Sierra Kusterbeck dishes on Warped, new VersaEmerge record

2009 has been a good year for Florida powerpop quintet VersaEmerge. The band (drummer Anthony Martone, guitarists Blake Harnage and Jerry Pierce, lead vocalist Sierra Kusterbeck and bassist Devin Ingelido) inked a deal with indie powerhouse Fueled By Ramen, released a self-titled EP that landed them on the Billboard charts and toured with We The Kings.

And that’s just for starters.

Guerrilla Radio caught up with Kusterbeck to talk about the future of VersaEmerge as she and the rest of the band headed off to Pomona, Calif. for the first date of the Vans Warped Tour.

Guerrilla Radio: What do you guys do to get ready to spend the summer on the road?

Sierra Kusterbeck: We get our set together and we work on a nice, energetic, good-flowing set and we practice. We toured in January, so we had been out for awhile and it was nice to get a little time off and get ourselves completely rested so that this summer can be completely awesome.

GR: Is this your first time playing Warped?

SK: The boys played on the Ernie Ball Stage when they won Battle of the Bands in their old band a few years ago. But this is our first time, and we’re pretty stoked because we get to do the whole entire thing. It’s gonna be awesome!

GR: What things are you bringing to survive?

SK: Lots and lots and lots of sunscreen! It’s gonna be hot as balls every single day and I know that these boys are going to be fried lobsters. And lots of clothes that we can get all sweaty in.

GR: What music will you be listening to on the road?

SK: We all have very different music tastes. I know Blake right now is listening to a lot of Radiohead. Same with Anthony. Devin listens to a lot of metal bands. I listen to a lot of instrumental bands. We are just really all over the place, but it helps when writing because subconsciously you’re so influenced by what you’re listening to. We all just put our two cents in and all of the different influences makes it really neat.

GR: Did you grow up going to Warped?

SK: I didn’t go to my first Warped Tour until I was 16, and it was so much fun. I always thought, “Damn, this would be the coolest thing ever to travel with.” And now I get to do it. I am just so stoked that I get to be on it now. The boys have been going to Warped since they were younger as well.

GR: Which of your Warped tourmates are you looking forward to seeing?

SK: I’m definitely excited to watch Thrice and Underoath and The Adicts, one of the first punk bands I ever started listening to. There are a lot of awesome bands that I am thrilled to see.

GR: Is the new record you’ve been working on going to be an EP or a full-length?

SK: It’s definitely going to be a full-length. I think it’s about time we get one of those out there. We were just writing something on the bus heading to California. We’re just getting some ideas down so that when we come off of Warped Tour we’ll have a lot to work with so we can start really buckling down and finishing up songs and start demoing out recordings.

GR: How is being on Warped all summer going to affect that writing and recording process?

SK: Blake has Pro Tools and he brought his speakers and we have our mics. So if we get a song down we’ll start putting it on Pro Tools and hopefully then I could lay down some scratch vocals. If we could get that done on the bus over the summer that would be so amazing, just to get that much work done while we’re riding on a bus all the time.

GR: How does the process happen?

SK: Me and Blake have always done really well recording everything first ourselves and then locking ourselves in the studio and just doing it and getting it done. That way when we do go into the studio we don’t have to spend much time on trying to re-work all the songs. Things just get done a lot faster.

GR: When can fans expect the new record?

SK: Hopefully early next year. That’s all I can say, nothing has been confirmed yet.

GR: How has it been since you signed to Fueled By Ramen?

SK: It’s been absolutely amazing. They treat us really well and they do nothing but help us. We’ve gained so many more fans and they really know how to get a band out there and do it the right way.

GR: Anything else you want to tell people?

SK: We will be on every date of Warped Tour and everybody should check us out, and also thank you to everybody for being awesome fans!

Be sure to catch VersaEmerge on the Ernie Ball stage at every date of the Vans Warped Tour!

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