FREE TICKETS to Forever The Sickest Kids

For a chance to win a free ticket to the FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS show on Sunday, leave a comment on this page! Winners will be chosen at random and contacted by Festiva staff writer Miriam Ramirez. Winners must pick up their ticketat The Monitor office at 1400 E. Nolana in McAllen Friday, May 16 before 5 p.m. Please be able to verify the E-mail address you've registered with here on www.themonitor.com. Check back for future promotions and ticket giveaways.

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If you know anything about Forever the Sickest Kids then you already know about their infectious pop punk songs, their solid presence in online communities and how they kinda, sorta stumbled upon their recent fame. Then again, maybe you don't know about FTSK since they've only been around for about a year now.

Pop punk isn't a new genre, but it's still a popular one. FTSK keeps the sound going with upbeat, poppy tunes that almost force you to get up and dance. Just last month their song "Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone)" was featured on the MTV reality series The Hills from their first full-length album Underdog Alma Mater - which, by the way, sold more than 13,000 copies in the first week. Sure, their music is fun, but their lyrics can sometimes pack a heavy punch dealing with issues the boys themselves have gone through - failed romance seems to be a theme. And dare I mention how many (hundreds of thousands) plays their songs get on their MySpace page?

The band knows it wasn't just their hard work or a stroke of luck that propelled their success. They built relationships with their fans; they were almost always on MySpace, promoting the band, the music and keeping in touch with those who loved their songs.

They're an example of the latest way to get discovered by the music industry. FTSK blazed a trail to the top by accidentally paying for front page song placement on Pure Volume, a Web site devoted to showcasing new bands and new music, and then had to scramble to write a song since they had none ready. That exposure, combined with their talent and determination, landed them a record deal. They now seem perpetually on tour and are loving it - except maybe the food.

Interview

Festiva: You sold 13,000 copies of your album in the first week. Isn't that, like, huge?

Marc: That's crazy, yeah, like. Growing up, we were in local bands and stuff, and in my mind we're still kinda there. Like, I can't believe that we reached something like that our first week.

Festiva: A lot of kids want to just stay home and find music on MySpace instead of going out to shows - have you noticed a change at your concerts at all?

Marc: For us, not really, no. If anything, MySpace has helped every kid that comes out know all of our words and sing with us.

Festiva: What can people expect at an FTSK show?

Marc: A lot of energy. Just a good time dancing, y'know. Like, we get up there and that's what we love to do, so I think it really reflects onto the crowd and flows over into them.

Festiva: Musically speaking, who would you say has been the greatest inspiration for the band? Like, how did you create your sound?

Kent: A lot of us in the band grew up on old bands like Third Eye Blind and Blink 182. And all the old punk bands like Oasis and stuff like that. So I wouldn't say one particular band has, but we all grew up with the genre, we all grew up in the same era of bands, like we're all pretty much the same age and listened to the same bands growing up. Y'know, back in '99 when Good Charlotte was breaking out and New Found Glory and all them. A few of those bands really helped us decide to get into music. Actually, individually we all kinda have different tastes in music, like everyone has their own iPod with their own playlist on it. We really don't, like, listen to music all together. Some of us agree on some of the same kind of music and stuff like that. We enjoy different genres but the combination of all those others that we like is what we like, y'know?

Festiva: So who's your favorite band right now?

Kent: Favorite band right now, I don't know. New band or ... ?

Festiva: Who have you been listening to lately that you just can't stop listening to?

Kent: I've been listening to, actually, Radiohead for the past few weeks. I just got all their albums. I've been listening to them, like, y'know, in different order and stuff like that. Like Nine Inch Nails, I've been listening to all their stuff 'cause they just realeased a new album last week, so I've been listening to that.

Festiva: Are you having fun on tour?

Caleb: I'm having a blast! It's all I know. I love it very much.

Festiva: Is there anything you hate about being on tour?

Caleb: Um, the lack of good food, to be completely honest. Like, we eat at fast food places so much that I find myself longing for my mom's cooking, which is kind of a weird thing because I thought she sucked at cooking, but I can't wait to go back.

(Note: This interview was conducted on Mother's Day!)

Festiva: Of the six of you, who is the sexiest? Who is the sex symbol? Who do the girls scream over?

Caleb: Um, I'm going to have to say, probably Kyle. Kyle is a ladies' man ... the girls love all the guys though, but girls love blond guys.