Interview — The Taste Of Irony

Skratch Magazine

The Taste Of Irony is singer/songwriter John Day of Cincinnati, Ohio. Playing the bass since the age of 14 before moving to the guitar and penning his own tunes, Day makes the rounds at local Ohio venues, with the occasional accompaniment. But most of the time, it just Day and his acoustic pop punk with a folk twist. The Taste of Irony is just one of Day’s side projects a part from the experience he’s had playing in bands. Read on to see what he had to say to Skratch Magazine.

Skratch: Describe your sound:
TTOI: The sound is a mixture of folk and punk sounding songs. Some are about breaking up, and falling in love. Others are about necrophilia, and murder.

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?
TTOI: I’ve always been into music, but my parents were not. I didn’t get my first bass until I was 14, and ever since then, I’ve been writing songs and performing.


Skratch: What is your song writing process like?
TTOI: I tried to think of a catchy chorus. If I find it, the rest of the song comes together within minutes. If the song takes me longer than ten to fifteen minutes, I’ll ditch the song. To me, if it works it works, and if it doesn’t, forget about it.

Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?
TTOI: Hundreds! Blink 182, Green Day, The Queers, Screeching Weasel, The Misfits, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Violent Femmes…the list just goes on.
Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.
TTOI: Mostly from people and things like past relationships, break ups, and people that get on my nerves; but also from movies.

Skratch: What is your musical background?
TTOI: A few little local projects here and the most prominent of the projects aside from The Taste of Irony are The Serfs and Hate The Living, two of my current projects. 


Skratch: Tell us about how you got started as a band.
TTOI: The Taste of Irony started because of a break up.

Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?
TTOI: The Groupies!

Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians?
TTOI: The biggest and one of the only challenges I’ve faced is the same that many musicians face; making music my career.

Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?
TTOI: Fuck the Living, I’d Rather Be Dead. It’s a great mixture of horror, comedy with a hint of romance.
Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever bought? What was it?
TTOI: It was the live album from Blink 182. It was my first taste of pop punk that I was able to get on my own, and at 13, I found what I had been looking for. If it wasn’t for that album, I don’t know what would have happened.

Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?
TTOI: Touring non-stop. Going to other countries. Making this a career, and never having to worry about picking up my tools, and going back to work.

Skratch: Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.
TTOI: Long Term, for sure. I hope to make a name for myself with The Taste of Irony, and will continue to push for it.

Skratch: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?
TTOI: I feel that I have become a better musician since the project originally started.

Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?
TTOI: I typically try to practice everyday between about an hour to two hours. 


Skratch: What would you say is your band's motto? Explain.
TTOI: There isn’t exactly a motto, I write what I think and put forth emotion while playing.

Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.
TTOI: I have a few local shows around Cincinnati within the next few months, I plan on releasing an EP soon, once the EP is released and distributed I hope to set a few mini-tours so I can get my name and my music out there.


Skratch: Where have your preformed? Tell us about the experience.
TTOI: I have performed at most of, if not all of, the local Cincinnati venues along with a few out of town shows. So far all of the experiences have been pretty good, I enjoyed the shows as did the crowd(s).

Skratch: What sets your stage show a part from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?
TTOI: Since it’s just me performing, I put forth as much energy as possible, which is definitely noticed, not to mention you can’t help but leave one of my shows with at least one of my songs stuck in your head.

Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?
TTOI: I’m putting forth all of the energy and effort I can in this band with the hopes that one day soon it’ll be noticed; at which point I can begin taking over the world! Ha.

Acquired a taste for The Taste of Irony? Check out http://www.myspace.com/thetasteofirony.

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