It’s not often you meet a band who have come straight off the back of a stadium tour (McBusted), supported rock heavyweights (Third Eye Blind) and are currently touring with the ‘band of the moment’ (Don Broco), yet still manage to remain down-to-earth, bullshit free and retain the ability to laugh at themselves (a lot). Remarkably though, Symmetry – made up of vocalist Mike, guitarist Jared, bassist Will and Max on drums – have managed to do just that and then some.
So, when a unique opportunity to hang out with the US pop-rockers presented itself, we grabbed the chance quicker than the time it takes for a packet of hob-nobs to disappear at a weight watchers convention.
The weather pulled out all the stops in true British fashion, and on a particularly damp December morning, One Stop Record Shop shunned our usual e-beer in favour of a physical one. This is what went down when we hung with three-quarters of Symmetry (their lead singer doesn’t actually exists, we’re pretty sure he’s just a prop they bring out for live shows).
“We got here a little over a week ago,” Symmetry’s guitarist Jared Hara informs us from across the table. “We did four shows with Third Eye Blind which were really awesome; I honestly forgot how many hits those guys have had!”
Having visited so many venues across the UK and Europe, these boys have definitely done their fare share of playing and partying in equal measure.
Max: I don’t do well at clubs this side of London – AKA The Forum. I don’t do well there at all, or Hatfield generally.
Jared: With gigs, we set out to put on the best performance of our lives, every time. You’ve gotta let loose, have fun and just bond with each other almost. And sure we do worry about tech. issues, but sometimes that means drinking 8 pints of Whiskey – whatever does the job!
M: I think that’s why it works though. We’ve got this fear that, “Oh, something could go wrong,” unlike other bands that think, “Oh nothing’s ever gonna happen!” – we’ve got our asses covered!”
But what about the all-important pre-show rituals?
J: I’ve realised I don’t think we’ve ever huddled up before a show and put our arms around each other?
Will: No, but we chug beers!
(Beer shmere, you guys definitely huddle – as seen in the still from their latest video below)
Symmetry’s latest video “Fast Lane” – I see huddling!
J: We really try to let Mike do his own thing. The worst thing you could do before one of our gigs is talk to Mike and bother him. Actually, your question about pre-show rituals has made me realise we don’t have enough. We need new ones. Let’s start doing tequila!
M: Actually, on McBusted me and Mike sort of had a ritual. We blasted the same song every night and we used to dance to it. That was the difference I think with the McBusted tour; we had time and space and it was a great vibe, the best vibe you could have on any tour.
Having toured so much, have you guys experienced any major mishaps whilst on stage?
J: The only person I’d say that has a story would be Mike. He would probably explain how he kicked a girl in the face once and she glared at him for the rest of the show.
Say what?
J: I can tell this story because I’ve heard him tell it – please chime in if I get anything wrong. We had this song where, whenever we did a show, Mike would go down into the audience. It would be like an instrumental/guitar solo type-o thing, and he would be like, “OK, during this section I’m going to part the sea, go down there and hang out.” So this one girl just wouldn’t move – and let’s be clear, he made it known that he was heading down there.
W: He was like, “get out of the way!”
J: So he went for it and his foot ended up kicking her in the face. He obviously didn’t purposely set out to kick her…
I think your singer has anger management problems…
J: (laughs) No! He’s one of the happiest people you will ever meet – I think he still feels bad. For the rest of the show he was looking at her going, “I’m so sorry!’ He gave her a shirt and she was literally like, “I don’t want this.” There was nothing he could have done to make that girl happy!
W: I picked up the wrong instrument in KOKO and had to play everything one frat up once. Does that count?
J: (laughs) Seriously?! Is that why you were so off?
So aside from touring, you guys have a new video called “Fast Lane” out I believe? Tell us a bit about it.
J: We have a friend back in California who had wanted to do a video with us for a while, and we were like, “hey, let’s give him a shot and see what he can come up with.” He threw out a few really funny ideas and the one we went with – because it’s called “Fast Lane” – was the one with wheels. The concept is this girl who follows the band around, and every member she goes out with has a more badass set of wheels than the last. We met the guy in the wheelchair through craigslist!
Craigslist? As in the website?
J: He has this setup where, if anyone types in ‘wheelchair’ or ‘disability’ on the site, it alerts him within 10 minutes and he responds to every single one of them!
Now that’s a business plan and a half! I think he’s cornered the market there.
J: I’m blind, so for me it was really inspiring and I was like – why can’t I have that?! I want an alert. In LA people are looking for so many things; directors and producers could give that job to anyone without a disability. It just makes so much more sense.
M: Yeah, that guy was awesome.
Did your blindness factor into the storyline at all? There’s some seriously awesome motorbike riding on your part.
J: I mean, I was down for anything that was over the top and hysterical. The idea of me on a very fake green screen riding a motorcycle is just perfect. I actually used to ride dirt bikes before I lost my sight, so it was pretty cool. The idea of me riding a dirt bike now would end tragically. It was a fun scene that proves we don’t take life too seriously.
Hara in Symmetry’s latest video “Fast Lane”
As our regular readers know, it wouldn’t be a One Stop Record Shop interview without us finding out the three weird items that sum up the band. What would they be?
J: Tobago Tea from Turtle Bay. It’s a chain of Caribbean restaurants that are Bob Marley themed, it makes us feel a little more at home. We went there for the first time in Nottingham – Morton is our man! Tobago Tea’s not even that strong but it’s delicious. Morton did such a great job he even got a promotion and was manager the next time we went back! He’s an awesome guy. We even tried to go to Rock City with him one night but the place was closed. Until next time…
Nice, so we’ve got tea. What else?
J: Max wants to say Vimto, I know he wants to say Vimto! Oh wait, no, Abdul’s! Abdul’s is literally the standard. It’s a Kebab shop in Manchester and people from Manchester are like, “Why would you even go there?!” but we’ve never been to Manchester and missed out on a trip. Trust us, we’ve experienced a LOT of kebab shops here.
England is the unofficial home of the Kebab. Late night greasy meat is our signature dish!
J: Abdul’s is very special though, almost 5 star.
Can a kebab shop ever REALLY be awarded 5 stars?
J: I don’t blame your skepticism. It’s actually good for us because there’s never a queue! Abdul’s is definitely number 2.
We’re coving a lot of food and drink here, just saying…
M: We need an actual object now… Poles?
Err, should I ask?
J: Oh, this might go back to last year when we were here. It’s got a lot to do with Jaeger Bombs. I think that’s the standard for us, Jaeger has become our ritual when we go out. Well, that and Will’s accents. The accents of this guy!
W: *Chimes in with a Russian accent* Jaeeg-ar Boomb? Jaeeg-ar Boomb!!
J: It’s like the accent makes him constantly agree with himself! I think the band is also summed up by Will’s quotes. We write them down all the time, he’s very quotable.
M: I like this, I get to revisit these.
J: These quotes only come out of him when he has a hangover. This is him being himself. I’m saying this now, we’re going to write a book about Will’s quotes someday. I was brainstorming titles for it.
What titles are currently in contention?
J: One title is “Stupid Is As Stupid Does”
Wow
J: The other one I came up with was, “From Wiener To Weiner.”
W: Switching the letters in my name around.
J: It’s all about his mum’s text messages too. It’s going to be his mum’s texts and then Will’s responses. It’s going to be big. It’s gonna be a bestseller!
So there you have it, keep your eye on the book charts folks, “Stupid Is As Stupid Does” will be available in all sub-standard bookstores at some point in the not-too-distant future. We hope you enjoyed and a big thanks to Symmetry for taking the time out to chat with us. Check the boys out on their current tour with Don Broco.
