The Daily OrangeQ&A l The Academy Is... bassist Adam Siska
By Kelina Imamura
Posted: 11/18/09, 2:54 AM EST Section: Feature
The day before The Academy Is… hit the Schine Underground stage as the headlining act for the semester's second Bandersnatch Music Series concert, The Daily Orange spoke with bassist Adam Siska. Siska talked about high school stereotypes, collaborating with Andrew McMahon and the future of the band.
So, "Fast Times at Barrington High" came out; what inspired the band to write an album about high school life after many years had passed?
I don't know. I would never say the album is about, really about high school. I think that just the setting for the imagery and the songs are metaphorical for situations in real life and you can draw parallels to being in high school.
You and William Beckett (the lead singer of The Academy Is…) went to high school together. What was your relationship like back then?
Yeah, we did. I knew him through my older brother, who was three years older than me, and we just hit it off, started talking about bands and sharing CDs, going to record stores, going to concerts and we talked about wanting to start our own band, and in 2003, we did. And we've been doing this ever since.
What high school stereotype would you say you were? Stereotype-wise, who were the other members of the band?
I think I would have fallen into the stoner type. I guess people thought I was a stoner, but I wasn't a stoner at all. I never smoked weed in high school (laughs). Everyone was under the impression that I was a stoner because I was so far out there. William was like the quiet one. Before anyone was ever called emo, he was the emo kid. People just didn't know what it was yet. Mitch thought he was gay. Mike Carden, he was on the swim team and he was the captain of the debate team. So I don't really know what stereotype that is, he was pretty talented. And our drummer, Butcher, he went to art school, so he was an art school student. And Michael, our guitar player, dropped out of high school.
How often do you play for a strictly college audience? How will the upcoming show at Syracuse University differ from your larger shows?
So, "Fast Times at Barrington High" came out; what inspired the band to write an album about high school life after many years had passed?
I don't know. I would never say the album is about, really about high school. I think that just the setting for the imagery and the songs are metaphorical for situations in real life and you can draw parallels to being in high school.
You and William Beckett (the lead singer of The Academy Is…) went to high school together. What was your relationship like back then?
Yeah, we did. I knew him through my older brother, who was three years older than me, and we just hit it off, started talking about bands and sharing CDs, going to record stores, going to concerts and we talked about wanting to start our own band, and in 2003, we did. And we've been doing this ever since.
What high school stereotype would you say you were? Stereotype-wise, who were the other members of the band?
I think I would have fallen into the stoner type. I guess people thought I was a stoner, but I wasn't a stoner at all. I never smoked weed in high school (laughs). Everyone was under the impression that I was a stoner because I was so far out there. William was like the quiet one. Before anyone was ever called emo, he was the emo kid. People just didn't know what it was yet. Mitch thought he was gay. Mike Carden, he was on the swim team and he was the captain of the debate team. So I don't really know what stereotype that is, he was pretty talented. And our drummer, Butcher, he went to art school, so he was an art school student. And Michael, our guitar player, dropped out of high school.
How often do you play for a strictly college audience? How will the upcoming show at Syracuse University differ from your larger shows?
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