The Artwork Of//Interview
The Artwork Of is one of those bands that has to be seen live in order to be truly understood. This band sticks out in my mind as the true hardcore band in both stage presence and musical quality and is here to stay. This band hales from the Glassboro, NJ area and consists of vocalist Kevin Marcoux, bassist Jeff Rattay, Drummer Jesse Lieurance, and guitarists Amir Berry and Franco Spadea. I was able to hang out and talk with them at their EP release show for the latest EP “The Road Ends//The Road Never Ends”. You can find it on their bandcamp at theartworkof.bandcamp.com.
Dead End: How Long Has This Line-up Been Together?
Kevin: September 27th was when we finalized the line-up as where it stands today.
Dead End: Tell Me About The Recording Process With “The Road Ends”
Kevin: So, basically the idea was that when we wrote everything, which we did relatively quickly, we wanted to get it recorded so we can get it out as quickly as we can. We recorded in Jeff’s basement, which is lovely for recording. The whole recording process was faster than what it normally is.
Amir: This album was a lot darker this time around, and we had a lot of things we had to address on this record, killing off the old The Artwork Of. Honestly, it went a lot faster than what I expected and Jesse broke a lot of things, but that was expected.
Dead End: Explain the “Derek” Storyline
Kevin: I wrote the Derek storyline, which began with our EP “Derek’s Coming”, and it’s pretty much about the music scene in New Jersey at the time, which was about two years ago. I actually wrote it before “Hipster Couch” came out and at the time, everyone who plays music in the Jersey scene knows how the scene was. The new record was an extension to the story that I intend on writing because our band quit while we were on tour [Last Summer], so we had to rewrite it and kill off the Derek storyline.
Dead End: Tell Me About The Old Line-up
Kevin: The old line-up: The band started out as a four-piece with Alec, Meals, Jake and Myself. Early last year, we decided to grab Amir and put him on guitar to fill out the sound. During our tour with Me Versus I last summer, the band quit in Jacksonville, FL, and they couldn’t put as much time into the band, because they were all going to college and pursuing other life goals, which put Amir and I in a very interesting situation, and I had to go on tour with another band and left Amir with the responsibility of putting together a new line-up.
Dead End: Any Big Plans For This Year?
Amir: Overall, the plans include releasing another 4-track EP relatively soon, and then tour, and then release a full-length and then possibly do another tour. Two new tours and EPs are our goals for this upcoming year.
Kevin: We’re working on a summer tour with Meraki/Toska and possibly Menopaws. A second tour, if that does happen will be with Aviator [Massachusetts].
Dead End: How do you feel about what Grandaire Booking has done for the South Jersey scene? Also, tell me about Bolsheviktory.
Amir: By meeting Grandaire, I realized how disjointed the scene was. Everybody was always talking about the local scene, but nobody was really doing anything about bringing it back. I’ve been in this area for a long time, and Hammonton was completely dead. Then, out of nowhere, Jose and Mike revived it and we love what they’re doing. They take care of us, and they’re all good guys and we got to meet a lot of cool people along the way.
Jesse: I come from Ocean County, New Jersey, and the scene up there is a lot of generic metalcore bands or acoustic indie singers. Coming here, Grandaire shows were the first few shows I started going to, and I got to meet a lot of cool people, and those people gave me the confidence in what I do and I made a lot of good friends. I’m in a band now because of the people I’ve met through them, so it’s a lot of good hangs.
Franco: I was used to the Skater’s Choice scene, while it had a few good things going on like the draw of people, it had a lot of negative energy between lots of people. The scene that Jose and Mike created is very supportive, where people just come out for the shows and are always keeping people together, and Alex Bradley Photography.
Kevin: North Jersey music is generic, and I moved down to South Jersey five months ago to escape that, and Jose and Mike created a family that we are a part of. Bolsheviktory is a collective that was able to grow with Grandaire’s help, and includes all of the bands in the area which range from Your Persona, Teethforteeth, Me Versus I, Meraki/Toska and others. It was a D.I.Y. free label that I had started up in Princeton about six years ago, and decided to bring it back from having it on the back burner for a while. It seemed to make sense to bring it down here with the community that was already established. It’s essentially friends helping out friends.
Be sure to like The Artwork Of on Facebook and check out their music catalog on Bandcamp. This band gives 100% in their performance and their music and is worth a listen.
