Talking To: The All Ways

For a Rockland-based band that has only been around for a little over six months, The All Ways have accomplished so much. From independently recording a demo and EP to going on a summer tour, this band which consists of lead singer, Austin Massirman, Billy Houlihan on Bass, guitarists Jon Colantonio and Ron Geffen, and drummer Greg Strauss prove that they are ready to take on the music world.

Jesse Strauch: How long have you guys been playing together?

Jon Colantonio: We started as an idea band around a year ago, but we just started playing shows back in February.

JS: How would you guys describe your music?

Austin Massirman: I would say we're a cross between rock and roll and pop.

JS: Yeah, I heard some sort of synthesizer in a few of your songs.

Jon: Well, the guitars are based mostly on simple pop rhythms, but there are some pretty good rock leads over them.

Austin Massirman: And I try to sing more rock melodies over all of that.

JS: So you've recently gone on tour. Where did you go?

AM:We started in New York to Pennsylvania, then down through Delaware,

JC: Then down to Florida, Georgia, Tennessee.

AM: Back up to Virginia, and then after a little break we went back up to the northeast. We did Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. It was more of an east coast tour.

JS: What kind of feedback did you receive from the crowds?

AM: It was good. Many of the venues we played were at metal shows, but we still received a positive reaction.

JC: We got more appreciation. A lot of guys would come up and be like "we don't listen to your style of music, but we think you guys are really, really good." And there was always a group of girl who were there with their boyfriends and they really liked us- the girlfriends of the metal kids.

JS:Do you guys have an album out or anything?

AM: We had our first demo come out, it was called "Demo." And then we had an EP come out very recently right before the tour. It's called "Hot with Love." It has four songs on it and is available on iTunes.

JS- Cool. Where did you guys record it?

JC- At our guitar player Ron's studio; it's called "Run Along Recording."

JS- Do you guys have any wacky tour stories?

AM- Well, we crashed our van in the back roads of Virginia. Billy, our bassist, was driving nice and slow down this tiny hill in the rain. When he tried slowing down, the van slid right into a guardrail. We all got out and realized that if the van went any faster, we would have flipped the guardrail and went down a cliff. So this guy comes, pulls us out, and he gives us twenty bucks for gas money. In New York, we wouldn't have been so lucky. People would just honk and tell us to get off the road.

JS: What kinds of guitars do you guys use?

JC- I play a Gibson Standard with a 50's neck. Ron plays a Gibson as well, and we both play Les Pauls.

JS: Any groupie stories?

AM: We have the occasional I'm-going-to-bug-the-hell-out-of –you-while-you're-online type of girl

JC: And there is the I'm-not-going-to-leave-your-merch-table because-I'm-attracted-to-your-beard type.

JS:Do you have one song that the crowd always likes?

JC: "All in Time."

AM: Yeah, that's the song off our demo. That's the one song that people always get really into. The single of our EP is "Hot with Love," that's more upbeat, but that usually gets people going too.

JS: Do you guys have any stage antics?

JC: Well, when we play the song "All in Time," Ron puts his foot on my knee during the solo and little stuff like that, but this crazy monkey boy over here, Austin, climbed on top of the rafters at this show we played in Mountain Creek and hung upside down while singing "Hot with Love."

JS: Next tour- where do you guys want to go?

AM: Personally, we would love to do a west coast tour.