Every Other Year: Pop Punk Rocking The OC

Every Other Year: Pop Punk Rocking The OC

Every Other Year is an Orange County based pop-punk group established in 2014. The band has opened for the likes of Unwritten Law, Get Scared, Seaway, and Anarbor and released their debut EP First Light in 2017. Remaining as active as ever, Every Other Year has unveiled two new brand new singles so far in 2020. Both songs Ghost and The Look In Your Eyes are slated to appear on their first full-length, as of yet unreleased album, Remember When. Highwire Daze recently caught up with the various members of Every Other Year to find out a whole lot more about this OC band on the rise. Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Every Other Year, and how long the band has been together.
Hello! Jordan Alexander (guitar/vocals), Matt Arsenault (drums/vocals), Dylan Nakayama (bass), and Michael Stites (guitar/vocals). We’ve been a band for about 6 years now.

Where is the band based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
We’re based out of Orange County. The local music scene is pretty diverse here. A lot of heavy bands. When we first started playing shows, the OC metalcore scene took us in, even though we were a young pop punk band which was really cool. Everyone was so supportive. They helped us get up and going. And we’re still really good friends with them! Shout out to The Mirage Theory, Asylus, and The Unsung.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the lyrics for the new Ghosts single?
The lyrics for Ghosts are based around the idea of you are free to chose and do whatever you want to do. It’s not too late, no one owns you, and you reserve the right to stick up for yourself.

Who produced Ghosts and what was it like working with them?
“Ghosts” was produced by Mikey Doling (Snot and Soulfly) and Dave Fortman who also produced Simple Plan and Evanescence. We learned so much from working with them and they both complimented each others’ strengths and weakness extremely well. Working with Dave in particular was a trip. By far one of the funniest, craziest, most unpredictable people we’ve ever met! But there was always a method to his madness. He constantly kept us on our toes and knew how to get the best takes out of each one of us. The dude’s an evil genius!

Select one other Every Other Year song and what inspired the lyrics.
So our song, “One Day,” one of our more popular songs off our debut EP, First Light, was inspired by an abusive relationship one of our peers was trapped in for awhile. It portrays the darkness and gravity of the situation as we watched her mental and physical health deteriorate. We wrote the song in hopes that it might shed some light and help people recognize signs of abuse within their own lives.

How close are you to writing and releasing an all-new album or EP?
We’ve actually been sitting on an entirely finished full length album for some time now. And we just recently released two singles off said album. “The Look In Your Eyes” and “Ghosts.” Really looking forward to releasing the rest of it!

What has it been like to release a new music right in the middle of a pandemic? Have you had any shows or tours cancelled because of it?
It has for sure been a different experience releasing new music in the middle of a pandemic. But it’s really one of the only things we can do at this time and we’re stoked to be putting new music out there nonetheless. And yeah, we had a handful of shows canceled because of COVID. We miss shows the most. Hopefully we can get back out there soon though when it’s safe.

What could one expect from a live Every Other Year show?
One can expect a high energy performance! We like to feed off of the crowd and one another on stage. Be prepared to jump around, sing along, and have fun. Our goal is to have people leaving the show in a better place than when they walked in. We love getting people involved.

What was the experience like opening for Unwritten Law and did you get to meet or hang out with them at all?
Opening for Unwritten Law at Garden Amphitheater was an amazing experience! We didn’t really get to meet or talk to the members much though as there were two stages in use and around 11 or 12 other bands there playing. We did meet a lot of amazing local bands though! We still keep in touch.

If Every Other Year could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
My Chemical Romance 100%! MCR is a band that all 4 of us look up to and draw inspiration from. We really admire their lyrics, writing style, and ability to incorporate theatrics and over the top production into their shows and music all while staying in touch with their edgy punk band roots which is something that we as a band are striving our best to do.

I think I saw your band open for Asylus at Chain Reaction back in 2017. What has it been like playing at the iconic club in OC?
Yes! Asylus are the homies! Chain Reaction will always feel like home base to us. It’s one of the first venues we all attended some of our first shows at and one of the first venues we actually started playing our own shows at. It’s notorious for having some of the wildest crowds and it definitely lives up to it. Super fun and intimate venue to play.

If the music of Every Other Year was a donut, what kind would it be and why?
If the music of Every Other Year was a donut, it would be a jelly filled classic glazed donut because a lot of people tell us our music gives them a throwback nostalgic feeling. And it’s jelly filled because people also don’t know exactly what they’re going to get from us. Will it be a fast, upbeat punk song that you’ll want to mosh to? Or an emotional acoustic ballad that will make you want to cry? Or anywhere in between.

What’s up next for Every Other Year?
We plan on releasing the rest of the album very soon, so stay tuned! And we will continue to do what we can in place of live shows like livestream performances and such.

Any final words of wisdom?
Thank you so much Highwire Daze Magazine for the interview! Hope everyone is staying safe, healthy, and positive during these times. And hopefully we can get back on stage soon!

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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