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Interview with Skip the Foreplay drummer Marc-André Leymyre

Band name of the year, Skip the Foreplay? Well, we’ll have to wait until the year end to make that decision, but Skip the Foreplay are definitely one of the front-runners. From Montreal, Quebec, this band merges many different styles of music into their sound, with the high energy of heavy metal, the breakdowns of hardcore and the massive beats of electronic music. The group likes to think of their sound more like party music that you can rock out and have a good time to. Skip the Foreplay recently completed its first ever tour and this Summer they’ll be one of the featured acts on every stop of the Vans Warped Tour. The band’s debut record Nightlife was just released on May 1st on the long-respected Epitaph Records. In this interview with drummer Marc-Andre Lemyre, we learn a little more about Skip the Foreplay, the new album and how they first gained notoriety covering a song by, of all musical acts, LMFAO.

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Band name of the year, Skip the Foreplay? Well, we’ll have to wait until the year end to make that decision, but Skip the Foreplay are definitely one of the front-runners. From Montreal, Quebec, this band merges many different styles of music into their sound, with the high energy of heavy metal, the breakdowns of hardcore and the massive beats of electronic music. The group likes to think of their sound more like party music that you can rock out and have a good time to. Skip the Foreplay recently completed its first ever tour and this Summer they’ll be one of the featured acts on every stop of the Vans Warped Tour. The band’s debut record Nightlife was just released on May 1st on the long-respected Epitaph Records. In this interview with drummer Marc-Andre Lemyre, we learn a little more about Skip the Foreplay, the new album and how they first gained notoriety covering a song by, of all musical acts, LMFAO.

Ok, so I think you guys get band name of the year for 2012 for Skip the Foreplay. How was this name conceived (no pun intended)?
Marc-André: [laughs] Well thanks for the nomination! It’s actually in the lyrics of a song from this pop artist named Jason Derulo. I think it was Chuck, our guitar player, who found it and proposed it to everyone.

Now Skip the Foreplay is a band that incorporates many different sounds, including metal, hardcore and electronic dance beats. Are these all types of music that you listened to while growing up?
Marc-André: Yes well, of course everyone in the band has is own personal preferences but in the end we’re all really open-minded when it comes to music and so it and makes a gigantic amount of influences to write songs.

Check out the song: “DJ”

You first gained notoriety by doing a cover of the dance group LMFAO’s song “Champagne Showers.” Was this recorded more of as a joke or were you trying to really create a serious remake.
Marc-André: We’re all big LMFAO fans so we just thought that making a remake of such an awesome song would be even more awesome!e of the song?

Skip the Foreplay is stationed out of Montreal, Quebec. Are you all from the Montreal area? How did you guys initially hook up?
Marc-André: Yes, we’re all from around Montreal. Long story short, Chuck wrote an ad on a musician’s forum to start a new project and hooked up with Mat. Then Fil and me got in the band because we were both friends with Chuck. And then, maybe a couple months after, we needed a new bassist so Mat proposed is friend Julien because he already had bands with him back in the days.

Congratulations on the May 1st release of your debut record Nightlife. Are these songs recent creations or have you been working on them for a long time now?
Marc-André: Thank you! Considering the fact that we are a band for only two years now, none of these songs are really old. This being said, we still can’t wait to start writing some new material!

Now there’s six of you in total that are in the band. Who has emerged as the real band leader among all of you? Or is there one?
Marc-André: If you figure Skip the Foreplay as a team, everyone in the band brings his own contribution to make the ball roll. But generally, when it comes to dealing with the people we are working with (our label, or manager for example), Mat or Julien gets the info first and then spreads it to the rest of the guys.

Nightlife was released by the very well respected label Epitaph Records. How did you draw the initial attention from Epitaph?
Marc-André: We did like every band do, we made a press kit and tried to send it to has many labels we could. Then one day, Julien received the call from Epitaph, right between two “sermon sessions” he use to give to bad kids at his summer camp job!

You recently completed your first ever, full-fledged tour as support for another up and coming band Falling In Reverse. How do you feel about that first tour now that it’s over? Was it pretty nerve-racking being on the road for an extended period of time?
Marc-André: I think this tour was like every first date a guy goes trough… It was like the ultimate test that would confirm to us if we were going to be able to spend the next years on the road always with the same 5 other dudes. Now that we look back to it, I think we can consider our first tour a success. Playing so many dates just gave us the opportunity to see lots of cool places. This tour gave us a sample of what’s waiting for us and now we are craving to get back on the road.

The tour must have been good preparation for the Vans Warped Tour which you’ll be appearing on this summer. This must be a massive accomplishment for the band. Do you know how many dates you’ll be playing on?
Marc-André: Of course it is beyond our dreams to be a part of the Warped Tour, plus we will be playing every date!

It’s an exciting time for Skip the Foreplay. What are your fall plans like for after the Warped Tour?
Marc-André: So far nothing has been confirmed but I can guarantee that we won’t stay home for too long!

Check out the song: “This City (We’re Taking Over)”

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