I have been familiar with the band, Young Poet, for years now. Ever since Seth Decker (vocals/rhythm guitar) and I got in contact and became friends through social media, they have had a special place in my heart. I have watched this band go through member changes and grow musically, and I love where they are headed! Click that play button and keep reading to get a taste of this pop punk/easycore band.
Young Poet is made up of Seth Decker (vocals/rhythm guitar), Andrew Jerrel (lead guitar), Stevie Haller (drums), and Tyler Demarch (bass). Look out for their newest single, "Hey Cousin, Let's Go Bowling," coming out on November 14th, 2017 and their album release of "Thrive in a Modern Era" on November 28th, 2017.
Q: Who are some artists or bands that inspire you?
Seth:
This is such a tough question for me because I listen to so many different artists and bands. On this album specifically, I was really inspired by Switchfoot, Fall Out Boy, Four Year Strong, Audiostrobelight, Explosions in the Sky, and Chunk! No Captain Chunk!.
Tyler:
For me, inspiration comes from every which way you can imagine. When I started really getting into playing music, my influences were bands like Senses Fail, Madina Lake, Hawthorne Heights, So They Say, and Mineral.
Later on, I had my metalcore phase and began listening to bands like iwrestledabearonce, The Devil Wears Prada, For Today, Bless The Fall. So, through each phase of finding different genres and bands, there were always those few that really stuck with me and will continue to inspire me.
Those bands for me are Senses Fail, Set Your Goals, Counterparts, The Appleseed Cast, Knocked Loose, and so many more.
Stevie:
Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins. Pretty much 90’s alternative grunge era.
Q: What made you decide to start a career in music?
Seth:
I've always been involved in music, from learning violin at age eight to picking up a guitar at 15. A friend had told me he was starting a band and he didn't know that I played, so I just showed up to the audition and got the gig!
Since then, I've just met so many wonderful and supportive people that the idea of leaving the music scene is too difficult for me.
Tyler:
Honestly, my friends and family. Without them pushing and supporting me to follow through with is, now it’s the only thing that feels right. It’s what I want to do with my life.
Stevie:
The drive of talent that I have behind my drums makes me feel like it’s the only thing I’m good at. I want to help other people with their anxieties and depression or even teach drums to people that want to learn.
Andrew:
Going into high school, I wanted to reinvent myself from the shy and lonely kid to...well, anything else. So, I signed up for dance class! I’ve learned you have to throw yourself at your future, no matter how scared or unprepared you are. Leaving the comfort zone is how you grow.
In the end, I didn’t make the dance team. Instead, they put me in guitar class! It’s funny now how disappointed I was. But it didn’t take long before I was hooked and I found myself playing all the time, writing songs, and falling asleep against my stereo to “Hotel California” on repeat.
Music just overtook me.
Q: What brought you together as a band?
Seth:
Man, the story of how we got to where we are BEFORE we even had an album out probably deserves a video all its own.
Long story short, the current incarnation of Young Poet is the result of me stubbornly not wanting to give up on the name and music, and cannibalizing another dying band for their talented members.
Stevie:
The ability to work well with each other.
Q: What is the basic timeline of Young Poet?
Seth:
2012 -- We start as a joke band playing video game inspired pop punk
2013 -- We play a bunch of shows and have a great time, two OG members leave
2014 -- We pick up two new guys and get serious and start writing an album
2015 -- We get our feet wet touring
2016 -- Two members leave, we find Tyler and Steven our current bassist and drummer, and the album is recontextualized.
2017 -- That's where we are now!
I think I officially start the Young Poet clock around 2015, but the first two years with Ryan Coss and Victor Orlando were too much fun to ignore.
Stevie:
As long as we as a band strive for success.
Q: What genre is your music and why did you choose to make this type of music?
Seth:
I think the best term is Easycore for what we play, but I just tell people we're a rock band. The whole genre game gets convoluted pretty quickly.
I wanted to write this kind of stuff after hearing Four Year Strong's "Enemy of the World" album. I was raised really conservative religious, so hearing the first few opening licks of that album just set off fireworks in my brain.
Tyler:
I would label it as a melodic/pop punk/rock/ ambient/whatever else comes to mind kind of genre. With so many influences, I love not being able to really pinpoint a specific general sound.
Stevie:
Pop punk because I like to express myself in a way that the musicians I grew up listening to did.
Q: What is your favorite song to perform?
Seth:
“Better Hearts.” Hands down, it's got so much energy, dynamic, and punch. A close second is “Thriving” because I play bass on that one.
Tyler:
My favorite to perform would have to be "Hey Cousin, Let's Go Bowling!" I love the inspiration Seth has behind it and it's all around exciting to play.
Stevie:
“Thriving” because it’s a song that gives me chills when I play it and I can feel it within me.
Andrew:
“Over My Dead Body.” It has so many different guitar parts and styles, I feel like Van Halen!
Q: What is the most influential lyric for you?
Seth:
"Love alone is worth the fight" comes to mind, basically any allusion/simile from “From Under the Cork Tree.”
I really love the one, "Wear me like a locket around your throat, I'll weigh you down -- I'll watch you choke, You look so good in blue" from “Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner.”
Tyler:
"I want to thrive, the hope that's in my bones keeps me alive. The debt I owe, my soul is paid and I will keep running till the light breaks on the city-scape above me. I'm pushing ever upwards till I'm free."
Q: Is there a venue that you would like to play?
Seth:
All of them. From the dankest dive bar to the biggest arenas. I love feeling the history in places where like-minded people gather solely to have a good time and bond over the music they share a love for.
But if I had to get specific, Shakas in Virginia Beach is a really dope spot. I've played there before, but not with Young Poet -- yet.
Tyler:
Every venue across the U.S.
Stevie:
Chain Reaction in California.
Q: What is your craziest memory together?
Seth:
One time leaving a show, I almost caused a four-car pileup after a deer jumped over my car. We stopped at Sheetz just to catch our breath and ended up hanging out for hours.
Stevie:
Writing an album together LOL.
Q: What makes you passionate about making music?
Seth:
In a general sense, I love making music that I want to hear and finding out that other people also want to hear it gives so much satisfaction to my work.
There are moments in a lot of our songs where the music cuts out, just for a bit, and when all the instruments hit back in together it's just electric. I wish I could explain how good that feels every time.
Stevie:
The hope of helping someone else in their need of emotional release.
Q: What does the writing process look like for you?
Seth:
I think I'm kind of backward when it comes to writing. I tend to do lyrics first and really figure out the dynamic of the song through the poetry, then I go back through and start constructing the skeleton of the song.
From there, I take that skeleton to the band and they write in their parts and reconstruct something bigger and badder than I could have written on my own.
That doesn't happen every time though, for instance, most of "Over My Dead Body" and "Hey Cousin! Let's Go Bowling" -- two songs off of our upcoming album -- were written by me in the studio as instrumental tracks that I added lyrics to afterward.
Stevie:
Helping to collaborate together things in the percussion area.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration for your music/lyrics?
Seth:
My writing comes from those mind wandering moments when you're just daydreaming and think of something profound: those shower moments. I usually jot down lines on my phone or a notepad and let the best stuff inspire the rest of the song.
Sometimes it's just a word or sometimes I'll be really creative and have most of a poem that I just have to expand on from there. A lot of my writing happens when I'm sitting in church actually.
Q: What is your main goal with music?
Seth:
I WANNA BLOW UP AND PRETEND LIKE I DONT KNOW NOBODY.
Riff Raff vines aside, I'd love to be able to tour professionally until I could get into the more business side of the music industry. I'm finding I'm a better manager/media mogul than singer/songwriter.
Tyler:
My main goal is to make a career out of what I love doing.
Stevie:
Again, to help people with anxiety and depression like I have. Music cures.
Q: Do you have anything in store for the future?
Seth:
You mean besides our new album “Thrive in a Modern Era,” out everywhere November 28th? We do!
We have a commentary album planned to go along with our freshman release, an EP planned for some time in the summer, a bunch of touring, and a few more things up our sleeves.
Tyler:
YEA BOIIIIIII!
Stevie:
I have a lot of growing and learning to do in the music industry.
Q: Do you have any tips for aspiring musicians?
Seth:
If you want to be in a band, always remember it's a hobby until it can be more, and hobbies are meant to be enjoyed by you first and shared with others second.
Practice your craft for 15 minutes a day, talk to everyone at shows, and just do everything for your own entertainment first. If you're happy, other people will be too. But honestly, I think that applies to everything in life.
Tyler:
Practice, take your time, always try your best. Be committed 100% and never stop progressing.
Stevie:
Always try your hardest. Never give up on your dreams.
Andrew:
Passion will always be your best product. Music is a living thing, you have to experience it in real time. Don’t just sell things and play shows, tell a story and make memories.
*Responses have been edited
Follow the band!
Preorder "Thrive in a Modern Era"