Interview with theLINE

Interview Interview with Ryan Immegart of theLINE . Interviewer: M. O. Behrendt . Email Interview . 2004 . label: Volcom Entertainment

The Line - Cut Me

Punk76: I often read start-up questions like these: What is your bandname about? I don't like these questions and normaly they don't interest me but in your case it seems to be funny. Is it true that you and Richard helped Donald on your way to school as he stuck in a large tree (10,678 feet to be exact) hehehe and helped him down with a downed (power) line?

Ryan: Of course, we wouldn’t lie about something like that…ha

Punk76:The first time I heard of you was in a Volcom surf video. After the release of "Monsters we breed", "cut me" was played in a couple of other surf and skate videos. Is it just accidental or do you surf or skate? I read that you're a good snowboarder!?

Ryan: I do surf, skate and snowboard, but my real passion is snowboarding (I grew up in a small Mountain Town called Big Bear Lake, CA. I started skiing at 3). I was Volcom Clothing’s first sponsored snowboarded and that relationship with the company has grown into what Volcom Entertainment is today.

Punk76: Your music is really hard to describe. Where do you get your influences from and how do you write your songs? Is it more the jamming style or do you write them on paper first?

Ryan: It’s about 80% jamming and 20% off paper. We get together and just jam and next thing you know we have a few riffs we like and then we start getting all koo-koo and trying every possible combination and progression we can think of. The first step in any good song is a great riff. Back it up with a strong melody and your there…Justin Timberlake watch out!

Punk76: You're called a band that you have to see live. What makes your live gig's so special?

Ryan: Raw energy and no over produced bullshit. Just stripped down Rock, Punk, Math and Progression. I think our studio albums are great but I look forward to putting out a live CD, I think it will really capture what theLINE is and stands for.

Punk76: Have you ever experienced something worse or something really funny on tour?

Ryan: Worse and Pretty funny now that I think back– Throwing a rob in our van (in Florida) when we where touring with DEVIATES. We where stuck on the East Coast with no options but buy a new van or cancel the tour. We decided to use all our merch money as a down payment and bough a van the next day. Not more than 2 weeks back on the tour the new van blow it’s transmission near Corpus Christie, TX. The only things that saved was that we where right on the Mexican / American border and we would cross into Mex at night to go …. Well you know, do stuff. Then we got half to Canada while touring with Strung Out and Snapcase and we fried another Transmission. We must of got a lemon…

Punk76: How is live on the Warp Tour. Is it like a big family or is every band on it's own.

Ryan: You get close with some bands you get in fights with others. There is a lot of attitude on the tour but the good times and good people make up for the few bad seeds. In a nutshell WARP TOUR kicks ass and anyone who says different has never been. For the price of the ticket you can’t beat it. I look forward to it every year.

Punk76: You were the very first professional snowboarder that got sponsored by Volcom. Today the company is huge. I am stocked that you run Volcom Entertainment - the official Volcom record label. List your favourite Volcom bands:

Ryan: A Faith Called Chaos – Limited Warp EP, Pepper – In With the Old, Single Frame – Wetheads Running, Seaweed – Four, ASG - …The Amplification of Self Gratification

Punk76: Seaweed is not a Volcom band.

Ryan: No, but I love them and they belong to my top-5.

Punk76: You were the first band signed by "Volcom Entertainment". Tell us something about your early days how everything has started.

Ryan: Back in 1994 I had some phone incentive coming to me for some pictures I got of me snowboarding in this magazine. I told Wooly (Volcom president) that I wanted to use the money to make a record with my band. Being that almost 70% of the employee at Volcom are in bands or play instruments it made sense to Wooly and we started Volcom Entertainment. At first we just distributed through Surf, Skate and Snow shops. We (as in theLINE) ran the label for the first 6 year. We would come in every dayand just call shops and beg them to give our CD a chance. Today we a full service, functioning record label with a great roster and great staff.

Punk76:please write down a short sentence or just words what comes to your mind if you hear that ...

Ryan: alright:

Bad Religion:Grew up to this band. Worshipped there every lyric and riff.

Tony Hawk One of kind badass that will always hold top status in my book. His influence has help mold the action sports industry

Politics and George Bush PIECE OF PEACE

Applesouce: Wish my son liked it, he loves apples but hates the sauce…oh well

Weed or beer: pills and pot…

Punk76: Are you planning a new album or a tour in near future?

Ryan: Reissue of our 3rd CD “DISIMILAR” will be out in early March and that include 11 unreleased live and demo tracks plus the original 13 studio tracks. Going to kick ass.. New EP (or maybe split) in mid summer…

Punk76: Any last words? (to your fans in "old europe") hehe ;-)

Ryan: Can’t wait to get back and PLEASE request our records your local music store. Our Distribution in Europe is very…uhmm…. Bad. PS. only start a band for fun, if it works out great. If not you had FUN so it doesn’t matter if you play to 2 people or 200,000 people. PIECE OF PEACE

The Line - D-Term Nation

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