Theatrical rock band Set It Off recently stopped in the Valley as part of the Scream It Like You Mean It tour. The State Press sat down with drummer Maxx Danziger to talk about the band’s nonstop touring, new music and what the future holds for the band.
The State Press: Set It Off has been touring nonstop for a really long time. How does the band continue to do that?
Maxx Danziger: Honestly, it’s a double-edged sword, because we love touring. If we’re home for too long, we get really bored, (and) we start to get antsy and just want to get back out on the road. Once you get bit by the touring bug, you never want to stop. It’s amazing; you get to see all your friends that are out of town and play shows and meet new people, but on the other end, you miss family functions, you miss your family and your friends in general. I don’t think I could do anything else, but it has its price.
SP: Do you ever get burned out while on the road?
MD: Definitely. We call it our “tour wall.” You can tell when someone’s hit it. The show comes up, and they go to load in, and they’re just kind of a little bit slower than usual. After awhile, you get homesick. It usually only lasts about a day, and then it’s like, “I love this tour.” We get through it.
SP: The band also played the entirety of Warped Tour 2013. What was that experience like?
MD: The thing about Warped Tour is it’s the hardest tour we’ve ever done, but at the same time, it felt like summer camp for adults. You got to play music for a ton of kids, and you got to see and hang out with people who are all genuinely excited about seeing and hearing and watching music. And then, at the end of the day, you got to hang out with all the bands and make new friends. It was good; it was exactly like how I remember summer camp being.
SP: Are you currently working on any new music?
MD: Absolutely. We’re always writing (and) demoing out songs. We’re trying — hoping — to get out a new record by next year. We’re trying out some new things, really all over the place. Some of the heaviest stuff we’ve ever done and some of the poppiest stuff we’ve ever done, so we’re trying to find a middle ground there. We’re really excited about the songs that we’re writing.
SP: Set It Off collaborated with New Year’s Day for the reissue of “Cinematics.” How did that come about and does the band have any future plans for more collaborations?
MD: I believe that was the first collaboration we’ve ever done. We were hearing a bunch of these songs on the radio and bands writing these duets that were really sappy … so we decided (to) write a song about two people that are in love, and it’s really f-cked up and awful, kind of like the Bonnie and Clyde story. We needed a girl for it, so we figured why not Ash Costello, who is a badass. Cody and her worked really well together and their voices mixed really well. It all just kind of happened naturally. We’re always open to more collaborations and things like that if the time comes.
SP: Does the band have a dream collaboration?
MD: There are so many. We always thought it’d be really cool to have Jimmy Urine from Mindless Self Indulgence do one. Eminem would be cool. The list goes on and on and on, but that’s just a few to name.
SP: Creating music and touring aren’t the easiest jobs in the world. What inspires you all to continue to be musicians?
MD: I think a lot of it has to do with the people that come out to shows. You can have the worst day ever; you get a flat tire, you can end up late to load in, you’re hungry and tired, you haven’t seen your friends or family in weeks and you get there and there are these people that are just so excited to see music and see your band, and it makes it all worth it.
It reminds us that the reason we’re doing it is for music. The reason that anyone started being in a band is because they saw a band play, and it made them feel a certain way, and they said, “I want to make other people feel that way.”
SP: Where do you see the band in five or 10 years?
MD: I’d like to say selling out arenas with One Direction. I would say hopefully just continuing to go in an upward direction, continuing to play music, continuing to have a love for it. And touring nonstop. Touring until I’m dead!
Reach the reporter at okhiel@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @OliviaKhiel
