With thousands of copies of their previous EP sold, a spot of last year’s Warped Tour, national featured press and an MTV appearance all in one year, Shut Up And Deal had a lot to live up to. So they enlisted acclaimed producer Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, The Dangerous Summer) to be behind the controls of their latest effort. Armed with an undeniable work ethic and a new album, the upcoming months show no signs of slowing down. The band will release their latest EP alongside the Vans Warped tour, which they’ll be a part of the entire summer. 
For Fans Of: Fireworks, Hit The Lights
Responses From: Joe Heafy

How did the band come together? How have you grown since you guys started?
Shut Up & Deal came together as a band because we were all so sick of the various other bands we were in. It seemed like there were only a few members who were actually dedicated enough to make things work. Once we formed the band, we recorded an album and then hit the road right away. We toured about 7 months that first year and here we are, still going strong. 

What do you have to offer that other bands don’t? What sets you apart from a lot of the other newer bands out there today?
This is a tough question. It’s hard to answer this without sounding arrogant, but we have always prided ourselves on our live performance, which is something that a lot of bands seem to lack these days. We always make a huge effort to make our shows fun for everyone there. We want kids to be dancing and jumping around like crazy so we try to offer a lot of crowd participation. Aside from our live performance, we strive to work harder than anyone else doing what we do. We are completely DIY and have come across numerous people and bands who claim we are one of the hardest working bands around.

How is the live show compared to the general sound of material that’s been released?
With our latest album, This One’s For Me, We tried to write songs that we could actually recreate live. We make the effort to hit every harmony and guitar part on the record, because we feel like it’s something that a lot of people can appreciate. We’ve been told that our music translates better live than on the record because there is more raw energy and emotion. I think people expect us to suck live because the sound quality of or record is great, but I think we do a good job of holing it down live.

More times than not, influences tend to bleed through. What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
There are definitely way too many influences to list, but I’d have to say that Taking Back Sunday and Hit The Lights are two bands that we are compared to most often, but like I said, we draw influence from every type of music including Folk and Metal. 

What would you say the band has already accomplished and what do you have your eyes set on next?
We are really just going one step at a time. We have accomplished a lot as a band so far. We have sold thousands of physical records, which we self released, and we have also appeared as a band on MTV’s Silent Library. We played scattered dates on the 2009 and 2010 Vans Warped Tours, but We are playing every day of the 2011 Vans Warped Tour and we feel like that’s a good step in the right direction. We are always working our way up the ladder so I guess we’ll see what’s next for us.

Thus far, what’s a favorite memory or something quirky that’s taken place with the band (in-studio, onstage, or elsewhere)?
Pretty much everything we do is ridiculous. If we had a camera following us around everywhere, I think it would make an awesome TV show. There is one example that comes to mind though. At one of our most recent shows, we wanted to do a little vocal warm up, but we didn’t have our acoustic guitars with us so we decided to just hit a song acapella. So there we were, in a public bathroom, singing acapella like a bunch of idiots, and in walks some little kid who, is not only about to piss his pants, but is deeply frightened by us singing. He bolted past us, pee’d in record time and got the hell out of there real quick. I’m pretty sure we scarred that kid for life. 

Is there anything in particular that you’d like people to take away from listening to your music?
We’re not trying to change the world or anything. We just write songs about the things that we feel are important to us. I’m sure most people can get something meaningful out of any song if they listen close enough. We just sing the songs; The listeners can take whatever they want from it.

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