New Jersey based band The Early November were last over here in July when they supported Home Grown on their tour. They've recently been touring for over two months with other Drive Thru bands on the US leg of the Invasion Tour, and now they were bringing the madness and the mayhem to the UK. I caught up with vocalist-guitarist Ace and bassist Serg before their show at Birmingham Academy.

How are you and how are you finding the UK? When were you last over here?

Serg: Great
Ace: Enjoyable.
Serg: We played here last...July, I think it was.
Ace: Yeah, it was the day after the 4th of July.

Do you think there's any difference between playing shows in the US and playing shows over here?

Serg: Back in the US there are more people who know who you are, sometimes.
Ace: I think people appreciate it more over here. They appreciate being in a band and playing music and stuff like that.
Serg: I think kids are more enthusiastic out here. There are so many bands back home, I think people just take it for granted.

You were on the Drive-Thru Invasion Tour in America. What did you get up to? Are there any funny stories you can tell us?

(Lots of laughing)
Serg: No, not at all! There are tons of funny stories but none we could tell. Well, we went swimming one time. That's all I'm saying.
(Home Grown's Dan walks past)
Ace: This man (indicating Dan) can tell you the stories! (Dan laughs and walks off.)

You were on that tour for about 2 months. Is that the longest you've been on a tour for?

Serg: It was the longest we've been on a single tour. We'd done touring for two months, but not on the same tour.

Was this a different experience for you, then?

Ace: It was kind of the weirdest experience, but it was fun. I wouldn't want to do it again, but it was a good time.
Serg: We're going to do it again pretty soon...
Ace: Yeah...

So how do you deal with being on the road for so long with the same people?

Ace: Honestly, by the time I got home I was completely, I dunno, it was just weird being all alone, like not having a million people around all the time. I guess it just comes with the experience. We sort of just went secluded within ourselves.

How did you get signed to Drive-Thru?

Ace: Well, we sent them a bunch of demos and they were like, "Alright, cool so far" whatever, blah blah blah. To make a long story short, one time we met with them and they listened to it again and they were like, "Wow, it's a lot better than we thought it was." From then on it was like a fairy tale!

Are you friends with all the other bands on the label? Have you got a favourite?

Ace: No, we hate all the bands!
Serg: No, we love them all!
Ace: Yeah, we do.
Serg: I haven't got a favourite but we toured with Hidden in Plain View for probably 11 months out of the year so it's like one big band with all of us.
Ace: Yeah, one time, Hidden in Plain View's van broke down and we took them in our van, there were 13 people in there and we finished our tour that way.
Serg: We had to take all the seats out and it was just like a bunch of guys laying on top of one another. For all you ladies, think what you will.

How would you describe your debut album, "The Room's Too Cold"?

Serg: Different from what we did before, we're really proud of it.
Ace: It's one of those records that you definitely have to listen to a few times before you start to like it.

What kind of music are you listening to at the moment? Have you got any favourite bands?

Serg: I just discovered HIM, who are huge out here, I really like them. They're not well known in America at all.
Ace: Do you guys know Magnet from out here? He's amazing, you should check that out. Then there's the standard stuff like Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids and stuff like that.

Are there any up-and-coming American bands who aren't well known over here that you think we should check out?

Serg: Fall Out Boy.
Ace: The Format. Limbeck, check them out. What kind of music do you like? I've got a question for you, what kind of music do you find kids like the most here? If it's kind of pop punk, then we're not going to do too well.

I think things like that draw big crowds around here, but it's nice when something different comes along.

Ace: Yeah, we have a lot of slower stuff that's different but we can't play it out here because we'll bore kids to death. All the slow stuff off our CD's, that we usually play live, we can't really play here.
Serg: You get 30 minutes to throw out your fastest, in-your-face tracks, and ours aren't even that fast!

Did you get any time off at Christmas?

Serg: Yeah, we got about 3 weeks off.
Ace: It was nice.

Do you have traditional Christmases?

Serg: Yeah, we all have big families.
Ace: Yeah we do; huge families. The only down part is we (indicating him and Serg) didn't talk once.
Serg: It was upsetting. On the phone, twice. I remember these calls!
Ace: We only talked twice over 3 weeks.
Serg: He's a busy man.
Ace: So is he. Throwing a party New Year's Eve, getting the cops to come over.

Do you ever make any New Year's Resolutions?

Serg: I think New Year's Resolutions are just set to be broken, and for people to make themselves feel better. So I think they're a bit pointless. If you're going to do something, why wait for a certain day? Just do it. Wake up and go for it!

If you had 24 hours left to live, what would you do?

Serg: Cry! I don't wanna die.

Try and find a way out of it.

Serg: Yeah, basically!
Ace: Erm...(silence)...I dunno. (laughs.)

Apart from the instruments you play, do either of you have any special skills talents?

Serg: We go surfing a lot.
Ace: I'm not good, though. He's good.
Serg: He's getting there!
Ace: No I'm not.
Serg: This summer's his big year.
Ace: This summer is my year! This is where I come out.
Serg: That's when he goes pro.

Have you been featured in many music magazines yet?

Serg: I think Ace's gracing the cover of Kerrang this week!
Ace: I didn't see it, I wanna see it!
Serg: You're on there! That's pretty cool.
Ace: We don't look for exposure like that, but if it happens, then great.

What have you got planned after this tour?

Serg: We go home for a little while, then we'll fly to California to shoot a video, which will probably be pushed for MTV2.
Ace: Yeah, something like that, over here.
Serg: Then we do another headlining tour with Hey Mercedes.
Ace: Do you guys like Hey Mercedes? There's another band you should look for. I think they might be coming over here when we come back.
Serg: That'd be beautiful.

Thanks a lot to Ace and Serg for taking the time out to do this interview. You can find out more info at www.theearlynovember.net.