Just in time for the winter holidays, we get to speak to appropriately named local band All the Day Holiday. As they navigate the snowy roads to a show in Cleveland, drummer Mark Ventura tells about some of the bands worst driving experiences, what’s on his Christmas list and how the band changed their name and sound as their musical tastes evolved. Hey Mark, how are you? Good, we’re just driving to our show in Cleveland. In that case, what’s been your worst driving experience on tour? Worst driving experience—oh man, there have been so many of those. Well, one time we were on a run that was going to end in LA. We were in Pecos, Texas and our van broke down in the desert. There literally was nothing [around]; we had to have our van towed like 85 or 90 miles just to get it seen. So we broke down and our transmission had to basically be rebuilt. That was a pretty bad experience, we got stranded. But there were blessings in disguises. We ended up renting a box truck and we went out to LA. We threw all our stuff in the back of this box truck and took turns driving it while the others would just hang out in back. How was the LA show? Was it worth it? [In terms of] the amount of money, no. Every show has its benefits. There are things that happened because we went out there. Are you familiar with Bamboozle? It’s a festival. They do one in New Jersey and one in California. We were going out to the California one. That year they had—it’s more of a pop-oriented festival, especially the California one—they had 50 Cent and they had… I can’t remember…. a bunch of bands that were on the radio and stuff. So we were going out for that and we got to meet a lot of cool people and got to network with some really good people. So I mean, we wouldn’t have rented the box truck and stuff, if we didn’t think it would be slightly worth it. Otherwise we would have been like f--- it and stayed with the van. So yeah, it was worth it. I’m trying to think of any dangerous experiences we’ve been in before. We’ve been hit on the highway before and ran off the highway…we’ve hit ice before… What’s on your Christmas wish list? For me, I don’t know, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. We were hanging out with some friends today, and my dad’s birthday is on Christmas and that was brought that up, A friend said something like, "That’s gotta suck, having your birthday and Christmas on the same day because then you have nothing else to look forward to." I don’t know, that kind of struck me wrong because it just made realize how materialistic we are. It’s like: "Oh Christmas, I get stuff! Oh my birthday, I get stuff!" And apparently that is what you have to look forward to in life, getting stuff. You know what I mean? In terms of a wish list, it would be stuff that I need. I have a broken cymbal and have to borrow one from a friend, so my wish list would have a cymbal on it. I’m sure all of us want gear, maybe MacBooks or something we could be recording with. I’d say that’s about it. Although, I’m always fascinated by electronics, I think we all are. Anything that lights up and can be plugged in would be on our wish list. Ha! You have some interesting t-shirts for the band. There is one with the portrait of an old-time man with a beard; who is that? Yeah. He’s actually a free domain picture. Our friend Andrew helps us out with a lot of artwork. He did the design, sent it over to us, and we were like, "Who is this?" He was like, "It was on a free domain website." Yeah. So sometimes we try to pretend that he is somebody’s grandpa or something like that. It works out. What’s the story behind your name? Basically we were a band called Against the Nations before, and we were like, "This is not a cool name at all." So we wanted to change our name and change our sound. We started brainstorming for about 3 months, just coming up with words that had positive meanings. Holiday was on the list, parade was on the list, you know, just lighter, fluffy words. Then one day, one of the guys jokingly said, "Holiday, Holiday," and I heard it wrong. I thought he said, "All the Day Holiday." It sounded kind of cool and we liked it. Nowadays, we wished we had chosen something else, but we’re like, whatever. So, I mean, we were coming out of high school and it sounded cool. It was definitely better than our last name, so…. But it’s not the name that suits us today. But basically how it happened was that I had bad hearing and heard it wrong. Tell me about process of changing your sound. Um, we just started listening to better music. We quit listening to scream-hardcore music and just started appreciating classics and started really studying music in-depth. Can you give me some examples? Well one of my favorite bands is the Appleseed Cast. One of our members is really into U2. A lot of us started getting into bands like The Walkmen. We started getting into music that was more appreciated by the college circuit and just more artistic. Really, all I can remember from back then was the Appleseed Cast, Cursive and U2. And what influences you now? Oh a lot of stuff, like Menomena, Mew, Miracle Fortress. I just realized those are all bands that start with M. Oh man, I’m really into The Walkmen; there is a French Kicks song that I like a lot. And then, I can listen to Dr. Dog all day. Those are some of the bands that we’ve been digging. I’ve also been listening to a band called Girls and also Atlas Sound, Deerhunter. Those are the bands that interest us. A lot of bands that we go on tour with end up influencing us, getting to hang out with them and be inspired by them. Basically anyone who is willing to experiment with their sound and not really care about what others think, that’s what more interests us now. Hold on—Michael, do you know where we are supposed to park? There’s two hour parking here. Watch out for that telephone pole—So, yeah that’s the kind of music that inspires us.
Related story: Pomegranates sow seed for record deal in the U.K.
