Interview with Unwritten Law

DOWNLOADS, PUNK ROCK AND MOURNING:
An Interview with UNWRITTEN LAW

Interview by Funk - December 2004

"Here's to the Mourning," the new CD by Unwritten Law, will be released on February 1st, 2005. We caught up with the band at a recent performance in Ventura, CA and threw a few questions their way.

Rough Edge: Where did the band come to life?

Unwritten Law: In a little town called Poway in San Diego, Wade started the band. There are no original members. We started by playing parties and small clubs.

Rough Edge: Did you do anything differently with this album as opposed to your previous two?

Unwritten Law: We didn't let any kind of punk ethics get in the way of songwriting. We wanted to make a record that we wanted to hear, rather than trying to make sure that all the songs were fast and politically correct. We wrote about what we wanted to write about. We thought that if we were happy with the record, everyone else would be as well.

Rough Edge: How do you feel about free download sites?

Unwritten Law: "Look, I think free music is great. People can go out and find whatever they want and just grab it from the 'net whenever they like. Where I have a problem is that some people are putting on music to download that they shouldn't be and that's short changing a lot of people. People who buy CDs aren't just getting the music. They're getting a whole package that's been put together by a band. It's not just the actual CD, it's also getting hold of the cover and the liner notes, the lyrics or whatever and if the person just doesn't get the whole package, they're not seeing what the band wanted them to. Of course, if they just want free stuff, then of course they're not worried about that. I also think that they're causing some artists to lose out on what they really deserve.

Rough Edge: How do you feel now about the success of the song "Seein' Red?"

Unwritten Law: Well, you know it doesn't bother me as long as it's us. [Laughs] No, I'm just joking. No, really it's great. I think it was a surprise, a little bit, to all of us just after putting out singles in the past and other songs before, and just to have one of them played and shown as much as that one did, was really cool for us. It's a really great feeling."

Rough Edge: A lot of people consider you to be punk, do you agree with that?

Unwritten Law: I don't think we're punk, none of these bands around are really punk. It's all power pop. Punk isn't really around anymore.

For more information, check out http://www.unwrittenlaw.com.

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