Brightest Young Things

This is a big month for Army of me. It is officially the last month before their record gets released on Atlantic in April, they are playing SXSW and ,
after 7 years of DC musical presence,
and 5 years of mainstage shows at the Cat, they are starting a once-a-month residency at their backstage,
with a bevvy of other local bands on hand to support them.
The first show is TONIGHT
So, since we get pretty excited over good things happenning to good people of DC, we decided to sit down with Vince and talk to him for a bit about it all.
And Joel (of www.kingpinphoto.com AND byt) provided some dreamboat visuals to boot.

And off we go..............

BYT:.A record deal with Doghouse/Atlantic and your first Major Label record coming out in April. Doesn't sound like a band from DC to us. How does it feel? How did you think it would feel?

VINCE: It feels like, FINALLY we have a record coming out, and it's about time!! We've been a band for almost 8 years, from the first inception. And we've developed and grown so much over those years. But it feels great to release a nationwide record. I'm really proud of the record we made, i can't wait for people to hear it. And although we've come a long way, I realize that we still have a long way to go, and if we're lucky, we'll still be doing this in 20 years.

BYT:You've been on tour with O.A.R. and Blue october playing to sold out rooms. How has that been and which city, after DC, of course, is your favorite tour ground, and why?

VINCE: Each tour that we've done has been so different. We did a small club tour in October with a really cool band called The Damnwells. That was our first nationwide tour and we got to see the different parts of our country. I saw the most amazing sunset in Santa Fe, the Pacific Ocean in California, the birthplace of grunge music in Seattle, the big sky and great rivers of Montana.

Our tour with OAR put us in front of some of the biggest crowds we've ever seen, let alone played for. There were venues where we parked our van inside the venue, and it looked like a matchbox car, compared to the rest of the arena. And then 7000 people watched us play.

The tour with Blue October had us in big clubs in the eastern US and Canada. Singing our song "Rise" which is about rebirth and hope, to the people of New Orleans was almost a religious experience. And heading into Canada - Quebec City was like Europe, beautiful, quaint, and very French, though it was very cold... And speaking of cold, we drove through blizzards in Michigan and Ohio, but the people we met kept us warm, and made it all worth while.

BYT:.You've had a couple of weeks off now before the record comes out in April and we assume you'll be back on the road for some time supporting the album once it hits the stores... Does it feel like the calm before the storm?

VINCE: Time off? ha. Even if we're not on the road, there's been plenty to keep us busy - from designing artwork for the record, to catching up on writing back fan emails, to trying to create the perfect blueberry multigrain pancake for breakfast - I'm almost there.

BYT: AOM was a three piece for a long time before they were joined by Rob who is now in Hard Tomorrows. Rob eventually left and was replaced by Brad. Has the current lineup affected the band's sound and song-writing process?...

VINCE: Every musician brings their own personality to the sound of a band. Imagine what Radiohead would sound like if The Edge replaced Jonny Greenwood (actually that might be cool). I love Rob, he's great. With Brad, we've grown and developed our own sound, and have found our voice over almost 4 years. Brad's also the greatest guitarist I've ever seen...

BYT: Speaking of which tell us a llittle more about the record that is coming out in April? The songs, we feel, are considerably more mature that AOM's earlier material. What influenced the musical directions taken?

VINCE: Time and experience, suffering, and love will make you tell some stories. This record is an affirmative, positive statement that all is not lost in this world, as dark as it may seem sometimes. There is hope, there is strength, there is pain, but there is healing as well.

BYT: Did being conscious of the record deal and the potential exposure it would eventually receive affect the process at all?

We wanted to make a record that would communicate with everyone. We're not trying to appeal to one particular group of people, or another. We're saying what we feel in a simple way, with the hope that if you're a human being, with a heart that's beating, you will appreciate at least some part of this record.

BYT: You are doing residency's in several places over the next few months including once a month shows at black cat. You start out this Wednesday with Cedars. Tell us about your choices for local openers and how it feels to support the local scene in DC?

VINCE: We have actually never played the Backstage at Black Cat before. Somehow over the years, we've managed to always play Mainstage. So, we decided that we owed some dues to the gods of rock, and that it would be a lot of fun to pack the Backstage with our friends and fans, and rock in such an intimate setting. We're doing three shows, Feb. 28, March 28, and April 25 in anticipation and celebration of the release of our new record, and we couldn't think of a better way to do it, than to invite our fellow musician friends to play with us. Cedars, Hard Tomorrows, Paul Michel, Ki Theory, The English Department etc. We rarely get to play with other DC bands, so this is our chance.

BYT: Wondeful.... Aside from AOM's new album is there anything else you would like to recommend to BYT readers that is DC musically grown and all around unmissable?
VINCE: DC bands that we love and endorse include... Washington Social Club, Justin Jones,Laura Burhenn, Cedars, Crash Boom Bang Hard Tomorrows, Paul Michel, Deleted Scenes, Monopoli, Georgie James, These United States, and the list goes on. There is some great stuff in DC.

BYT: oOOOH, We know. Thank you so much and congratulations again, and we will see you tonight at the Cat.

Previously in I Heart DC:

• 2/13: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
• 2/13: 101 Reasons To Love DC-Part 1
• 2/10: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 2/9: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 2/8: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 2/8: Perfect Date Outfits + Outings
• 2/7: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 2/6: DC News You Can Maybe Use:
• 2/2: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
• 2/1: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use: