Originally uploaded by Jade Renee

Thanks to the wonderful creators of the AOL Instant Messenger private chatroom, Almost A-List had a chance to chat it up with the members of Fight! Fight! Fight!, an amazing pop-punk band who we featured in our last Monday Mix. We love how they’re “poppy yet provacative” (as they call themselves), and we’re counting down the days until we can catch them out on Warped Tour this summer. As we chatted with the amazing quintet last Monday, it became clear to us that, despite the biased stigma towards female fronted bands, Fight! Fight! Fight! are in it for the long run and will do what they can to pursue the career the love.

Almost A-List: The most mundane question, but it needs to be asked—where did your band name come from?
Erica: Me and Sean were at the bookstore looking for a book title to be our name and we couldn’t find anything. I was naming stupid stuff but it wasn’t working. We were drinking coffee and reading comic books, and Sean said it and I was like, “That’s it!” I don’t know how he came up with it, but it was sweet.

AA-L: What comic book were you guys reading? Do you remember?
Sean: YES! It was the one where Wolverine fights Sabertooth and he kills Storm…and Wolverine got pissed. That’s all I can remember—X-men basically.

AA-L: You guys are playing a lot of festivals this summer—do you have a favorite?
Nick: WARPED
Matt: Warped Tour
S: Warped Tour!
Jerry: Warped Tour, hands down!
E: Warped, of course

AA-L: *laughs* Ok, so Warped is the general consensus on that one. What was it like to find out that you guys will be playing a week on Warped this summer?
E: Exciting! It’s an honor. So many good bands are playing.
J: …like a 3rd grader’s birthday party
S: It was pretty sweet…like every band wants to play it, and just to know, not only will you be playing your hometown, you will be playing in other cities and you get to do a week, is just a great privilege that a lot of bands don’t get.
N: …like jumping through the clouds with Kirby. Super excited to meet and network and to see and meet fans from other states.
M: It was exciting and I would like to see all the bands.

AA-L: Do you have a favorite band that is playing?
E: Forever the Sickest Kids!
J: SET YOUR GOALS!

AA-L: If you were on a deserted island, what are three things you would need in order to survive? (Cell phone and computer not allowed)
S: Guitar, The Secret (book), and Bunny Flipper (stuff animal). I would say a boat but that’s too obvious.
N: Mirror, loin cloth, guitar
J: ipod, pizza, and Matt’s mom
M: Some sort of musical instrument, some sort of portable music device, and Jerry’s dad—because he does everything for us
E: Paper, pen, ipod, this band. Dang I did 4…Ummmm dang.
J: She’s gonna kick us off the list!
S: It’s ok Erica. Sit this one out—walk it off.
E: Paper, pen, this band. Eff the ipod

AA-L: Batman or spiderman?
E: Spiderman.
S: BATMAN!!!!!!
M: Spiderman
J: Batman’s not even a superhero! Spiderman all the way
N: Spidy all the way!

AA-L: On your MySpace, you have a “tag” that says–”poppy yet provocative”. I assume this is related to your style? Why did you choose this “tag” to classify your sound?
N: …’cuz Sean is pop.
J: …because our music is dancable and I don’t wear underwear.
S: Yeah, well, it was because in a lot of Erica’s lyrics it just seemed, yeah, we were poppy but she had a lot of provocative or edgy lyrics. She doesn’t just write the typical pop punk lyrics—they have an edge.
E: Word.
N: The provocative comes from my devilishly hansom good looks.

AA-L: So is that how you attract young female fans?
J: He has a harem of underage girls.
E: *laughs* Yes, Nick attracts them all…he and Jerry.
S: Yep, Jerry loves the minors.

AA-L: What is your favorite movie to date?
M: Detroit Rock City
S: I like Howl’s Moving Castle
E: Little Mermaid.
J: I like Sh*t Happens. It’s Everytime I Die’s tour documentary and it makes me smile many smiles
N: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Hands down!

AA-L: Since your band is fronted by a young lady and you all are relatively young, I’m sure people are going to try to draw a Paramore “connection” even though you guys don’t really resemble their sound. Do you guys care if people consider you “the next Paramore” or do you want to try to stay clear of that?
S: Paramore is good—they are a great band. It would be a lie to say we didn’t like Paramore…but we are different. Yeah we may have some of the same influences. They like Jimmy Eat World and a lot of indie bands, but we aren’t them. We are us, and we do a great job being us. But it’s better to be compared and people to think you are as good, than to say you are trying to be like them and you are falling short.
N: Definitely a red flag for us. It’s not like were copying them. It’s just the female vox and the similar musical styling.
M: We try to stay away from the Paramore’s.
J: We don’t like being compared.
E: We get it so much and it sucks so bad. Everyone compares everyone to everyone. I sing. She sings. Big deal. We sound nothing alike, and our music is nothing alike. It kind of sucks because some people don’t give us a chance because of it. But there are so many bands with guys that sound the same and no one thinks twice.

AA-L: That’s right—do you think its a double standard then?
E: Definitely. The Maine sounds like Cute Is What We Aim For but people love them. Boys Like Girls sounds like We The Kings and people love them.
S: For sure. But since female singers are scarce they tend to be compared. The reason why it’s hard for bands with female singers to get big isn’t because there aren’t any out there, but because there is too much comparing.

AA-L: That’s true. You guys aren’t signed, right? …or have a label?
E: Not yet. Soon, though. So keep your fingers crossed!

AA-L: Alright…truthful question, then. So you just mentioned that a lot of female fronted bands don’t get big because of the comparing. Do you think that might be a reason why you haven’t been signed yet?
E: Yes. You have no idea. It sucks because I feel like I let the boys down because I’m the one being compared.
J: A lot of labels don’t dive into an artist they’re considering. To them it’s only skin deep.
S: Yeah, but only to a degree. We are still a growing band. We are good. Every band—it takes work. Just because we have a female singer makes us no different. Some bands do this for years. We haven’t been doing this that long. It’s going to be harder for us, but we like hard. We have gotten use to hard, and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. Because when we get signed, and we are big and everywhere, we can say that we beat the odds and we earned it.

AA-L: You all brought up a lot of good points. I definitely think it sucks that there’s such a stigma towards female singers… like if they aren’t a solo act, they’re rarely going to get the respect they deserve.
J: Don’t give her any ideas!
E: Don’t be silly. I love you guys.

AA-L: What is one thing fans don’t know but should know about each of you?
J: They should all know that I want a high five.
M: I’m a nice guy.
J: Bull.
S: I love anime and I cry every night before I go to sleep—it keeps my soul pure. Just kidding…I like anime though…
E: Jerry’s not really my brother.
J: Don’t deny it, Erica!
N: …that I’m the most likely to be in a herpes commercial if our band were a TV show.
S: Yeah, Nick’s is definitely true…

AA-L: Any other last random facts you want to put out in the open about yourselves? I mean, now is the time to expose everything—dirty secrets, bad habits, etc.
N: My cat is a full blown (b*) to all humans but me.
M: I like to go camping
E: These boys are my best friends, my brothers. I always get asked if I’m dating one of them, and no offense, but I would NEVER date any of them…EVER.
S: Me and Erica are best friends! …and i live in her basement.

AA-L: How long have you and Erica been bffs?
E: Forever!
S: Yeah she was a freshman, so about 6 years. Every day is a dream being Erica’s best friend….
E: *laughs*

AA-L: What keeps you guys going strong as bffs?
E: Sean is so funny and honest. And he’s so positive about everything…usually. We have a lot of the same goals and we’re both driven.
S: Yeah, Erica is definitely what keeps me going at times, because a lot of times I want to give up on this thing…but she has it in her mind how she wants us to be successful and I cant let myself or her down.
N: BFF this… BFF that….
J: PAY ATTENTION TO US!!!

AA-L: Hey, hey, I am!
J: I’m getting naked if we don’t get attention.

AA-L: Maybe that’s the point…
J: Then you win!

AA-L: Final question: What is one question you wish I would have asked? Go ahead and answer it.
S: Why we do what we do! I think we do what we do because we all love music and because we are all really good friends, so it’s easy to make good music when you have fun with it and are doing it with really close friends.
N: I do what I do because I suck at everything else.
J: Where is Matt ticklish at?
M: What’s my favorite color? – Blue
S: My favorite color is lilac
E: My favorite color is Green—and my birthday is a week from today!
J: Mine too!
J: My birthday is the 1st and Erica’s is the 3rd.
E: Mine’s the 5th Jerry…
J: Oh yeah, the show is the 3rd
N: What flavor fish I consume - Flounder fish!
E: Why we do what we do: I love making music, and I love these boys. I could not imagine doing anything else with my life. When we’re all together everything just flows. We have so much fun together and I really hope it shows.

For tour dates and more information on Fight! Fight! Fight!, visit their MySpace.