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It seems a longtime coming, but this summer Illinois\u2019 Real Friends<\/strong> finally release their debut full-length. Entitled ‘Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing’<\/em>, the pop-punk five-piece have been gathering a massive following since independently releasing their ‘Everyone That Dragged You Here’<\/em> EP in early 2012.<\/p>\n Since then,\u00a0Real Friends<\/strong> have gone from strength to strength with more digital releases and relentless touring in the US. Last November, they made their UK debut supporting The Wonder Years and this past month saw them return once more for their first set of headline dates.<\/p>\n Their UK and European dates concluded with an appearance at the Slam Dunk Festival<\/strong>, and on the final date of the festival in Wolverhampton, Already Heard<\/strong> spoke to vocalist Dan Lambton and bassist Kyle Fasel to question them about the new album, joining Fearless Records<\/strong>, their return to the UK and preparing for this summers Vans Warped Tour.<\/p>\n AH: So you\u2019ve just been on your first headline run in the UK. How Has it been?<\/strong> AH: How has it been compared to playing shows in America?<\/strong> AH: It\u2019s not been too long since you were here supporting The Wonder Years. Do you have a better idea this time around what to expect? <\/strong> Kyle: I think this time around it\u2019s a different atmosphere with the smaller rooms. I just feel we\u2019re more at home in those smaller rooms with all the kids mashed together, that\u2019s still where we feel most at home.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: I was the Leeds date of The Wonder Years tour. Was that your first UK show ever? <\/strong> AH: You looked a bit suprirsed by the reaction of the crowd. What do you remember about that show?<\/strong> Kyle: Yeah. Leeds was great. Yesterday was Leeds right?<\/em><\/p>\n Dan: No the day before was Leeds.<\/em><\/p>\n Kyle: The day before then; Leeds was cool. It was cool to go back there. Leeds always holds a special place for us as that was our first UK show, so it was really cool. Those kids get wild.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: How have you found Slam Dunk the past 2 days?<\/strong> AH: What did you know about it beforehand?<\/strong> Kyle: I remember seeing videos of bands playing Slam Dunk, and everytime I see a video it would be wild. So it\u2019s really an honour for us to be asked to play, and it has definitely lived up to all of those memories I had from watching it on the internet.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Is there anything like it in the US?<\/strong> AH: How about Warped Tour?<\/strong> AH: It\u2019s the same atmosphere?<\/strong> AH: So the album is finally coming out this Summer. What can you tell us about it?<\/strong> AH: Like I said, the album has been in the works for awhile having released 2\/3 EPs in the last 2 years?<\/strong> Kyle: Like a lot of them weren\u2019t proper EP\u2019s. We did an acoustic EP of other songs. Technically we had 2 proper EP\u2019s released, but we released other music digitally. <\/em><\/p>\n AH: Has the success of the EPs and the band’s growth in popularity influenced the record in anyway?<\/strong> AH: Like you mentioned joining Fearless Records, what drew you to joining that label?<\/strong> Kyle: Liked we talked to a different couple of labels and they (Fearless) were definitely the one we were most comfortable with. They believe in what we were doing. Like Dan mentioned earlier about not wanting to change us, we didn\u2019t go in there and they were like, \u201cOk guys you got to do this, and this and that.\u201d We told them we wanted to keep the way things the way we are doing them, and they respected that. As a record label, they have experience and resources to put us out to more people. We don\u2019t want anyone to come in and change the way we do things. We will always be who we are.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Do you think some people were surprised you signed with a label like Fearless?<\/strong> AH: Next month you\u2019re back on Warped Tour. What are your expecations to do it for a second time?<\/strong> AH: Any advice for new bands on the tour?<\/strong> Kyle: It depends if they\u2019re driving or not. If you\u2019re on about a band in a van, it\u2019s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Last year we were in a van for 3 weeks, and people were like, \u201cYou\u2019re in a van?!? Oh my gosh! How are you still alive?\u201d Just drink a lot of water, and don\u2019t party too hard I guess.<\/em><\/p>\n Dan: Don\u2019t drink beer on the hot days.<\/em><\/p>\n Kyle: Get in a set schedule of who\u2019s going to drive and everything. It\u2019s definitely smart, as I know there were days we were have it all scheduled, then we would get in the van and everyone would be asleep.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: So be more organised?<\/strong> AH: Any other plans to come back to the UK before the end of the year?<\/strong> AH: Any final comments to close this interview?<\/strong> Dan: I would have to agree.<\/em> <\/p>\n Kyle: That\u2019s the final words.<\/em><\/p>\n ‘Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing’<\/em> by Real Friends<\/strong> is released on 22nd July on Fearless Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Real Friends<\/strong> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n
Dan: It\u2019s been awesome. We never got to play mainlan Europe before. Our previous trip was just a week in the UK, so it was nice to spend some more time in the UK, and also be able to see mainland Europe and see what those shows are like and what the culture and the crowds have to offer. It\u2019s been great.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: It\u2019s definitely a lot more tame in certain markets. I know we played a couple of shows out here that are 18 and up, so its like all the 18 year old kids, all the younger ones would be up at the front and all the older kids, that are our age, would be in the back drinking a beer, and actually watching the show. <\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: We didn\u2019t really know just because we got to play a lot of awesome bigger rooms on The Wonder Years tour, but for the first time headlining, you just never know because we play the super small places. The shows did really well, and we had a great time. We didn\u2019t really know what we were up against.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: Yeah.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: It was awesome. Leeds was sick.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: It\u2019s been great. It\u2019s lived up to its reputation.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: All of our friends told us its one of the best festivals you do. You\u2019re going to have a great time, great set, great kids. That\u2019s it and they were all right.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: There are like scattered festivals that are like 3 days. In Chicago we have Riot Fest, and then there\u2019s Bonnaroo and a bunch of different ones that are over a weekend, but those ones are on a bigger scale. I would say we have a similar Slam Dunk-esque.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: I would say so just because there\u2019s all these different bands, all these different kids who listen to all different bands coming together. <\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: Yeah if the kids are going to have problems with each other, they\u2019ll be civil. They\u2019ll be over here watching these bands, and these other kids will be over here watching these bands. It\u2019s still cool that everyone can be at the same show together.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: We definitely tried some new things, because we didn\u2019t want to put ourselves in a box. You know you never want to write the same album twice. So there\u2019s a lot more softer sides to it, a lot more aggressive sides to it. A lot of these songs go up very high energy then they also back off and have certain points that make sense to be softer and have a more intimate atmosphere.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dan: In the last 2 years, I wanna say 4\/5 EP\u2019s.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: I wouldn\u2019t think so. Everything we do is still the same as we started. Obviously we\u2019ve made improvements to how we write the music, and what we do to the band in general, but we\u2019re still the same dudes, doing the same thing. We also signed to Fearless, and they wanted to keep us the same. They said, \u201cYou do you, it\u2019s working right now, we\u2019re just here to help.\u201d I don\u2019t think anything has changed though.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: They were able to let us be us, and they can give us the attention we need. They don\u2019t do too many releases a year compared to other labels. They really like to give an album its full cycle, and have ideas to give it its life and everything until the next record. They\u2019re very committed to it. They trust it to have control over how it\u2019s going to look and sound. They\u2019re just there to help put it out.<\/em><\/p>\n
Kyle: Yeah definitely, they don\u2019t have any bands like us, which I think is cool. If you actually rewind back to when Fearless started, they were a punk label and that\u2019s whats cool. They told us we are that band that took them back to their roots in a way, which is awesome. And us in general as a band, as we tour more and meet more people, we give a big message that comes across to fans that you don\u2019t need to pigeonhole yourselves. Just because we\u2019re on the same label as Breathe Carolina, they sound nothing like us, that\u2019s nothing to be mad about. If there fans don\u2019t like us, then whatever and vice versa. I think, if anything, overall in the spectrum of Real Friends, in a way we\u2019re trying to get across is open your mind up a little bit, and I think signing with Fearless has got us on that path. <\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: Yeah we only did about 2 and half, 3 weeks last year but it\u2019s going to be a lot fun (this year.) We\u2019ve got a lot of friends on the tour. I\u2019ve been going to Warped Tour every year since 2006, so to be on the entire summer is awesome. So everyday is going to be a lot of fun. It\u2019s going to be a lot of hard work because of the heat and all that, but overall we\u2019re going to have a lot of fun.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: I would still consider us a new band on the tour\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n
Kyle: Yeah. Organisation on Warped Tour is huge.<\/em><\/p>\n
Dan: Not right now. I would hope in the first half of 2015, we would be able to make it out here.<\/em><\/p>\n
Kyle: Starbucks in the UK should have iced coffee. That\u2019s it.<\/em><\/p>\n