Justin from I am the Door answered my questions I gave him in September 2006 but he didn

Justin from I am the Door answered my questions I gave him in September 2006 but he didn´t answer everyone….it seems like he´s not was willing to answer the question about politics. Anyway, an interesting interview…

History?
-Me and Henry (Guitar) met in Bristol in 2003 at a random house party and just clicked. We ended up talking all night about music and starting a band. Over the next few months we wrote loads of songs on his 12 track recorder. I met George (Bass) about three weeks after while waiting to go into a lecture at Uni. We spoke a little about music he told me he could play the bass. I asked him if he would be interested in playing some bass on the songs we had written. We then needed a drummer, we put a few notices up in the local music shop but nothing was happening and no-one was interested. I knew my brother could play the drums. But he lived in Plymouth. I asked him to come up to Bristol to rehearse with us. Once we were all in that rehearsal room something special happened. We all seemed to work off each other without having to say much. We all seem to have the same musical vision. We rehearsed like this for a few months with Alex travelling up from Plymouth. In this time we wrote a majority of the tracks that appear on “Frequency’.

Please tell me a little about every member, age, family, work, interests and
something bad about every one?
-In 2003 my mother was diagnosed with a brain tumour and was told she had months to live, as you can imagine this knocked me for 6. My mother had always been there and had always given me advice on how to deal with life. The only way I could deal with the situation was to write music and become very close with my girlfriend and friends. I needed to surround myself with people that could pick me up. I truly believe without music and those people I would be very screwed up and maybe even worse. My life has always been full of surprises. Coming from a dysfunctional family I have always been a person that relies on something to focus on to keep me from falling or thinking about the bad times... Music has always been there for me.
At about the same time Henry’s dad was diagnosed with fatal cancer. This brought us closer as friends. We became two friends grieving together. He knew how I felt and I knew how he felt in this very strange circumstance. We wrote a lot of songs asking questions of ourselves and it helped to deal with the pain. I just knew something special had to happen; something good had to emerge from the ashes of all this shit. Henry and I writing music gave us a new lease of life, something to focus on. For me this band is my world, my baby. It lets me get out all my inner demons.

My review of your record is like this I AM THE DOOR-FREQUENCY(CD-SUGARSHACK RECORDS FOD 069) IATD IATD is a group which is really hard to place musically. I don´t know what to compare with and then it's difficult for me. A little bit hysterical vocals and somewhere between emo and indie goes IATD the way foreward. Much feelings in their music, that can´t you deny and really obvious is that this is very emotional music. I hope that I can listen more to this record because even if it's not difficult music so can I feel that I want to like it but I cannot come through. But I have done more tries today and I came through.Can be really strong.(SIX) 19/9-06
What about it?
-I wanted to sum up the themes of the record in the title. It was really about having a name that summed up what we felt. The music industry is so complicated, to find music that isn’t blasted through the commercial radio you really have to look hard to find good unsigned bands. It’s a kind of contradiction I suppose.
I try and write positive. And always ask questions, things that I’ve gone through or experienced. I am not unique, in having been hurt, having regret. I like to write about the feelings I know that I share with everyone else, because I want other people to relate to them, or put their own meanings to the songs. Writing the way I feel down on paper is therapeutic for me, so these songs are snapshots of how I was feeling at the time whether it be happiness, regret or loss. Those emotions, I think, hold true in influencing most artists.
We'd rather challenge our fans and make them listen to our songs than give them something that's easy to digest. There is a lot of music out there that is very easy to digest but we never wanted to be part of it. There’s plenty of scope for writing catchy hooks within proggessional music.

Is there any other bands you´re being compared with?
-It’s really difficult to pinpoint any particular influences because we haven't actively tried to sound like anyone else. We all have different musical backgrounds and have diverse preferences.
But I do have to laugh when I hear what some reviewers make of our stuff.
Just the other day I read a review of the album saying we sound like Minus the Bear and The Mars Volta. The next day Blood Brothers mutated with Hot Hot Heat. Then today some reviewer said we sounded like Lostprophets...???
The most depressing thing at the moment is how there is so much energy wasted on perfecting the art of sounding the same as everyone else. It would be wonderful if bands would just be themselves and fight against the evil temptation of pigeonholing. One band might come along that sounds really fresh and exciting, then suddenly everyone sounds the same! What impresses us and keeps us interested in the music scene is that there is an opportunity right now to do something different - to forge a new path based on the age-old formula of good showmanship, catchy songs, technical accomplishment and basic hard work. We want appreciation because we’ve earned it, not because a particular trend demands it.

Do you care about reviews?
-I really don't care about reviews – good or bad they are still done by ONE person. If anything we use reviews as constructive criticism. Positive reviews are still only one person's voice. For some reason some people are given the authority to praise or damn a band's hard work, But whatever… that's the music business.

You have influences from many different styles, are you so unlike each other musically?
-We generally play whatever comes out make it into a rough song, and then worry about structure and dynamics afterwards. I Kind of feel this way you don’t lose out from trying to write a 3 minute radio song. This does take longer but generally the songs we spend the most time on seem to be ones were most happy with.
Music wise we think we’ve created an IAMTHEDOOR sound, and the vision is really to write catchy songs that incorporates our sound. Because our lives are now so involved within the band, we all live together as well, this release has really focused us to now to really get moving, and to play to as many people as possible.

How would you describe your music in three words?
-HONEST/EMOTIONAL/PUNCH

Is there any good bands in your homecountry now?
-The music scene where I live isn't renowned for its underground scene.

What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or is it a lifestyle? Or you don´t call your music as punk so then I wonder about your relationship to punk?
-Punk rock to me is all about total personal freedom. The freedom to live your life as you see fit. This doesn't mean that you can go around stepping on other people toes, or that you should mistreat anyone else.
Punk rockers talk about anarchy all the time, but most don't really have an understanding of what the word really means. The definition of the word is "the absence of government". Anarchy does not mean chaos. Anarchy is about intelligence, autonomy, and caring about all life.

Please rank your five favourite records, five favourite concerts and five
most important things in life?
-Favourite Records
1. PEARL JAM / Ten
2. Anything by AT THE DRIVE IN
3.ACDC / Back in Black
4.The Clash / London Calling
5. U2 - Joshua Tree
Favourite Concerts
1. PEARL JAM
2. STRUNG OUT
3. Hundred Reasons
4. At The Drive In
5. Muse
most important things in life
1. Making/creating Music
2. Good Freinds
3. Honesty
4. Staying Focused
5. Dont Panic!

First, last and most expensive record ever bought?
-Guns & Roses Appetite For Destruction was the first record I bought.
I´m not too sure about the most expensive record I have ever bought. I´m always skint so I guess any record burns a hole in my pocket.
The Last record was Johnny Cash

Most embarrasing record in your collection?
-Something from my NU-Metal Days, Like Limp Bizkit or something by Creed.

You´re on Sugarshack Records? How is that?
-Very Good Thanks. They treat us well.Working with Sugarshack is very easy, we are never told what to do or how to act, mostly our ideas are nurtured and added to by the label, it is non-restrictive and that's the way we like it.

Have you done anything more than Frequency? If you have how can
I get it?
-Before we signed with Sugarshack we released 2 EP's via our website/Myspace these have both sold out.

Which is the question you never get, please ask it and answer it?
-"Why do you do what you do?" And then I answer: "Because if I didn't do what I do, I would have problems, because I cant do what the other people do.

Is it any chance to see you in Sweden soon?
-We do have plans to got to Europe but they have not been confirmed as of yet so I cannot divulge that kind of information at this time.

The name where does it comes from?(yeah it´s a boring question but it´s
interesting)?
-The name is a personal thing to me and the guitar player. Just after we had both lost our parents we became very close. We wrote a lot of songs together and spent most of our time together. We were in my flat, and we hadn’t a name for the band yet. Henry picked up this Photography book I had lying around and was flicking through when he stopped on a photo of a door with the words I AM THE DOOR painted on it. It just felt right for the name of the band. I AM THE DOOR means to us our DOOR to a better place a better feeling. I AM THE DOOR is our emotional release.

Futureplans for the band?
-I'd like to see us making records that keep topping the one before. Music is about pushing limits, breaking boundaries, in every area, and that's the thing about musicians. We're all perfectionists, that's the ultimate goal. We'll never reach it, but its fun searching for that. It's a challenge. That keeps a musician from stagnating. That's how the greats got there. That's one of the things we're aiming for. Not to become a super-musician, but to come close, within reason. I believe, if given the chance to take our music to as many people as possible, we will be able to make a living out of doing what I really love doing – making music. We love playing live and would love to keep doing this as long as possible, the moment it feels like a chore is the day I will pack it in, but I really cannot see that happening for a long time.

For yourself?
-Making music, releasing music, discovering new interesting artists, staying alive. Enjoying my days on Earth, which are always a bit too short, by the way...I’m lucky to be in this band. I don’t take it for granted. oh yeah and World domination (same as last year).

Wisdomword?
-BELIEVE

Something to add?
-Buy our cd, open it up, LISTEN to the songs, and listen to every single band we list in the back.Keep your ears open and enjoy. Try to enjoy all kinds of music. See and hear music. It’s really important that you learn as much as you can about music.