Warped Interview: Fred Mascherino of The Color Fred

The Color Fred took the Hurley Stage at Ventura’s Warped Tour on Sunday, and played to a large crowd of eager fans. Afterwards, I had the wonderful opportunity of speaking to Fred Mascherino, vocalist and guitarist of The Color Fred (Previously of Taking Back Sunday).

WJ: So tell us about basics about The Color Fred!

FM: My name is Fred Mascherino, and I have my own band called The Color Fred, which I play guitar and sing in. It started as a solo project, but it’s quickly becoming a band as we tour more and more.

WJ: Your new album, Bend to Break, was, in essence, a solo album you did all of the instruments except the drums, you sang, played guitar etc. How has the journey been to recreate that with a full band while you’re on the road?

FM: It’s been pretty cool because Matt Fleischman, my guitarist, is from back in Pennsylvania where I grew up, and I’ve known him for so long that playing with him is like playing with another guitarist like myself. Anything that I play, he’s good at picking up right away. With all the guys, I try to pick guys that would play the way that I hear it in my head. So when I play the bass line on the record, I know that Chris Paulsen, our bassist, is going to play it well, and if I have two guitar parts, there’s Matt, and Steve Curtiss, who’s my live drummer, is the one who drummed on our record as well.

WJ: How do you feel about the reactions to the album?

FM: It’s been really good. We’re still always trying to get the word out to more and more people. When I was recording it, I was trying to put out a message in each song, and I feel like people are picking up on that. I think they’re identifying with the songs.

WJ: How did you come about doing projects like the ones done for Macbeth? Do they help get your name out, and how do you feel the reception to them have been?

FM: I think that doing a shoe with Macbeth is crazy. I’ve never had any goals of being in footwear, that’s for sure. I thought that was reserved for superstar athletes! But I’ve been friends with the people who work at Macbeth for a long time, and I really respect what they do, so when we decided to do the shoe together, it was sort of because we had the same vision of this Velcro El ‘ they had a shoe called the Eliot ‘ this Velcro version of it is what we did. It was something that I had been wanting them to do for about two years, and when they went to do it, they said, ‘We’re gonna do it, and we’re gonna make it your shoe,’ and it seems to have helped, as far as me starting my own band, having a little piece of something to identify with. It seems like the shoes are well liked, and a lot of kids have wanted to have them. I think it’s helped all around. Not that I would ever equate ‘ you know ‘ I’m not interested in clothing, I’m just interested in music, but it couldn’t be a bad thing.

WJ: Do you promote the shoe while you’re on tour?

FM: No, we have it up on our MySpace, but I don’t carry shoes with me or anything like that, there’s too many different sizes.

WJ: You left Taking Back Sunday in October of 2007. What are some of the differences you’ve noticed in each of your projects, including Taking Back Sunday, The Color Fred, and Breaking Pangaea?

FM: Well, musically, I think there was a common thread through all those bands. Everything else was different in each of those situations. In Breaking Pangaea, we were very with our touring we were very bare-bones. We would tour in our van, we would sleep in our van, and we never even got hotels, we just did it as bare-bones as we could.

WJ: How did you shower?

FM: It was a rare, occasion. Maybe at the club, occasionally. Or we would stay with friends. Sadly, haha. Taking Back Sunday was quite, quite different from that. As we went on, we spent so much time on the road that it got nicer and nicer as we went because we would want this and that. We’d bring workout equipment on the road, and we’d be in three buses, and two semi-trucks, and 27 hotel rooms, the whole works. So, with The Color Fred now, it’s a chance for me to do it a little bit simpler, because I want something in between in the end. We do still tour in a van right now, and it is more closely back to the Breaking Pangaea years, not as much showering as I had hoped, but I washed my hair today! It is back to the old days, but there are still a lot of things that I learned in the Taking Back Sunday years that I bring to it now to make it more comfortable.

WJ: A lot of sampling has been done lately from artists like your self by DJs putting out records for profits. Case in point: Girl Talk. Have you heard of him?

FM: Uh. Yeah, I think so. Not really know him really well, but yeah.

WJ: There was this one group called the Legion of Doom, who did mashups, and one of Taking Back Sunday’s songs You’re So Last Summer was used. How do you feel that artists usually don’t get any royalties when this is done? Do you think it’s detrimental?

FM: I did hear about that, I think. No, I don’t think it’s detrimental at all. I think it’s a new art form. I’m more of an old school acoustic guitar guy, so it’s hard for me to understand how they put that all together. It’s actually a neat thing, and there’s no stopping it. It’s part of people using technology to create art, which is a neat thing. If something were to make a lot of money, and the artist who came up with the sample gets nothing, that’s a little bit weird. I think there has to be some kind of fair balance. I wouldn’t want to keep anyone from using a song, but there is always the [other] aspect, unfortunately, everyone wants to eat in the end. But honestly, I don’t know enough about the scene to really judge it at all. As far as I see, it’s art.

WJ: You’ve been on Warped Tour before. How does it differ from being on the road on any other tour?

FM: It is completely different in many ways. Just the sheer amount of people. There are six to seven hundred people backstage at every show working at every event, and these people have to be fed, so you’re waiting in these long lines to eat, shower, everything. It’s also an all day event. Normally on tour, the show is thee hours long, three or four bands. You show up in the afternoon, leave at midnight, but with this tour, you have to get there at 8am, and it’s a much longer day. There’s a lot less shelter for us. There are no dressing rooms or anything like that. It’s totally the most extreme way to tour.

WJ: Who are you looking forward to seeing on the tour?

FM: Well, a lot of people. Say Anything is one of my favorite bands. They’re on the tour. But a lot of my friends, like Angels and Airwaves, and Four Year Strong. I have a new band, called Beat Union.

WJ: Everybody likes them!

FM: Yeah! They’re from England. They’re really good. They sort of have a The Clash thing going on. They’re really talented.

WJ: So you’re married and on the road. Is it hard being on the road because of that?

FM: Yeah. It definitely makes it harder, especially the way that I’ve been doing it for years now, and I’m touring more than I’m even home. There have been times where I’ve been off tour, and I’ve had to spend that time recording, such as when I recorded Bend to Break. It is hard, and it can be lonely, and it definitely creates song material for me. But my wife is totally on my side, and it’s sort of our family business that we do. We both love art, and music, and that’s what our family is all about. And there will be a day when I won’t be able to tour, I would think. I consider myself very lucky to be able to stay out here and do what I love.

WJ: You’ve lent your vocals to various artist, including Say Anything, as well as Tokyo Rose. How does it feel to collaborate with others, and how do you get to have your own input when it comes to singing on others’ albums?

FM: Well, it’s always an honor to be asked to sing on someone else’s record. In both those cases, it was really special because I knew the guys, and I liked the bands, but I didn’t expect to be part of what they did that was really special. I sing how I sing, so I always try to put my touch on it. In both those cases, I was doing the recording because I have my own little studio so I recorded the stuff and then sent it over to them to use. So that was fun, to be like, ‘I engineered that line right there on that record!’ you know. But really, in both cases, I did what I thought the artist was looking for.

WJ: Do you have any plans for after Warped Tour?

FM: We are definitely doing a tour this fall, which I haven’t figured out yet. The other thing is, I want to go home for a few weeks to write with the band. Although Bend to Break is still a pretty new record, I don’t want to wait a long time to do another record. I want to be a band that continually puts out new stuff to keep it exciting for us and to keep it exciting for everyone whose listening, so if we do do that fall tour, we’ll be playing new songs on it.

WJ: Do you have anything else to say to our readers?

FM: I would just say to come check out our MySpace. I’m the only person that checks our MySpace, so I will eventually get your message. Write and say hi, and I’ll hit you back and I definitely write people back and say hello. Or come out to our shows, because I’m never hard to find. I’m always out looking to hang out.

Thank you very much Fred for taking the time to speak with LA.CityZine. For those of you who enjoyed the interview or would like to know more about Fred and his band The Color Fred, you can check out The Color Fred now on their MySpace (where Fred will personally respond) or purchase their new CD Bend to Break.

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