Unseen is the original word of mouth band. Over 12 years the future band members of Unseen all went to high school together. They lived in a small town, saw each other's t-shirts and heard that we all wanted to be in a band and there you go. Mark and Paul Unseen got together with Tripp and first played in this pseudo punk metal band with a nutty lead singer. When that didn't work they split off and did their thing.
With the release of their latest album EXPLODE and doing another set at the Warped Tour should do a lot for their popularity but that isn't the point. They are a hardcore punk band and should never get popular. Small audience means really cool. But guess what? Trip doesn't give two shits about what happens in the future. He just wants to blow minds.
Check out Unseen's website.
Daniel Robert Epstein: Everyone's favorite question. What inspired the new album?
Tripp: We needed to make money and the record company made us [laughs]. I guess for the most part the new album is about what we are going through in our personal lives less than the political stuff which informed a lot of our first two albums.
DRE: Is it personal for all of you?
T: As far as the writing goes there are mainly three songwriters and one guy does the music. Each person came into doing the record with what they had on the table. Musically we all kind of fooled around with it. We didn't change each other's lyrics.
DRE: Do you all work on the songs together though?
T: Generally speaking one of us will come in with a riff or something. Especially when I do it because I can't play guitar well because I play bass. So I write all my stuff on a little crummy acoustic guitar and then Scott, the lead guitar player of the band, will put minors in and shit like that. Musically someone comes in with an idea then we will all work with it and then Mark, myself and occasionally Paul will come in with a set of lyrics and if it fits the song then it fits the song. If it doesn't we just put it on the back burner.
DRE: So you came out of the Boston punk scene in the early 90's. What started that?
T: We all grew up in the suburbs outside Boston. When we were sophomores in high school and going to shows in the city. There weren't that many national acts going through especially for the kind of punk we were playing. It wasn't that big at the time and not a lot of money in it. So there were just a lot of local bands playing because no one was touring. Its like everyone says you see a bunch of bands that aren't that good and you think if they can do it then we can too. Basically we did it to get into shows for free too. We were tired of paying and we said, if we had a band we wouldn't have to pay for everything.
DRE: Your label, BYO Records, describes you as a street punk band. Is that true?
T: I have no idea what that means. Does it mean we walk on the street? That's a label a lot of people assign to it. Street punk, chaos punk and a bunch of other nonsense. I don't really care what people call us. To be honest there is nothing original out there. People that are concerned about that can assign whatever labels they like. If that helps them define things to help sell a record then knock yourself out but I don't really work like that.
DRE: What's it like working with BYO?
T: They've been great to us. Its awesome because they've got 20 years of experience. The owners of the label, the Stern brothers, have been in the band Youth Brigade for over 20 years now. So they know what its like. Sometimes you get these record labels that are run by some kid that just came into a lot of money or some record company guy who went to college for it. They'll give you some advice when they don't know what they are talking about then you get someone like the Sterns and their years of experience comes through. They give you advice as someone at a record label and as someone in a band so all things considered they've been really awesome.
DRE: Are you psyched for the Warped Tour?
T: Yeah but its been a lot of work and there's no air conditioning in our ride either. So we just sit there and sweat all day long. Last year I kind of made an ass out of myself drinking all day. I'm more of a professional now so this year I'm going to try to be on my best behavior and pace myself. But its a lot of fun and a lot of work. We get to play in front of a lot of younger kids we wouldn't get to play in front of. There's a couple not so good bands on it but that's like that on any tour.
DRE: What specifically came out of you guys doing the Warped Tour last year?
T: Its hard to tell. I definitely want to say it did help. Its not like after you do the tour there's this huge push and you're up to this next level. The tours we're doing now as headliners in smaller dive bars and usually they are not in the nicest sections of town. So if you tell the audience at the Warped Tour that you'll be playing in the ghetto later on half these kids aren't going to be able to get there because they're parents won't let them go. But at the same time they're buying records and the next time we come through on a bigger tour in better venues then maybe they'll show up. But it had yet to really prove itself.
DRE: What bands are you excited to see on the Warped Tour?
T: Well Dropkick Murphys is playing. We've done a ton of stuff with them and they're always good to see. I'm looking forward to seeing AFI again. Other than that I haven't really done my homework and I don't know who else is playing [laughs]. Hopefully they'll be some bands I've never heard of that I'll discover.
DRE: You've got some angry songs on your album. Talking to you now you seem very pleasant.
T: It depends. When I'm writing I usually get caught up in the moment. I'm not one of those people that harbors it and walks around with it. Instead of harping on something I'll write it down and usually that's the end of it.
DRE: What's pissing you off right now?
T: Florida. We're we've been for five days. Its too hot and the shows have been crummy. The people in Florida are kind of assholes. The ones at the shows have been cool. But its everything I don't like about the south and the northeast rolled into one. Everything that's wrong with New Jersey and Alabama all rolled into one penis shaped state.
DRE: I heard you almost got killed in Texas.
T: Yeah I got hit by a car. We were bringing some BMX bikes with us on our bus. Because its hard to get around if you want to see the town or go to a bar. So we were riding around looking for the place that JFK got shot in Dallas. This woman comes flying around the corner in her car, cuts off a bus and as she's waving apologetically to the bus driver, she ran right into me. I rolled away but I was ok and she gave me a 100 bucks. No harm no foul.
DRE: Do you and band members ever get into arguments on the road?
T: Well we all have big mouths but we've been really lucky so far. We're pussies anyway. We talk a good game but we're all short and not tough. We won't back down but we don't have the muscle to back ourselves up.
DRE: How different is the punk scene now as compared to ten years ago?
T: It was a lot smaller then a lot bigger and now its getting smaller again. Its much more easily accessible now with stores like Hot Topic and the Warped Tour. So its easier to get into which can take away some of the sincerity of some of the people in it. But then again that's what people who are older than me say about their era as well. Everyone wants to say they were into it first. Lets bag on the kids.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
With the release of their latest album EXPLODE and doing another set at the Warped Tour should do a lot for their popularity but that isn't the point. They are a hardcore punk band and should never get popular. Small audience means really cool. But guess what? Trip doesn't give two shits about what happens in the future. He just wants to blow minds.
Check out Unseen's website.
Daniel Robert Epstein: Everyone's favorite question. What inspired the new album?
Tripp: We needed to make money and the record company made us [laughs]. I guess for the most part the new album is about what we are going through in our personal lives less than the political stuff which informed a lot of our first two albums.
DRE: Is it personal for all of you?
T: As far as the writing goes there are mainly three songwriters and one guy does the music. Each person came into doing the record with what they had on the table. Musically we all kind of fooled around with it. We didn't change each other's lyrics.
DRE: Do you all work on the songs together though?
T: Generally speaking one of us will come in with a riff or something. Especially when I do it because I can't play guitar well because I play bass. So I write all my stuff on a little crummy acoustic guitar and then Scott, the lead guitar player of the band, will put minors in and shit like that. Musically someone comes in with an idea then we will all work with it and then Mark, myself and occasionally Paul will come in with a set of lyrics and if it fits the song then it fits the song. If it doesn't we just put it on the back burner.
DRE: So you came out of the Boston punk scene in the early 90's. What started that?
T: We all grew up in the suburbs outside Boston. When we were sophomores in high school and going to shows in the city. There weren't that many national acts going through especially for the kind of punk we were playing. It wasn't that big at the time and not a lot of money in it. So there were just a lot of local bands playing because no one was touring. Its like everyone says you see a bunch of bands that aren't that good and you think if they can do it then we can too. Basically we did it to get into shows for free too. We were tired of paying and we said, if we had a band we wouldn't have to pay for everything.
DRE: Your label, BYO Records, describes you as a street punk band. Is that true?
T: I have no idea what that means. Does it mean we walk on the street? That's a label a lot of people assign to it. Street punk, chaos punk and a bunch of other nonsense. I don't really care what people call us. To be honest there is nothing original out there. People that are concerned about that can assign whatever labels they like. If that helps them define things to help sell a record then knock yourself out but I don't really work like that.
DRE: What's it like working with BYO?
T: They've been great to us. Its awesome because they've got 20 years of experience. The owners of the label, the Stern brothers, have been in the band Youth Brigade for over 20 years now. So they know what its like. Sometimes you get these record labels that are run by some kid that just came into a lot of money or some record company guy who went to college for it. They'll give you some advice when they don't know what they are talking about then you get someone like the Sterns and their years of experience comes through. They give you advice as someone at a record label and as someone in a band so all things considered they've been really awesome.
DRE: Are you psyched for the Warped Tour?
T: Yeah but its been a lot of work and there's no air conditioning in our ride either. So we just sit there and sweat all day long. Last year I kind of made an ass out of myself drinking all day. I'm more of a professional now so this year I'm going to try to be on my best behavior and pace myself. But its a lot of fun and a lot of work. We get to play in front of a lot of younger kids we wouldn't get to play in front of. There's a couple not so good bands on it but that's like that on any tour.
DRE: What specifically came out of you guys doing the Warped Tour last year?
T: Its hard to tell. I definitely want to say it did help. Its not like after you do the tour there's this huge push and you're up to this next level. The tours we're doing now as headliners in smaller dive bars and usually they are not in the nicest sections of town. So if you tell the audience at the Warped Tour that you'll be playing in the ghetto later on half these kids aren't going to be able to get there because they're parents won't let them go. But at the same time they're buying records and the next time we come through on a bigger tour in better venues then maybe they'll show up. But it had yet to really prove itself.
DRE: What bands are you excited to see on the Warped Tour?
T: Well Dropkick Murphys is playing. We've done a ton of stuff with them and they're always good to see. I'm looking forward to seeing AFI again. Other than that I haven't really done my homework and I don't know who else is playing [laughs]. Hopefully they'll be some bands I've never heard of that I'll discover.
DRE: You've got some angry songs on your album. Talking to you now you seem very pleasant.
T: It depends. When I'm writing I usually get caught up in the moment. I'm not one of those people that harbors it and walks around with it. Instead of harping on something I'll write it down and usually that's the end of it.
DRE: What's pissing you off right now?
T: Florida. We're we've been for five days. Its too hot and the shows have been crummy. The people in Florida are kind of assholes. The ones at the shows have been cool. But its everything I don't like about the south and the northeast rolled into one. Everything that's wrong with New Jersey and Alabama all rolled into one penis shaped state.
DRE: I heard you almost got killed in Texas.
T: Yeah I got hit by a car. We were bringing some BMX bikes with us on our bus. Because its hard to get around if you want to see the town or go to a bar. So we were riding around looking for the place that JFK got shot in Dallas. This woman comes flying around the corner in her car, cuts off a bus and as she's waving apologetically to the bus driver, she ran right into me. I rolled away but I was ok and she gave me a 100 bucks. No harm no foul.
DRE: Do you and band members ever get into arguments on the road?
T: Well we all have big mouths but we've been really lucky so far. We're pussies anyway. We talk a good game but we're all short and not tough. We won't back down but we don't have the muscle to back ourselves up.
DRE: How different is the punk scene now as compared to ten years ago?
T: It was a lot smaller then a lot bigger and now its getting smaller again. Its much more easily accessible now with stores like Hot Topic and the Warped Tour. So its easier to get into which can take away some of the sincerity of some of the people in it. But then again that's what people who are older than me say about their era as well. Everyone wants to say they were into it first. Lets bag on the kids.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
VIEW 16 of 16 COMMENTS
kountrklchr:
My nose was broken in an unseen circle pit at warped tour. i screamed my soul out for this band.
atrociousradness:
this band fell so far, i wish they would just change the name and/or stop making music all together.