Talk about random, it was a Friday afternoon and it felt like the sun just refused to go down. Kindergarten-style, I’m in little blue chairs in a circle with Just Surrender. Just Surrender’s got that New York attitude that you’d think twice before messing with, and they’re probably the life of every party.
If you actually make it to Just Surrender’s myspace (myspace.com/justsurrenderrock) you’ll see a header featuring a trashy looking girl, and the boys doing their best tough guy faces. If you’d never checked them out before, you’d probably be expecting something much different than their self proclaimed “Modern Alternative Rock.” “Our last record dealt with a lot of violence towards women & lovey-dovey stuff. This record we tried to get away from that, so ‘We’re in Like Sin’ is supposed to mean cool, and there’s this girl we know who always says it, and we wrote a song about her.” I thought that was cute until they added… “She sucks though. This record is a little more to the point… not as many metaphors, more of telling stories. It’s a little more honest than the last album.”
I handed the boys a copy of the magazine while I was setting up, I forgot that their review, which I had written, was in that exact issue, spawning some great discussion at how Cartel’s CD could have possibly gotten a higher score than them. “Ask them if they’ll take us on the road with them,” they say, after I hear a great foot in the mouth story featuring the boys of Cartel (ask me in person).
They say they’ve always had a good following in the suburbs of New York, but New York City has always been tough for them to play, up until recently. It reminds them of Hollywood… When I asked about their label (Broken English Records) I got an almost scripted answer about how much they love the owner as a producer and a person.
One of the best things I heard in the interview was the explanation as to why they decided to name the band Just Surrender. Now, I don’t know if this is the real story or not but it’s hilarious, so evidently their old guitarist wanted to name the band ‘Surrender’ and when explaining the name to their now tour manager, John, he said I want to name the band “Surrender, just Surrender,” of course, the name stuck.
Andrew was the old guitarist, and it was hard when he left the band, they say. “it was difficult but we all were more stocked on the album and we all got to put a little more into it.”
This statement was followed by a very long rant about how horrible of people Valencia, their tour mates, are. They were just kidding, they really like them. Then, there was this conversation about Bill Clinton and sexual relations, not to mention that one of the boys decided to rock a “VIRGINITY ROCKS” shirt to the show. Honestly, it’s amazing that we got any answers…
These boys are sarcastic & cynical, and it’s no surprise the songs they put out. Their songs reflect their personalities to a tee. They’re really just a lot of fun; I spent the whole interview laughing. These are the kind of kids you want to know, because it was a Friday afternoon in a high school auditorium, and they were probably having more fun than you had all weekend.
“Any last words?” “Stay In School. Don’t do drugs. Drink Heavily On The Weekend. Peace.”[CO]