This interview was done with vocalist Sierra Kusterbeck at Warped Tour 2009 in Camden, NJ.

1. You’re always being compared to other female fronted bands, especially Hey Monday and Paramore whose music is completely different. Does this ever bother you? Do you think there is any validity in comparisons with these other bands?

It doesn’t annoy me and I don’t take it as threat. I just think kids love to compare. I compare bands if I see them, too. And music’s all opinion. It’s all art. So I can’t take what people say so seriously. Everything thinks they’re a critic but in the long run it doesn’t matter. And when people compare me and say that it just makes me work harder to strive to be different. And it just really helps me mature and go for my own style even more.

2. How much do you think your hometown has affected your music?

Oh, tons. My hometown, which is St. Petersburg, Florida, is really super artistic. There’s like reggae shows every weekend and a lot of really good tours come through. And my mom, at such a young age, would always take me out. We’d go see reggae shows in my town. And my sister is like an old punk rock chick. She would always take me to these shitty punk shows at my local venues. Just being open to all these different types of music especially at such a young age kind of opened my mind and let me realize that there’s something out there. So after going to these shows and going out to shows on my own and finding all these new bands and it would just swirl and swirl and I’d find so many bands and it was really cool because I got to see them live first before I ever heard of them. I think that’s really cool. My hometown definitely, definitely affected us.

3. How did the writing process differ between the songs written for the self-released album and the songs written for the EP released by FBR?

I came in the band at such a weird time and they already had basically all these songs done. Then I came in and basically wrote over the songs. Me and Blake did. So it was weird. It was like Karaoke style, I feel like. And then with the self-titled one with Fueled By Ramen it was like starting from scratch. It was almost like our first time all writing together. So me and Blake like locked ourselves in his room and just, you know, acoustic guitar and just wrote as much as we could and got these skeletons. And then it was definitely more freedom because we got to try so many new things. It was not really our first time working together but our first time really getting in depth and stretching out these songs. It was definitely a lot of fun.

4. You guys are a lot newer than most bands on this tour and you’ve already done a lot. You’re signed and played Give It a Name in the UK. Now you’re on Warped Tour. Do you feel like things are going really fast? Are you excited that it is?

When I think back on it I go “Holy shit, this is going so quickly” but during all of it I’m like “This is slow.” But I know it’s not. This is like our first summer being a band basically and were on Warped. That’s fucking awesome, you know? And we get to go into the UK and stuff. I feel like we’re one of the luckiest bands in the world right now. We’re just trying to do basically everything we can, shooting ideas to our whole team like “what if we try this? What if we try this?” Anything to get our name out there. We want to work really, really hard and do this the good old fashion way. And even though it’s going kind of quickly we’re not doing in quick way to the point where we’re just going to come out of nowhere in your face. We’re working from the ground up.

5. Did you discover any new bands on Warped Tour this year?

Um yeah. I met InterPartySystem in the UK. But on Warped is the first time I’ve really gotten to watch them and I watch them every single day. Interpartysystem is like one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. They’re amazing. Then and Gallows. This is my first time seeing Gallows and it fucking rocks. And um, who else? I know there’s plenty else. I’ve watched NOFX and Bad Religion for the first time. Those are really awesome bands. They’re super fun.

6. Since this is your first year on Warped, what was the most shocking aspect of it for you?

Um, I mean I really prepared myself for some grueling hard work. And I think I over-prepared because it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. But it’s shocking because I thought it was going to be a lot of work and I thought it was going to be kind of stressful but really it’s just honestly fun all the time. It is so much fun. Yeah, you’ve got to wake up super fucking early and like load all your equipment in and it’s really hot and you’re dead tired. But then as soon as kids come in and you get to meet all these people and really expose your band. And then you play, you get to play your set for new kids everyday and stuff. Like, there’s nothing better. And then when the night comes it’s just you and all the other bands and the crew and the production people hanging out. And you make awesome friends. That’s what I’m really surprised about is the friends that I’ve made so far.

7. What’s one thing you’d change about Warped Tour and one thing you wish more tours had?

If I could change one thing about Warped tour, I would change… Sometimes when they set things up it’s in weird locations. Like either in a desert or big hills. Sometimes it’s set up crazy, crazy and kids can’t find stages and certain tents. So I wish it was kind of in a smaller vicinity even though that wouldn’t work.
I wish that there were more tours going on where the bands were really different, super eclectic so it would attract more kids. Also, outside. I love playing outside. It’s really cool.

8. If you could rename Warped Tour, what would you call it?

If I could rename Warped Tour? I would call it Rad Tour.

Part 2

1. If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?
I would definitely be Sandy from Spongebob.

2. If you could take one trip through time, where would you go and why?
I would go to the 60s because I believe that’s when I was really supposed to be born.

3. What’s your guilty pleasure TV show or movie?
Guilty pleasure TV show I recently discovered is “Wizards of Waverly Place” on Disney channel. I can’t stop watching it. I sat in a hotel all day, it was a marathon, and I was like “Whoop, I’m cool with this.”

4. Who is your favorite historical figure?
My favorite historical figure would definitely have to be either Joan Jett or um, shit, I’m having a brain fart right now. Janis Joplin.

Part 3

Word Association
Robots: Metal
Apples: Computer
Warped Tour: Sun
Weather: Rainy
Batman: Hot
Romeo and Juliet: Love
Toasters: Strudel
Mountains: Sierra