Name: Ben Liebsch
Age: 22
Hometown: Dundalk, MD
Band: You, Me, and Everyone We Know
Instrument: Voice

1.) How's life on this tour been so far?
It's been much more luxurious than i thought it would be. We've managed to scam our way into many a friend's houses. We actually ended up hanging out in a hot tub with some of Paul's friends in Florida in 30 degree weather. other than that, we've been sleeping in our van. I personally have been using NyQuil as a sleep aid a lot. To sum up, it's everything and more i hoped it would be.

2.) Do you prefer tours like this or huge festivals with multiple bands playing at once?
Well, we are actually going to be playing our first BIG festival in April, so we'll see how that goes. I like tours like the ones we've been doing with friends,  as long as they are successful and we get to sleep in doors.

3.) When you guys are on the road, what do you usually do?
  Mike from The Track Record actually asked us this the other night and we didn't have a proper answer, so we had to start doing things to entertain ourselves so when people asked us again we'd have better answers. Here is what we've been doing: Doing round robins of row your boat. Laughing about various gas problems we have. Planning to read plays out loud and each pick characters. Eating many a regional foods.  

4.) What would you say is the biggest sacrifice you had to make be in
your band?
I gave up my entire life to play with these guys. My friends. My job. My apartment. My car. Everything that was familiar to me. and I'm not exaggerating in any way. It's been entirely worth it though.

5.) What bands would be on your dream tour(i.e. Who would you like to tour with)?
Adelphi, The Format, Say Anything, Northstar and us ( i know northstar broke up :) )

6.) Where did you get your inspiration from for your music (other 
bands, family, etc.)?
i have a really hard time writing nice songs. I write mostly about the last few years of my life, which have been filled with drunken nights, some promiscuous activity, followed by questioning all that i've done. It's all pretty written out in the lyrics.  

7.) As a musician, what do you consider to be "making it big"?
That's a really tough question. Making it big kind of seems so simple. If i can have at least 100 kids singing along every night with us on a tour, i'll be happy.

8.) What tour would you say was your favorite?
We started touring the week it got cold in the midwest in january. So i think our late january tour to Florida wins by default. I hate the cold sometimes.

 

9.) Where was your favorite place to perform (city, venue)?
Mojoe's Coffee House in Orland Park, IL, Tuesday Tunes in Lewisburg, PA and definitely St. Johns Hamilton in Baltimore, MD when run by Passes Out Promotions. Julia and Jaqueline are just such amazing people to be associated with. I am glad we are from where we're from.

10.) What is your favorite song to play live?
I mean, i love the new song we've been playing live. It's just so more focused on our sound and whatnot. Do it Again is probably my favorite on our EP right now.

11.) Name the five greatest bands of all time. of all time?
christ. lemme give it a shot. i have to pretend like i'm not all young as fuck. but my answers will stand for themselves. james taylor. Queen Andrew WK Michael Jackson Fleetwood Mac and anything Stevie Nicks did.

12.) What's the best part about going on tour?
Other than coming home in the green, i would have to say the fact that you can make tour whatever you want. You can work hard and make alot of people aware of your band or you can just connect with your friends alot more. Or you can do both.

13.) What did you do before the band started?
I worked in a law office and drank alot. Honestly.

14.) Where's the one place you want to perform that you haven't?
Hawaii. It's warm there. always.

15.) If you could describe it in one word, what does it feel like to perform?
performing to me is kind of organic. i move like i feel i guess. i've never been a singer before so i can of just do what feels right. you know how you go up to talk to the girl you've been crushing on for years? It's like suddenly you have all the confidence in the world to say whatever you want, the worst most innapropriate things ever. and you just dont care. its about brutal honesty.

16.) Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
give up, i dont want anymore competition. but really, just really sit down and decide what YOU  want to do. Then find people that you get along with and compromise just a little. "Side projects" are bullshit.

17.) Any last words or shout outs?
I want to thank everyone that's helped us so far, whether if be giving us a place to sleep, housing us, buying a cd, just giving us money for gas, and anything else that keeps us going. I also want to give a big shout out to everyone who said we wouldnt even make it this far...and to everyone still saying we won't be able to go any farther. Both categories are just as driving as the other. It's all happening...