The Background

The Background have been on tour with bands such as The Ready Set, The Secret Handshake and We Are The In Crowd as well as taking part in SXSW music showcase, Six Flags Fright Fest and the Absolute Punk Music festival to name a few!

We caught up with the lead singer Shaun Gunnels to find out more!

How would you describe the band for those who haven’t heard your music before?
Pop/Indie/Rock like Cute is what we Aim for, The Starting Line, The Maine, Cartel, etc.

Which out of all the tours you have been on would you say has been the most memorable?
The most memorable so far has to be our first one. It was 100% DIY, so we booked everything. There was some crazy venues and some really awesome ones! We learned a LOT from the first tour that we’ll carry with us throughout other ones.

What is your favorite thing about touring?
My favorite thing about touring has to be spending time with my band. At home we have jobs and school and never really get time to bond other than rehearsals and local shows. I also LOVE meeting new people.

You’ve played many festivals, for example SXSW, Six Flags, which out of all of them has been your favorite?
The best (so far) of course has to be SXSW. The amount of people at the shows and on the streets is unbelievable. Everyone’s so friendly and supportive and it was a GREAT exposure opportunity for us.

How do you go about the writing process with your songs?
Most of our songs (musically) are based on a guitar riff we like or vocal melody. There are a couple songs that I wrote all of the lyrics for first, then presented them to the band. “Run” and “Baby, Don’t Go” from the new album were written that way.

Your debut album is set for release early next month, what can we expect from the album?
We decided to just have fun with this album. A lot of the songs are upbeat and poppy with catchy lyrics and we also threw in a couple slower, acoustic songs. And, of course there’s a couple emotional, powerful songs like “Taste You” and “One for the Record Books”.

Do you have any plans to visit the UK?
We’d LOVE to!! Depending on how the album does and where it take us, we hope to be there by 2012!

What does 2011 hold for The Background?
Our main focus for early 2011 is the release of our album. We’ll be doing some Texas shows in the mean time with great bands such as: Free Energy (on tour now with Weezer), Josephine Collective (Warner Bro Records), School Boy Humor, and many more. We have had a few ideas/offers for tours in May – August 2011; but right now everything’s still in the air!

You can find out more about the band by visiting purevolume.com/thebackground now!