Interview with My Ticket Home vocalist Nick G.

The way My Ticket Home describe themselves is refreshing. Five good friends from Ohio who love to make and play music. And even though they’re just starting out, these boys are ready to show that this is more than just a fun, part-time gig. Recently I was able to secure some time with lead singer Nick G. and talk about the band in detail. Here’s how it went.

I know I’m probably not the first, and most likely won’t be the last, person to comment on how young you guys are! Are you sick of it yet?
Nick: It’s funny cause to be honest I don’t feel like we get asked that very often, but I mean not really. The only time I dislike it is when people judge us for being younger and stuff like that or the classic compliment: “You’re so good for your age.” You never know if they are saying you’re good or you are only considered good because you have age as a handicap.

When and how did you guys start getting into hardcore?
Nick: I think I started listening to hardcore music about halfway through my sophomore year and that was because I heard a Killswitch Engage song at the end of a “Resident Evil” movie. [laughs] They were my first hardcore band I guess and then I got into other music from there.

And you’ve all known each other for a long time?
Nick: Well, Marshal and I are brothers so we’ve obviously known each other, and Sean and I met in 2nd grade. The 3 of us first started the band ‘cause our guitar instructor told us we should. Then we met Luke in middle school and he joined. Very recently our former guitar player quit and so I suggested Eli, who was a friend I met at the hookah bar one night, and now he’s our new guitarist and we love him to death.

What’s been your best experience as a band so far?
Nick: I’d say just the general processes of growing as musicians and becoming more and more legitimate as a band. Playing shows and recording music is always super fun, as well as meeting the kids that listen to you and talking to them.

What about your worst?
Nick: U-Haul trailers.

U-Haul trailers?!
Nick: Yeah, for a while we had to use U-Haul trailers to take our gear to shows because we didn’t have a trailer (which now we do, thank god). We once had it all packed up and as we were pulling out of driveway, the break lights on the back end of the trailer stopped working. The show was like a solid 2 hour drive and we weren’t about to brave the highway in the ghetto, non-lit piece of crap U-Haul if the lights weren’t working. We ended up having to cancel and since then I have nothing but hate for those damn U-Hauls.

Can you describe the first My Ticket Home show?
Nick: An absolute train wreck. I mean when we were playing it we thought we were so heavy and awesome but we were really bad. [laughs] I mean, when I watch the footage from it, it’s seriously the funniest thing. Like our attempt at stage presence and our concept of guitar tone and just style in general was hilarious. So noob.

So how do you think you’ve grown since then?
Nick: I feel like we have grown in every way possible. We have matured so much stylistically as far as writing is concerned and our stage presence has gotten better as well. We basically have made the change into viewing this band as a serious career instead of just something we do for fun. It’s still the greatest thing ever and even though we have to be serious and sacrifice a lot of time, it’s more than worth it.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned so far in your time together?
Nick: I’d say to handle our problems maturely. When someone gets pissed about something, but they don’t immediately address it, it turns into this massive negative judgment. You take notice of everything the person that you’re pissed at does and then you just explode about something tiny and it’s just not a good time. But ultimately we are a family and wouldn’t want to change that for anyone.

Do you have any big plans coming up?
Nick: Yeah, we are recording a 7 song EP and are going to put that out. We are also going to try to start touring and getting far out of State this summer. We just want to try to make fans and get our name out.

And you’ve started the EP, already?
Nick: Yes, indeed we have. We are recording with our good friend Caleb Shomo at the club house and we are in the middle of writing the last 2 songs out of 7 total songs. I was actually in the middle of writing melodies when I got this email. [laughs] We are stoked to get this CD out and we already have 2 new songs up on our MySpace. Once it’s finished we are going to be selling it on iTunes and at all of our shows. I’m really excited because the new material is such an improvement from our first attempt at a CD and I’m personally pretty bummed that our old CD is what most people think of as a representation of our band. Once the CD comes out I’ll be much happier. [laughs]

You’re still starting out, but let’s think big here! Where do you hope to see this band in a few years?
Nick: This band is our dream, it’s our passion, and we want to make this our career. So I would say that we’d hope to see us doing that, livin’ the dream man.