COED Panics at the Disco

Panic at the Disco have made quite a name for themselves in not a lot of time. Their first album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, went double platinum. Before they were even 20-years-old, the guys were blowing up the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards. And now, three years later, Panic (no more exclamation point) at the Disco is touring the world with Pretty. Odd., their wildly successful new album.

COED got to sit down with Jon Walker, Panic’s badass bassist, to find out the secrets behind the music, how the band is handling all the success and just what a group of guys does on a giant tour bus. (Hint: It’s more fun that you’re having right now.)

Check out the full Panic at the Disco interview after the jump!

COED: So, you guys are back on the road again. How is the tour going?
Jon: This tour right now is actually really fun. The Hush Sound is a really great band and Phantom Planet is out on tour with us right now, as well, and they’re also a really great band. We’ve been on this tour for about 2 months now we have about three or four shows left. That’s pretty exciting.

COED: And what do you guys have coming up next?
Jon: We are wrapping up this tour and going over to Europe. That’s our main focus right now.

COED: Wow. The tour never ends. What do you like best about being on the road?
Jon: Just playing shows, I guess. It’s fun to be able to travel around with your friends and hang out everyday, but some days it’s not always that fun until you get on stage and remember why you are out here doing this.

COED: Yeah, I am sure being cooped up on a bus all day isn’t always so glamorous. What do you guys do all day to pass the time?
Jon: Well, luckily Nintendo recently came out with Mario Kart for the Wii. That’s really pretty much what we’ve been doing . We’ve been writing a lot as well on this tour and we’ve been trying to demo some songs. In between Mario Kart and demo-ing songs and sleep… that’s pretty much the top 3 things we do on the bus.

COED: So, naturally, everyone is talking about this new album. It is quite a departure from A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. What was your inspiration?
Jon: I think pretty much the inspiration was writing songs again. It’s been about 3 years since the last album came out and we kinda forgot what it was like to be in a band writing songs. We hadn’t done that in such a long time. And that’s kinda what the first few songs are about: Nine in the Afternoon and That Green Gentleman.

COED: It just seems a lot lighter than the last album.
Jon: We’re all really happy about how successful the last couple years have been and we thought that was what the record should sound like.

COED: Being that you guys are all so excited, it seems ironic that you dropped the exclamation point from your name.
Jon: It’s really funny how much attention that has [gotten]. It was really honestly just when we were talking about the artwork for the album and one of the artists asking if the exclamation point was in the band name or not. We sat down and we were like, “Well, it doesn’t mean anything, so it shouldn’t be in the name.” And five minutes later it was gone.

COED: Now that the exclamation point is gone, people want to characterize you as an Emo band. Does that frustrate you?
Jon: I don’t think it’s the fact that we don’t like being described that way. I think it’s more of being described at all. That’s the problem we have, because we don’t have a description of what we are. We just kinda write songs and they sound like our band.

COED: What records are you guys really into right now, besides your own, of course?
Jon: Silverchair; their new record is amazing. And The Shins have been coming out with great records for awhile.

COED: Do you guys look to those bands for inspiration?
Jon: We get inspired by a lot of different things. We are big fans of movies and books. We get inspired by a lot of creative people, whether a musician, or an artist or a comedian, or whatever. To see people being creative in their own innovative way inspires us to do the same.

COED: Your band-mates went from high school to MTV, but you spent a little time in college.
Jon: I went to [Columbia College in Chicago] for a few ½ semesters. I loved it. I guess I just wasn’t in the right state of mind when I was going because I would constantly skip class for band practice and I just kinda learned that you can’t do that.

COED: So, you opted for mega, world-wide success instead of hitting the books? I think that may have been a good choice for you.
Jon: I think college is great, especially if there is stuff that you’re interested in learning. I just took random classes that I thought would be interesting and that was a cool experience.

COED: You guys have a lot of very devoted lady fans. What is the craziest thing someone has done to meet you?
Jon: I don’t know if I can say.

COED: Now I’m intrigued.
Jon: Honestly there’s not really much that goes on. But there are some crazy people out there who are kinda willing to do whatever to meet you. It’s kinda a strange thing for us to even think of. We don’t really enjoy it that much.

COED: You guys went from a group of friends who played some instruments to an overnight sensation; how have you handled the transition?
Jon: It really seems natural for us because we’ve been doing it since day one. I think one of the hard things is your friends around you who are going to college, or who are living at home, or in the same town and its kinda hard to maintain friendships like that when you don’t see eye to eye with a lot of the people.
COED: So it’s hard to be away?
Jon: It’s hard to maintain relationships when you’re never home and things are always changing. But it’s fun.

COED: Got any advice for bands trying to break into the music scene?
Jon: I would say just be yourself and make sure you are happy doing what you’re doing. In the end you are gonna have to be happy in order to do it.

COED: So, with only a few weeks left on the tour, the bus quarters must be getting pretty cramped.
Jon: Yeah but, you know, if you have 2 Wii’s then everyone can play Mario Kart.
CC: No Guitar Hero for the band?
Jon: No Guitar Hero anymore. That was so, like, 6 months ago. Duh.