AOF = BFF:  An Interview with Army of Freshmen

I hooked up with Kai and Chris of the Army of Freshmen on two separate occasions.  On the side, I have caught them live many, many times, and it's always a good time.  The first time we sat them down was backstage at the Chicago date of the Warped Tour.  Between tipping over port-a-shitters and sneaking a 14-year old with a mohawk behind the gate, we got a few questions in.  But, don't ask about Hazen Street, it's not pretty. 

Round two was after a romping show at the House of Blues in Chicago, where they played to a sold out crowd in the company of the Plain White T's and Lucky Boys Confusion.  And, oh my favorite.  We didn't interview them in Urbana, Illinois, but they did again sneak some underage kids into a show. 

There were two high points of the night.  One:  Going "backstage" and seeing the pools of fake blood and piss left behind from Gwar.  Two:  Someone convincing the guys to wear eyeliner.  I had a convo with Kai and he thought it was hilarious.  That night at the Canopy Club, it was L'oreal presents five guys in eyeliner and Kai.  Bloody brilliant.  They are really some of the funniest guys I have ever met.

XROXX:  What was it like seeing yourself in BOP magazine? (Yeah, I bought it)
Chris:  Although it was BOP, it was the first piece of national press we've ever gotten.  We never had something published that you can get everywhere.
Kai:  I was never able to call my grandma and tell her she could go to the supermarket and buy a magazine with me in it.
Chris:  I loved it.  I don't care if it was a teen mag or not.
Kai:  Quick story that's amazing with the BOP.  When we flew to the UK, we had a layover in New York.  There was a large girls dance team from Austrailia there as well.  About twenty 13-14 year old girls.  These girls bought BOP in the airport, were reading it, saw the picture, saw us, and flipped out!!  It was so cool.
Chris:  Not like a fake, hey here's a magazine and we are in it.  They literally happened to have that mag.
Kai:  They are from Austrailia, so they don't know.  They just see this picture and see us.
Chris:  They don't know we live in a van.

XROXX:  Let's talk about the CD.
Chris:  Buy the CD, buy the CD, buy the CD. (whispering in the recorder over and over)  We recorded last October.  The situation was it was done when we were out of money.  We shopped it to a few places.  We found 33rd Street Records owned by Tower.  So far, they have been really, really cool.  The distribution is great.  We love the record and are really proud of it.  We did a video for "Get Em Up."  We want to get in Fuse and AP.  The AOF story, however, is one of being kicked in the nuts repetedly.  So, I'm sure we'll get screwed.

XROXX:  What are some of your favorite on and off-stage memories?
Kai:  The BBQ after Phoenix Warped Tour last year.  It was weird.  It was Pennywise and Sum 41's last night on tour.  Everyone was there.  It was unreal; Paris Hilton was rolling around, and we were just eating burgers and chillin'.  Awesome...
Chris:  Mine is from Chicago Warped Tour this year. A s soon as I jumped off-stage into the crowd and got on my feet, some girl stuck her tongue in my mouth.  That's never happened.
Kai:  Better than a tongue in the ass.  (seriously akward silence, then laughter)

XROXX:  Why do you have such dedicated fans?
Chris: Three words.  We're not assholes.  We hang out at our merch booth.
Kai:  We like to meet people.  We don't understand bands that sit in their bus, and it's a big hassle to meet people.  It's like, "Ooooh, I'm meeting people for a half hour."  Fuck that.
Chris:  You better be accessable if people are buying your shit.
Kai:  If it wasn't for the fans, we wouldn't be here.  We owe everything to the fans.
Chris:  A lot of people become friends, like you guys; it's unavoidable.  Half of our fans are friends.  Some I wish were just fans because they are psycho and creepy. ( You know who you are)

XROXX:  What is your drummer situation?  (To those who don't know, Mike has left the band, but on good terms)
Chris:  You are terrible.  You know right where to hit.  A good friend of ours, Mauricio, started as soon as Warped Tour was over on the East Coast and he went out with us.  We were like, we have this LBC tour coming up and a UK tour, why don't you come out with us 'til the end of the year?  He's filling in 'til the end of the LBC tour, then we are auditioning people, talking to different people.  It's up in the air.

XROXX:  What is next for AOF?
Kai:  Writing new music.
Chris:  After this tour, we go into full on write mode.  Then, record a new demo.  It took so long to get the last record out because of financial reasons that those songs are old to us.  Like, really old, and people are just learning the words.  For us, it's like, those are really old songs, we've been playing them for three years, but you gotta play 'em. 

AOF is DIY to the max.  I have never been disappointed at a show.  They put everything they have into the live show.  Go, see them, NOW!  They are the six nicest guys around and that will only work to their advantage.  Also, they work as a unit very well and get along.  It's like seeing brothers.  Conclusion, we heart AOF.  One more thing: thank you April at Meyer PR and Kyle, the tour manager, for working with us.

Jayne*Star
jayne.star@XROXX.com