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Interview with The Academy Is...
Fri. August 15, 2008
Author: Kristen Reed
On
July 3rd, 2008, The Vans Warped Tour made its way to Dallas, Texas. One
of the headliners for this year’s installment of the tour was the band
The Academy Is…, which consists of William Beckett (lead vocals), Adam
Siska (bass), Michael Guy Chislett (guitar), Mike Carden (guitar), and
Andy “The Butcher” Mrotek (drums). After a few hours of seeing boys in
Speedos and girls in short shorts, I got a chance to sit down with Adam
Siska in the refreshingly air-conditioned pressroom. During our
interview we talked about everything from girl jeans to a bar brawl
with Cobra Starship.
Kristen Reed:
This is Kristen and I’m here with Adam of The Academy Is…. First of
all, would you rather go without deodorant for a month or toothpaste
for a week?
Adam Siska: Deodorant for a month, definitely. I don’t wear deodorant…every now and then. Not every day.
Kristen: That has to be really bad on [Vans Warped Tour] because it is hot outside.
Adam: It kind of cancels itself out on Warped Tour.
Kristen: Yeah.
Adam: The toothbrush is essential though…Wait, toothpaste or toothbrush?
Kristen: Toothpaste…either one…same difference.
Kristen: Does anyone in the band have any side-projects in the works right now?
Adam: Well,
Michael [Guy Chislett, guitar] has been doing a band with his friend
Brad [Carter] from Steriogram called Pistol Youth. It’s really cool.
When we were working on writing this new record, we were sharing a
studio with Brad, so I got to hear some of their songs, and they
sounded good. Me and The Butcher [aka Andrew Mrotek] kind of have a
reggae project that we’re doing together right now.
Kristen: What’s the craziest gift you’ve ever gotten from a fan?
Adam:
Craziest gift…I got a Furby once. I thought that was kind of cool. I
like Furbys. That wasn’t crazy that was cool. What was the craziest?
Ummm…Someone gave me a stuffed animal of a dead ferret. They had a
ferret with the eyes x-ed out.
Kristen: You mean they went to a taxidermist and had a dead ferret stuffed?
Adam: No, it was just a stuffed animal and they [made it look dead].
Kristen: Ok good, because that would be really, really creepy.
Adam: Yeah, that would suck.
Kristen: If you had to pick a musician to replace yourself with in the band, who would you pick and why?
Adam:
That’s a good question. I’d pick Alex Suarez from Cobra Starship
because he’s a really good bass player, and in a couple of days, I’m
going to be playing bass for Cobra Starship for two shows.
Kristen: Oh, really?
Adam:
Yeah, because Alex has to go to his dad’s wedding. So yeah, if I were
going to have someone play for me, it would be him…or John Paul Jones
from Led Zeppelin.
Kristen: Nice.
Kristen: Does anyone in the band wear girl jeans?
Adam: I think we all do.
Kristen: What brand and what size?
Adam: I don’t know. Any brand, any size. We aren’t too uptight about what we’re wearing. I like girl jeans. They fit nice.
Kristen: They do.
Adam: I definitely prefer them to baggy [jeans]. They’re not as fun.
Kristen: Speaking of women’s clothing, who in the band would make the best drag queen?
Adam: Me. Yeah, I would say me.
Kristen: What would be your drag stage name?
Adam: Esmeralda.
Kristen: Nice.
Kristen: Do any of you have embarrassing nicknames?
Adam:
My nickname is “Sisky”. That’s what my friends call me. I don’t know if
it’s outwardly embarrassing, but sometimes I’m embarrassed by it. We
call Mike Carden “Dr. Fear” because he’s kind of an intense bastard
sometimes, but that’s about it. Everyone has a nickname in the band and
they’re all kind of embarrassing.
Kristen: Is there anything that people do at concerts that just annoys you?
Adam:
No, but I’d say that people that hit each other…that gets on my nerves.
The violence of it. I just want people to have a good time though.
Kristen: Which do you prefer: liquor or beer?
Adam: Beer. Absolutely.
Kristen: What brand?
Adam: I like Heineken. I’m a Heineken man…or Shiner. I like any of the green stuff.
Kristen: Alright. Which is better: MySpace or Buzznet?
Adam: Buzznet.
Kristen: I’m
also interviewing [Alex Suarez of] Cobra Starship today, and I’m going
to be asking both of you guys: Which one of your bands would win an
all-out bar brawl?
Adam: Like a fight between all of us?
Kristen: Yes.
Adam: Cobra [Starship] would win…We’d definitely beat the crap out of Victoria [Asher].
Kristen: You never know. Girls are tough.
Adam: Yeah, but we’d beat her up real bad.
Kristen: She might be able to bench press 200 pounds.
Adam: I’d beat her up.
Kristen: She might throw you across the room.
Adam:
I think we could take out Nasty Nate [Novarro] and Victoria. They also
have this guy with their crew who has huge muscles, so I’m sure he’d
come in there and crack so skulls.
Kristen: Crew members aren’t allowed.
Adam: They’re not allowed?
Kristen: Nope.
Adam: I don’t know…They’re a very tall band. I feel like we’d really be outmatched.
Kristen: That just means that it’s easier for you to bite their kneecaps off.
Adam: Yeah.
Kristen: Fight dirty.
Adam: Absolutely
Adam: The last man standing would be Alex Suarez.
Kristen:
I had some of your fans submit questions, and I’ve got a couple of
them. Ana Clara from Uruguay wants to know: Who do you guys consider
your heroes?
Adam: Wow. That’s a good question. Our heroes? We have
a lot of them. The list goes on and on in terms of who we consider our
heroes. You’ve got sports heroes, heroes in life like friends of ours
or our parents. One of my heroes is Andrew [McMahon] from Jack’s
Mannequin. He’s been a friend of mine for a long time, and I visited
him several times in the hospital when he was sick with cancer, and
it’s good to see him doing better now. He’s been rocking so hard on
stage every day, and that’s a pretty important thing. So, I’d
definitely say that he’s one of my heroes.
Kristen: And Lori from Turlock, California wants to know: What’s your favorite part about performing live?
Adam: My
favorite thing about performing live is just letting out all of the
aggression that I’d built up that day over anything that’s bothering
me. I can let it out on stage. It’s kind of a therapeutic thing.
Kristen: I actually play guitar and whenever I get pissed off, I go in my room and rock out.
Adam: Take it out on your guitar.
Kristen: Yeah.
Adam: That’s what it’s for.
Kristen: What’s a question you’ve always wanted to be asked in an interview?
Adam: Uhhh…Boxers or briefs?
Kristen: Okay. Boxers or briefs?
Adam: Boxer-briefs.
Kristen: Tricky…tricky. Well, thank you for the interview!
The Academy Is...interview courtesy of Kristen Reed for More Than A Zodiac Sign.
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