Interview With 'Count Me In'

Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?

My name's David Ecker and I play guitar in Count Me In. This band in this form officially started in November 2016... after about 3 years of wanting to actually do it. Count Me In was actually started years before that by Jason (guitar/vocals) and Alex (bass/vocals). They had one called "If I'm Going Down, You'll Go Down Harder" and I loved it and wanted to rerecord it and produce it for them. I thought the song had such potential but just needed a bit of rewrite and some production behind it. We drunkenly talked about this every time we'd be at a party, most notably at Jasons annual Halloween party. I was so busy with my other band Shreddy Krueger full time that we just never got around to it. In November 2016 Shreddy was slowing down for a little bit and we decided to take the winter off, so the second we made that choice I called up Jason and Alex and we made it official. Ryan was also in Shreddy and I asked if he'd want to drum for us and he was immediately down to join in. Ryan and I have been playing music together in Shreddy Krueger and another band called Secret and Whisper for around 10 years now, and both of us started playing music and got really into it because of Pop Punk and had always wanted to start another project like this. Ryans very first band was actually a Pop Punk band named Rice Rocket when he was like 14 if I remember correctly. Jason and I have know each other and have been best buds since we were 5 years old; we actually started playing bass(me) and guitar(him) together when we were 14. I was Mark Hoppus and he was Tom Delonge and we were going to be the next blink-182. We met Alex in highschool and he's just kind of followed us around ever since. That song turned into the version you'll hear on the record called "She's Your Problem Now".

What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?

Ryan and I have been in some decently popular bands for over a decade now, Ryan even longer as he was in a band called Stutterfly wayyyy back in the day. Jason, Alex and are a few years younger and we'd go to Stutterfly shows and be front row in the push pit. The Pop Punk scene and going to shows like that really put us in the mindset of always wanting to play in a band, no matter how big or small. We all have day jobs though, Ryan, Jason and I both work in the tech and video games industry. I'm out in Iceland working for a games company at the moment and the other 2 guys are back in Kelowna Canada at 2 separate games studios there. Alex is in the housing construction business and sits in a sick office with this rad fluffy white dog. All of this has allowed us to pursue music but still hold it down at home. I have no idea what else I'd be doing with my life otherwise... maybe be a highschool teacher or just hold out on winning the lottery!

Tell us about your latest Album and why our readers should check it out.

We just released a 12 song record called "How's Your Heart, Kid?". This was truly a record for us, actually 15 years in the making. The concept behind it was very simple, write catchy Pop Punk songs that sound like the glory days of the late 90's/early 2000's of the genre. Take all those songwriting, chorus hook, singalong qualities that everyone loves about the genre, and give it a modernized sound and twist. I had so much fun writing this record, and it just felt like a very happy record. We hit on a lot of cliches of the genre, but I like to think we took them to the next level in today's music scene. Pop Punk nowadays is very much mixed in with Hardcore elements. This was something I wanted to consciously stray away from, and stay on track with the original vision. The album has a very cohesive sound because of this, every song has it's place, and nothing is filler. One of the mindsets of the album was "if this came out 15 years ago, we'd be millionaires on TRL and MTV playing arenas". To capture that moment in time and pump it back out in 2018.

Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?

I've met a lot of people in the music scene through my other bands and have definitely had some wild experiences. Nothing has left me awestruck, it's just not a thing that really happens to me. However I do have a few people I'd love to meet that would probably make me scream. Jim Adkins in Jimmy Eat World... I would LOVE to pick his brain on songwriting. He's one of the best songwriters of our time in my opinion, and to get any wisdom from him would be unreal. Ryan Key from Yellowcard, same thing on songwriting and so personally be able to give him a thank you for some of the songs he's written and how they influenced me. Number 1 is probably Mark Hoppus for a few reasons; Songwriting, once again, ANY info on his process and techniques for it. Hooks, riffs, choruses, structure, everything, him and Jim are up there as my favourite songwriters. I would love to hear stories about working with Jerry Finn, especially on 'Take Off Your Pant and Jacket' which is my favourite record of all time. I want to know how they got that palm muting tone... I swear there's a track of ghost notes mixed in there but I want to hear it from the source! And to thank him for inspiring me to play an instrument and actually make something out of it. I've had countless people meet and message me about how I influenced them and their lives, I'd love to repay that sentiment back to him. Fun fact, he actually visited the brewhouse across from my apartment in Reykjavik right before new years last year. He posted it on Instagram and I almost had a heart attack, I was about to run across the road and see if he was still there... EXCEPT I WAS BACK IN CANADA FOR CHRISTMAS!!! I was so upset, it ruined Christmas.

If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?

Pure fun. 4 dudes, playing their songs exactly as you hear it, and emitting an energy that makes you want to dance and singalong. We can pull off our record, we never want to be one of those bands that is just editing and studio tricks. We play, and we play it right.

If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?

The 2001 version of blink-182, preferably opening on the Pop Disaster Tour. Jason and I were too young to drive and our parents wouldn't take us to go to the show 4 hours away from our town. Possibly the biggest disappointment of our childhood. That was an unstoppable moment in time for this genre of music.

You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?

In an effort to keep this fresh, I won't pick anyone above that I just fanboy'd over. I think I'd have to pick Jerry Finn. That dude was the sound of my youth. The albums he made, the stories and knowledge he'd have... we could talk and learn forever. I'm big into audio engineering and would love to hear those stories from the studio, that only he knows.

And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?

I actually watched this for the first time in my life last Christmas... the season made me watch it, so it has to be!

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/countmeinpoppunk/