In advance of their acoustic EP "Noise From Upstairs", available March 26th from Run For Cover Records, drummer Justin Collier of four-piece pop punk band Man Overboard from New Jersey took time out of his busy schedule to speak with us.

Dane Wang: Hi Justin, first of all thank you so much for your time. Can you please give us a brief history on how the band started?

Justin Collier: Zac, Wayne and myself played in a band before Man Overboard called Front Page. When that band was winding down, Zac and Wayne started playing with Nik and a revolving door of drummers. I eventually came in and it’s been the four of us ever since!

What did you listen to while growing up? Do you believe that’s influenced your style today?

I think everything we listen to has in some way shaped our style. We all listen to a wide variety of music, but growing up we listened to a lot of punk-rock stuff. Still do. Nik definitely had this hippie Beatles phase where he had long hair and shit… I think he was probably sleeping with a picture of John Lennon too.

You recently finished touring the west coast with The Wonder Years and Therefore I Am, how was that experience?

It was actually a full US tour and it was really amazing. We had never toured to the west coast before that so it was great to play in a few new states, meet new people and see some new things. We climbed some mountains in California and hung out in Vegas. Good times.

In April, you’re embarking on an acoustic tour with A Loss For Words and Balance & Composure (a tour I would love to see), what are you looking forward to most on this tour?

Well because I play drums I am looking forward to relaxing! Haha. Our songs typically start out acoustic before they become full band songs so I think these shows will showcase some different versions of the songs as well as all the songs from the acoustic EP. It will also offer up a nice change of pace for us because we are use to playing the same full band set every night.

Your five song acoustic EP "Noise From Upstairs" comes out on March 26th, what was the main influence behind this?

We write a lot of songs so we try to find an outlet for all of them. Whether it be an LP, split, Digital EP, Collection of Old Songs, Tape, whatever. We have the songs and are confident in them so we might as well release them.

You also have a full length record coming out in June 2010, can you please tell me a bit more about it?

I am actually sitting in the studio right now as Zac tracks some vocals! As of now it looks like its going to be 12 songs and we have recorded a bunch of bonus tracks so depending on whether you get CD, LP, Digital and depending on the country you buy it from - you will get a different bonus track! Definitely realllllly excited to release this thing. We have worked really hard and driven ourselves (and our producer) crazy.

Who will be producing it?

Jesse Cannon is producing it. He has produced the majority of our stuff and helps us out a lot.

How is the recording/writing process so far?

We started demoing songs a little less than a year ago but we started practicing for real in December and started recording March 5th. We are still in the studio but nearing the end.

Walk me through the writing process, is there a main songwriter or is it a group effort?

Typically Zac or Nik write a basic song structure and melody then demo it acoustically and send it to everyone else. We all learn the song and brainstorm over ideas before practice and shape the song together.

Have you decided on an album title?

We have a few titles in mind but have nailed one down yet… we are tossing around the ideas of "New Favourite Shoes", "Cookie Jar and The Crumbs' and "Depressing Sex Party'.

Let’s talk about your newest release "Before We Met: A Collection of Old Songs". This CD has been stuck on repeat for weeks and I have never been this excited about a band in years. Were you pleased with the way it turned out? (The song ‘Disconnect’ is just an absolute killer!)

Glad you like it! The thing about that record was it wasn’t this huge plan or anything. We had already signed with Run For Cover but not announced it yet when Timm from Panic contacted us about doing something. We decided to release "Before We Met", which is our first 5 song EP ("Hung Up On Nothing") that was out of print, "Arlington Drive" which we had online but had on no release and 4 other old songs we ended up re-recording for the release. It was kind of a cool and easy way to get all our old (but good), unreleased and out of print stuff out into the world in one move.

Do you have any plans on coming to Australia?

We do not have any definite plans right now but are working on it. We hope to make it there in 2010.

What are you currently listening to now, any bands we should know about?

I have been listening to the new Against Me, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Fall Apart, and AYS. AYS is a great hardcore band from Germany. You should check them out at www.myspace.com/AYSsucks

Do you believe 2010 is the year pop-punk makes a comeback?

I don’t know – I think we are getting over pop-punk. We might start defending black metal instead ;)

Finally, what does the rest of the year hold for Man Overboard?

We are releasing the "Noise From Upstairs' Acoustic EP on March 26th, the debut LP in the summer and touring the USA, Europe and hopefully a few other parts of the world for the rest of the year. Keep an eye out!

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