Interview

Yesterday, I got the chance to interview Phil Cobrea of This Providence. It was a phone interview, so I unfortunately don't have any snazzy photos. However, I was able to ask a bunch of questions regarding their self-titled album which is in stores September 12th through Fueled By Ramen. Without further ado, I present to you, the interview.

EP: Who are you and what do you do in the band?

Phil: My name is Phil Cobrea and I play bass and do backups in This Providence

EP: How has the Seattle scene influenced your music?

Phil: It is influenced our music in many ways. The Seattle scene right now is completely thriving and it’s the greatest place to be. We got up and coming bands like Acceptance and Gatsby’s American Dream that have just kind of paved the way for younger bands like us, Daphne Loves Derby, and Forgive Durden. It’s just a huge community over there and it’s been awesome.

EP: What was the song writing process for this album?

Phil: Gavin, our guitarist, a lot of the times he would just come up with the basics of a song like a guitar riff, bass riff, or a drum riff. He’d kind of create the basics of the music and then he would bring it to us all and we’d all pitch in our two cents. Then, Dan would write lyrics and melodies and would work forever and that’s usually how it came about. Then at the end we would just tweak the songs however we wanted and what sounded best.

EP: Why did you choose Casey Bates again to produce this album?

Phil: He recorded our first album, Our Worlds Divorce, and we loved working with him. He’s this totally laid back guy, but he knows how to get things done and we just loved how his production has improved every record he has done. He’s done Forgive Durden’s record, Gatsby’s American Dream record, Portugal The Man record and we just loved his progression and the ability that he had. We clicked really well with him so we wanted to go with him again.

EP: What’s the tour with Paramore been like?

Phil: It’s been unreal, so far every date has been sold out and the crowd’s have been awesome for us and treat us really well. We’ve become awesome friends with Paramore, they’re just an incredible group of people. Same with Cute is What We Aim For and Hit The Lights even. Everyone on this tour has been awesome and it’s just been a really cool experience.

EP: How exactly did you hook up with Fueled By Ramen in the first place?

Phil: We had a friend who was friends with one of the A&R guys. Actually, Bobby from Gatsby’s American Dream was friends with Johnny from the label and Johnny liked what he heard. He then showed it to the label and the label liked it and they got in contact with us. It’s been lucky and we’re really lucky to be on Fueled By Ramen working with such great people.

EP: In your biography, it says that you wanted to make an album that was versatile where one song doesn’t sound like another. Would you say the album still flows well together?

Phil: It totally flows. Like, there are songs that stand out but one song will have a connection to another song, which has a connection to another song, which has a connection to these two other songs. Lyrically and musically, it’s all related even though some songs are different. Like, we have a song that’s kind of like The Beatles and we have a song that’s harder and, lyrically especially, they somehow flow together really well.

EP: Yeah, cause I just heard “The Road to Jericho is Lined with Starving People” which you just put up and it’s pretty different from all of the songs that have been released so far.

Phil: Oh yeah, but you see… that song connects to another song called “Beautiful Rescue” which connects to another song that is kind of in between [the two]. We’re really excited about the record.

EP: You say that the album is pretty spiritual as well, would you say there are more references to your spirituality than Our Worlds Divorce?

Phil: Oh, yes. Actually, pretty much every song is related to our walk with God or our walk with Jesus. We don’t necessarily come out and say it in each song, but a lot of the songs on the record are things we have dealt with and are dealing with. It’s probably the most straightforward record or stuff we have written compared to the EP and the LP and the most heartfelt stuff we’ve written.

EP: With the recent popularity of Fueled By Ramen, are you worried that you are going to be written off to a certain sound?

Phil: It’s going to happen. I mean, we’ve already gotten reference that we sound like Panic! At the Disco, which I don’t even see at all, but it’s going to happen and there’s nothing you can really do about it. Hopefully if people listen, they’ll make their own judgment.

EP: What music have you been listening to lately?

Phil: Oh man, we’ve listened to… in the van we’ve been listening to this guy Matt Costa. I listen to this band called Shane & Shane, they’re actually just an acoustic group. The Beatles… even being on tour with Paramore, we’d put their record back in and listen to it. Usually we just put our iPods on shuffle though and listen to everything that comes through.

EP: What are your plans for the rest of the year, once the record comes out?

Phil: Just to tour. I mean, we’ve gotten some offers for other tours right now and we’re just weighing our options right now but we’ll definitely be on the road.

EP: Any final words you’d like to mention to the readers?

Phil: Check out our new record, get it when it comes out and hopefully you like it. Listen to it with an open mind.

Many thanks to Christina for setting this up as well as Phil for taking the time out of his day to talk to me.