OnesidezeroBy: Rei Nishimoto
It takes real commitment to keeping a band afloat. It takes a solid group of people and hard work to keep the sound fresh and making sure the fan base continues to grow. Despite the struggles Onesidezero had been through, the members made sacrifices to keep the dream alive. Through various lineup shuffles and business setbacks, the band has found ways to keep playing and reaching new fans. For nearly a decade, the band has always found a way to have their music heard.
They began in Los Angeles in 1998, building a strong fan base across the Southeastern US through strong live performances and creating melodic rock songs that fans connected with. They signed with Maverick Records and released their debut CD, Is This Room Getting Smaller?, in 2001. They followed this with tours with 311, Zebrahead, Static X, Soulfly, and SOiL, plus a live appearance on HBO’s Reverb with Linkin Park.
Things appeared to be going well for them, through landing strong tours and their name was getting out into the public. But problems with Maverick Records arose and the band requested to be released from their contract.
Onesidezero played sporatic shows within the time off, with various members taking time away from the band. Frontman Jasan Radford and guitarist Levon Sultanian joined up with former Soulfly members, guitarist Mikey Doling, drummer Roy Mayorga and bassist Marcello Dias to form Abloom.
Abloom gained attention quickly through the rock press, but difference of opinions led to the band’s premature demise. But in 2004, the band reunited and began working on new material. They signed with Corporate Punishment Records in 2006 to release their long awaited second record, Onesidezero in June 2007.
Since that time, guitarist Brett Kane briefly left the band during the writing of their latest record. But he recently returned to the band replacing their other guitarist, Levon Sultanian, who recently left the band. The band spoke to Blistering.com about the new record, the struggles through their musical journey, and surviving despite the lineup changes over the years.
Blistering.com: What’s Onesidezero been up to since the debut release?
Rob Barile:We did the record. We did a lot of touring. People broke off for a little while and did side projects. We started doing that a little bit. That kind of subsided. We started writing again with the intension of doing a new record. Then Brett [Kane, guitarist] left for a little while. We did the new record [Onesidezero] after Brett took off. Brett was involved in a lot of the writing process, but Levon [Sultanian, guitarist] played on the whole record.
Blistering,com: Was there ever a point during the time off that Onesidezero would never resurrect ever again?
Jasan Radford: It’s one of those things that we talked about briefly earlier. We worked really hard to get this thing done, so you don’t want to quit before the miracle. You don’t know if there’s a miracle about it…when you get a taste of it, you want to see what’s next. We didn’t feel that we got the full what’s next. There were people that believed in what we were doing. So that’s what kept us going.
Every day, we’re like ‘are we kicking a dead horse?’ Then, all of a sudden, you start selling a few records. You get out there and tour, and then you get that show. The tour does well and then ‘maybe not.’ There are people who are still identifying with this and you come out with something fresh and people who supported the new record. Whether we do is bigger than that. We did what we had to do. We put out the second record and now we’re lucky enough to start thinking about the third record, while finishing this. To answer the question - every day [we think about it]. We’re not getting any younger. We’re watching our friends succeed and/or fall. It’s constant.
Blistering.com: Jasan, you were in Abloom for a while. What did you learn from that experience? It was a different band with different players and very different music than what you must have been used to.
JR: I think that was the best break that Onesidezero could have had, or for myself. I broke out of a mold that I was stuck in as a vocalist and as a writer. Working with people in a genre I wasn’t used to. I don’t know metal or hard rock at all. It expanded my mind. Working with Shavo [Odadjian, System of a Down bassist] and Mikey [Doling, Invitro guitarist] and these guys that are all about this – this was something Levon actually was trying to do a lot that I fought against forever. Working with other people that weren’t so close and weren’t in the family, opened my mind to a lot of stuff. I think it had me have the ability to think differently. I had a great time. I met some really cool brothers. For me, it was a bit more personal and selfish. It made think about things a little bit differently as a singer that wasn’t so caught in the box. It’s like what you said about the first record and things seemed so same. I was stuck with that. I was stuck with the way I was comfortable.
Blistering.com: The songs on Onesidezero capture a wide array of sounds, from up tempo rock songs to slower songs. There’s even a faster metal song that is unusual for Onesidezero! Was that part of you breaking out of the comfort zone?
JR: All of us in a way. When someone’s really influenced, if you’re not used to doing what you’re going to do, then you have to change. I couldn’t go up there and sing melodically and be that guy on a song that was all riff metal oriented, because it wasn’t working. With all of us, we tried to make it as close as the Onesidezero thing and feel that way. But yeah, I think that’s why it sounds different. It’s also where we’re at. We did consciously all sit down, when Bret was involved with it too. We didn’t want to have a one style thing. We said let’s just write. Let’s write whatever happens and record and let it flow.
RB: I think in another aspect where it was huge also was we were lucky enough when we were touring the big tours to get dropped into everything from mellow, cool vibe-y Incubus, to balls-to-the-wall Soulfly. We were able to pretty much pull off both. We could go out and open for either one. We would switch it up and literally sometimes go in from directly a mellow thing right into a heavy thing. For me, it’s hard to play…especially when you get to know these bands…it’s hard not to be influenced by that too. For me, playing with Soulfly every night, it’s like a fucking steamroller. I think we took little pieces of that individually too. Playing with that kind of power, it transfers into you, whether you want it to or not.
Blistering.com: You’ve had the revolving door of members, where everyone’s left at one point or another. Do you feel you have a bit more stability on that end?
JR: For touring, yes. We have a unit that we could go out and do a tour. As far as the revolving door of members, you never know. Personalities and life…life’s changing so fast and everyone’s getting older. Our bass player’s [Cristian Hernandez] not here today because he’s dealing with stuff. It changes so fast. As far as being on the road, we finally have a unit that needs to go on the road, or is willing to be on the road.
It’s a hard question because you have to give up a lot to be on the road and be willing to do this. The three people that I would say have been here all along – Rob, Cristian and I – we really got tight and it’s a friendship that the three of us have never really experienced until going through this. As far as that, we found it. The fact that Bret came back, all of the pieces that made sense, fell into place, and finding a stand in to come in and join the band. I think we finally found what it was that needed us to be able to the job that we were supposed to do all along that we weren’t able to do all along. It’s hard to say. Who knows what tomorrow holds for anybody.
I’ll put it this way…or bass player left [on tour] the day of his anniversary. That’s a big fucking thing. His first year anniversary…that shows where it holds and stands for us.
Blistering.com: By getting back on the road, you’ve been off of touring for a while. Do you find fans that are reconnecting with Onesidezero where they were fans a while ago? What kinds of reactions do you get?
RB: The funny ones you get are “whoa! I thought you guys were dead.” There were people that were really surprised and didn’t know. We just played Colorado Springs a few months ago. The day after we played there, we got a Myspace from some girl who’s like “I’m so bummed. I didn’t even know you were together, and I see you on the marquee the day after you play.” So there’s a mixture. Some people have remained true and always stuck around. There are the people we’re picking up that are brand new. I’m sure there are some that have gone away. That’s the other thing about being on an indie. We’re not gang blasted over MTV. We don’t have all sorts of press going on. Stuff like this, and being out on the road is the only way to reach out again.
Brett Kane: And keep making good music. Good music will keep people coming. It happens with a lot of bands too. They make different albums and try different kinds of things. Sometimes it’s a revolving door.
Blistering.com: Something you didn’t get to do last time around is tour Europe. What’s happening with that?
RB: We had a tour all lined up. It was being booked. Some of it was confirmed. Our headliner, who we will leave anonymous, ran into some things and we were unable to do that. But that being said, our German label, Tieff-Druck Musik, was working really hard at it, and seeming getting cool responses. So they’re working right now on another one for us to get us out there before summer.
JM: I want to play Lennon Live. It’s on the HD Channel. All of the bands that are coming through Europe…it’s like Reverb, except for London. It’s awesome. I’d love to get out there. If we get out there, we have to work that out. It’s the victim of the industry right now. It’s not anybody’s fault. The headlining band, I’m sure is just as bummed, or more bummed than we are. We’re bummed we’ve never been [to Europe]. We’ve had the opportunity once before to go to Europe and our label said no. We hope our day will come. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s the circumstances of the industry is right now. It’s hard for everybody. We happened to be the victims of it, because we’re the low man on the totem pole. But we’ll keep going. For us, we’re not going to Europe. Let’s start doing the States.
Blistering.com: Have you just toured the entire US or just the West Coast?
RB: Probably five times over.
JR: There are very few states we haven’t been, like Montana, South Dakota, and Alaska. RB: We’ve done it several times.
JR: To go back to the question you asked earlier, you asked about meeting people that either remember or forget…it definitely sets your mind. The perfect example is Burger King taking the Whopper off in the commercials they’re running about the Whopper. That would be this - out of sight, out of mind. You take it off, and they’re freaked out. But next week, if the Whopper’s gone, then it’s gone. So we never sold platinum records and shit like that. But we do have a core group of fans that keep us going and what keeps us going with hopes that maybe we’re reaching new people. Sometimes you get it. You play a show and all of a sudden, 16 year olds are hitting you up on your Myspace. They’re the ones who’re willing to go into Best Buy and hang out at the mall and buy your record. Still there’s a little bit of that. It’s back and forth. It really is. Yes, people forgot.
Blistering.com: You got more airplay on KROQ (LA radio station) this time around than the debut?
JR:We were the “Catch of the Day” a lot on the first record. We made number three for a few weeks. “New World,” the single that supposed to start the record and “Instead Laugh” was going to be the big push over. With the label not pushing it and the things that went down with Maverick, but Kat from KROQ got our back on this record 100 percent. Fell in love with the band and really pushed us. A lot of it is relationships. It’s people believing in us. We did get more airplay and we’re appreciative because it’s Kat…and Stryker. Stryker gave her the CD, because he knew it would fit for the Locals Only kind of thing. We weren’t coming straight out of the box. There was no money to be put in. There’s no push this single. There’s no major label to push it.
RB: And then we fell in love with Kat. Then she added us to KROQ LA Invasion, which was cool. We ended up headlining the second stage, which was awesome.
Blistering.com: That exposure must have helped a lot.
JR: You know what? Rebuilding is rebuilding. We got a taste of it and we’re grateful for it. So there’s no animosity. The fact that we go on tour and there are people at our shows on tour. I’m reading emails from bands that are like ‘how are you touring? Could you give me some insight?’ We’re able to do it naturally. It becomes something that’s easy for us to go on tour. There’s nothing that’s stopping us. That’s a beautiful thing.
RB: The funny thing, along with that is that our whole touring experience has been 100% backwards. We started in phat ass buses and now we’re doing vans and RVs. But the cool thing is that there are no attitudes. It’s cool. We make our van into our bus. We get along good now. Obviously, any one of us would give anybody a part to be lying down in a nice, giant bus. But we’re still out there doing it.
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