>i'm jesse and i play guitar and sing for my american heart

Go ahead and talk a little bit, if you don't mind, about how My American Heart came to be, where the name came from?

>we were just a bunch of friends from junior high who were all into the same type of music.. we ended up getting together and started playing covers like most junior high bands do.. and caught ourselves in this battle of the bands deal where we had to write a couple original songs. after that.. kids started catching on to the songs we wrote.. so we thought hey.. let's make something out of this.. put out a couple cd's and now were touring. haha. it's pretty simple. and the name came from a band called piebald. it sounded fun.. and i love all the crap we get for it.. wiith 3 of us being asian / american.

What do you think fans will think of Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather? Any major sound changes from your previous releases, anything like that?

>well we've posted up one song and i think kids seem to dig it?! basically overall.. it's a huge step in maturity. we wrote our last records not really knowing what the hell we wanted to sound like and we were usually all over the place musically. i just feel like we've took the time to really define our sound.. "the meaning in makeup" was written in less than two months when all of us were 16 and still overwhelmed with being signed at such a young age.. it was like we were running around with our heads chopped off. but after learning a bunch of stuff over the last 3 years.. touring and just a bunch of crazy experiences... we had alot more to talk about. and we actually spent a little less than a year writing this new record.

I went to your website today, and checked out the new artwork for Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather, is that something you guys made? Where did the idea come from? It's pretty interesting.

>i am so stoked on how the artwork came out. a guy named don clark from a company called INVISIBLE CREATURE / ASTERIK STUDIO did the animation for us.. we sent him a little descrpition of the record... and he brought it to life. i couldn't be more happy with it.

How did matt adapt to My American Heart after Downtown Singapore broke up? Were you guys friends in the past?

>yeah those guys have been real close to us since our very first nationwide tour about 4 years ago.. we've always loved those dudes and i always knew matt shredded on guitar. downtown broke up exactly when we were in dire need of a new guitarist. of course we felt bad that they broke up.. but i wanted to see if any of the guys still wanted to play music and tour.. i messaged matt on myspace and he responded in like 2 minutes with a "YES!" i was stoked. he was stoked. and he flew out the next week or something. he's definitely what the band needed. and shoot.. and i think he likes us? not too sure yet.. hah.

I had a chance to listen to the new record yesterday, and I absolutely love it. It's byfar the best record of 2007 yet. One of the main things I liked about it was the lyrics, Is that something that Larry does by himself, or do you guys all work on them?

>me and larry collaborate on everything vocally. but alot of material on this new record was him. we like to just sit down and see what works best obviously. dustin our bassist actually wrote some of the lyrics on the record for a song called "innocent letter" and some of the lyrics came from a solo project that i had started for myself that i decided to use for MAH. most of the songs were representing the band as a whole. everything we've been going through for the last couple years. it was just real personal. we didn't try to get fictional or anything spectacular like that... we just wanted to get alot off our chests. and i think we did a pretty good job getting our point across.

What's your favorite song on Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather, and why?

>wow dude that's tough. i wouldn't say i have ONE fav. cause i actually like the whole damn thing. haha! one that sticks out to me though is the title track "Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather".. i got the chance to write some lyrics and get alot of my chest about 4 years in my life that were pretty messed up. it's basically comparing love to weather.. and how easily things can change and fall apart in any sort of relationship.

What is the first single off Hiding Inside The Horrible Weather? I saw you guys have posted "Boys Grab Your Guns" on your myspace page, is that going to be the first single? (The song sounds absolutely AMAZING by the way.)

>the first single off the record will be the third track on the cd -- "The Shake (Awful Feeling)" we should be shooting the video real soon actually.

How long did it take to record, mix, master, & finish the entire record?

>let's see.. we started feb 4th.. finished mixing on march 20th and the cd was mastered about a week or 2 ago. do the math! about 3 months to complete

So awhile back I read somewhere that one of your guitarists left the band, can you give a brief description on why he left, was it personal reasons? band related?

>this one is tough cause we've been getting alot of crap for it. our guitarist left the band on tour about a year ago .. when we were out with emanuel and the audition.. his mental health just wasnt stable and he felt like he needed to end things and live more of a normal life.. when we got back things started to get sour and he went about things in an inappropriate matter. like using the internet and message boards to say slander remarks.. things are better though nowadays.. we're trying to straighten things out.

A few guys wanted me to ask you guys this, really, how short is Larry? Haha.

>HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA. so good. he's 5'5 he's my little man

What it was like working with James Paul Wisner (underoath, academy is, dashboard, etc.?)

>james was the perfect producer for this record.. and i honestly think the cd wouldn't be what it is if we went with someone else. the second we met him and started preproduction he knew exactly what we were going for. he just knows so much about structuring songs and putting them together the right way. he wrote alot of key / sample parts for the songs which helped a bunch and worked tightly with larry and the vocal production. he's just a super talented CHILL dude who says hilarious jokes like every 2 seconds. and he has the cutest cat's ever.

Sullivan (The Tooth & Nail band) was also recording with James Paul Wisner, did you guys get to hear any of their new material? Did you guys even run into them?

>yeah we actually did run into them when they were just finishing up.. and we have heard the record.. a couple times actually. i'm really into it and i hope it get's out there. james did a phenomenal job in it. and their singer rules.

You guys have done some acoustic performances in the past and fans have seemed to really respond to them. Have you considered doing an Acoustic EP in the future?

>we've never really thought about it, basically cause i never thought any of our songs would sound good on acoustic. hah. but i actually think the newer songs would translate well on acoustic guitars. man speaking of.. i need one! haha.

This question came from Rob, one of our other interviewers; "Ask them why they are so sexy" & "Ask them how it feels to be playing the same stage on the warped tour every year, they always play on the ernie ball stage"

>haha good question. why are we so sexy? cause our mom's know how to pick 'em.. 2nd question. we have such a great relationship with brian ball and the ernie ball company we love playin it. i honestly think it has the best sound on the tour and we don't have to drag a buttload of equipment to the stage everyday which works out in our favor when it's 100 degrees outside.

Are you guys stoked to play on your new upcoming tour with The Audition, The Graduate & New Atlantic? Have you guys posted the dates for that tour yet?

>yeah the dates have been posted for quite some time now and all of us our beyonddd excited for this tour. the audition and us have been best buds for awhile. we love those dudes alot and it's always a good time with them. it's going to be a fun tour and we plan on doing something really special for it.

Is anything else you would like me to post about the new record? Anything else you would like to say for our readers?

>just buy it! i promise it'll make you go "OOooOO!"

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me, Jesse. I'll let you go. Take care man.