A few weeks ago, we met up with Anthony Raneri of Bayside to do an awesome interview. We talked about tours, Bayside, his solo project, and his year (and a half) of High School. Click ‘more’ to check out the interview.

Can you tell us who you are please?
AR: I am Anthony Raneri.
RTS Nick: You just released a solo EP a few days ago. What inspired you to release a solo EP?
AR: I write a lot of song. I write all of the songs for Bayside and I have a very ecletic taste. I never want that “Bayside sound” to stray to much from what Bayside does. I know a lot of bands that take these weird turns and I never wanted to do that. I wrote all of these different songs in a different style from what Bayside does and I though people might be interested in hearing them. I threw all of these songs that I have been sitting on, onto a record.
RTS Nick: You self-released and self-recorded it….
AR: Yup, I self-released, self-produced, and self-recorded it. Self everything it.
RTS Nick: Did you have any thoughts about doing a kickstarter for it at all?
AR: No… I don’t totally support the Kickstarter. Well, I shouldn’t say I dont support it… I think it’s cool in certain instances, but I’m capable to go out and make the money to do this. So I did. I didn’t want to go out and ask for people’s donations… I didn’t see the need to.
RTS Nick: I think it’s a good idea for smaller bands.
AR: For smaller bands, yeah, definitly. You get the support of the people and that’s a cool thing. I see bands that could go out on a tour and could come home and have enough money to go record their record. They just do Kickstarter because it’s easier that way.

Are you guys going to be recording the follow up to ‘Killing Time’ any time soon?
AR: Well, I’m doing this solo thing for a few months and Bayside does Warped Tour and I’m also doing Warped Tour solo.
RTS Nick: You’re performing solo as well, on Warped Tour?
AR: Yeah. I’m playing two shows a day. So, that’s the summer, and afterwards we should be writing the next Bayside record. In 2013 there will be a new album.
RTS Nick: With Warped Tour, what stages are you playing?
AR: I’m not sure what stage with Bayside.
RTS Nick: How about your acoustic set?
AR: There is going to be a singer-songwriter stage. That will be on that stage
RTS Nick: That stage sounds like a great idea! Any random artist that wants to play solo songs now has an oppertunity because of this stage. They can just go on the stage and jam out.
AR: Yeah, totally.
RTS Nick: How stoked are you to be returning to the Warped Tour?
AR: It’s great man. It’s a always a good time, especially since we haven’t done it in years. We did it this year because a lot of our friends are doing the tour this year. We’re looking forward to the hang, more than anything.
RTS Nick: Who are you excited for on this year’s Warped Tour?
AR: I’m stoked for a lot of bands, but they haven’t been confirmed. Recently there has been a lot of people bummed about warped tour in past years, and this year’s warped tour… in my opinion will change their minds. It has changed a lot, I feel a lot of those people will be excited.

How excited are you to play this year’s Bamboozle festival?
AR: Very, I’m excited that it is back at Asbury Park. I’m excited to spend the day, down there.
RTS Nick: Who are you excited to see?
AR: I don’t think we’re playing the same day as a lot of the bands I really want to see, but I know the day that we are playing… I’m stoked to see Bon Jovi. I’m curious to see how that’s going to go.

What are your plans following the acoustic tour, with Bayside?
AR: I will keep my self occupied this spring some how… Probably I’ll still be supporting the solo record. We have a little break, until Warped Tour and following that, we’re not sure if we are going to do a tour, or concentrate on writing.

I wanted to change the pace of the interview.. I’m from Whitestone, NY and I know you just moved there [Editor's Note: Whitestone is a town next to Bayside], and I’ve heard some stories about you in Cardozo High School. I watned to know if you’d tell us a few stories about the school and area.
AR: Well, I went to Cardozo and I got kicked out.
RTS Nick: I heard you spray painted the name of your favorite park on Cardozo.
AR: Yeah.. a couple of friends and I spraypainted the whole front of the school on parent teacher night when everyone was inside. I got kicked out and I went on tour a couple of years later. I didn’t graduate and I never went back.
RTS Nick: That’s actually really awesome.
AR: I was really punk back then. I punked myself out of school.
RTS Nick: Do you have any other stories?
AR: I didn’t go much. *laughs* By the time I was in high school, I was over it. I was ready to get my band going and start touring. I knew I didn’t want to be in school. Basically starting from the 9th grade, I got kicked out halfway through my sophmore year. That year and a half that I was enrolled into High School, I never really went.
RTS Nick: I know you played Dozopalooza… [Editor's Note: The Cardozo High School annual concert]
AR: Yeah, we went back and played that because they donated all the money to the school’s music program.
RTS Nick: Would you play it again?
AR: Yeah, we would. I don’t really know anybody there.,,, I would do it if they give me an honarary degree.

Would you ever be interested in playing a Bayisde show in Bayside or a solo show in Bayside? There are a few places you can play like a Knights of Columbus or Dempseys.
AR: If there was any place to facilitate it. It sounds like a cool idea. The place has to be able to handle the show. Capacity wise and sound wise. Is there a stage at those places?
RTS Nick: Neither have a stage. KOC is a better suit, I’ve seen a bunch of local bands play there all the time, but no stage. It’s like a house show with a decent amount of room and a bar upstairs.
AR: We would need a stage, a monitor, a board, a PA.
RTS Nick: We have a PA.
AR: *laughs* Maybe, we’ll make it happen one day.

Well, Anthony, I’m not going to take up any more of your time. Thank you for doing the interview.
AR: No problem, thank you.