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INTERVIEW: Scottie Noonan of Fossil Youth

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Fossil Youth are a pop-punk band from Enid, Oklahoma. The four-piece, who recently signed to Take This To Heart Records, will be releasing their label debut this coming February, and I was able to discuss it and much more with vocalist Scottie Noonan.

How would you describe Fossil Youth to those who have never listened to the band before?
Scottie Noonan: We consider ourselves to be pop-punk/emo, but on an even broader scale, we’re just a rock band. We see it as a perfect combination of our different musical influences while still building originality at the forefront. Our upcoming EP is going to be more brash and loud, but we’ve also found ways to mellow out and play with different vibes.

Who would you consider your musical influences?
Noonan: Yellowcard, Fall Out Boy, Cartel and Panic! At the Disco.
Derek Neef: (Early) Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory and Brand New.

Which album would you say impacted your decision to pursue music for a living?
Noonan: Yellowcard’s Ocean Avenue, hands down. I received this album as a gift around the age of thirteen and I remember blasting it endlessly in my room, yelling every word back at the speakers for hours. As for why this album impacted me in such a way, I’m unsure, but I remember listening to [it] and hopelessly wishing that I could do something comparable to [the band] in my life, which led to countless hours of brainstorming band names and trying to learn guitar chords.
Neef: Take This To Your Grave by Fall Out Boy was a record that did a lot for me. It helped me grow up, cope with stuff as I got older and helped me realize that playing music could be a great outlet for dealing with things I was going through at the time. There’s been many other albums that helped me form into the person I am, as well as albums that encouraged me to pursue music, but TTTYG was the first [one] that fully grasped my attention and made me want to start a band and start playing shows.

You recently announced you’ve signed with Take This To Heart Records. What made you choose to join their roster?
Noonan: From the start, T3H felt like home. A few buddy bands of ours, No Time and Stanley And The Search, were a part of the family, which appealed to us. After talking to Joseph Urban about his dreams and aspirations for the label, what he wanted to do most for us, [as well as] his upcoming plans, it almost felt impossible to turn down. We truly believe that T3H is the best place for us right now as a band and we’re very grateful they gave us a chance.

You’ll be releasing your new EP, Intertwined With You, this coming February. How would you say it differs from your previous releases?
Noonan: Intertwined With You feels like our first “real” release. We slowed down the writing process a ton and began sculpting the exact sound we had been working toward for years. After writing what we believe to be our best work, we also made the decision to take another large step and record the EP outside of Oklahoma with Paul Miner (New Found Glory, Fireworks, Terror) in California. We believe that this release will reflect the hard work we’ve been putting in across the past few years and will also be a great representation of what’s to come of us in the future.

What song(s) are you most excited for fans to hear?
Noonan: I think we’re all just excited to get this entire EP out as soon as we can. We’ve all found happiness in each song, so to single out a favourite right now just doesn’t seem possible.

Are there any bands in today’s scene that you’re huge fans of?
Noonan: Definitely. To name a few that we’ve been jamming to lately: The American Scene, Better Off, Daisyhead and Light Years.

Do you have any advice for bands who are just starting out?
Noonan: Just get out there. Meet people, play shows, find your sound and keep pushing through all the negative things you’ll encounter because it’ll happen time after time again, but in the end, you’ll find that it’s worth all the frustration and stress to be able to do what you love and to present the work you love to people who will welcome you and listen to you along the way.

If a news story were to be written about the band, what would the headline read?
Noonan: “Fossil Youth Excavates Their sound”. We’ve had a few articles written about us, and it seems like a reoccurring theme revolves around some form of mining/excavating because “fossil” is in our name.

Who would play each of you in a movie depicting Fossil Youth’s life?
Noonan: We’ve never been asked this question before, so it hard to peg who would truly be played by who:
Jake Gyllenhaal – Scottie
Channing Tatum – Matt [Goodman]
Ryan Gosling – Hesston [Swenn]
Leonardo DiCaprio – Derek

What’s one album or song you wish you’d written?
Noonan: “Headstrong” by Trapt. The song is an absolute jam every single time.

Any last words?
Noonan: We simply want to thank Legendary Kids for interviewing us, and we hope everyone digs the new EP. We have a lot planned for 2015 and it shouldn’t be too long before we can begin unveiling it all, so we hope you’ll check it out when it drops.

-Editor’s note: We’ve given Intertwined With You a listen and we can guarantee you’ll all fall in love with it. Our review will be out in early December.

Fossil Youth’s new EP, Intertwined With You, is available for pre-order now via Take This To Heart Records.

By Clare Fitzgerald
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