say to them? Because we'll hurt you if you don't. =]
We're sure they won't really hurt you if you don't go and see them on tour in March 2009, but we really think you should go and check the band out all the same! Thanks very much to Laura for organising the interview and providing the press shots by Tom Barnes. And also thanks to Jonathon for answering our questions! Check out the band's MySpace for more info and to hear some tracks: http://www.myspace.com/allforgotten