*Interview with Rob Wells from Eleventeen
LocalZine: Who is in the band and what does everyone play?
Joshua - Vocals
Joey - Drums
DJ - Bass
Josh - Guitar
Rob - Guitar
LocalZine: How old is everyone?
Rob: We are early to mid twenties.... average age would be 23
LocalZine: When did you guys start and how did you meet?
Rob: Joey and I lived in Santa Barbara and a friend of ours, Kevin, introduced us to DJ and Josh about 3 years ago. So we met and kind of checked each other
out to see if we would work together... about 6 months later, we decided to
start a band.... back then Kevin sang. After a while Kevin grew tired of
playing and quit the band, so we had 'try-outs' and the first person to
try-out was Joshua... We were really excited and so was he. He joined that
night. It was basically like starting over, but we knew we had to, and we are happy
how everything turned out.
LocalZine: What style of music would you say you play and who are your
biggest influences?
Rob: Everything! Rock, pop, punk, hardcore, music from the sixties to the
present. Everything.
LocalZine: How did you come up with the name "Eleventeen"?
Rob: Kevin our first singer came up with it. We're still not sure what it means.
LocalZine: What is it like knowing your songs are getting air play on Live
105 and going up against bands like New Found Glory on the cage match?
Rob: It's awesome! It has helped us out a lot. No Name and Aaron Axelsen have been really supportive... it helps to keep us motivated, for sure.
LocalZine: You guys just played at Live 105's not so silent night, how did
that go?
Rob: It was cool, kind of weird, but cool. The best thing about was all the
promo Live 105 did for us as well as getting all access passes and being
able to go on stage to watch all the bands. Also, seeing AFI soundcheck was
really cool. I must say, all of the guys in POD were super nice.
LocalZine: What is the best/worst show you have ever played?
Rob: Maybe some of our first shows when nobody knew who we were. We had a pretty weird show at the Grange in Dublin. As for best shows...hmmm... we have so
many great shows. The Live 105 show at Bottom of the Hill a month ago was
great. Juliana Theory was a great show... all of our shows out of the Bay
Area do really well, too. Too many to list... luckily.
LocalZine: Ok, If you could play with any band, past or present, who would
it be?
Rob: Guns n Roses.
LocalZine: What is your opinion on the local scene these days?
Rob: It's cool. The east bay scene has always seemed to be really good. We all live on the peninsula and I think it's getting a lot better. I think we
need some more bands to come out of here. San Jose seems to have a
supportive scene as well.
LocalZine: So Rob, how long have you been wearing that Volcom hat?
Rob: haha! Too long... it's a bad habit. I will grow up soon.
LocalZine: So what should we expect from you guys in the new year? Any new
albums?
Rob: We have a five song demo/ep that has been floating around. We have been
talking to a lot of really good labels... as soon as something happens you
will know. We will, however, be playing a ton of shows now that we have a
booking agent.
LocalZine: McDonalds or Burger King?
Rob: I think McDonalds has good french fries, but I don't like the rest of their food... So Burger King, I think.
LocalZine: Who is the pimpest mother fucker in all the land?
Rob: Our webman and sixth member of eleventeen... Nate Graham. Or maybe, Jack
Black.
Check out Eleventeen's website at Eleventeenhq.com