Pressure Under Fire

Pressure 4-5 is part of the Class of 2001, musically. There is a new breed out there…it includes Alien Ant Farm, Puddle of Mudd and Linkin Park and they are taking over the television and radio waves. For some of these bands, as soon as they started playing gigs, they were slapped with a record contract and then ordained as members of the rock 'n' roll family. That is no small feat, but then comes the struggle and it starts with the pressures of fame, namely groupies and drugs. Pressure 4-5's frontman Adam Rich strongly believes that avoiding those distractions has been the reason that the band has managed to stay together, happily.

What has been your best touring experience?
OzzFest was probably the best tour, because we got to meet so many different bands and play for huge crowds every day. The Alien Ant Farm tour was also really good. Those were the two biggest tours we've been on so far. Getting a chance to play in front of that many people every day is just unbelievable and getting to do what you love every day just makes you feel really good.

Was the OzzFest intimidating?
It was really intimidating at first, because we were just like the baby band. We still are a baby band in my opinion. But we were playing with bands like Linkin Park and Disturbed, all these huge rock bands, and little Pressure 4-5 was on the side stage. And then we could go and watch them [Lincoln Park and Disturbed] everyday and it was just like, 'Wow, this is the real deal.' It was intimidating, but we also learned a lot about how it works and what it's like to do this, the whole lifestyle.

Is the 'lifestyle' what you expected?
It's basically whatever you make of it. Some bands get really into things that cause them to break up, like drugs and whatever else. You see the misconceptions that all bands are into getting crazy and doing tons of drugs, but we're into playing our music. You know, it's just what I said; it's what you make of it. It's whatever you want it to be. For us, we spend a lot of time writing songs on the road, we do goofy things; we play Playstation and just screw around at truck stops. We don't get to crazy when it comes to that other side of the music world. We have fun, but it's like, we don't get crazy with lots of drugs, because that just ruins the band.

Is it tempting because it's out there?
Not really, because you see what happens to other bands. They're just idiots, they ruin their bodies to be musicians. If you're into that kind of thing, then have a blast, but I'm not going to get into details. It's definitely there.

How have things changed in the band since you've been signed to DreamWorks?
We get to play. That's pretty much what has changed the most. We get support on the road, basically they pay for us to go out and play shows everywhere and put our record out. It's great, because you get into a town that you've never been to before and they have your record and the kids are singing your songs. It's cool. Just having a record in stores anywhere is just crazy. You go into a store and your record is just sitting there on the shelf, it's a pretty cool thing. It's a real feeling of accomplishment.

How was it the first time you saw your video?
It was pretty crazy. It was really crazy. I've only seen it a couple of times on the TV, but it's a trip every time. Usually it just doesn't look real; it's a weird feeling. Your face is there, you get used to it. And it's weird knowing other bands who have videos; it's like seeing all your friends. It sounds weird, but it becomes not that big of a deal, it's still a really big deal when we see it, because we don't get tons of MTV play anymore, but it's really exciting to see it.

How has coming from the Northstate affected your music?
Only me and Mark (guitar) are from the Northstate, the other guys are from San Jose and San Francisco. Basically, living in Redding, we only had MTV; we didn't have any cool radio stations, still don't. There's no modern rock station there. The newest they get is Creed. We pretty much relied on MTV, and the time I started getting into rock music, there was Rage Against the Machine, who was breaking out, Nirvana was breaking out, Pearl Jam was breaking out, so I was lucky enough that MTV was playing that stuff at that time. It got me into rock music. It's all I really had. We'd go see shows and stuff, drive to Sacramento to see shows. I saw Rage, Incubus, back when they were a little more rocking. In Redding they don't really support that scene in the community. I don't know what it is about the community, maybe there's just no market there.

How did you guys get labeled a 'Santa Barbara band'?
We all went to school at UCSB, that's where we met. So, that's where we're from, or that's where the band is from, but we're from all over the place. We formed in January of '98, and played the local scene there.

Do people in Redding give you shit for being a Santa Barbara band?
No one cares. We used to get shit in Santa Barbara for calling ourselves a Santa Barbara band. But then we lived there for four or five years and they were like, 'Okay, you're a Santa Barbara band.' Actually, it was after we got signed and they were like 'Yeah! You're from Santa Barbara!'

What makes you guys different from all the other bands out there?
I think what makes us different right now is that there is so many bands out there trying to be metal-tough-guy bands, and we're not trying to do that. We're trying to take elements of hard rock, hard-core - and I mean New York style hard core - and we're trying to have a stripped down, heavy rock sound with meaningful lyrics. It's really important that our songs mean something. We don't want to be one of those bands that spit out the newest rap catch phrase. We also don't want to be a band that just sits there and dwells on negativity. That's just too easy.

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