Monday, July 19, 2010

Monday, July 12, 2010

LARRY RANSOM (Wasted Days TV)

Ati: What was your motivation to do the Wasted Days TV? What gave you the idea to do this episode about TFS?
Larry: I had just started making these Wasted Days episodes because I was living in a warehouse and didn't have a tv but I did have the internet so that was basically my only source of entertainment. After digging around online there was a lack of videos I was really interested in watching, so I decided to contribute and make some documentary shorts for others to enjoy. I can't remember how I came up with Wasted Days as the name to package the shows together. I had just finished the first episode about the independent tv show and tv studio Tom Green (The first ever episode of Wasted Days TV - "Tom Green's House" http://vimeo.com/1257084) was doing out of his living room, and The First Step shows were the very next weekend. I was already tagging along with them for the shows so I asked Steve if he would mind if I filmed and he was fine with it.

Ati: What was the most important thing that you would like to present? The energy of the band? The message of the band?
Larry: The biggest thing I wanted to get across which I'm not sure if it worked was that the band members lived all over the country and they were all flying into So Cal for these shows. And then less than 48 hours later they were flying back home to the various corners of the US. I always thought that was a pretty crazy way for a band to operate but they always pulled it off. The live footage in the episodes definitely capture the energy of the band.

Ati: Do you have a cool story that was left out of the episode? Could you share a story with us?
Larry: I don't think there was really too much left out of the episodes besides a couple of meals, and goofing around in the car on the drive up to Berkeley. The only thing I wasn't able to nail down was an interview with Aram because he was working the merch table at both shows.

Ati: How long have you been friends with TFS? Where was it based? What was the most memorable TFS show for you?
Larry: I first met Aaron over the phone when he cold called my house back in the early 90s. He was just an invigorated kid and wanted to talk to people about hardcore and learn about what was going on in other scenes. From there, a friendship evolved and he invited my band to play at his band's (Peaceful Non-Existence) final show in their home town in North Carolina. The show was booked by Steve and that is when I met him and we stayed at his house. A little later on, Aaron and Steve formed Reinforced and Until Today and my band played with their bands a couple of times. I always kept in touch with them.

By the time they formed The First Step I was living in California but Steve made sure to mail me their demo as soon as it was recorded and I loved it. The first time they came out to California was the first time I was able to see them live and that's when I met Izzy and Andy. That was the first of their West Coast weekend trips and I'd hang out with them and traveled around with them on all their trips out here except for one because I was on another tour.

The most memorable First Step shows for me was the first weekend they came to Cali because it was great to hang out with those guys and see and hear their new band. One of those Posi Numbers shows was really good too. I can't remember what year it was. 2002 or 2003 maybe? It's the show that the photos on the 7" are from. That show was great because it kind of seemed like a turning point for them and I don't think I had seen them play on the East Coast before. The reaction at that show was pretty crazy. The two shows in these episodes are great too because it's the last two times I got to see them play and their album had been out for a while, they were playing a longer set and the reactions and sing-alongs were awesome.

WASTED DAYS TV - "The First Step" Part 1 from Larry Ransom on Vimeo.



WASTED DAYS TV - "The First Step" Part 2 from Larry Ransom on Vimeo.

Sunday, July 4, 2010