Concert Crap: Can you give a brief history of the band?
Chris Perez: Aiming for Average started fall of 2012 with Christian, Ruben, and I (Chris) being in a different project and then formed A4A with Nik. We had a couple of bassists before Zeke joined the band in late 2016. Since the start of the band, we won two Battle of the Bands competitions in high school, organized three DIY tours, released three EPs (including new EP), and performed Chicago Vans Warped Tour 2015.
CC: I read that you’ve been on a few DIY tours, do you have any tips for other bands that plan on doing DIY tours?
CP: Bands should be prepared to expect dropped shows before and during the tour. Sometimes promoters wait last minute to pull the show together. It’s not always their fault since bands drop the bill too. Don’t be surprised if only five people show up to the show. Sometimes shows aren’t promoted well or you picked the wrong day to do a show.
Ruben Lopez: Public Pools, YMCA’s, and gyms more often than not offer free trials or passes and are great for showering. Yesterday’s bread from Jimmy John’s is 50 cents and amazing.
CC: You have a new EP called Under Your Breath coming out really soon, what’s the inspiration behind the EP?
CP: Under Your Breath is a collection of songs that hold the theme of saying things you would never say out loud, but you say it to yourself.
CC: What is the meaning behind the cool cover art for the EP?
Christian Castillo: The album art compliments the meaning because if you don’t really mean it or wanna talk, take back what you said, you’d just cross your fingers.
CC: What are your favorite Call Of Duty Games?
CP,Christian Castillo and Zeke: MW2
RL: Black Ops 2
Nik Maniotis: Black Ops
CC: How does the writing process work for you guys?
CP: It usually starts with Christian having a draft song. The rest of the band adds in their ideas and work a way to put everything together. Other times one of us makes a riff and then brings it up in practice. We’ll work with the riff and build sections at a time for a song.
RL: It can be a little difficult sometimes since our music tastes differ from each other, but we have gotten much better at meshing and sounding how we want to sound
Christian Castillo: The writing process is pretty simple. Most of the time I will come with a skeleton and a few lyrics here and there, and when it’s brought to practice, we give that skeleton more bones and a lot of meat. I feel like that process works best for us because we’re not always around each other and it grants us flexibility to be creative. All the writing we do is inclusive to all five members and we all have a say in how a song should sound.
CC: What are each of your favorite songs from your new EP?
CP, RL: “Snake Eyes”
Christian Castillo: “Alexander’s”
Zeke Cabanas: “Crooked Spine”
NM: “Not a Life a Saver”
CC: What is the last song you listened to?
CP: Dryjacket – “Jefferson’s Shadow”
RL: Sikth – “pussyfoot”
Christian Castillo: Chon – “Dew”
ZC: Jimi Hendrix (live at Woodstock) – “Voodoo Child”
NM: Harlem Ave – “Talk to You Never”
All questions answered by Christian Castillo, Chris Perez, Ruben Lopez, Nik Maniotis and Zeke Cabanas.
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Post and interview by Madeline Cronin
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