Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with California’s For The Record. Together we discussed their stubbornness, their influences, their EP “This is Fine”, and so much more! Check it out below!
1. Hello! Mustard thanks you for being here! How are you doing?
Greetings, Mustard! Thanks so much for having me! I can’t complain. I’m busy, but busy is good, or so I’m told.
2. For The Record was born out of nostalgia, humor, and stubbornness. Is this common amongst all humans? Could you share the origins of For The Record?
On occasion. It is with me at least. When I was in high school I started playing guitar and would get together with my best friend, Sean Draper, who played bass and we’d kind of screw around and jam for funsies. I’ve been wanting to be in a band ever since I could remember so we formed a band called “Lawn Chair”(that’s a whole different discussion) which was just a bad rock band but also my first forays into songwriting. We both got really into ska not too much longer after that band had run it’s course and decided to try and form our own. The thing about ska that I loved was that the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games were kind of my personality as a kid and Goldfinger’s “Superman” was the most incredible thing I had heard at the time and I wanted to make music like that. As I got older I discovered Reel Big Fish and loved how goofy they were because that’s how me and my friends are and always have been. The stubbornness comes from me doing this for the last almost 11 years and wanting this to be my life so damn bad that I’d do anything for it.
3. Humans who say “for the record” are often trying to prove a point or correct a statement. Was the band name inspired by these events?
I really wish they were because that’s a way better story. “For The Record” as a band name is something I ripped from the Reel Big Fish song, “She’s Famous Now”. The line in the second pre-chorus goes, “You’ll never touch the way that I feel. Just For The Record, she got the deal”. I was like, 16 or 17 the first time I’d heard that and I thought that was the most clever thing I had ever heard. It made me want to write and play music because I wanted to write stuff like that because it just seemed so fun. So For The Record is kind of an homage to that.
4. Who (or what) influences For The Record?
It’s a lot of ska from the 90’s and early 2000’s. So most of Reel Big Fish’s(If I say their name one more time I think Aaron Barrett is gonna pop out of nowhere) discography, Less Than Jake(Anthem, specifically), Bosstones, Mustard Plug, all those guys. At least in the early days. Now it’s kind of whatever I’m listening to on repeat. For the new album, Fake It Til You Make It, I had “Take This To Your Grave” by Fall Out Boy almost on a loop for a good two months.
5. What is For The Record’s creative process?
Usually I’ll write out lyrics and get song structure kind of worked out. Then I’ll do a demo on a voice note with an acoustic guitar and send it to everyone to see if it’s up to snuff and that we should keep it. If it passes, we’ll run through it at a practice and start putting in changes or altering some stuff to however we see fit.
6. Your debut EP “This is Fine” caught the attention of record label Manic Kat records who signed you after its release. Do you recall when this first happened? What was your reaction to this?
That was a Red Letter Day if there ever was one. Getting signed was one of those things that was like, “Okay, you’re a real band now and no one can tell you otherwise”. Being one of maybe two or three ska bands in the area and everyone telling me, “Oh, that’s fun, you’re in a band” it was super validating to have someone be like, “We like your music enough to sign you”.
7. Mustard loves the humorous lyrics and high energy of “This is Fine.” Could you share more about what went into this EP?
“This is Fine” represented a turning point in my musical career. When we were writing it I felt myself kind of growing up musically and was finding my voice. A lot of the lyrical content still boils down to “I’m mad about something” but there’s a little more of a bite and thought put into it that’s really fun.
8. Mustard has observed humans say “this is fine” in a sarcastic manner. Was this the case for the EP?
Actually, yes! Recording took longer than we wanted to(That’s what happens when you’re trying coordinate schedules around a band of six plus an engineer), we couldn’t get the album art we wanted because the location fell through, so when it came time that all of us happened to be in the same place what would become the album art we went “It’s fine. IT’S FINE. THIS IS FINE” so it kind of just stuck.
9. Following “This is Fine” came your subsequent EP “The Mess They Call Me 20’s.” Could you share more about this EP? What is life like for a human in their 20s?
For this human it was just a mess. There was a lot of insecurity and immaturity that I was experiencing that would make my 20’s a mess and a lot of how I coped with it made for good songwriting. There’s a lot of youth and “I want so bad to be liked” in that album that you can just hear.
10. “Fake It Till You Make It” is your most recent release. How does this EP differ from For The Record’s previous releases?
The biggest thing is the subject matter. “Fake It Til You Make It” revolves mostly around my struggles with my mental health and also confronts my alcoholism and heartbreaks of my own doing. “Fake It” is me holding a mirror to myself and confronting my issues that all turf out with “It’s Okay To Not Be Okay”. Which, really, the resolution isn’t “You’re fine” it’s “You’re not fine and that’s fine”. Usually whenever I write a song it’s me coping with something, be it I’m angry with someone or sad because a girl left me or whatever. “It’s Okay” is a song I wrote for myself because I needed it.
11. Has For The Records been contacted by All Elite Wrestling’s FTR?
We haven’t. This is a weird “My worlds are colliding” moment. My favorite football team is the Jacksonville Jaguars. They are owned by Shad Khan. Shad also owns AEW with his son, Tony. AEW has a tag team group called For The Record. My band is called For The Record. That’s one of the weirder coincidences in my life.
12. Does For The Record have a favorite episode of “The Office (U.S.)?”
David and Becky I’m sure have their own. I don’t have favorite episodes so much as I have favorite moments. One is when Michael finally starts the pitch to the superintendent of Lackawanna County Schools by having a heart to heart in a Chili’s. Another is when Michael tells the sales team, “I am not going to exclude good people from our staff simply because they are threatening to you” when they retaliate against him hiring Danny Cordray(I guess I have a soft spot for Michael being an adult that’s competent at his job). Last one is during the fire drill(Stress Relief), when Oscar is climbing through the ceiling and Angela yells, “SAVE BANDIT!!” and then throws the cat up through the ceiling and then falls through it.
13. Where can readers listen to your music?
Anywhere you can get your music! Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, we’re on Napster for cryin’ out loud. Or if they want to get a physical CD we’ll sign it! Or they can get a shirt or anything else at fortherecordska.square.site
Music Shelf With Mustard 