Usually when I think of “melodic hardcore” I think of every band that I have ever heard that is some bush-league screamo band that doesn’t even come close to being a hardcore band. So what comes to mind when I think of melodic hardcore or post hardcore? How about bands like Quicksand, Fugazi, maybe 1.6 Band (look them up, you won’t be disappointed). So, when I heard With Increase, I was excited cause these young guys have some how figured out what a billion crappy screamo/metalcore bands have failed to figure out….how to actually play melodic hardcore. I was lucky to catch these guys live at Cornerstone 2011 and they play with an intensity level that is sure to get you moving and pumped. Check out the interview we did with the guys from With Increase, if you have the chance, hang with them and see them play, they are super cool dudes.
BAND: With Increase
MUSIC STYLE: Melodic/Post Hardcore (done right fool)
HOME TOWN: Tampa, FL
FACEBOOK BANDCAMP BIGCARTEL
Q: With Increase has been around for a while, how far does the band go back and how did it get its start?
Travis - With Increase started in 2008 as a not very good tough guy mosh band that Paul, Justin and I started while we were in high school. We’ve been through several line up changes, stylistic changes, and a name change to get to what With Increase is now.
Justin - Doug our bassist joined early 2009 and our newest addition to the band is Will, our vocalist, who joined this past spring of 2011.
Will - Hi! I actually don’t know our bands history, haaa. I’m still the new kid.
Q: So I know that With Increase had a full length out a couple of years ago, and I think you guys went through some lineup changes, now you have an EP out. How has the band changed musically between albums?
Justin - Since we’ve had a cycle of members come and go, each new member brought a different flavor to the mix. The band’s sound has definitely matured over the past 2-3 years. Our biggest goal was to play melodic hardcore, which is something we feel like we’ve not only done but have been able to grow in our writing. We actually have never had a full length out, we do have 3 EPs under our belt and a split we put out with Strengthen What Remains, which was our first release ever (good luck trying to get a hold of one!). We only have 2-3 songs from the older EPs that we still play, and our recent EP, “Signs of the Time”, is brand new material.
Travis – Without a doubt, With Increase is not the same band as we were when we started, we began as kids starting to get into the scene, but with each release we’ve kind of honed in on the sound all of us have wanted, heavy, melodic, and sincere.
Q: Where did the name With Increase come from? What is the significance behind the name?
Travis - There are several reasons for the name “With Increase” the easiest to explain is rooted in John 3:30, when John speaks of Jesus, he says that he must decrease so that Christ may increase. No one in this band is perfect, and we all fall short in many ways, but our hope is that with every passing day, people see less and less of our band, and more and more of Jesus. So that with our decrease, He may increase.
Will – It’s a freaking catchy name.
Q: What does everyone in the band do when they are not playing?
Travis - Justin’s in high school and the rest of us are full time college students. Paul records many of the bands in the Tampa scene out of his home studio, Doug mostly works on being even better looking than he already is, Justin skates and eats pizza, Will patrols ebay for Shai Hulud and Mindset merch, and I worry about my weight and if it will keep me from finding a girlfriend.
Will - I just started my first year in community college, I hate it! ha it’s not that bad, but I’d rather be camping, touring, or eating Chipotle. I did the insanity 2 month workout plan in the summer that I want to get back on, need to look good for the ladies. I’ve started to take mad naps after school and am currently looking for a part time job to pay the bills.
Justin - Skate, eat pizza, chill out. I’m a senior in high school but its a complete joke, I do half online classes and the other half on campus. I get home from school every day at 11 am.
Q: With Increase played Cornerstone this year and it was awesome to see you guys play live, you also played some tour dates after Cornerstone, how was that experience for you guys?
Will - So rad! I’ve always wanted to go to C-stone, so it was a trip that my first time going was actually playing it. On top of that getting to know the dudes in cool bands like Jawbone, Ironwill, Divide the Sea, Debtor, Messengers, Gideon…just a great time overall. I just moved from Nashville and the dudes in Dependency and Friends are my best friends so it was great to hang with them too. Danny our merch guy pooped in the lake. I think. P.O.D. was spot on. The secret barn cover set was my absolute favorite of the week. Sean from B&I came out of mosh retirement for that and the Norma Jean gig, too. Wild. The all star mosh award goes to Jon Dalman from Dependency for accidentally knocking a kid out during These Hearts.
We did a few days up to C-stone and a week after on the road, and it was awesome. Each night held different scenes/different vibes. I love playing in new cities to crowds who have never heard of us, I don’t know, I just love the challenge of winning over the crowd I guess! The coolest show hands down was the house show in Brentwood, TN with Friends, motions, Dependency, and Debtor. So rad to play a gig to friends old and new. also had a tasteful slumber party with Dependency that night, too (sorry John Michael, I stole your blanket).
Justin - It was rad. Cornerstone was way too hot, not as humid as Florida which rules. The majority of what I heard at C-stone were really bad breakdowns, but a ton of awesome bands played. Messengers, Debtor, Thin Ice, Jawbone, CTP, Venia…basically the 2 Blood and Ink days ruled. P.O.D. was raaaad. Also big ups to the muddy pond/swimming hole, I hit that place up at least three times a day to cool off.
Travis - It was a great experience, Cornerstone was a lot of fun for us. We were able to meet up with bands like Debtor, who we have listened to for years, and meet a lot of new friends there as well. The tour dates were great too, lots of new faces, it’s always great to play to new scenes and new kids
Q: What bands have influenced With Increase, how do you describe the sound of the band?
Travis - All of us tend to listen to a good variety of music. I personally love old school emo bands like The Promise Ring, Sunny Day Real Estate, Knapsack, etc. Without a doubt though, my all time favorite band is Jimmy Eat World, I can’t think of another band who has consistently put out releases that seem to capture certain points in my life
Justin - Our influences that have always been with us from the get go is all things FLHC resembles: Kids Like Us, Know the Score, Shai Hulud, Strongarm, Make or Break, Barries Now Bridges, etc. Those bands span the past 10-ish years of the Florida scene but all share a certain vibe to them.
Will - Comeback Kid, Shai Hulud, and Converge were the bands that got me hooked into hardcore, Shai Hulud changed my life as far as hardcore goes. Tell me “That Within Blood Ill Tempered” by Shai Hulud isn’t a perfect record? I think With Increase’s sound is just good fast hardcore with a melody to it.
Q: Is With Increase a Christian band, or do you guys consider yourselves “Christians in a band?” Why?
Travis – With Increase is a Christian band, every member of this band has placed their faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah, and their only hope for salvation from their sins. Though it is not the theme of every song we write, because we are called to make much of Jesus, and to pursue Him all of our days, every song is written in light of the transforming power of the Gospel.
Will – Agreed. We’ll stop doing this once the focus isn’t on Christ. With that in mind and adding to what Travis said, I definitely do not write every song about Jesus. I think there are other opinions and topics that I need to address (such as our corrupt and dark government, corporate brainwashing, homophobia/racism in the hardcore scene), but everything is from the viewpoint of a sinner redeemed by Christ.
Q: Where do you guys draw your influence or inspiration from in the bible? Any verses or books that weigh heavy on your hearts you would like share?
Travis - As a band, we’re currently studying the gospel of Luke. I’ve been blessed to teach through the book of John this summer at the student ministry I work at, and the Lord has shown me a great deal through studying the life of his Son.
Will - 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” These two verses in my opinion perfectly lay out our calling as men of God, especially in the hardcore scene. It sucks seeing other Christians in the scene feeling the need to compromise their faith in order to be a real “hardcore kid”. Having faith in hardcore has never been the popular thing to have, so we gotta be able to encourage each other and have faith that God will use us.
Also, the story of Jonas is my all time favorite bible story. God literally loves the cat so much that he does every crazy thing possible in order for Jonas to realize that taking God’s path is always the right choice. This story really applies to my life right now because I just moved down to Tampa for the band and feel called to be in school right now, which is something I literally never thought I would do. I can think of a million other things I’d rather be doing, but I just gotta have faith that God’s called me to be in school for a reason only he knows.
Q: Any other bands or people at shows given you a hard time about being Christians in the hardcore scene?
Will - Eh…not at all recently. We try to just chill out with everyone and meet dudes where they are and because of that there hasn’t been too much commotion about our beliefs. One of the best shows on summer tour was this gig in Clarksville, TN where it was a bunch of skinheads and punks drinking miller high life’s and circle pitting. everyone went off during our set! no one cared about what we believed, which was a cool thing to be a part of. Also the Tampa scene is one of the most open minded scenes to be a part of. It’s rad that we can play shows and be best friends with bands that stand completely against our beliefs, but yet respect everyone. That type of unity is not everywhere and because of that we are so thankful.
Travis – Tampa has an incredible scene, so many of our best friends in and outside of the scene have beliefs that are nothing like ours, but all of us support each other, and play shows together. Our convictions have never really been an issue at shows, we try our best to respect everyone’s beliefs and have always been shown that respect in return.
Q: Seems like Florida is a hot-bed for hardcore music right now, with Call To Preserve calling it quits, there are some spots in the scene to be filled, what other bands do you guys recommend in and around Florida for us to check out?
Travis - I can’t even begin to explain my level of excitement for the Florida hardcore scene right now. As far as bands go, Traitors, Losin It, Suitcase City, Axis, Rescuer, Weight of the World, A Hope For Tomorrow, Von Wolfe, Vices, Cold Hearted, Hivemind, Truth Inside, Direct Effect, In Reference To A Sinking Ship, Gator Bait, Brain Bust, Headless Dogs, Hollow Leg, Super Mutant, Strengthen What Remains.
Will - I also gotta give a nod to the Nashville, TN hardcore scene since I just moved from there. Worker, Dependency, Friends, Motions, Veritas, Empathy, In Fidelity, Cove, Enough, Hysteria. So much good stuff is poppin’ up right and left. It’s also beyond cool to see Plea for Purging still going hard, I got into the local scene through that band back in the day. I remember my friends 9th grade birthday party was going to their “quick is the word” EP release show at the old Rocketown. We played a show with them in July and it was rad as crap to talk to Andy from a band-to-band standpoint, instead of a 8th grade fanboy with girl pants wanting to buy 5 tees and get them to autograph my CD. oof.
Q: From hanging with you guys at Cornerstone and watching the awesome videos you guys took of Cornerstone and post Cornerstone, I know you guys love to have fun and don’t take yourselves to seriously, you guys have some good tour stories to share?
Travis – Gosh…being trapped in a van with 5 other dudes for hours on end no doubt gives you plenty of time to think of something stupid to do. On our way home from our last GA date this last tour, we were lighting fireworks in the van…which was dumb, it was even worse when we put them in a glass jar on the arm rest…which fell over and spilled. There was at least 20 seconds of people diving over seats, screaming, and looking for cover while we waited for the firework to go off. What sucked was that I was driving, so I couldn’t hide, I just had to hope it didn’t kill me.
Will – Peeing in bottles always sucks, and I always pee on the floor of the van (sorry Sam!). The day we left Cornerstone we had an off day, so we decided to drive to Evansville, IN to stay the night at Clint and Heather Vaught’s house (Jawbone HQ). On the way there, we decided to go to a Starbucks to use some wifi and to chill out. This ended up being a 3 hour detour and turned into a day trip to the St. Louis Arch. We get there and a free Maroon 5 concert is going on, too.
Also, Luke from Friends/Worker bought a thirty dollar slab of fish and put it under our tent at Cornerstone, thinking that we’d notice after like one day. Welp we didn’t notice at all! Travis actually used the fish as a pillow one night on accident without knowing. The day we packed up we smelled this horrific scent, which turned out to be the fish. So in rebellion we sliced a bit off and put it under Divide The Sea’s tent, and the rest we left for the Cornerstone crew to clean up.
With Increase at Cornerstone 2011 – Part 1
With Increase at Cornerstone 2011 – Part 2
Q: Will we see With Increase on tour any time in the near future?
Will – Right now we can only hit the road hard during school breaks. We’re about to start booking our winter East Coast tour which is gonna be a blast, we’re rolling with our friends in Losin’ It. If your a fan of stop and think, lockin out records bands, etc, definitelly check them out. Also spring and summer tour will for sure commence. Our goal is to get to California!
Q: Are their any record label deals in the future for With Increase? How can folks get a hold of your newest EP “Signs of the Time?”
Will – You’ll just have to wait and see…. and you can get a hold of the new EP at withincreasefl.bandcamp.com or snag a limited cassette at withincreasefl.bigcartel.com.
Q: What are some of the most embarrassing albums we would find on the band members iPods/MP3 players?
Travis – Life House was my favorite band until I found Jimmy Eat World, and that band still rules. I don’t care if that all but destroys my hardcore credibility.
Will - I jam out to He Is We really hard when I’m in my car. It’s a chick singer and a dude jammin’ on the acoustics. I get so much crap from everyone when I play it but they’re so catchy! I dare you to listen to “blame it on the rain” and not dig that chorus. I like Waka Flocka Flame. Some other honorable mentions are lmfao, Relient k, Plus One, and From First to Last. Doug listens to As I Lay Dying, but we all jammed the heck out of them at some point or another. Justin listens to Rick Ross. Paul likes obscure grind which I think for the most part sucks, but Magrudergrind and Despise You played Tampa last week and they brought the house down.
Q: Feel free to give shout-outs, parting message to the hardcore scene, names of bands we should check out, etc. Thanks for the interview guys, hope to see you live again in the near future!
Travis - Shout out to Tampa Hardcore, The Straight Edge, Real Dude Nation, GVC 2011, Urban Turban Wrecking Crew, Stoop Crew, Dependency, Friends, Traitors, Losin It, Rescuer, Of Heroes, Hollow Leg, Jim Adkins for writing to the soundtrack to last august, and all of my stickam friends
Will - Everyone needs to listen to Shai Hulud, Losin’ It, and Mindset. Drink Cheerwine and Ale8 soda. Go cliff diving. Pray for local, national, and international missionaries! The Straight Edge. Seahaven is the best band out right now. Taco Bell’s chicken bacon ranch flatbreads are the jam. Shoutout to the Nashville hardcore, youth with a mission Los Angeles, gvc/tsg/real dude nation. Danny Edge, Real Dude Luke, and Evan “hard” Miller.
i like all of this
i like all of this