This interview was conducted with frontwoman, Juliet Simms, at Warped Tour 2008 in Camden, NJ.

1. Do the guys in the band ever feel weird playing more girl-oriented songs?
Umm, no, I mean they never said anything to me. And all they ever do is write rock music. They love what they’re playing. And they add their own flare to parts and they’re kind of girly anyway. [laughs]

2. I know you were having issues with your label before and actually getting your CD out, how are things going with that now?
Amazing. We have full support from them now. They love us to death. We’re working well now together. At first yea it was like a struggle like having to prove ourselves to them. But I think we’ve done a pretty good job.

3. Would you consider your songs to be more personal or stories?
They’re letters. They’re stories. They are personal, I mean I have songs that will be really specific down to like “make up smeared eyes” or talking about the picture on the floor or like August like “you can take your love away, but don’t ever leave me alone”. I mean that’s why I named the band “Automatic Loveletter” because every song is a story or a letter.

4. How did your involvement with Skelanimals start and how is it progressing?
It’s going amazing. It started probably like a year ago. I was recording the single for the record “The Day That Saved Us.” Actually it was less than a year ago. It might have been like 7 months ago. Anyways, and my manager was like “I know this really great clothing line. They’re like really up and coming. They’re getting pretty big with Warped Tour and Hot Topic. It’s called Skelanimals. They would like to possibly shoot you in some of their clothes. But you have to do it tonight while you’re recording ‘The Day That Saved Us’” because I had a plane flight in like three hours so I had to do it that night. So they came over with a bunch of clothes and I ended up shooting in the vocal booth. Sydney, the owner, and Michelle, their photographer, [and I] all ended up becoming best friends right away. I love their clothes and they have helped us so much with getting in AP, Blender, Teen Magazine, Hot Topic [and], Warped Tour. I’m a huge Skelanimals fan and I will love them ‘til the end.

5. What’s one band you would absolutely love to tour with and why?
Umm, hmm. Any band ever?

MLM: Yea, they can be dead.

Oh, well The Beatles. Come on. The Beatles by default.

MLM: What about a live band, too?

I’d love to tour with The Rolling Stones. [laughs]

6. Sometimes people put too much emphasis on the sex of the lead singer. Do you ever feel like people are being biased towards you, either in negative or positive ways?
You know, at first I definitely got like I had to prove myself because I was a girl. I think now it’s becoming a lot easier because I am proving myself. So yea, in the beginning it was really tough. It was really, really tough. The kids would just look at me like “Oh God, another girl” or other bands would be like “Girls don’t belong here.” I had to fight through proving myself so…

7. You have a lot of songs for sale on your myspace, do you plan on using any of these on your full length album or are you starting from scratch?
It depends. I mean I’m still currently writing new songs. So what we’ll do is when it comes time to finish up the record, we’ll go through and pick the best ones.

8. What’s it like working with Matt Squire? How did you find out about him?
It was awesome. I found out about him through the Boys Like Girls record and Panic! at the Disco. I love both of those bands so much. So I found out he wanted to do our record. I was really, really flattered and excited because he’s so talented. So we stayed in Maryland for two months and recorded with him and it was awesome. [notices spider] Anyways, so it was amazing working with him. He’s a very talented man.

9. Are you having any guest vocalists on your future CDs?
I would love to. I’ve been thinking about that lately. I would absolutely love that. I’m thinking about certain singers I would like to sing on it. So look out for that ‘cause that’s something I definitely want to do.

10. You’ve done songs with both Cartel and All Time Low. Although it might have helped with some exposure, do you ever get sick of the constant association with those songs rather than your own?
No way! I love All Time Low and I love Cartel and I love the songs I sang on. When kids tell me that they love it, I’m stoked. Of course. It’s all good.

TMI
1. Have you ever made a male member of the band buy any feminine products for you?
Uh [laughs] oh yea. Yes. Daniel and Sean, they had to take an emergency trip somewhere to get me something for that emergency girls have sometimes. [laughs]

2. Do you plan out what to wear for shows or just throw on whatever?
I don’t plan them out. I warm up about an hour and a half to 2 hours before. I just, you know, put on some tight jeans and a ripped up shirt. And I’m good to go in my boots.

3. What is the grossest thing you’ve encountered on tour?
The grossest thing?

MLM: It can be on any tour. Not just Warped.

Well, let’s see. Honestly, it is on Warped. Um, we didn’t know you weren’t supposed to poop on the RV. And like three days in, we we’re driving and we’re like “What’s that smell?” It was absolutely the most disgusting thing I had ever smelt in my life. And it was my turn to dump the RV because we take turns dumping the septic tank. And I had to dump it and I was actually like dry heaving. I’m not even kidding. It was 6:30 in the morning at a Flying J and [I was] dumping our poop and pee into a hole. Horrible. Horrible. I hope I never have to do that again.

4. What’s a guilty pleasure of yours that you would least like to admit to?
Um, a guilty pleasure…I really, really like that Katy Perry song. [laughs]

5. What’s your typical daily routine when you’re not on tour?
Wake up at 11 o’clock. Go for a jog, come home. Make breakfast. Crawl in bed with my computer, go on myspace. Watch “Sex and the City” or “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. Yea, I’m proud of it, what? And talk to the fans on myspace. And you know, go fix my gear and shit and be lazy.

Think Fast Questions
Red or Green: Green
Shorts or Pants: Pants
Walmart or Target: Walmart
CDs or iPod: iPod
Mac or PC: Mac
Warped Tour or Regular Tour: Warped Tour
TV or Movies: Movies
East Coast or West Coast: East Coast

Word Association
Robots: have hearts
Apples: are red
Warped Tour: is awesome
Cellphones : give you cancer
School: sucks
Weather: is hot
Batman: and Robin
Romeo and Juliet: me
Television: The Office