Interview - More Than True at YOUR Music
Journalist: Eleftheria Zavalis
Photographer: Mike Tzo
Photo by Mike Tzo
Lets meet the band!
Henry is the bassist and original founder of the band, having started the band as his own personal side project dedicated to Pop-Punk/Easycore music. The band was originally created as a way for Henry to make music by himself and not have to worry about being restricted by other members or conditions. Henry quickly learned that although he could play all the instruments in the recordings, he still needed help with some of the theory work behind the songs, lead guitar playing, and vocals. Henry asked Ben, one of the current guitarists of More Than True, to help him record some lead guitar parts on the band's first EP. Henry and Ben soon discovered that they had great chemistry and continued to work together on each of the songs on the first EP. Henry later asked current drummer, vocalist on the EP, and screamer Eric to join the band, as Henry needed someone who knew the Punk-Pop genre well enough to be able to pull off the vocal parts. After finishing the vocals on the first EP with Eric, Henry asked Eric if he would like to become a permanent member of the band. Eric joined More Than True along with Ben as permanent members of the band. After releasing the first More Than True EP, Henry and Ben decided that they needed to get another guitarist in the band in order to help strengthen the band's sound and performance. Peter was soon brought in as the new guitarist and since then has earned his spot as a guitarist in More Than True. The current line up for the band has Henry on bass, vocals and screams, Eric on drums, vocals, and screams, Ben on guitar and vocals, and Peter on guitar. More Than True is also currently looking to add one more member to the band to fill in the position of singer and front man.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Tell me a few words about the name of the band and what it means to you.
Photo by Mike Tzo
More Than True:
The name of the band is "More Than True," which is a name that Henry came up with when he first started creating the band. The band was meant to be a music project dedicated solely to the music and not to money or fame so Henry wanted the name to reflect that. In Henry's own words, he chose the name "More Than True" because it represented "a step above faith. When you love something so much that you are willing to believe in it blindly, without ever questioning its power, that is more than true. It is more than just the truth, it is above the truth. That's what this band name means: It's when you love music so badly that you can put your heart and soul into it. I believe so strongly in music, especially our music, that I am willing to put my life on the line. I don't have to ever question whether or not music will help me because I am more than sure it will. This is what More Than True means."
Eleftheria Zavalis:
What is your music style?
More Than True:
We are a multi-genre band. We are dynamic, but subtle at the same time. We are not limited by a particular genre or sound and this makes our music powerful. Our fans never know what to expect because we are always trying out new ideas and want people to hear what we are capable of. In other words, our music never has a time limit or expiration date on it. We are not trend followers or part of some genre that will die out when the next shift in the music industry occurs. We are here to make the music that we love and that represents something to us. Each song has a message, and each song has a purpose. So for example, if you are in a band in the Metalcore genre, your music naturally has a expiration date on it. In ten years that entire genre of music will have died out as people get bored of the sound and want something else. More Than True isn't about that. We create music independent of trends so we never have to worry about if our music will be popular or not or if someone will listen to it or not. We have found that we share this in common with a lot of bands that have stayed in the music scene for thirty and more years. The reason that those bands can pull that off is because they dont follow trends, they do their own thing and they are always coming up with material that people can relate to and like. To answer the question though, we consider ourselves to be a part of the Punk-Pop genre, as well as the Easycore genre, but with influences from Rock, Pop, traditional Metal, and also the Blues.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Tell me about your music influences, and also what bands do you would like to perform (cover)?
More Than True:
We have a lot of influences, mostly because each member brings their own style to the band. Our top influences as a band though range from the rock bands we grew up with, to the more alternative bands we listened to in high school, and also now the more raw and rough bands we have discovered in college. We are influenced by A Day To Remember, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Saosin, The Misfits, Guns N Roses, As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, The Used, Metallica, Slayer, Nirvana, and Halifax. Those are only some of our influences as all of us could list at least thirty bands that have influenced us greatly. Some of us are also influenced by bands who are not even signed yet and are working hard to become the best musicians they can, much like us.
When it comes to playing other bands material, we usually cover more Pop-Punk, Rock, and Metal. We have played songs by The Misfits, Buckcherry, Fallout Boy, Avenged Sevenfold, Senses Fail, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Each of us has a different band that we like to cover and play material from and you can see that when we perform live.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Where can we found you?
More Than True:
You can reach us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MoreThanTrue. That's our main social media site that we use. We also have a SoundCloud, Twitter, BandCamp and more. Just search for More Than True.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
What are your plans for the future?
More Than True:
We plan on releasing a music video for our first song, "Twelve Shots and High School Regrets" during the upcoming summer as well as our first official album. The release date for that is set for August 5th, 2013. Aside from the music video and album, we are coming out with new pictures, new logos, obviously new songs from our album, and lastly also creating a merchandise resource for the band.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Do you spend more time as friends or more time as musicians?
Photo by Mike Tzo
More Than True:
We all actually started as friends, but the band helped seal the deal on the friendships and brought us closer together. Our friendship and also relationships to each other in the band has become so enmeshed together that whenever we hang out, we become closer in both ways. We do spend more time together as friends though but we cant help becoming musicians when we are together. None of us have ever hung out with each other without bringing up music somehow. It's the biggest part of our lives.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
What do you think about YOUR Music ?
More Than True:
We really appreciate YOUR Music, seriously. Without it, we would not be hear having this interview, or taking pictures, or doing any of that. As an unsigned band, we are so thankful for the people that take time out of their day to help us with our mission and goals. YOUR Music gives us the opportunity to show ourselves to the world and we really appreciate that.
LIKE US on Facebook:
YOUR Music: https://www.facebook.com/yourmusicgr
Eleftheria Zavalis: https://www.facebook.com/EleftheriaZavalis
Mike Tzo: https://www.facebook.com/MikeTzophotographer
More Than True: https://www.facebook.com/MoreThanTrue
 |
| Photo by Mike Tzo |
Lets meet the band!
Henry is the bassist and original founder of the band, having started the band as his own personal side project dedicated to Pop-Punk/Easycore music. The band was originally created as a way for Henry to make music by himself and not have to worry about being restricted by other members or conditions. Henry quickly learned that although he could play all the instruments in the recordings, he still needed help with some of the theory work behind the songs, lead guitar playing, and vocals. Henry asked Ben, one of the current guitarists of More Than True, to help him record some lead guitar parts on the band's first EP. Henry and Ben soon discovered that they had great chemistry and continued to work together on each of the songs on the first EP. Henry later asked current drummer, vocalist on the EP, and screamer Eric to join the band, as Henry needed someone who knew the Punk-Pop genre well enough to be able to pull off the vocal parts. After finishing the vocals on the first EP with Eric, Henry asked Eric if he would like to become a permanent member of the band. Eric joined More Than True along with Ben as permanent members of the band. After releasing the first More Than True EP, Henry and Ben decided that they needed to get another guitarist in the band in order to help strengthen the band's sound and performance. Peter was soon brought in as the new guitarist and since then has earned his spot as a guitarist in More Than True. The current line up for the band has Henry on bass, vocals and screams, Eric on drums, vocals, and screams, Ben on guitar and vocals, and Peter on guitar. More Than True is also currently looking to add one more member to the band to fill in the position of singer and front man.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Tell me a few words about the name of the band and what it means to you.
Tell me a few words about the name of the band and what it means to you.
 |
| Photo by Mike Tzo |
More Than True:
The name of the band is "More Than True," which is a name that Henry came up with when he first started creating the band. The band was meant to be a music project dedicated solely to the music and not to money or fame so Henry wanted the name to reflect that. In Henry's own words, he chose the name "More Than True" because it represented "a step above faith. When you love something so much that you are willing to believe in it blindly, without ever questioning its power, that is more than true. It is more than just the truth, it is above the truth. That's what this band name means: It's when you love music so badly that you can put your heart and soul into it. I believe so strongly in music, especially our music, that I am willing to put my life on the line. I don't have to ever question whether or not music will help me because I am more than sure it will. This is what More Than True means."
Eleftheria Zavalis:
What is your music style?
More Than True:
We are a multi-genre band. We are dynamic, but subtle at the same time. We are not limited by a particular genre or sound and this makes our music powerful. Our fans never know what to expect because we are always trying out new ideas and want people to hear what we are capable of. In other words, our music never has a time limit or expiration date on it. We are not trend followers or part of some genre that will die out when the next shift in the music industry occurs. We are here to make the music that we love and that represents something to us. Each song has a message, and each song has a purpose. So for example, if you are in a band in the Metalcore genre, your music naturally has a expiration date on it. In ten years that entire genre of music will have died out as people get bored of the sound and want something else. More Than True isn't about that. We create music independent of trends so we never have to worry about if our music will be popular or not or if someone will listen to it or not. We have found that we share this in common with a lot of bands that have stayed in the music scene for thirty and more years. The reason that those bands can pull that off is because they dont follow trends, they do their own thing and they are always coming up with material that people can relate to and like. To answer the question though, we consider ourselves to be a part of the Punk-Pop genre, as well as the Easycore genre, but with influences from Rock, Pop, traditional Metal, and also the Blues.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Tell me about your music influences, and also what bands do you would like to perform (cover)?
More Than True:
We have a lot of influences, mostly because each member brings their own style to the band. Our top influences as a band though range from the rock bands we grew up with, to the more alternative bands we listened to in high school, and also now the more raw and rough bands we have discovered in college. We are influenced by A Day To Remember, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Saosin, The Misfits, Guns N Roses, As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, The Used, Metallica, Slayer, Nirvana, and Halifax. Those are only some of our influences as all of us could list at least thirty bands that have influenced us greatly. Some of us are also influenced by bands who are not even signed yet and are working hard to become the best musicians they can, much like us.
When it comes to playing other bands material, we usually cover more Pop-Punk, Rock, and Metal. We have played songs by The Misfits, Buckcherry, Fallout Boy, Avenged Sevenfold, Senses Fail, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Each of us has a different band that we like to cover and play material from and you can see that when we perform live.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Where can we found you?
More Than True:
You can reach us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MoreThanTrue. That's our main social media site that we use. We also have a SoundCloud, Twitter, BandCamp and more. Just search for More Than True.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
What are your plans for the future?
More Than True:
We plan on releasing a music video for our first song, "Twelve Shots and High School Regrets" during the upcoming summer as well as our first official album. The release date for that is set for August 5th, 2013. Aside from the music video and album, we are coming out with new pictures, new logos, obviously new songs from our album, and lastly also creating a merchandise resource for the band.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
Do you spend more time as friends or more time as musicians?
 |
| Photo by Mike Tzo |
More Than True:
We all actually started as friends, but the band helped seal the deal on the friendships and brought us closer together. Our friendship and also relationships to each other in the band has become so enmeshed together that whenever we hang out, we become closer in both ways. We do spend more time together as friends though but we cant help becoming musicians when we are together. None of us have ever hung out with each other without bringing up music somehow. It's the biggest part of our lives.
Eleftheria Zavalis:
What do you think about YOUR Music ?
More Than True:
We really appreciate YOUR Music, seriously. Without it, we would not be hear having this interview, or taking pictures, or doing any of that. As an unsigned band, we are so thankful for the people that take time out of their day to help us with our mission and goals. YOUR Music gives us the opportunity to show ourselves to the world and we really appreciate that.
LIKE US on Facebook:
YOUR Music: https://www.facebook.com/yourmusicgr
Eleftheria Zavalis: https://www.facebook.com/EleftheriaZavalis
Mike Tzo: https://www.facebook.com/MikeTzophotographer
More Than True: https://www.facebook.com/MoreThanTrue
Eleftheria Zavalis: https://www.facebook.com/EleftheriaZavalis
Mike Tzo: https://www.facebook.com/MikeTzophotographer
More Than True: https://www.facebook.com/MoreThanTrue
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