PropertyOfZack spoke with Max Wrye from That’s Outrageous! a few weeks ago for a brief interview. Max and I discussed the band’s hectic 2011, being rushed to record their first album, the drama that came along with lineup changes, their goals for 2012, and much more. Read up on it below!

For the record, could you state your name and role in That’s Outrageous!?
I’m Max Wrye, and I play drums.

The band announced a singing to Rise over a year ago with large amounts of skepticism, and then the album was released with member changes and additional drama. Do you think things moved to quickly at first?
The album was definitely rushed. We got signed and we thought it was cool and we wanted to think of the easiest and cost efficient way to record the record. We asked Craig if we could take the record money from Rise and record it ourselves, but the label said no and that we had to go Florida in four weeks to record our first full-length. We did the best we could in four weeks to write a CD. That part was definitely rushed. Everything was very rushed and very fast paced. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was quite an experience.

Your lineup changed before the record even came out and the record never really got a chance to breathe because of that.
Yeah, it was really awkward. We are all really stoked for the next record. We’re already writing and it’s going to come out really great, I think. We’ll have more time.

A large portion of the band has changed since the signing, so the music must be changing soon. Will we see a different band?
It’s going to be the same kind of thing. We’re not going to change drastically or anything. It’s going to be different, but in a good way. Our new guitarist is really, really good at writing heavy music. He’s a great asset and is great at recording. He has amazing ideas. Joe, our other guitarist, is a straight pop kid and writes really great choruses. This next record is going to be a lot heavier, but a lot catchier too.

Were there thoughts about bringing the band to an end due all the drastic changes?
It was a mess for a long time. We changed our booking agency and we have a bunch of stuff going. We’re working very hard for 2012 and we’re very excited about it.

How was touring for the band in 2011? It was your first time on the road regardless of all the changes.
We did a little mini-weekend with the new lineup before the Of Mice & Men tour and everything clicked perfectly. We’re such a tight-nit group. We’re a lot better to and it just felt good to be on the road and to bond.

Has the way in which you guys go about writing and go about being a band changed in the past year?
Definitely, but definitely for the better. We’re all so new to this record label and touring thing. We’re learning as we go. It’s changed a little bit, but for the better.

You’ll be touring at the end of January with Casino Madrid and My Ticket Home. Will you be playing any new material?
I wish we had had the time to write a full song for the road. We’ll have new songs done, but not prepared enough to play live. We’re trying to play live versions of songs off our record that are more of the programmed songs.

How much writing have you actually done for the new record?
We have a lot of scattered stuff. We have a bunch of chorus ideas and one or two full songs. We have a few skeletons of songs done too. We don’t have too much because we all live in different states. Two of us live in New Hampshire, two of us live in New York, and our singer lives in Chicago.

Do you think it’s going to take a really long time for the material to come together because of the distance between you guys?
No, honestly. We’re going to write on the road a lot. We’ll set blocks a time to demo and stuff. It shouldn’t be prolonged. We’re so eager to record new material. It’s just up to RIse when that will be recorded. We’re waiting.

When would you like to hit the studio?
We were talking to our manager a bit and he was thinking in the spring. Spring would be amazing. We really want to record with one producer, but he’s usually busy and his records are really expensive. We’ll see though. We’d love to hit the studio in the spring. It’s just up to Rise.

So you’re aiming for a late-summer release?
I think so.

Will you be touring more as well?
We’re going to be touring as much as we can and as much as possible. We’ll just have to see.

People we’re excited for the band, but then all of those changes happened. I’m sure some fans are sort of unsure about what That’s Outrageous! will be now. Do you think this is a rebranding year?
I do. This next year won’t be proving ourselves, but trying to be consistent with the first CD and to keep up with the sound and not change too much, but change for the better. It’s going to be a lot of work and proving ourselves.