Broadway

I’m not exactly sure I know the grunt of how Broadway became “Broadway.” With that said, give me the story of how you guys formed. Also, give me some insight on the new record, Kingdoms.

 

Bryan: (laughs) Oh, it was a long road.

 

Misha: Yeah, a long road indeed. Basically, none of us are original members of the band. A couple of friends started it back in highschool and they invited Jake, our drummer, to play with them. Me, Jack and Bryan had our band back in highschool that we played local shows with that was pretty popular in our hometown. Just going through the local scene, I joined a couple of different bands and then I quit one of them. Around that time, the incarnation of Broadway had lost their guitarist and their singer. So, they were looking for a singer and a lead guitarist and they’d heard my songs from my other band and Nick the guitarist at the time, invited me to come and try out. We all just mended really well musically and just started writing demos and I actually gave some to Jack who was a good friend from my other band and he came and tried out and they fell in love with him. From there, we went right into the studio and recorded “Redeeming a Monster” and “Promqueen.” Then after, we got signed off by some records comps. They immediately got us in the studio and then our bassist left, so we had to get another bassist. We’ve been through like six bassists! We’re not gonna even get into the bassists scenario though!

So yeah, June of last year we went into the studio and recorded the songs we had and since then, we’ve been remixing and remastering until we got it right. Then my friend Jorge gave our cd to Craig Owens (Chiodos, Cinematic Sunrise) and he just fell in love with it and we started talking to him. He was like, “Hey man, too bad it’s done. I would have come in and did some guest vocals.” All of us were basically like, “Umm let’s do it!” That just took a while to get done with all the middle men and whatnot, but we finally got Craig on it. Then we started talking to Jonny (Craig) about it and he was down and he just came and knocked the part out like it was nothing. It was amazing! During all of this, our producer was still busy with the new Oceana CD. After all of this was said and done, it was remixed like 16 times, remastered, had to add the guest vocals, and it’s finally releasing like a year it was recorded. We’re just all so proud of it, it’s not even funny!

 

So you guys were talking about how you have Craig Owens and Jonny Craig on your album which are two just impeccable vocalist really!

 

Meesha: No joke! I mean we actually used to cover Chiodos songs yeeears ago so this is huge for us. We actually used to sit in a garage and talk about who we’d love to have on our CD someday and just day dream.  We’re just throwing out these names sarcasticlly like, “oh yeah dude, Jonny Craig! No dude, Craig Owens! We’ll totally get them for sure!” So to hear someone like Craig Owens, one of my heroes, someone I grew up on,was stoked on us and loved our CD so much that he wanted to put his talent on it, was by far like one of the greatest feelings.

 

If you could sarcastically wish for a few more awesome guest appearances, who would they be from?

 

Bryan: Wow, I mean we’ve thrown out Chris Martin from Coldplay a few times to get on the piano section-

 

Meesha- Daryl Palumbo from Glassjaw is just incredible. He is just like IT to me. Umm, I’ve also always been a fan of Oli Sykes. To have him do guests on a breakdown or something would just be awesome.

 

Bryan: (To Meesha) Corey…

 

Meesha: Oh yeah! Corey from A Skylit Drive is amazing. I thing he actually is confirmed. I think we’ve got Corey in the bag. He’s a friend and just such a cool guy. Plus his lows are just like the lowest lows that I’ve ever heard in my existence. Hhmmm, who else? Oh! Bert, Bert McCracken. The Used man! That would definitely be awesome. But above all, Daryl Palumbo would just be number one for me.

 

Bryan: Oh and Anthony Green! Can’t forget Anthony green!

 

How’s this tour treating you so far?

 

Meesha: This tour has been our best!

 

Bryan: Since I’ve joined the band, this tour has been the best ever. I mean we’re making money, we’re getting fans, people are telling us they love us! The variables you come across on the road are becoming easier also. It’s great! I’m loving it.

 

Tell me about your personal pros and cons of the tour life so far.

 

Meesha: Umm, meeting new people is the greatest thing.

 

Bryan: Yeah, that’d be at the top of the list. Meeting new people is just the most amazing thing. I mean these people invite you back to their house and you’re having the best time of your life every night. The worst part for me would probably be cramping in a van and not being able to find anything when you need it. But I mean, the drives man. The drives are so killer too.

 

Meesha: But that stuff is so minimal. When you get to the place you’re heading to or you get to the show, all that stuff just kind of goes away for a bit. Like when you get to the show, and get to play, it’s all worth it.

 

Pre-show rituals: Does Broadway have any?

 

Meesha: I HAVE to empty all of my bowels. I HAVE to.

 

Bryan: Yeah, that’s right, huh. I think we all do that.

 

Meesha: It’s literally the moment somebody says, “Hey you guys are on,” I have to poop.

 

Bryan: Even if didn’t have to pee or poop the whole day, the moment someone says that it’s like, “Aww, crap!”

 

Literally.

 

Bryan: YES! Yes, literally.

 

Meesha: Honestly, that’s the best feeling before a show. Just to go onstage and be completely empty is so awesome!

 

I love this question, so be descript: Embarassing onstage moments, have you had any?

 

Meesha: Oohhh! We have a few! Alright, alright, alright, I’ve got THE most embarrassing of all time. This is when he (Bryan) was playing bass and we had our old guitarist-

 

Bryan: This was also my first show.

 

Meesha: Yeah it was his first show also. Well we have this curse that whenever we get a new bassist, the first show would just go horrible. It doesn’t matter, something will ALWAYS go wrong. So during the opening breakdown, Jack flips his guitar over his body, it comes down and slams directly on the other guitarists neck and it snaps in half. At that time, his other guitars were already broken so we didn’t have any other guitars. So we’re standing on stage looking at eachother like, “umm, what’re we going to do,” and the guitarist at the time hands his guitar to Jack and walks off stage to go stand next to his girlfriend.

 

Wow… I mean talk about bailing on a sinking ship.

 

Meesha:  I know right! So the whole time we’re trying to just play it off while laughing and whatnot. Our drummer is playing these cheesy little samples on his kit and it’s just so awkward. The only bassist we’ve never had a problem with at our first show is Gabe, and that’s how we knew he was the one. That first show went super well. It’s actually the show that got us signed to our management.

 

Tell me about the first photograph you ever signed.

 

Meesha: I remember it vividly actually. The first autograph I ever signed was in Georgia. It was just after we recorded the CD and we got invited to play this show at like some church there. This little kid came up to me while we were selling shirts and he bought one and asked me to sign it.

 

 

Bryan: Before I got asked for an autograph, I got asked for a hug actually. That right there just made me feel so awesome. Like someone you’ve never met before wanting your autograph or just a hug or something is so cool.

 

Ok, now we’re coming back to the tough question. (Earlier in the interview we had to skip it because it was too tough) What’s one question an interviewer has never told you that you’d love to share the answer to?

 

Meesha: (after intense pandering) What’s my favorite TV show!

 

Hey Meesha, what’s your favorite TV show?

 

Meesha: I’d have to say Entourage. For every musician out there, just watch Entourage if you want to know what the business is like. The music business and the acting/movie industry are almost parallel. It’s basically the same game and the same business. If you want to know all the ins and outs and do’s and don’ts, just watch Entourage.

 

Bryan: See for me it’s weird because I just don’t watch that much TV really. So my favorite show would be like anything on the Discovery Channel or Planet Earth. Oh, and for cartoons, I mean you HAVE to say Sponegbob.

 

Spongebob is actually quite brilliant. [After saying this, the boys decide to show me their best Spongebob laughs.] So that’s what you guys do when you get bored together!

 

Meesha and Bryan: Oh no way! You definitely don’t want to know what we do when we get bored!

 

Now, it’s out in the open. You have to share some stuff.

 

Bryan: Well me and Jack are always naked. We take showers together.

 

Meesha: No, no wait. The thing is sometimes we’ll have to shower in a hurry because we’ll be staying at someones’ place and time is of the essence. I mean since we don’t really have time to wait, might as well just shower together.

 

Bryan: I mean we’re the farthest thing from homophobes. We pee together.

 

Meesha: We’ve pooped together!

 

Umm, how do you find yourself doing that?

 

Bryan: Umm, ok so at one stop Jack like pooped in the toilet and I grabbed the trashcan, brought it into the stall and pooped in it…while he was pooping in the toilet.

 

So basically, you guys should just marry eachother. I don’t see why you wouldn’t.

 

[Laughs]

 

Bryan: We’re all just really close with eachother. We’re just dudes.

 

You guys are pretty down actually. That just made my night.

 

Meesha: Yeah, that’s like just the everyday stuff! Like we once actually ended up flipping our van over the interstate and instead of getting out all freaked out were were just like, “Dude! That was insane! That was so sick!”

 

Bryan: But we DON’T like almost dying ok. Let me clarify that!

 

Meesha; Yeah, we definitely don’t like almost dying. On the other hand, that was honestly our gut reaction to the moment, which is kinda weird. There was a lot of crying that night though. I remember crying a lot.

 

Bryan: Oh yeah, same here.

 

Meesha: I mean…We almost died. It was pretty scary! But oh, oh, oh, we had these tour pets which were our pet hamsters. We put the hamsters in-

 

Bryan: No! Tell her the whole story!

 

Meesha: Alright, we’re driving through Georgia, we haven’t even hit the first show yet and Bryan has this episode and freaks out demanding that we go to Pet Smart saying, “I want a bird! I want a parrot on my shoulder right now!”

 

Bryan: We’re in this Pet Smart for like 45 minutes trying to figure out whether we want a parakeet or a hamster. We couldn’t really have the birds flying around and pooping on the van, so we got hamsters. These things would run around on their wheels all night, get hay everywhere in the van, or whatever those little wood chip things are. We’d put those things on the merch table though and people would play with them and everything. But even when our van fully flipped, they survived. Keep in mind, their cage was crushed like a pancake. One’s eye was black, one’s was kind of hanging, but they were fine. They live today.

 

What are their names?

 

Bryan: Umm, there names are Rudy and Theo…like the Huxtables. Or, or their names switch between that, and Will and Carlton.

 

Meesha: Rudy bites a lot.

 

Bryan: Yeah, she does. Theo is so nice though. But we love them.

 

Meesha: Yes we do.

 

Alright, we’re gonna talk about music now. What are your guys future plans as far as music comes?

 

Meesha: Touring.

 

Bryan: Definitely touring. We want to get out into the world and tell everyone who Broadway is.

 

Meesha: The thing is we’ve slaved over our album and now is the time we get to show people our art. We just want it in the hands of every person. Even if you don’t like it, at least give it a listen.

 

Last comments. Spew out your last thoughts now. Anything. Record, pee, poop, urinals, etc.

 

Bryan: Besides us just being so stoked on the CD, we want everyone to at least give it a chance and tell us what you think.

 

Meesha: I’m just excited for the future and what it will bring to us. Umm, I know there must be more last thoughts than this…(light goes on in his head)…Bring us snacks! Mucho Mango Arizona products! Any type of South Western, ranch flavored, anything!

 

Bryan: Oh and Chipotle! Anything spicy too!

 

Meesha: Oh and if any of these places are near you…seriously…ANY In-N-Out meal, any Mowes, and Subway. And Taco Bell. Oh and for everyone, on my burgers, I like them plain, with lettuce and tomato.