Interview with Arrows in Action

Arrows in Action is an up and coming band whose music reflects pivotal moments that many of us experience in throughout our lives.  Based out of Gainesville, FL, and comprised of Victor Viramontes-Pattison (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Jesse Frimmel (Drums/Vocals), Matt Fowler (Guitar), and Tony Farah (Bass), Arrows in Action is not your stereotypical power punk band.  As Gainesville is known as a college town with musical influences that reflect the young crowd in the area, it is refreshing to see a band take numerous influences to create a sound reminiscent of that of the early 2000s but different enough to separate them from all the noise.  Their latest releases “Close Enough” and “This Time” reflect a new era for the band and we cannot see what they accomplish in this decade.  We were fortunate to speak to all of the members while we are in quarantine and discuss their music.
 
WCBG: Thank you so much for speaking with us, we greatly appreciate it!  Can you please introduce yourselves and tell us a fun fact about you?

Jesse: Hello, I’m Jesse and I’m the drummer of Arrows in Action.  My fun fact would be that I am the only original member of the band.

Victor:  Hi I’m Victor, I sing and play guitar in the band, and I have been in the band the second longest amount of time.

Matt:  I’m Matt, I play guitar, and a I make a damn good banana bread.

Tony:  I am Tony, I play bass, and I’m the newest member of Arrows in Action but I have been in more bands than the rest of them.
 
WCBG: We have a question that was asked at our Freshman Orientation that we ask everyone.  If you could be any utensil in the kitchen what would you be and why?

Jesse: A fork—it’s the best one

Tony: A corkscrew because a bottle of wine you can’t open is a damn shame.

Victor: A pan because I like to make pancakes.

Matt: A coffee grinder.

Jesse: If any fans want to make fan art of us as kitchen utensils that would be great.
 
WCBG: What are you currently listening to?

Matt: Mac Miller’s latest release, Circles.  My favorite band right now is White Reaper, so I’ve been listening to their album You Deserve Love all the time.

Jesse: so am i. by Superwhatvr.  Also, a lot of Bearings, Sleep On It, and Between You & Me since I recently saw them live; that show was rad.

Victor: The newest Four Year Strong record, Bennee, and The Aces.

Tony: Man or Astroman
 
WCBG: If you could change one thing about the music industry as it is today, what would it be and why?

Matt: People don’t buy physical copies of albums anymore, but at the same time the barrier of entry is lower so for us we don’t sell a lot of copies, but we can get a lot of streams.

Tony: Bands shouldn’t have to play a battle of the bands to get on a festival show.  It’s uncomfortable to compete with people we like because we want to win but we also want them to win too.

Jesse: Diversity in the industry in terms of people not in terms of genres.  The industry, especially our genre, is mostly male dominated but I think it’s starting to change for better.

Victor: Also, the lack of people of color in the scene should be a relevant topic.
 
WCBG: How did you pick your respective instrument?

Tony: I was very young, and my dad took me to a music store where I saw a bass guitar; I plucked one of the strings on it and I was like I want that.  MY dad instead got me an electric guitar that I never ended up playing.  Years later I bought a bass and there was something appealing about the lower end and the way it shook you.

Victor: I started playing the guitar in 5th grade.  My family would go on camping trips and someone either brought or had a guitar.  I started teaching myself to sing when I was 15 and I begged my mom for singing lessons.  When that didn’t happen, I started to try to figure it out on my own and I’d practice every day.

Jesse: I took piano lessons for a long time and I was in band at school.  I was good at the classical stuff.  And then I got really good at the game Rock Band on the drums.  I thought I could make the switch, so I did.  It just feels right.

Matt: I’ve been playing guitar since I was 8 and I don’t remember a time before that when I didn’t want to play the guitar.  This was about the time my brother started getting into music pretty seriously.
 
WCBG: What is your favorite part of a song you’ve written?

Tony: For ‘Close Enough,’ Victor showed me the melodies of the song, and I tweaked the chorus melody a bit—I pretty proud of that.

Jesse: The intro to the second verse of ‘This Time’ where it starts out as acoustic and then the hits come in and then the full band.

Victor: The verses for ‘This Time’ and ‘Close Enough.’  The choruses were the basic idea and the verses are the details of the story.  I wrote these outside of our writing space since I was trying to work through things.  It was cathartic for me.

Matt: The guitar part on ‘This Time’—the solo in the outro, it is so complimentary.
 
WCBG: What is your favorite album in your personal collection?

Jesse: A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! at the Disco

Tony: Man or Astroman’s Defcon 5…4…3…2…1

Matt: I have, on vinyl, Black And White Night Live by Roy Orbinson.  It has my favorite song, ‘In Dreams’, and favorite version of it on the record.

Victor: I own zero physical copies and I have nowhere to play a CD or Vinyl.  When I was younger, I would make mixtapes of random songs.  If I had to pick an album I could have it would be Language & Perspective by Bad Suns.  I used to have a CD of Put Up or Shut Up by All Time Low.
 
WCBG: What musicians inspire you to be a better musician?

Jesse: Brendon Urie.  I’ve looked up to him for a long time.  He’s so good at so many different instruments and he is probably one of the best vocalists in our genre.  He encourages me to work hard and pick up the slack.

Matt: I have bigger influences that I love and musicians that inspire me on a day to day; these are normally our friends.  Like Nick Wheeler from The Forum, he has a fantastic ear for tone, and I love his playing.  Also, Tony because he’s super creative and innovative as a guitar player.  And our friend Nick Scout—he toured with Blue Man Group and was part of the crew.

Victor: Awsten Knight of Waterparks.  The band always challenges themselves on multiple fronts and they try different and fresh things.  Currently there’s a trend with synth sounds and it’s good to stay well versed in what is popular.  Waterparks transitioned so easily to becoming popstars and not just a pop-punk band on Hopeless Records.  They take control of their art whether it be through directing music videos or creating album art.  It helps to show what they want to get across.

Tony: I would say my friends and peers, they make me want to get better.  If I had to list some bigger name influences, I would say Tony Kanal from No Doubt, Scott Shiflet and Danny Elfman as a songwriter.
 
WCBG: What are you goals for 2020?
Arrows in Action: To get on the road and hopefully tour this fall.  We are trying to reschedule as many dates as possible.  Put out some more music and write as much as possible.  And to stay active in this quarantine landscape.
 
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