After hitting the States for a week, our writer Laura managed to grab an interview with Brian and Josh from The Summer Set on their US tour.
How would you describe your current musical style and who influences your music the most?
Brian: I’m a lover of pop music, but at the end of the day, I love a good singer/songwriter. The Summer Set just wants to write good, honest pop-rock and roll songs. My biggest influence is Bruce Springsteen. “Born To Run” is my bible.
Josh: I’d consider our current style as alternative rock with a pop sense of melody. We have a range of influences, however 90’s alternative is something we all love.
Tell us what you’ve been doing recently. Do you feel like you have become closer as a band because of this?
Brian: We spent the beginning of last year recording our latest album, “Everything’s Fine” with producer John Fields. It’s the proudest I’ve ever been of anything I’ve done in my life thus far. Since we finished recording we’ve been touring endlessly. March through to May we toured the US with All Time Low and Yellowcard. We went to the UK for the first time in May, followed by Japan right after. This summer we toured the US again with We The Kings and Hot Chelle Rae and now we’re on tour with Plain White T’s. The album came out in July.
How would you define the word “success?” Do you believe that you are truly successful as a band?
Brian: To be, success is feeling satisfied and accomplished with your work. I’m never really satisfied, so I would like to think I have more work to do.
Josh: I do believe we are successful. As cliché as the phase sounds, success is not measured by dollar signs. I get to travel the world and get to rock the fuck out.
Do you prefer playing bigger venues or smaller venues? Why?
Brian: Bigger. I thrive off big crowds. I love the energy and I believe it makes me perform better.
Josh: Size never matters. A single person showing up still means something.
What influences the lyrical content of your music? How do you go about writing your music?
Brian: With “Everything’s Fine,” John, Josh and I spent several months writing and collaborating in Los Angeles, Nashville, and home in Arizona. The record depicts this story of a boy and a girl and their trials and tribulations of falling in love for the first time, but it resonates especially at home with me because it’s very sincere to something I had just gone through.
Josh: Our lyrics are influenced by real life situations we’ve been through. Even if we’re telling a goofy story there’s still a meaning in it somewhere, you just have to look. When it comes to writing, there’s never one set way of doing things, it comes from inspiration.
What are your favourite and least favourite parts about being in the band?
Brian: I love being in a different city every day and seeing new cities and I love playing music live. I wish it wasn’t so much an endless cycle of tour, record, tour, record ect. Because I would love to embark of different endeavours within the entertainment industry as well, but with the state of the music industry, you have to repeat that cycle in order to survive.
What bands or artists would you like to work with in the future?
Brian: On this record we got to collaborate with Paul and Kyle from Matchbox 20. They’re the greatest dudes and I’d love to tour with them. I’d love to maybe collaborate with Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Jay-Z or even Bruce Springsteen. I’ve got big dreams.
What are your goals for the next 12 months as “The Summer Set?” What can we expect to see from you?
Brian: Well now that “Everything’s Fine” is out, we’re going to be touring incessantly through the US, Japan and Australia. Hopefully at the end of next year we’ll start working on album number three.
Josh: You can always expect new music, new videos, crazier tours, and the occasional impolite tweet from Stephen.
