The Artist Life

Laura Sedgwick: I really enjoyed your acoustic set. What’s it like playing acoustically as opposed to being on the main stage?
The Artist Life: It is different, but the beginning of a lot of these songs start out on an acoustic guitar anyhow, so its interesting to take the songs back to where we had them in the beginning…. You know, the first few times we did it we thought it was so awkward and weird but its actually getting a lot better the more we do it.

LS: So have you played at CEMF before?
AL: No, first time, first year.

LS: Have you played any similar outdoor festivals?
AL: We played a few but none like CEMF, it is in a league of its own.

LS: Just now you played your acoustic set then you’ll be hitting the main stage later tonight. What are you most looking forward to about that?
AL: Having tons of people in front of us. Obviously when we were playing in the tent we were getting people clapping and getting them really into the song, but if we have tons of people in front of us and they get into it us much as we can, that makes for a really fun set.

LS: You had about 30 people here in this really small tent for your acoustic set. Do you prefer this type of intimate setting as opposed to being on the main stage?
AL: It’s cool either way. You know, we love playing in general. It’s nice to play for 20 people; it’s nice to play for 200 people. We try to make the best of any situation anytime. We’re always just having fun and trying to involve as many people as we can.

LS: You have an album coming out soon. Can you tell me a bit about that?
AL: Sure. We put out Let’s Start a Riot with Underground Operations in October. We were in between putting out the full-length [album] so we thought [it would be] a really cool idea to give fans something to tide them over until the full-length comes out. [It] would be just the songs [from Let’s Start A Riot] acoustically. We have a little bit of a different take on these songs. Like Ian said, strip them down a little bit. It’s a digital only release available through iTunes and Underground Operations.

LS: Great. And what are you looking forward to for the rest of the weekend?
AL: I’m stoked to see The Roots. It’s such a great weekend because not only do we get to play in the festival, but we have so many friends on the bill as well like Kingdoms, Baptized in Blood, illScarlett, Stereos and Protest The Hero. Everyone’s here. It just feels like a family affair. Everyone being friends just makes for a super good party.