July 8, 2006
Saves The Day – Chris Conley

Cath = Cath, C = Chris

Cath: For the record, can you state your name and what you do in the band?
C: My name is Chris Conley, I play guitar and sing for Saves The Day.

Cath: You are the only original member of Saves The Day left. How would you say the band has changed over time, with all of the line up changes that have occurred?
C: In the early days, we didn’t all get along as much as we do now. We’ve lost band members along the way because they either didn’t click creatively or they didn’t click personally. Now we seem to gel a lot better.

Cath: Do you think that any of the other band members feel pressure joining a band with a lot of history?
C: Oh, I doubt it. We try to find people that just want to play and have fun playing.

Cath: I was reading the oral history that you guys did for Alternative Press Magazine a few months ago, and in it, you said that your mom funded your first album. Was she always really supportive to your musical goals?
C: Yea, our parents have always been very supportive. We couldn’t be here today without them.

Cath: What advice would you give to other bands that are just starting out?
C: I’d say to play as much as you physically can. Try to get shows anywhere you can, playing in someone’s basement or their kitchen or outside on the sidewalk. Just play as much as possible and that will help you get better. Also, make recordings and pass them out for free and just keep at it.

Cath: With all of the events that have occurred in your band’s history, did you ever sometimes think that it wasn’t worth it? Did you ever think of just quitting?
C: We came pretty close to self-destructing right before making this new album. We lost a bass player, and that was definitely a hard time. We were questioning whether or not we wanted to keep doing it, because we weren’t having fun together. When we parted ways with Ebon, our old bass player, we started to have fun again. We believed in our songs enough that it kept us going.

Cath: In April, you released a new album, “Sound The Alarm”. While you were making the CD, did you experience a lot of pressure from your fans to do well?
C: We really just try to follow our guts, and we don’t get pressure. You can’t please everybody, so we just try to do what pleases us. You always want people to appreciate it, but we all realized that you can’t please everybody so we just try to go with our instincts and play what feels good. Then, people will decide.

Cath: How have your fans been responding to the new CD?
C: They seem to like it a lot. It’s been very enthusiastic at all the shows and people call out for the new songs. It usually takes a lot longer to convince people with your new music but it seemed like right off the bat people really enjoyed it. We were lucky.
Cath: Do people tend to request more new songs or old songs?
C: They request new songs now, it’s funny. We’ve never had that happen before, so we must have done something right.

Cath: Do you have any interesting tour stories you could share?
C: We toured with Green Day once. One night, in Indianapolis, Billy Joe was swinging from a chandelier in the hotel room and it broke off the ceiling and he came crashing down to the floor. That was probably the wildest night.
Cath: Was he ok?
C: Oh, yea. That guy’s indestructible.

Cath: What’s your favorite song to play live?
C: I like playing a song called ‘Shattered’. It’s on the new record. I also like singing a song called ‘Don’t Know Why’, which is also on the new record.

Cath: What are your plans for after Warped Tour is through?
C: We’re going to do a little touring in the fall, then hopefully a headlining tour in Spring, and then maybe start working on another album next Summer.

Cath: If you had a chance to interview your biggest musical influence, who would it be, and what’s one question you would ask them?
C: I suppose I’d want to interview Jeremy Enigk, he’s the guy from Sunny Day Real Estate and he plays in a band called The Fire Theft now. They were really important to me when I was younger. Hm, what would I ask him though? I’d ask him what bands inspired him to play music in his early days.

Cath: Let’s say Saves The Day never existed. What would you be doing instead?
C: I’d probably be playing music in a basement somewhere. I’d be trying to make ends meet.

Cath: That’s all of ‘em. Do you have any closing statements?
C: Thanks for wanting to chat. Hopefully people will go out and pick up our record and come see us play.