PropertyOfZack got the chance to do a great interview with Tay Jardine of We Are The In Crowd just a week or so ago. Tay and I discussed the band’s 2010 touring, a new full-length that should be released in the fall, the release of a cover song before the GK Tour, and more. Read up and enjoy, it’s a good one!

For the record, could you state your name and role in We Are The In Crowd?
I’m Tay, and I sing in We Are The In Crowd.
 
It’s been a few months, but the band went on a nation-wide tour with Hey Monday, Cartel, and The Ready Set. How great of an experience was that?
That tour was really good, so they’re no complaints there [Laughs]. It was cool because it was one of the first tours that we did where all the band’s genres really fit together. So all the kids who were coming out to the shows were there for pretty much everybody. So it was cool. Warped Tour was different obviously because there are so many different bands playing and kids are kind of discovering new bands and we’re a new band to begin with. So to be put on a tour where the bands that are already ahead of us are the same or similar in genre was good. It was good for us to gain new fans that way. It was definitely really beneficial.
 
In the last half of a year, the two main tours that you guys have gone on have been Warped and the Hey Monday tour. Have they really been beneficial in terms of opening up the band’s eyes to see how it all worked?
Absolutely. You gain something on every tour, whether it be the way things go on behind the scene or gaining stage presence. Warped Tour was a totally different experience, like many people say it is. It was really hard. It was a lot of hard work and you had to be on your toes at all times. But at the same time, you’re trying to be on your feet and you’re exhausted. That tour definitely showed us a lot of new things about just managing your time and things like that. Like I said, the Hey Monday tour was good for us because we were the little band and people came back out after Warped Tour and saw us there. It was cool.
 
Warped Tour is a tour that’s kind of known to either make or break bands. Are you guys more confident than you ever have been at this point as a band?
Yeah, we’re definitely really confident in where things are going. I think that having our EP come out last June was a perfect time because it was right before Warped Tour and we had the whole summer to promote it and push it. Then after Warped Tour we really saw the difference in fans coming out to shows and stuff. We definitely feel confident the way things are right now.
 
Would you say you opened up to a lot of new fans on the Hey Monday tour because all of the bands were very close in genre?
Oh, absolutely. That was definitely one of the things we were excited and looking forward to was coming out and meeting these new people every day. I think that that tour especially was one of our goals because we knew we were going into something where we could get more kids into us. We weren’t going out with like a folk band or something [Laughs].

Has all of this really helped develop your live show at a pace that the band is happy with?
I remember last year, we were not good at all [Laughs]. We didn’t really know what we were doing. We came into this whole industry really fast and we’re constantly learning as we go. 2011 should be really good. We have our set down tight and we’re writing new music and it should be good. We’re definitely more comfortable on stage then we were a year ago.

The band has obviously been supporting Guaranteed To Disagree. Half a year later, how has the total response been?
It’s been awesome. Also our EP just recently came out in Japan and in the UK and those sales have been great as well. Jordan and I went to Japan in October, so that was really cool, but hopefully this year we can get out to the UK or something and kind of see where that goes. The response has been really, really awesome.
 
The EP was released via Hopeless, who are homes to bands like The Wonder Years, The Dangerous Summer, and now Yellowcard. How exciting is it to be a part of the label when they keep making big signings?
We were really happy. When we first signed, Hopeless wasn’t really looking for any new bands. They kind of stumbled upon us and gave us a shot, pretty much. Then soon after, like a year later, they were scouting new bands and I thought it was good because those bands aren’t necessarily new. I’ve heard of The Wonder Years for years, and of course Yellowcard. The Dangerous Summer was on Hopeless before we signed. We listen to The Wonder Years a lot actually. Probably every time we’re in the van at least one song gets played. It’s definitely exciting. I’m happy with what Hopeless is doing and where they’re headed.
 
It’s been announced that We Are The In Crowd are casually writing. Where exactly is the writing process for a possible new EP or debut full-length?
It’s definitely going to be a debut full-length. We’re actually in the process of just writing here or there. We were writing through the last tour as well, just kind of coming up with real good ideas. We’re just kind of doing it whether it’s at one of our houses or something like that. I’ve actually been in Florida for about a week and a half because my uncle got married, but the guys have been at home writing a lot and I’m stoked. I go home tomorrow to catch up with them and see what’s going on.
 
Is there a definite progression from the EP?
Our goal is to pretty much graduate the EP. We don’t want to steer too far away from it because when you do that you see bands who have a great EP with fans who really like it, and then their full-length comes out and it sounds way too different, or older. We don’t want that to happen. You kind of analyze your music after a year of playing it and sit there and say, “I don’t know why we did this. It works for now, but next time around maybe we won’t write something in this key or maybe we’ll add a lead line here.” We just want to take the kinks out. You also have more room on a full-length. The EP was so fast. We’ll have some ballads and slow songs on this.
 
Are there any tentative plans to hit the studio at a certain date yet?
We’re going to hit the studio at the end of the spring or the early summer. We’re hoping to have it released in the fall.
POZ: So you’ll hit the studio after the GK Tour?
Tay: Yep.
 
For the EP you worked with Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount. Are they options to work with again?
Yeah, I think that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to go back to them. They’re too hilarious and just really great guys and we all work together really well.
 
Just a week or so ago it was announced that you guys would be playing the whole Glamour Kills tour with The Ready Set, Allstar Weekend, and The Downtown Fiction. How stoked are you guys for that one?
Yeah, we’re really excited for that one, not only because it’s the GK Tour and that’s like our hometown base stuff, but also I think it’s good because it’s the first time that we’ve already played with a headliner before. It should be fun. We all became really good friends. The Downtown Fiction were also with Jordan and I when we went to Japan, so we became close to those guys too.
 
Will the summer be taken off in terms of touring due to the recording of the LP?
No, we’re planning on touring. We record kind of fast because we try to go in there with everything pretty much ready. We’re going to try to do it as quickly as we can so we do have the summer to tour. We have nothing confirmed yet, but there’s stuff going around. We have some really exciting things in the fall. I’m really just excited for the fall. I’m ready for it to be a year later already.
POZ: Will the fall be the ideal time to jump across the ocean?
Tay: [Laughs] Perhaps. Maybe.
 
There was talk about releasing a single or two in the not too distant future. What’s going on with those?
Yes, yes. We want to do that because everybody’s attention span for music has gotten smaller and smaller as the years progress. We don’t want to just have people listening to the same songs over and over again for a year straight. Hopefully we’ll be able to release them, even if they’re acoustic tracks of already released songs, or brand new songs. We’re definitely going to try to do that.
POZ: Has anything been recorded yet?
Tay: No, but we are planning on doing a cover soon to be recorded and released. That should be good. We’re going to try to keep everything constantly in rotation so it doesn’t get boring.
POZ: Should we expect that cover to be released before the next tour?
Tay: Absolutely. Before that maybe.
 
Thanks so much for your time, is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you so much.