One Small Step For Landmines

One Small Step For Landmines
Posted Sep 24, 2007.
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Auggie Hansen plays the drums
Stephan LeaSTICK plays bass guitar
Kevin Allen plays guitar.
(everyone sings)

Do you have any upcoming shows?
there is a tour that starts the last week in October and goes into the middle of November. more tours to come for sure.

How do you guys like working with Beartrap PR?
Chuck Daley is an extraordinary human. he works so hard and is so diligent. we have only known/been working with him for a relatively short time but its been
great. he has welcomed us into his organization and his home. we did a
show in charlotte, NC. where he lives and he let us do laundry and
play with his dog and read his magazines, wonderful times all around.
we have a very strong work ethic within our band and chuck does as
well, we fit together quite nicely.


What give you the most instiration for your lyrics?
when i was working on the lyrics to the album i tried to write some things from a point of view that wasn't necesarily my own. i wanted to get outside of my
own 'box'. there are some things that have happened to me that i
wanted to elaborate on as well but in general i wanted certain
subjects to be fairly accessible and the stories to be as universal as
i could, while maintaining specifics.

What is the title of your latest album?
the newest record we have is self titled. it was release September 11th.

How many songs are one it and how long did it take for you guys to
finish the recording?
the record has ten songs on it. we wrote most of the tunes very quickly but none of them felt rushed, more like they fell into place, or as close to it as they were ever going to get. we started recording the second week of February and were all done with mixing and mastering by the end of April. all told the process took
about two and a half months.

Could you tell us a little about it?
this record was conceptualized, realized and digitized in our own studio. we had a small place next to our good pal's skateboard shop in our home town of Tallahassee. we would start making noise when he closed his store and would continue on into the morning. some mornings we would walk to this small restaurant on the same block and eat breakfast. once we had the songs together another friend of ours, Phil Martin, came down from Athens and helped make sure they sounded as good as they could. it came out on sept. 11th and
i am told you can get it at Best Buy stores but i haven't seen it in
any. i know for sure its on itunes and can be ordered online pretty
much wherever cds get ordered online.

What is the best thing about playing music?
so far, for me, the best thing about making music is the bond you create and share with other people. its pretty amazing, to be working in an organized unit, almost like a machine, all the small parts working together to turn out
something bigger. sometimes i think about that when we are playing and
it makes me smile.

Do you guy have any tours in the making?
theres always tours in the works.

Where are you going to be playing?
the tours we have set up have us jaunting up and down the east coast and dancing around the mid west. once the cities out west get closer together we'll gladly come that way as well.

What do you think about UFOs?
I enjoy the idea that alternate life forms exist. i haven't done much research on the matter.

What do you think of vegetarians?
Steve, our bass player, is a 'try-real-hard-to-be-vegetarian' but sometimes, especially while on the road, it gets tough. i suppose the super vegans might disagree but i cant worry about them. i support eating healthy and i think anyone
who thinks vegetarianism is an unworthy venture is fairly short sighted.

What do you guys do for work right now, other than playing music?
we are all very fortunate to be able to do things for money that we
relatively enjoy. steve is a graphic designer and works for all sorts
of clients. he is an amazing artist and did the work on our albums
cover and insert. i am a big fan of his ability. when i am in
tallahassee i work at a restaurant with a bunch of my pals. its a fun
time and i enjoy the atmosphere. i also do work with other bands and
artists as a 'tech' or 'monitor guy'. both really funny titles when
you think of the 'work' involved. auggie has somehow figured out how
to maintain life while jobless, i envy him for that. ha.

What were some of your favorite bands growing up and what bands have
influenced your band the most?
when i was younger i really enjoyed music by a select handful of 'indie rock' bands like the promise ring and jawbreaker. saying that seems kind of limiting but i was and still am a huge fan of that style of music. i also really enjoy really
smooth music like kenny logins, michael mcdonald, steely dan, stuff
like that. we all agree on the police when it comes on in the van or
at the house.

Anything you would like to say to your fans reading this interview?
i dont know that our band has 'fans' i think in general we make friends
with everyone. so to our 'friends' i'd like to say thank you for
letting us play our songs. we enjoy it more then you'll ever be able
to know.

Do you have any promoting secrets that you would like to share with
our readers?
We have had the privilege to tour with a band called Look
Mexico, their bassist is a promoting machine. he works so hard and i
would like to think we learned some tricks from him. i dont know that
there are "secrets" to promoting, you just basically have to be able
to back up whatever you are trying to "sell". it seems futile to work
hard to get people to know about a show (ie, flyering, myspace posts,
word of mouth...) if your band could really use that time and energy
for practicing. nobody wants to see a bunch of dudes mess up songs
nobody knows.

What do you think of Big Smile Magazine?
the effort that gets put into Big Smile is something i understand and applaud. hats off gentlemen and gentle ladies.

www.onesmallstepforlandmines.com
www.myspace.com/onesmallstepforlandmines