I called Travis, Split Habit's congenial front man, and he didn't answer his phone. I was discouraged and sad. I was really stoked about this phoner. Then, my phone rang, and it was Travis. Apparently, there are some strange people that have his cell number and he screens hardcore. After the phone tag, things went really well.
XROXX: How was the Allister tour? Is it fun to tour with bands from Chicago? Travis: Absolutely! Allister took us on our very first tour like five years ago. It was awesome cause they are friends and it's nice to tour with people from the same hometown. We were very lucky that Allister chose us to go on tour with them. The Midwest is where we kind of thrive, so there were great crowds and we made a lot of new friends and had a blast. I wish we were still out there.
XROXX: Can you tell us a little about your full length Put You Money Where Your Mouth Is? Travis: It's on Double Zero Records and it's in most of the major chains in the Midwest. It's a ten song record we did with producer Sean O'Keefe, who did Motion City Soundtrack, Fall Out Boy, Spitalfield, Punchline, a ton of bands. It's probably the best disc that came out this year so far. If you like pop music with an edge, then you'll love our band. If you are a fan of like Smoking Popes mixed with Green Day, that's the closest I can pinpoint the record sounding like. It's not really punk, it's more pop, and it's kind of different than what is going on right now, and we have songs on purevolume.com to download. It's a really great record and we are really proud of it. We're excited to put it out, tour, and be on Double Zero Records, and have people hear our music.
XROXX: Was it fun to cover "Maneater" for the album? Travis: Actually, I am a huge Hall and Oates fan, they are one of my favorite bands. It was my idea to cover that song; just because I am a fan of the band, and I figured since that song is an awesome song, and should be more modernized for the youth. So, we kind of sped it up a little bit. I love to play it, it's one of my faves to play, and it's on the record, and it rocks!
XROXX: Do you have any big summer plans? Travis: We are doing a tour in June in the Midwest and some west coast dates with the Turned, and As Tall As Lions. Then, touring with the Warped Tour for a couple weeks just walking around, talking to people, trying to sell the CD.
XROXX: Do you have any good tour stories? Travis: Actually, not really any weird ones. We always seem to have like vehicular problems. The tour before this, our trailor fell off the van. We broke down like a million times and we've almost crashed the van a few times. Usually, the crazy stories from tour are the pranks on other bands. On the last tour, Punchline poured like three beers into the pockets of my pants. I had to finish the tour with semi-wet-beer-soaked jeans. We put shaving cream the other band's vans, and put condoms on their antenna.
XROXX: Who are some of your major influences? Travis: We all have different influences that affect our playing. That helps us out. We are not all trying to have like the same sound. I love Smoking Popes, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, all kinds of pop music. The new Maroon 5 record is amazing and I love it. Frankie loves like harderstuff and metal. Chris is into dance music. We are pulling from all of these different random genres and bringing it all together. Which makes it cool, because it is not just a straight rip off of just one influence. We are all very different people and I'd say our common influence would be Green Day. When we were younger, Green Day was popular and made us want to be in a band.
XROXX: A few last things. What three CD's are you listening to? Travis: The new Amazing Transparent Man which is coming out on Double Zero, Rock Against Bush, and Kanye West; I got it cause he is from Chicago and I support our people.
XROXX: Kerry or Bush? Travis: Kerry or no one. Not Bush though.
XROXX: Since you are from Chicago, Sox or Cubs? Travis: SOX! We are huge Sox fans. We are all die hard Sox fans.
My interview was short but sweet. Travis confessed to me that one of his biggest fears was interviews. I think he did awesome. I also think it is interesting that he had a stronger opinion on rival baseball teams than the leader of the country. We are a confused generation...
XROXX: How was the Allister tour? Is it fun to tour with bands from Chicago?
same sound. I love Smoking Popes, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, all kinds of pop music. The new Maroon 5 record is