 "Photo: Jered Scott Martin")
For the last few years, it seems that everyone thinks that MySpace is losing its thunder. No one wants to use it anymore. The new thing is Facebook, with Twitter following closely behind it.
With many bands, this isn't the case. MySpace is still very much alive in the world of music. Jimmy Connors of the Long Island Band, The OverUnder, knows that MySpace is the tool for them. "MySpace for sure," Jimmy says. "It's been huge for us at least - it's given us an opportunity to reach out to tens of thousands of people that we otherwise would probably not have been able to. I'm not really too familiar with Twitter yet, but until it lets you play music, I'll give the edge to MySpace; though I think any way that you can get your name out to people is a good one."
The OverUnder is a five-man pop/punk band from Long Island, New York. In August of 2009, they released an EP called "First Come First Served." Jimmy Connors is the vocalist, Drew Langer plays guitar and sings vocals, Brian Deutsch also plays guitar, Andrew Bilder plays bass and sings vocals and Ryan Bihn plays the drums.
Meghan Hole: How long have you guys been a band? Jimmy Connors: Since the summer of 2007.
MH: Where are you all from? JC: Everyone in the band is from various towns on Long Island, except for me. I grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, [and] I moved up to New York a little over two years ago.
MH: Have your hometowns shaped how you guys play music? JC: I would say so; there's a pretty decent scene on Long Island. There are always shows going on, and kids are really passionate about music, which encourages you to keep pushing forward with your own. It gives you a lot of confidence, I think that's why you see a lot of successful bands come out of this area.
MH: Why do you place yourselves in the pop/punk category? JC: Our songs usually have a punk-type edge to them, but at the same time you can play them on the radio. Combine those two factors and you get "pop" punk.
MH: How long did it take for you guys to get your current lineup? JC: It took a long time, actually. We started the band in '07 with five original guys, since then we've had a lot of members come and go. Our band sort of felt like a rotating door for a while. Out of the five original members, only Drew and I are still here. It almost feels like a new band with the same name.
MH: How did you get the name for your EP? JC: We wanted a title that made a statement. "First Come, First Served" was the name of a song I wrote - which is on the record - and I thought that the song itself really embodied how our entire band was feeling at the time, so it seemed appropriate to call it that.
MH: How long did it take to put the EP together? JC: The writing process didn't take as long because a lot of the songs had already been written a while ago. A lot of the songs on the EP are ones that we had previously released demos of when we first started. We basically just took some of our favorites and revised them to make them better. We recorded the entire thing in six days, and we released the CD on September 29th. With preproduction, recording, post-production and pressing, I would say it took close to five months.
MH: How did the song concepts come about for "First Come, First Served"? JC: Well, as the songwriter of the band, the concepts usually evolve from things I've been through or experienced. Not just on FCFS, but on anything that we release. I like to write about different topics, opinions or ideas that I may have, and I try not to make every song similar to the last one. I've always liked when other bands differentiate their material, so I try to do the same thing.
MH: What kind of experiences do you pull from to write music? JC: …Like I mentioned before, some of the songs are about my personal experiences, whether they be good or bad ones. I've written some songs about great times in my life, and I've also written songs about some pretty traumatic times as well. As a songwriter, you just have to put yourself out there because if you do that, others are going to relate to you and it enables you to inspire people.
MH: Who are your biggest musical influences currently? JC: We're influenced pretty heavily by a lot of the pop/punk bands that we grew up listening to in the late 90s, [and] early 2000s. New Found Glory, Sum 41, The Starting Line, Blink 182, [and] Fenix TX, just to name a few.
MH: Who are your biggest supporters? JC: Everyone that is a fan of our band, whether it be family, friends, people who listen to our music and write to us, kids who come out to shows, etcetera. It really helps to know that people enjoy your music and understand what it is that you're doing.
MH: What's the hardest thing about being in a band? JC: I think it depends what type of band you're in, but in our case the hardest thing is finding ways to make money and support ourselves. Mo[re] famous bands have struggled with this at one point or another in their careers. It's [frustrating] at times because the music business is unlike most other industries, because there isn't really a class you can take or a test you can pass to get the job that you want. You just have to sort of make your own luck, which can he very hard sometimes.
Let's hope these guys are lucky enough. Be sure to check out The OverUnder at http://www.myspace.com/theoverunder.
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