So I went all the way to Winston Salem, North Carolina to interview A Light Divided last Thursday. After a nine hour flight, they wouldn’t even buy me lunch, but we did explore the functions of prisms. We conducted the interview at their apartment, where we explored my apparently sexist view on the alternative music scene. A Light Divided is a female-fronted alternative rock band from North Carolina. They like to melt faces as well as grilled cheeses.
Also, none of this really happened. I emailed vocalist Jaycee and drummer Adam, and here are their responses.
Anticlimactic? Definitely.
How do you deal with the inevitable comparisons to Paramore (like this one)?
Parawho? We’ve never been compared to Paramore before honestly, but if we were it’d be flattering because they are a good band… Probably not really who we’d most want to be compared to though.
Do you plan to continue releasing EPs, or is a full length in the works?
We’re writing songs for the next record, and we’re letting the album write itself. If it ends up being an EP then that’s what we’ll release and if it ends up being a full length then we’ll release that… Either way new music will be out in June of this year.
Are you aware of the rising epidemic that is people carrying around ukeleles? Thoughts?
We weren’t aware it was an epidemic, but if it is then that’s cool because the ukelele is a beautiful and nobel instrument that deserves our respect and adoration… And there may or may not be ukelele on our next record.
You played Warped Tour, how was that? Was it just one date?
It was just one date. We won the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands. It was extremely hot. It was extremely uncomfortable, and we can’t wait to do it again! Kevin if you’re reading this; we will cook and clean to play the whole tour. :)
Have you ever administered or received a prison tattoo? (thin sharpie + lighter)?
No, but when Joe was in prison he liked to drop the soap a lot.
Do you like Versa Emerge?
We generally check out all bands with female singers to see what they’re up too and we think they are pretty cool. Really liked their singer doing a guest appearance on ADTR’s record. We also played the same stage with them at Warped Tour which was rad.
I don’t.
Hater.
Did you have an idea of what you wanted to sound like when you started the band, or did it just kind of come out?
There were so many different tastes in our band. We all have different influences, we were never sure what it’d sound like, so our sound just kind of happened. We knew going into this we wanted to make the kind of music that we’d be fans of and put on the kind of show that we wanted to see… So far that’s really been working for us. We are nearly four years strong on our own terms and the kids seem to be liking it.
How exactly do you divide light? What color light are you dividing? What does half a light look like?
The way to divide a light is to shine it through a prism. As far as color were dividing… all of them! We can multitask. What does half a light look like? Almost dark.
Do you think it’s harder or easier or no difference having a girl in the band in the music business?
I would say harder… 99% of the bands out there that are on TV, Radio, Warped Tour, etc have a male singer so it’s almost the standard at this point. It tends to be a little more difficult to catch the attention of the listener because we are not the norm but we think that is probably a good thing because it forces us to work harder to achieve our goals, which will hopefully make us better as a band, and as individuals, in the long run. Seems like a lot of people forget what they come from when they find a level of success, we don’t want to end up like that if we’re fortunate enough to find some success.
What does the phrase “goin’ take you down, goin’ take you down to Chinatown” mean to you?
To me, that sounds like eating pussy!
What do you do when not participating in the band?
We continue living our pseudo rockstar lifestyles and most of us work day jobs that we’d just rather not talk/think about right now.
How many times can you say the word plural before it loses it’s meaning?
Eight. Eight times. Next question.
How mad were you that I compared you to Paramore?
As long as you as you don’t compare us to Evanescence we’re straight. Seems like that’s the first band people think of when they see any female vocalists playing heavier music.
Good.
Keep telling yourself that haha. Thanks for talking to us, it’s been fun. and thanks to everyone who gives us a chance after checking out this interview… We’re going to be on the road this summer so keep your eyes open and come see us in a town near you!
— Interview by Dan Gee