A Thorn For Every Heart: An Interview at The Observatory in Santa Ana

Kelvin Cruz of A Thorn For Every Heart

A Thorn For Every Heart: An Interview at The Observatory in Santa Ana

A Thorn For Every Heart is active again – and on this very special night, the band found themselves performing at The Observatory in Santa Ana.  Also on the bill were Taken, The Juliana Theory, and in the headlining slot A Static Lullaby.  Among the songs performed by A Thorn For Every Heart were selections from their iconic Things Aren’t so Beautiful Now as well as a few selections for the unleashed It’s Hard to Move You sophomore release.  Prior to their amazing set, Highwire Daze caught up with lead vocalist Kelvin Cruz in the parking lot of The Observatory to discuss the past, present and future of A Thorn For Every Heart.  Read on…

We’re here with Kelvin from A Thorn For Every Heart. First of all, what are you looking forward to the most tonight playing at The Observatory?
Catching up with a lot of old friends. I’ve got friends from high school coming, friends from other earlier band years coming. Some people from the road, people coming from out of state. Obviously, playing with A Static Lullaby again, we have a long history with them. I love those guys. I’m just looking forward to shaking off some cobwebs and having some fun.

You’ve have some new songs out. Mirrors and Mistakes. Tell me about that song.
So, Mirrors and Mistakes is actually a track that we had written for our first record, Things Aren’t So Beautiful Now. We had actually recorded it and it somehow just floated off into B Side Land as it would, and we were talking about digging up old tracks and getting something to release in anticipation for the show. We all had loved that song, so we just plucked it out and it was free to use, and it was already mixed and mastered. I think there were versions of it on YouTube or here and there, maybe a live version, maybe even some demos that leaked. But now it’s official, it’s out for everybody. Just a nice little surprise to drop on the fans and the kids and for ourselves also. It’s been so long since we’ve had new music out, we’re like, let’s just do it.

You also have two other songs. Home Is Where the Heart Is and Mayday.
Those are actually songs that we had recorded for our second record that would’ve been, It’s Hard to Move You, which ultimately ended up getting shelved and sent to the Interscope/Universal Vault. Those songs didn’t make the cut for the record. We focused on some different material and those were done and mixed, but not really mastered. So we remastered them and we filtered through the ones that we liked and we chose those two and I’m super happy with them. I always loved those songs. I definitely loved Home Is Where the Heart Is and Mayday. I thought they were cool songs, interesting subject matter and it’s great to have those out there for something the kids that have never heard them and see what direction we might’ve been going in when we were getting ready to release that record back in 2008.

Before we talk about the past, let’s talk about the future. Are you guys going to record any new songs?
We are going to be getting back into studio. We’re going to crank out some new tunes. We also do plan to hand select a few favorites from, It’s Hard to Move You, rerecord those, give them the Taylor Swift version, “Our Version” if you will. So, we’ll go ahead and do that, put those out, and probably throw some new tracks on there as well. But definitely, new music coming in, and definitely some rehashes of some older unreleased stuff as well. Really super excited. Also, looking forward to finally putting some music out on vinyl and giving collectors some different mediums to pick up our stuff. So very excited for that.

Now we, if my calculation is right, it’s the 20th anniversary of Things Aren’t so Beautiful Now.  When you look back on that album, the fact that it’s been 20 years, what do you think of it all now in retrospect?
I think it was a blast. I still love those songs. When I joined the band, it was just a close-knit sense of family and friends and that’s what drew me to the band was similar circle, similar town, knew each other, and knew of each other. When we did that record, it was just a magical experience. Shawn Sullivan who produced and recorded the record at World Class Audio was just a gem. Loved working with him, super talented. He would’ve been like the fifth Beatle. He was just in there in it helping us fine-tune our sound, wouldn’t trade it or change anything about that recording. That record for me, it’s perfect little time capsule. I’m sure a lot of bands hear stuff and go, “Oh, I wish I could change that or wish I did that.” No, I love it. I think it’s a perfect testament of time. I’m going to enjoy playing a bunch of songs from that record tonight.

The record It’s Hard to Move You. I remember receiving the promo from the record label and I actually put it in my top 10 that year because thought it was so cool.
Nice. Thank you.

But then of course they never released it officially. Looking back on that second album, It’s Hard to Move You and the state of your band at that time. What do you think of it now?
I still love a lot of those songs. I feel like the way that we recorded them, and the sound was not to say watered down, but rung in a little bit. Brought in the reigns, a little more controlled, a little less chaotic, a little less angst so to speak. I love that record still. I think the songs are great. I think the main thing that hurt us about that record was taking so long to get it out. We had 12 songs that we were very happy with. The label was very, very happy with four of those songs and they came to us and asked, “Can you give us another two like this?” We were still pretty green. Eager to please. “No problem. We’ll give you two more like those. No problem.” Those two more songs took another three years.

Because we just couldn’t find the right producer to work with. We ended up finishing those last two songs with Mark Hoppus from Blink-182. Great songs. One of them was like in consideration to be on the soundtrack for Shrek Three.  That would’ve been, You’re the One, the little acoustic track on there, which could have imagined being great for that. Didn’t quite make the cut. I think really the time delay in getting that record out. Also, the fact that we had signed with new management and the label was curious and toying around with a name change and a rebranding and I think they ultimately said that was too much effort and too much work to undertake and it was just easier to tax right off it.

That was such a great album. Still is.
It still exists. It’s out there. Go find it.

I have my copy.
There you go. I actually tracked one down. I never had a physical copy. I had the digitals for years and on eBay like took maybe 10 years. Someone listed an advanced copy with the little logo, like the FBI Interscope. I swooped on it for $6. I have it. Got it framed. Put it with the original artwork and there it is.

$6? Cool. Now you mentioned Mark Hoppus, which is my very next question. What was it like working with Mark Hoppus from Blink-182?
It’s so rad. Talk about a starstruck moment and such a nice guy. Very cool, very funny. Super uber talented. I remember our drummer forgot to bring his drum kit. “We’re recording, you didn’t bring your kit?” So he had to play Travis’s kit. He was real disappointed about that.

Oh I bet.  (Laughter)
Yeah. But very cool, amazing studio. He got some great production and sound out of us and it was a blast just to track with him, hang out with him, and joke around with him. Dream come true for sure. Bucket list stuff.

Do you have any messages for A Thorn For Every Heart fans who are reading this now?
I would say thank you for all the years of support for still keeping us on your playlist, for actively bugging us for new music, despite us promising to deliver for years and years and years and just… not to say leaving people hanging because we have been actively recording and jamming and talking. It just spread out all over the country. It takes some time to get that together. But thank you to the fans endlessly. We appreciate you. Keep your eyes and ears on our social media channels. We will be dropping new music, so follow us on the iTunes or Apple Music, and Spotify. New music is coming and just enjoy the ride. Hopefully, we can play some more shows as well.

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Denise Johnson)

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