AVP's newest release, "Favorite Fix," can be found on iTunes.

I recently sat down with the guys from Artist Vs. Poet (or AVP) before their show at Soma for the ‘Bout Damn Time tour with This Providence, The Audition, Anarbor and The Bigger Lights.

AVP are a five-member pop-punk band from Denton, Texas, comprised of Tarcy Thomason on vocals, Joe Westbrook on drums, Jason Dean on bass and Craig Calloway and Joe Kirkland (aka “Kirky”) on guitars. Hanging out with AVP, you would think that these guys are longtime friends based on their comfort with each other and easy interaction. However, the guys in the band have really only known each other for a few years after finding each other via MySpace and YouTube, which is a real testament to the “MySpace Age” of music. According to Thomason, he “just posted a bulletin and said, ‘Hey I wanna get together and start something new.’ It was just gonna start out acoustic but then Craig responded to it and we wrote a few songs and got in the studio and soon enough it became a full band.” The band was completed upon finding “Kirky” in a video on YouTube.

During their first tour as a band, AVP got a lucky break. “Bob Becker came out to a show and randomly saw us and he wasn’t even there for our set,” Thomason said. That’s where it all started. Shortly thereafter, AVP were picked up by Fearless Records only a year after becoming a fully formed band. Their popularity rapidly increased, with attention from Alternative Press as well as having their music featured on MTV shows “The Real World” and “Parental Control.” When asked what it feels like to be recognized so early on in their career as a band, Thomason simply says, “It’s been amazing. The whole story of the band is really just surreal. It’s great.”

Since joining Fearless Records, AVP have released two EPs to much success, and on March 2nd of this year released their first full-length album, Favorite Fix. The album includes the title track from their Damn Rough Night EP, as well as 11 other extremely catchy songs that not only stick in your head, but also reveal experiences and emotions that the audience can instantly relate to. The album contains songs about “whatever we’re going through at the time,” Dean said, “whether it be good or bad. We like to take things that we find in our lives that the kids can relate to.” Thomason says the title song is “about addiction, whatever it may be. It doesn’t have to be a drug addiction or anything like that…and it’s about trying to overcome that addiction.” In regards to the response to the album, Dean said, “People like it. It’s a little bit different from the stuff we’ve done in the past, but nobody seems to mind.”

“We’re all stoked on it. We’re very proud of it,” added Thomason.

Later on, AVP took the stage with the biggest (and arguably the catchiest) hit off their album so far, “Car Crash.” They are bursting with energy and instantly captivating the crowd of screaming girls, and even the boyfriends that came with them. Not only are they energetic, making full use of the stage, but their passion for their music is also clearly visible, most notably in Thomason as he pours everything into singing the songs. Finishing the set with “Damn Rough Night,” it’s clear to me that as long as their energy and passion remain, they will soon be the “Favorite Fix” of millions.

Be sure to catch Artist Vs. Poet when they return to San Diego for the Vans Warped Tour on August 10th, and check out Favorite Fix, available now on iTunes.

“Car Crash”

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Over the past couple weeks I have been corresponding via e-mail and MySpace with Ivan Jacquez of local band Add the Color. Jacquez was kind enough to answer all my questions with plenty of detail, so rather than turning everything into my own words, I decided to leave the interview in question and answer format so you can hear everything straight from him.

MS: How long has the band been together and how was it formed?

IJ: We have fully been a band since August 2009. The way we came together is I had a bunch of songs written and roughly recorded that I had done by myself, so I thought I’d give it a shot and start a full band and play those songs live and see how it would go. Omar started playing drums almost at the same time that I started so he would catch on right away, and seeing that his family and mine are very close, it was only right to have him in the band. BJ was the last addition to the band. At first I was going to play bass and sing, then I would just find a guitar player. Then I figured it would be a lot easier to teach someone the bass parts, then a buddy told me to get a hold of this kid BJ, and so far he’s been great, I’m stoked on him.

MS: What are some of your musical influences?

IJ: We all listen to a lot of different stuff. I listen to a lot of Indie stuff like The Cure, Jason Mraz and The Temper Trap, but where my heart is at is pop punk like Blink-182, New Found Glory and Greenday. I think most people would probably say we sound like Blink…even though its really cliche to say that being from  San Diego haha, but hey, we’re not gonna fight it!

MS: What do you find yourself writing about most in your songs?

IJ: Girls haha! But we have songs about dancing and just having a good time.

MS: What can you tell us about your upcoming EP?

IJ: Our EP is almost done, we just need to redo some stuff here and there, but it’s coming and sounding really good. We’re doing it all at my house, so that gives us time to add more to it and make it a masterpiece!

MS: Do you write the songs yourself, or is it a more collaborative process?

IJ: There’s about five songs that I completely wrote by myself that I wrote before forming the band that we still play, but now we all add to the songs. I’ll write the structure and a melody, BJ will write harmonies and other melodies that I would have never even thought of and Omar will have a beat in mind that works. So the writing process is really exciting.

MS: Is there any kind of message you try to convey through your music or as a band?

IJ:  If there’s a message in our band it is to just play what you think sounds good, and that every song can be different.

MS: Do you have any upcoming shows in San Diego or elsewhere?

IJ: As of right now we don’t have any coming up. We just played at SOMA with Get Back Loretta , which, by the way, they rule.

MS: Are there any tour plans once your EP has been released?

IJ: Actually we have never talked about touring or anything like that. Would we want to? Hell yes! Haha. But maybe once we’re more known, maybe next year?

MS: What other bands would you recommend for fans of your music?

IJ: For fans of our music you should definitely check out our boys in Plane Without A Pilot and our girlfriends in Hide The Details!

“Right Here Right Now”

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Make sure to check out Add the Color at myspace.com/addthecolor.