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Interview: Grayson Ross of Face Value

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Face Value are a pop-punk four-piece from the Baltimore area. Steadily gaining a following across the United States, the band are looking grow their following with the release of their upcoming EP. Recently, Legendary Kids Press was able to speak with bassist Grayson Ross about the release and the band’s touring schedule.

How would you describe Face Value to those who have never listened to your music before?

I’d describe us as an intriguing mix between old school and new school pop-punk - a taste of both worlds for everyone to enjoy.

How did you guys come together?

Alec Myers [frontman] and Jeremiah “Jeb” Douglas [guitarist and drummer] have been jamming together for years. After their teenage band slowly dismembered, they met Parker Ross [lead guitarist] at a mutual friend’s party and had him fill-in on bass for some of their planned shows. After playing with Parker more and [myself, bassist], his brother, they asked [us] to join and became what is now “Face Value”. We had our first full band show as this line-up in the summer of 2014 and have been kicking ass and taking names ever since.

This past December, you released a holiday split with Chris Swartz. How did it come about?

First off, Chris is a solo acoustic artist and we met him at a show that we both were on around mid-2015, I believe. He is also brothers with Nate Swartz, current guitarist in a band that we toured with last summer and some of our closest friends, Something More. We got to talking and we decided to do a week-long east coast acoustic tour with him in late December and an acoustic split was a cool idea he had to put some new music out before we left. It was actually just a coincidence that is was released right before Christmas, but it made a great last minute gift for sure.

How was it working with Chris?

It was awesome! Chris is a great, creative guy [who] has become a good friend of ours. He always gives 100% and anyone who has seen him perform knows what we’re talking about. His stage presence really pulls you in.

He also helped us get a lot done in the past month. He released a split with us, went on tour with us, booked most of the dates and always has helpful ideas. [I] can’t wait for all of the shows we’ll have together in the future!

You’re currently in the studio recording your new EP. Is there anything you can tell us about it?

Hell yeah! We just finished back on January 21 after spending 10 days in the studio. We teamed up with one of the most well-known producers/audio engineers in the Baltimore music scene, Paul Leavitt. 

As always, recording is one of our favourite parts of being in a band. We were in the studio eight hours a day, eating Taco Bell and Dunkin’ Donuts (forgive the product placement), making trips to Home Depot with Paul to get drywall and materials for his contractors, and bonding in our dysfunctional ways as usual. After all the sore limbs, sweat and cuddling with Paul’s dog, Cameron, what resulted are five new songs.

We are shooting to get it released around late May or early June, but we will be releasing a few studio updates shortly. So keep your eyes peeled! We are very, very excited for people to hear new Face Value.

How will it differ from your previous releases?

These songs are a step in a new direction for us. When compared to Growing Up Young, we know that our songwriting had a lot of growing up to do and we are confident these tracks prove we have plenty more to offer the Baltimore music scene and pop-punk/rock/alternative fans in general.

It might be cliché to say, but we believe this is some of the best stuff we’ve written and we all had a blast making it come to life. We hope it can speak for itself and that people have as much fun listening to it as we probably will. Having started writing back in September and with all of us working multiple jobs, going to school, recording our acoustic split, going on tour and still playing shows, it is safe to say we get off challenging ourselves. As Parker would say after hours of recording: My ass hurts.

You recently finished up an acoustic tour. How did it go?

Ahh, tour life. The tour was so frickin’ fun and there was never a dull moment. We hit Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and came back through to Baltimore. This time, we took our 99′ Ford Explorer and not even two hours into the tour, we suffered a blowout on Route 66. Luckily, we were all okay, but we fish-tailed across the highway and it couldn’t been much worse.

Sitting under a blanket, next to Jeb, Alec urinated in the car a few days later (not Alec was under the blanket). We stopped in Charleston and got matching tattoos (aside from [me] because [I’m] lame), then drove to the Smoky Mountains near Tennessee, only to get kicked out of our friend’s home and drive back across the great state of North Carolina to sleep at a Wal-Mart at 4am.

In other news, Chris Swartz and his brother, Nate, are great guys. We also brought along our close friend and original member of Face Value, Kyle Ritter, to help with merch and to make sure we didn’t kill each other. We can’t wait for our next tour. Like a fine wine, they just keep getting better and better.

What would be your dream tour line-up, including Face Value?

Our dream tour is probably a Face Value, Celine Dion tour where both of our sets are covering each other’s songs. We can’t think of anything better.

Any last words?

Come to a show and say hi! We’ve got some out-of-town shows planned for the near future. Stay tuned for new music and new music videos. Check us out on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify or whatever else you people listen to [music on] these days, and you favourite social media site, unless it’s Tinder!

May the force be with you.

Those wishing to follow Face Value on social media can do so via Facebook and Twitter.

By Clare Fitzgerald