February 5, 2009 – I got the chance to interview bassist David Blaise and guitarist Gavin Phillips of This Providence on their upcoming album, what they like about touring, and all about their music.

What sets you guys apart from other bands?
David Blaise: Every band’s been trying to do gimmicks to set themselves apart and all that stuff, and I think we realized, on this record, we just wanted to write a record that was straightforward and taking it back to basics and stuff. I also think part of it’s our relationship with fans, we talk to our fans as much as we can online, Buzznet, blogs, just random things for kids to check out to get more involved.

This tour’s been going on for how long?
David Blaise & Gavin Phillips: Three days.

How has it been?
David Blaise: It’s amazing.
Gavin Phillips: Awesome.
David Blaise: All the bands are really awesome. We’ve kind of met them all…and we toured with Ludo in November. We’re kind of familiar with the bands like…fairly. And it’s cool to actually get to tour with them again. Two other bands… it was our first time, so it’s been a lot of fun.

What have been some high or low moments for this tour?
Gavin Phillips: It’s all been pretty much high. I mean at this point, it’s so new, it’s just been great. It’s… you get to know a ot of the bands, you know, in the first few days. I mean, we knew a lot of the people already, but getting to know them and the shows have been a lot better than we’ve expected, even…
David Blaise: I would say the low point is the weather.
Gavin Phillips: Yeah. It’s terrible.
David Blaise: I don’t think I’m ever warm.

Do you guys have any new projects?
Gavin Phillips: Uh, we’ve got a new album coming out in a month.
David Blaise: March 17th, actually. And it’s called Who Are You Now? It’s just, we worked with Matt Squire. It’s just a record we’ve wanted to write for a while. It took us a little while, but finally we’re getting it out. This is the first record I’ve been a part of. I joined right after the self-titled. So it means a ton to me. It means a ton to everybody else.
Gavin Phillips: It’s definitely the best album to date.
David Blaise: It’s just a straightforward album. It’s just a bunch of songs with big choruses and stuff we thought would be awesome.

Have you seen the tent? [Referring to fans camping outside]
David Blaise: Yes.
Gavin Phillips: Those guys are awesome.
David Blaise: Yeah, they’re awesome. Those are awesome fans. They’ve come to a ton of our shows to bring their stuff and camp out. It’s so cold, I would not do that for anyone.
Gavin Phillips: They went to, i think, three shows on our last tour. They’ll be at a couple this time, too.
David Blaise: They’re really cool.

So what’s it like to have those kinds of fans?
David Blaise: It’s awesome. I mean, I don’t really think into it really as much as I should, but it’s crazy.
Gavin Phillips: They come out enough where it’s like we’ve gotten to know them to a certain degree.

Do you usually get to meet all of your fans?
Gavin Phillips: If you go out of your way you always can.

Could you please describe your sound?
David Blaise: Music.
Gavin Phillips: It’s pop-rock, you know. They’re good pop songs and good rock songs.
David Blaise: That’s the hardest thing I think you could ever do when you’re in a band.
Gavin Phillips: In the past it’s been a lot more eclectic and it’s a little all over the place. This next record’s focused, it’s got a theme and it’s hard to put your words to it, you know, but you’ll know when you hear it.

How have your member changes affected the band?
Gavin Phillips: It’s changed, This one especially. The first two records, it was me and Dan.
David Blaise: It was pretty much just them.
Gavin Phillips: Yeah. And our lineup is the most collaborative thing we’ve ever done with more than just me and Dan. It’s everybody.
David Blaise: Which gave it the nice flow it has. In stead of being so choppy.
Gavin Phillips: I think that has some good in it, and also, I mean me and Dan and the other members growing; that’s changed a lot too. It’s not just member changes. I mean, we’ve been doing this for years. We’re growing.
David Blaise: Yeah, I mean, it’s been… When I joined, I realized that it was mainly just him doing all the music. So, it’s funny to see it when people say like ‘Oh, yeah, member changes…The drummer’s not as good…’
Gavin Phillips: Although, I don’t think anybody’s ever said that about Andy[Horst: drums].

What are some bands that have influenced you?
David Blaise: Third Eye Blind.
Gavin Phillips: Yeah, definitely for all of us, Third Eye Blind has been an amazing one.
David Blaise: Um. Coldplay is like one of my favorites, I don’t think they’ve really influenced me as far as how I write but I just love that band.
Gavin Phillips: I think the Killers have definitely have had an impact on us and Brand New…and I don’t know, I like a lot of classic rock and that  influences me in a subtle way.
David Blaise: I would say, um the Killers’ record and the Cure on this record, it’s been a lot of 80′s kind of vibey- songs.

Has something other than music influenced you guys?
David Blaise: Um. Books.
Gavin Phillips: Dan is very influenced by C.S. Lewis and all that stuff. Moreso on our self-titled, it was very…I don’t know.
David Blaise: A lot of stuff. He just read a lot of books.
Gavin Phillips: It’s ranging from all over for lyrics and stuff.

How does your writing process go?
David Blaise: Well, it’s all different but…
Gavin Phillips: For this new record it’s been different for this new record in a lot of ways. Dan had a ton of starts to songs and then he brought them to us and we worked on them from there, or it would begin with me writing like a musical piece and bring it to him and him getting lyrics, and playing it as a full band.
David Blaise: We can start with a normal chord progression and then we all put our two cents in.

What’s your favorite part about being in a band?
David Blaise: -Tour mate, Shane drops equipment- That. That… I don’t know, it’s tough. I mean, we love playing music.
Gavin Phillips: When we’re touring, we’re like personally, I’m like, I can’t wait to get back in the studio, write music, and when I’m doing that, part of me says I can’t wait to be back out on the road, so it’s like, all of it’s great. All of it’s…I mean, there’s definitely bad parts, too.
David Blaise: Yeah, I think if you’re constantly touring you get a little sick of it. If you’re constantly at home, you get sick of it. I think just creating music and touring it and…
Gavin Phillips: People listening to it.
David Blaise: People listening. It’s awesome. Couldn’t ask for more.

What has been your favorite tour so far?
Gavin Phillips: I remember during our last tour with Relient K I was thinking that was definitely my favorite. That was really cool just hanging out with all the bands. I was a big fan of them growing up, too, so I was like…Paramore was always fun.
David Blaise: Paramore and the Almost. That one was a lot of fun, just because we’re fans of those bands and it’s cool. I would say UK with Paramore was amazing.
Gavin Phillips: Yeah.
David Blaise: Just going to the UK and it wasn’t for very long but it was just you know amazing going to the UK and playing in front of a thousand kids a night.

What were you doing before This Providence?
Gavin Phillips: I was in high school. I’ve been in This Providence since ’03. Or no. ’04. Yeah, I graduated in ’04.
David Blaise: Same thing, I was eighteen when I joined. So, fresh out. And you know, just being in local bands, that’s how I met them. We played shows with them in another band .

Where you’re from, has it influenced your sound in any way?
Gavin Phillips: Probably. I definitely, early on, was very like…there was a scene in Seattle like if you ever heard our first CD it was out on a small label, it was very influenced by Seattle bands like Gatsbys American Dream, Acceptance…Us and Forgive Durden we would team up together. Um not so much anymore…definitely not the bands themselves have influenced us, maybe the weather has, I don’t know. Maybe we’d be writing a lot happier music if we lived somewhere else.

Interview conducted by Sydney Hirsch