1. State your full name, what you do in Thee Alliance, and your favorite album of all time.

Alex Collins: Bass, favorite album Set Your Goals "Mutiny", I know it’s new, but I really like 'em.

                                

Dave Reed: I play drums and my favorite album of all time is Pennywise "Full Circle."

 

Frank Collins: Guitar/vocals, my favorite album is None More Black "This is Satire"

2. Give a brief history, from each of your views of the story of how Thee Alliance was formed.

Alex: Frank and Dave met freshman year and started playing guitar together. Sophomore year when Dave got his first drum-set they started a band. This was in 2004.  They needed a bass player and Frank had to lie to Dave and say I was 13 for Dave to even consider me, but I was only 11 or 12 years old.  For almost a year we just messed around in my garage.  Then we got Pete, our first singer.  We only played about 10 shows with him cause he went to boarding school like 3 hours away in Indiana.  So we kicked him out.  To this day I still think he is gay, literally.  So then Frank started to sing and we have played a ton of shows the last couple of years.

 

Dave: When I first formed the band, it was with a dude name Mike Williams who sang and also with Frank. We didn't have a bass player yet, so we just wrote some simple, shitty ass songs and had one practice before Alex came into the picture. Our next practice, Frank told me Alex was 13 to make Alex look a little less Mickey Mouse, so I agreed. Also, I didn't find out Alex's real age for about a year. The same day we all agreed that Mike wasn't working out and he was just god awful, so Frank gave him the boot. That summer we just wrote a lot of tunes before Mike Bok joined the band for a week. After Mike quit, Pete was about to join the band until the band split for about a month because of a random fist fight between me a Frank. The following month Pete joined and we played our first show at Club Evolution. We played for a year with Pete until we kicked him out. We ended up staying as a three piece with Frank on vocals.

 

Frank: Ok, well when I was a freshman in high school I used to ride the Metro to school. One day, I saw the fattest kid I had ever seen in my entire life. I mean Dave was thirty pounds heavier than he is now and a foot shorter back then. He was fucking huge! Anyway, I heard him mention something about guitars so I started talking to him. Long story short, we started a band, had a few shitty singers, the last of which was Pete, who lasted about a dozen shows. He sang like a girl and I’m pretty sure he was gay. Anyway, he got sent away somewhere, so then I started singing as well as playing guitar. We switched our style and wrote new material which we recorded with Hansum Studios. We've now played 100+ shows and traveled to some places like Richmond ID, Madison ID, Dayton OH, Lima OH, and Portsmouth Oh. We also got to open for a bunch of cool bands like The Queers, No Trigger, Much the Same, The Briggs, Mustard Plug...

 

So anyway, we finally decided to record an album and get it pressed after four years and that’s where we are now.

 

3. You guys put out a demo a few years ago. How was your experience with the demo different from the recording of your full length?
 

Alex: Well for our demo we recorded at Hansum Studios and for our new full length we recorded at CinSound Studios.  The main difference was that when we recorded our full length we took our time and had fun with it.  It took us over a month to record.  We kind of rushed the demo from 2006 and made some mistakes because of it.

 

Dave: For me, it was the difference on how we recorded the demo with Hansum and the Full length with CinSound. At Hansum, we would record a song one at a time. With CinSound, We knocked out the Drums with in one day. This fucking sucked, considering I only had 5 hours to record a 10 song set.

 

Frank: First off, when you say demo, I hope your talking about the Hansum Demo from about 2006 because we actually recorded a bunch of stuff before that with Pete and myself when I first started singing and its terrible. A few people still have those and it makes me cringe. Well, as far as recording the full length, it was actually fun. There was no time pressure and Clay (from local band Hat's Off) is a great dude. Although, Clay wouldn't let me play cops and robbers with his neighbor's kids after the first week of recording. Timmy's parents were "concerned". Don't worry Timmy I’ll get you eventually you little bastard!!! (Timmy always got to be the bad guy!)

 

4. You guys started out as a young band, your bass player is still in high school, what advice do you have for other younger bands in this city?

 

Alex: Well most high school bands suck, but being in a band when you're young sets you up for being in a good band when you’re older.

 

Dave: Just have fun with it and try to join a band with friends, because that’s the only way it's gonna work.

 

Frank: Um, no comment.
 
5. What kind of evolution do you see in Thee Alliance's sound?

 

Alex: I think every song we write gets better and better.  Our new songs aren’t just stupid fast easy punk songs.  We are trying to make some of our newer songs a little bit slower and a lot more complicated. 

 

Dave: Our newer shit is starting to break away from the speedy punk rock sound. Don't get me wrong though, I still use the one-two punk beat for a lot of the new songs, but the music alone is getting much better.

 

Frank: Well, our new stuff is not four chord punk songs played at top speed anymore. We've slowed it down and tried to write better songs. I guess it’s because I’d rather listen to Dead to Me and None More Black over bands like The Casualties nowadays. That’s pretty much true for everyone in the band. I guess we're not uppin’ the punx anymore. :(

 

6. I’ve noticed the progression in your music as well. How have fans of the Hansum demo reacted to the newer stuff?

Alex: Fans? For being in this band for over four years we have learned that you are not going to be able to keep everyone happy and make your music better at the same time, you gain some and you lose some.

 

7. When you guys play live, do you prefer to play basements or venues/bars? What is your favorite venue to play in Cincinnati?

Alex: I prefer to play venues, cause its more fun for me, but I know frank and Dave would think otherwise cause they like to drink at basement shows. My favorite local venue is The Poison Room, cause the people that work there are awesome and I really like the stage.

 

Dave: This is a hard question. I love both basements and real venues. Sudsy's will always have that special place in my heart. For basements, it's a total split between The Orange Cat and Flora. I've been so fucked up at both basements I can barely remember playing them.

 

Frank: Basement shows are the most fun, but we always play terrible because Dave's too drunk to walk let alone play drums. My favorite venue currently is the Poison Room. Mark and Tony have helped us more than anyone, but I’ll always remember Sudsy Malone’s.

 

8. How has being from Cincinnati, the West Side in particular, affected the way you play music?
 
Frank: Well, it’s like when you pick up a pop and take a drink and it turned out to be a pop that's been sitting there for two days.  It just sucks

9. Is there any meaning behind the title of your new album ”Provisions of an Uprising”?

 

Alex: Dave came up with it so I’m not really sure.

 

Dave: I never knew what the meaning was behind it. It just has an edgy ring to it, so I dug it.

 

Frank: Funny you mention that. The title has nothing to do with the album. Most of the songs are about growing up, not politics or the "government" like the title might make you think. I wanted it to be self titled, Dave wanted to up the punx.

10. How have your fellow locals bands influenced you, musically, ethically, etc...?
 
Dave: When we first started the band we didn't even know there was a local punk scene in Cincinnati.  We found out when were asked to play Cincypunkfest like three years ago.  The Black Tie Bombers are the only local band I would say we looked up to. 

 

11. Who are some of  your favorite local bands?
 

Alex: Some of my favorite local bands are The Frankl Project, The Dopamines, Team Stray, Dead! Serious, among others.  My favorite used to be the Black Tie Bombers.

 

Dave: Downhill Luke (R.I.P), Eightysixed, Team Stray, The Frankl Project, The Fucks (R.I.P).

 

Frank: Black Tie Bombers, Team Stray, The Frankl Project, And The Dopamines.

12. What are some future plans you guys have for Thee Alliance? Any touring in the future for you guys?

Alex: Our C.D. release show for our full length is Friday March 21'st at The Poison Room.  After that we are going to book some out of town shows.  we are still debating if we will be able to tour this summer because Dave doesn't get vacations at his new job so he could get fired, so that is put on hold for now.

 

Dave: This summer, we’re planning on doing a lot of out of town shows since the album will be released by then. We were planning on touring with Chris Grannen of The Pinstripes, but with work I won't be able to do it. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind and just say fuck it and tour. I doubt it though.

 

Frank: After the release we're gonna start playing out a lot again. We wanted to tour for a week or two with Chris Grannen, but because of work and my co-op I think we're just going to do a lot of little weekend trips this summer.

 

13. What question did you wish I asked you, but didn't?

14: Alex: Do you like being in a band?

 

Why yes, I love it. It takes up a lot of my free time and I hope it doesn't end any time soon.

 

15: Dave: Who's the most worthless piece of shit in this band?

 

Frank is. He likes boys. 

 16: Frank: Would it even be possible to be in the same van as Dave for more than an hour? 

No it's hard enough to be in the same room with him.

Check Out Thee Alliance!!!:

http://www.myspace.com/theealliance