Five for Five with Travis & James of Time And Pressure
Time And Pressure have managed to create one of the freshest sounding hardcore records i've heard in a long time. If you are fans of Carry On, Have Heart and Comeback Kid, i urge you to check them out.
You can cop the album here. It rules. Good bunch of dudes, too.
1. If you were to introduce an extraterrestrial to music with FIVE records, what would they be?
James (Guitar #2)
- Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Everybody Loves the Sunshine
- Straight Ahead - Breakaway 12”
- Orville Peck - Pony
- George Strait - 50 Number Ones
- The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Travis (Drums)
- Saves the Day - Through Being Cool
- Converge - Jane Doe
- Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
- Mobb Deep - The Infamous
- Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
2. Are there any bands, past or present you wish gained more attention?
James
There was a band from St. Louis called Cardiac Arrest that I feel had a moment for a bit, but it fizzled way faster than it should’ve. They released an LP a few years ago- I still say is the best piece of music that has ever come out of St. Louis.
Travis
Past would be The Requiem or Scream for Silence. Two bands from St. Louis USA (where we are from) that were around when I was a teenager, and made an impact on me. I feel like the both were a little ahead of their time sonically (at least in the Midwestern USA), and they made for some of the best live shows I've ever seen. A present band would be Chemical Fix from Philadelphia USA. They are a perfect storm of precision and aggression - they play hardcore that gets me excited in 2019. Chemical Fix nail the early 2000s Boston sound, but also are able to incorporate spooky shit- like drawing influences from Ink and Dagger. Great band and great dudes. Check them out.
3. The Gateway City Sound immediately reminded me of the urgency and intensity of early 00's melodic hardcore, like Go It Alone and even Have Heart. Do you count them among your influences? If not, who would you say your biggest influences are?
James
Absolutely. I’d say Carry On, Count Me Out, and Ruiner were the basis for the demo songs, but we turned more into the Have Heart, Go It Alone era of the 2000s when writing the new songs on The GCS. This band was always supposed to be fast, so we pull influences from a few different eras of hardcore and personal tastes, but we’ve always focused more on those early 2000s bands.
Travis
As James pointed out, absolutely. We've drawn from those hardcore punk bands from the early/mid 2000s when writing. Side B of the record - which is actually our 2018 Demo remastered - took from Carry On and Count Me out HEAVILY, hahaha. James mostly wrote those 5 songs though. Side A of the record was a collaborative effort, and I think we started to expand out to more melodic - but still fast - stuff like you mentioned: Go It Alone and Have Heart. As a drummer, I jacked a lot of ideas, fills, and tone from bands like Kill Your Idols, Mindforce, Lifetime, and even Snapcase.
4 a). Best show you've played?
b) worst show you've played?
James
a) It’s a toss up between Promcore in Tulsa, Oklahoma or the 2nd STLHC BBQ this past July in St. Louis.
b) Montclair, NJ hands down.
Travis
a) Opening up for Knocked Loose, Harms Way, Higher Power, and Sanction in St. Louis - It was a heavier bill, but the kids still went wild for us. Packed house, tons of mosh & tons of stage dives... Although, James did break a string and had to use Isaac from Knocked Loose's guitar - because he is a bozo. Imagine our songs in Knocked Loose's guitar tuning.... HELL TO THE NAW.
b) Montclair, New Jersey was literally to no one but the bands and a local drunkard or two - but I still had fun because we played with friends.... I'd say there hasn't been a show I absolutely hated yet. I bet if you went back through our band chat, I complained about something though - I'm a cranky prick.
5. What's next for Time and Pressure?
James
Playing a lot of fests this year, doing a handful of weekends with Cold Shoulder and Chemical Fix to round the year out. Hopefully heading to California in the Spring, then probably South Eastern USA in the summer. I imagine we’ll write some new music during the down time, but our main focus has always been touring.
Travis
What James mentioned is what we have planned. Personally, I'd love to play Sound & Fury, FYA, or United Blood if I could have a future "wish"... If someone reading this has something to do with it, LET'S GO! Also, we're going to write some new shit for another release; probably an EP.
