PropertyOfZack sat down with Suzie and Jesse from The Narrative not too long ago at Warped Tour for a brief interview. Suzie, Jesse, and I discussed the Eisley tour, Warped Tour, their Kickstarter drive, vinyl, and more. Read up and enjoy!

Before Warped Tour The Narrative hit the road with Eisley for a long set of tour dates. How was that run?
Suzie: It was pretty awesome.           
Jesse: That was the first time that we had been to a lot of those markets and states. We never got out to the west coast, so that was our first time there and that was a lot of fun.
Suzie: It was interesting to hit those markets playing an acoustic set as opposed to playing normally. It happened in a weird way. They asked us to do the tour last minute, so were figuring out how to do it. Around the same time our drummer had left, so we didn’t know how to do it. We wanted to do it acoustically because we weren’t making much or anything at all financially on that tour, so we were trying to figure out to afford it. It first got vetoed and then we were asked to do that. It worked out for the vibe because the opener for the tour was acoustic too. It was built in a nice way.

Was it a good experience to do that market? The Narrative and Eisley pair up nicely.
Jesse: I don’t know if they’re the perfect match for us, but they’re the best match we’ve ever had. That was evident in how we did in merch and how the crowds received us. It was exciting for us. We’ve played shows with hardcore bands or bands that don’t vibe right. Sometimes that works out, but sometimes it doesn’t. This is the first real time we played with a band that gels with us.

The Narrative set up a Kickstarter to fund the tour as well as a really cool sort of mapping system for fans to keep track of the money. Can you talk about that a little?
Suzie: The fans were great about it. There were a few fans of our band prior to the Kickstarter that spoke out adamantly against us for using that. The things that they were saying were so backwards about the music industry that it didn’t even affect me.
Jesse: I think people have misconceptions about what it is to be in a band like ours and how Kickstarter should be used.
Suzie: We always try to do the best for our fans. We have both records on sale, a download card with acoustic tracks, and other things for $10. There are 21 tracks for ten bucks with all that other stuff. We try to find the best value for our fans, which is what we did with the Kickstarter. What it really is is a fundraiser. They ask you to donate $100 for a PBS fundraiser and they give you a tote bag. A tote bag is not worth $100, but that’s not why you’re donating. You donate for the cause. So people ask why they’re going to spend that much money for an album, but you’re not spending that on the album, you’re supporting her making the record. The Kickstarter went great though.
Jesse: We’ve seen a lot of bands on Kickstarter that were bigger than us flop, so it was great. We were worried about it, but our fans really pulled through. It was awesome.

The Narrative are definitely a band that you wouldn’t necessarily peg for Warped right off the back. Has it been a challenge so far?
Suzie: It’s been hit or miss so far. The people that like it really like it. It’s kind of like that all the time.
Jesse: Nobody likes everything. This is definitely a challenging place for us to be playing, but it’s a lot of fun to be doing it. We are getting crowds and we are getting people who are really into it.

There’s still time left on Warped, but are you guys writing more music?
Suzie: We’re sending the Kickstarter people two new songs that we’re not releasing in any other way just to start the new song process. There’s some stuff that we’re both working on, but we haven’t had time now that we’re on tour to flush those things out.
POZ: Are you hoping to soon?
Suzie: Probably after this tour.
POZ: Do you have any tentative plans to record?
Jesse: Not yet. We won’t by the end of the year. We definitely couldn’t fit in a whole record. I’d say next year for sure.

Have more tours been sorted out yet?
Suzie: Right now we’re doing Warped and then we’re not sure. We’ll see what happens next. We’re putting out vinyl though at the end of the summer. The artwork is done and we’ve gotten test pressings. We’re doing the self-titled record.