This is the first time I've ever interviewed a band more than one time, but metal band Elysia's singer and frontman Zak Vargas is entertaining, well spoken, and just so gosh-darn cute I couldn't resist. Here's what he had to say about life for Elysia since we last spoke, and the experience of having a new record out.

Vargas: Let's do this

Me: let me put on my pretend professional hat.

Vargas: Let me get my microphone.

Me: Alright. boom. we are all systems go...this is so much easier the second time. Ok, you guys just released your full length album, Masochist. What was the recording experience like for that?

Vargas: Yes we did! It was pretty long and gruesome and still wasn't enough time. *laughs*

Me: Did you guys produce that yourselves, and I just now realized that I asked you who was producing the new record in the last interview, so don't answer that.

Vargas: ok, i won't.

Me: Instead...answer this. A lot of times, bands will go to the studio with certain albums or bands in mind, like a sound they want to shoot for. Did you guys do that or did you really just want to do your own thing.

Vargas: Well we came in with lots of stuff that we had given the guy like months before. There wasn't anything we were shooting for particularly, because you know we wanted to have our own sound.

Me: Right. What sort of things did you really want to do different recording this time that you didn't do last time, or vice versa?

Vargas: Well this time we really just wanted to spend a lot more time on it, which we were able to do with guitars. But I still feel like I wish I had more time, there's a lot I'd like to change.

While there has always been room for all out rocking and destructive dance pits in the realms of heavy music, sometimes we tend to forget that initially one of the main intentions of underground music was to have a message and create awareness amongst youth of all the things going on in the world around them. Although a lot of bands have forgotten that these days, Nevada natives The Molotov Solution are well aware of their duty as the modern day town criers. I was able to interview the band's vocalist, Kyle Davis, during their tour with Impending Doom and Lynch Thy Beauty.

 Davis: We're all crammed in a stranger's house in Portland right now, so I think we can do this now.

Me: I'm always ready with the questions, man. If you guys are ready, then so am i.

Davis: Alright, let's do it!

Me: Alright. *ahem* So you guys are on tour right now. How's that going?

Davis: It's going pretty well. Lots of nudity, black tar heroin, with a pinch of food fighting between moving vehicles. A few dates got cancelled and that was unfortunate, but we're making the best of it.

Me: Sounds like a pretty good time. Who set up this tour?

Davis: Robbie from our band and Shane from Lynch Thy Beauty. We signed a contract with BA Booking, but we quickly found out that he was all talk, so we were stuck booking another tour ourselves.

Me: You guys are signed to a label, and you're still pretty much doing your tour DIY?

Davis: Yes, our label is actually helping us out quite a bit. And as for booking agencies, they stress us out to the point of IBS (diarhea), so fuck it. We'll keep the solid turds and keep booking shit ourselves.

Q: How did Cold War get together, and with so many members of other bands, did you all start out as a side project?

A: Cold War began with dudes who were no longer in their previous bands. Some were asked to leave, others had left voluntarily, some were given a plane ticket home from Canada. Since all of these dudes were in previous bands they decided to start a new project, not a side project, in early 2003, in an effort to play in a band no one could be kicked out of, except one. He is no longer with us, his name is Jeff Tryon (not Tyrone). But it's all good cuz he's not really dead, and he plays a lot of Zelda.

Q: How did you guys hook up with Indecision, and are you satisfied with the label?

A: Well, Marc Jackson previously played drums for Throwdown and did a few releases on Indecision, Steve also sang for a band called Welcome To Your Life, which was also on the label. Dave Mandel is a really solid dude, so as soon as we were ready to look for a label, Indecision seemed the best route to take, we are very satisfied with our label and will be doing another release shortly.

Q: How did Check Your Face get together?

A: Check your face got together i think like the end of February or the beginning of March in 2005. I was in a band called 1984 and it was really tough sounding and I started to prefer something a little more fun and youth crew-ish. So I called up Griffin, the old bass player, and I asked him to get some younger kids together to start a fun band. No tough guy bullshit, no egos, no bullshit politics. Some people say shit about our name but whatever. Most tough guy bands with names that are tough and about death and killing and shit are whack suburban rich kids that live at home with their moms. We wanted a fun name that was different. Kinda Gorilla Biscuits style. A few weeks later we had our first practice.

Q: Is it hard to get a band off the ground coming from New England where there are already so many bands...or does everyone sort of help each other out?

A: It is hard. But not because of the area. I think any band coming from anywhere would be hard to get off the ground. I am a lot older and have a lot more contacts, but it's still hard. We are still trying to pull shit together and get shows outta state. I think coming from Connecticut however might be a bit of a disadvantage. We try not to be the typical Integrity, Hatebreed or 100 Demons band from CT, so in return a lot of people won't give us a chance. Plus we don't have typical breakdowns or typical verse chorus verse type songs for youth crew either. So we get stuck sometimes with people not showing us interest. Some places when they hear you are from CT turn their nose up to you, which is fine, cuz they have an expectation of your sound. We are just trying to sound like Check Your Face.