Do you know, Valentine?
Article By: Amanda Dobek
Photographs Courtesy of: Hocus Pocus LA and Ama Lea
“Let them say what they will about us now,
‘Cause nothing’s gonna’ stop us from giving our all,
Who are they to judge us anyway,
We’re never gonna’ lose this fight.”
Photo Courtesy of Hocus Focus LA
These are powerful and profound lyrics from an unreleased album called Today It Begins by an upcoming pop-metal band named Valentine. You may have seen them on a mixed tape that included Mest, All American Rejects, 3OH3, and Cobra Starship. Or, perhaps, you’ve seen a few of the members open for bands like Thursday, Pierce the Veil, or In This Moment. The band Valentine consists of four individuals: Emily Ellis – the band’s singer, Clayton “Ryan” Swann – guitar and drums, Eric Mata – lead guitar, and Dan Kremer – lead bass. Now that you’ve met the cast and crew, let’s start this adventure from the beginning.
The band named Valentine has been around for a while, and it started with Emily who hails from Las Vegas. At the Warped Tour, Emily met Ryan – who was from Baltimore, Maryland. From that chance encounter, they began trading music and writing together. Dan, also from Las Vegas, heard through mutual friends that Emily and Ryan needed a bass player. Then, there were three. Eric, the last to join the band, was found through Myspace.com and is a native to Southern California. The group has been together collectively for six months – since April/May of 2009. However, don’t let that short amount of time disarm you; they’ve been extremely busy in those six months.
As mentioned earlier, the band name has indeed been around longer than the collective group. To explain, Emily started the band when she was still living in Vegas with a different drummer, but after meeting Ryan and moving to Los Angeles, the band Valentine started to evolve into something new and different. “The band has been around for a while but has sounded different…the Valentine that is now, is not really… anything like the Valentine that was then,” says Emily Ellis. You could say the band has been fine tuning itself for its debut album over the past few years. In the earlier days, Valentine tended to have more of a rock sound to it, according to Ryan, but now it has evolved into a type of pop-metal. According to Ryan Swann, “[It’s] harder than hard rock. It’s pop on steroids. Basic pop structures [that] take it to a different level.” It is a different level indeed.
Along with assisting in the creation of various instrumental tracks, Emily finds herself constantly writing lyrics on paper and in her phone. When questioned about the themes of the tracks and album, she exclaimed, “I wanna’ write about real life!” She feels most songs now-and-days are about love, which can be a complicated and mawkish concept for some to grasp. She prefers to write and sing about the pain created by loss – which is a very real and understandable situation that most feel at least once, if not multiple times, during their lifetimes. Valentine’s songs also delve into deeper, more complicated, and dark concepts such as drug abuse and overcoming addiction. While Emily firmly announces she has not done any drugs, she has been affected by their more destructive natures and has seen friends throw their entire lives and careers down the drain because of drugs. Songs such as “Shattered Within,” “Let Go,” and “In Vain” all deal with drugs and other aspects that can be related to drug use, including suicide and the inability to let others give help. The lyrics written above were to the song “All or Nothing” which happens to be the theme for their next album. The main focus and theme for their album is as straightforward as the album’s title: Today It Begins. It serves as the opening message to their peer bands as well as their followers and future followers… here we are; this is what we are; forget the past; focus on the future; it’s a fresh start; and, it’s beginning now. Emily states that she definitely does not like being told she can’t achieve something. If anything, she will put her mind to something and achieve a goal just in spite of you.
Photo Courtesy of Ama Lea, www.amaleaphoto.com
While Valentine finds inspiration from life, they also find enlightenment and encouragement from hearing new music as well as hearing of the success of other bands. As for inspiration, there are no funks. But as far as funks go, Valentine hasn’t really seen too much of that. “There’s not to much writer’s block,” says Dan Kremer. Occasionally there are some instrumental blocks, but Dan claims, “If I get a funk with bass… I’ll pick up an acoustic guitar, or I’ll go sit down at the piano. [You] play yourself through it.” The others in the band have similar ways of coping if they find themselves creatively challenged.
Since the band members’ formation, Valentine has been plugging away. They are currently occupied with a licensing agreement with Japan for a new record and have been taking time out in order to take care of business – including getting their music sold online with online retailers such Amazon.com and iTunes. They have their record mastered, mixed, a release date in Japan. They’re also getting ready to launch their first record in the US – stay tuned for the release date! While you can’t find their record in stores at the present moment, you can check out their MySpace.com page to sample their music as well as keep up-to-date in regards to the release of their album.
Aside from their upcoming album, Valentine wants their music to reach as many ears as possible. “We want to appeal to the masses, so we can play music everyday of our lives. …You want [people] to hear it. [Eric] doesn’t riff to hear himself riff,” says Emily Ellis. Their future plans include releasing their album in Japan as well as being able to set tour dates and concerts out there. Emily expresses, “If [I’m] not able to play, then why? If you can’t play live, what’s the point in making music?” They’re also looking to eventually be signed with a record label, but they are, by no means, in a rush to settle for the first deal that comes up their alley. And without a record deal, you can imagine how hard it must be to micro-manage the band with just the four of them.
Valentine also has set goals for itself, while making a name for themselves is their main objective, they also wouldn’t mind playing some day at the Staples Center. Additionally, they would like the music scene here in LA to pick up again. They had a thought about getting a bunch of other similar-sounding bands together to play and support each other in order to help build up that scene, as well as get people back into the music that is here in Los Angeles. As a side note, they wouldn’t mind doing a show that involved some serious theatrics when entering the stage. “We know we’ve made it if we fly in on some sort of harness, harnesses or trap doors,” says Emily Ellis.
We’re more than sure that such a day will come – theatrics and all.
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