ChatterChick Sloan went back stage with Action Item to talk about everything from music and tours to who their role models are and embarrassing moments on stage. The boys from New Jersey are: Brian Cag –vocals/guitar; Anthony Li-Guitar-Cello; Mark Shami-Piano; David Buczkowski-Bass,;& Dan Brozek- Drums.  Be sure you check out the bonus information in the video clips and catch them on tour this summer.  All information can be found at facebook.com/actionitem or actionitemband.com

BB: Could you tell us about your musical background and how you all became a band?
Brian: Well I’ve known our drummer Dan, and Dave, our bassist, since kindergarten. So it’s been a whole lifetime of knowing each other.  I met Anthony through a mutual friend in high school. And then Mark, our piano player, he was actually in a different local band.  That band broke up and we kinda stole him, and he learned to play piano for our band. That’s how we got together. As far as musical background…

Anthony: I mean everybody’s kinda been playing instruments since high school and even before that for some of us. Music’s always just been a really big part of each of our lives, and we’re lucky enough that we get to do this as a living now.

BB: Is there a certain music genre you try to fit into or do you try not to define yourself as not to limit other’s perceptions of what your music should sound like?
Anthony: We definitely don’t try to fit into anything. We kinda just like to write music that we like, and if that happens to fit in a certain genre, that’s fine, but we don’t go out and say hey, we want to specifically write pop-rock songs or we want to go out and do something specific. We kind of just write the songs that we like and that way we can change up our style if we want to or we don’t have to, we have the freedom to do whatever we want.
David: We can’t be held down.
Brian: I don’t think anyone should ever confine themselves to one genre
Dan: We always somehow manage to put our own, like Action Item touch to it in the end anyway
Brian: Whatever that even may be, you just feel it.

BB: You recently got to work with Nick Jonas on a new song that is due out soon, how was that experience?  
All: Great
Brian: Nick is super, super talented
Anthony: He’s a genius
Brian: We had this idea for a song, by the way it’s called Learn to Fly and it comes out mid-July. We came in with it and Nick just added his touch which exploded the song. We’re super excited for you guys to hear it, it’s nothing like you’ve ever heard before so we’re super stoked about that.
David: yeah, it just feels really good.


BB: This is your second tour of the summer, and you still have one more tour left.   How are they going so far?
Dan: This one actually is one of my favorite tours, actually is my favorite tour of all time.
All of the guys quickly agree stating that this is their favorite tour so far.
Anthony: Yeah, this one’s really great but we do get a little tired so we do need our Starbucks to keep us going.
Brian: I think the great part about this tour is that everyone is kind of family and when everyone is friendly to each other, and actually really friends, it makes all the difference.

BB: What has been the most exciting thing on tour this summer?
Brian: We sold out New York City.
Anthony: Yeah that was really exciting. We got to have our friends and family come out to a show in New York that was completely sold out, and our friends and family were there when we played that venue like a year and a half ago, and there were ten people there. So it’s exciting for us and it’s exciting for our friends and family to see how much we’ve grown in the last year.

BB: When did you realize that the music industry was the place for you?
Brian: We never really think about it as the music industry. We just like playing music and we’re doing our own thing. This is kind of like… I think we’re just writing our own book and not following…
Anthony: anybody else’s rules. We kinda like to play by our own rules and that’s why I think we’ve gotten to the point where we are right now.  There’s this idea that creating a job is better than finding a job and I think we’ve created a job for ourselves and that’s way cooler than finding a job
Dan: It’s funny you ask that because I remember thinking about this yesterday or two days ago, We started touring and then it just became a one tour after another kind of deal and somewhere along the way, it’s not like we got lost in it, but we made it to get a tour after another tour was already over so we kinda just created our own jobs for ourselves and it just, I don’t know ,it’s weird to think about, but it just happens you know…

BB: Have you had to overcome any obstacles in order to achieve this dream of yours?
Anthony: Yeah, I think the hardest obstacle to overcome, and we haven’t even completely done it yet, is there are one million bands out there so it’s so hard to separate yourself from other bands. I think we’re doing a good job of it so far, obviously because we have such a great fan base. Like our fans are the best fans in the world. But that’s a hard obstacle to overcome, just how do you separate yourself from other bands because there are so many.
Brian: I think you should reinvent yourself. You just have to make sure that you have a stable head and really just think about everything you do.
David: Making sure you stay relevant at all times.

BB: As a band, what are some of highlights you have had?
David & Brian quickly agree that their first arena show opening for Justin Bieber was amazing.  
Brian: That was kind of like the kick start to a lot of things for us, it was amazing.
Dan: Hearing our song on the radio for the first time.
David: Two of them
Anthony: Two songs on the radio, working with Nick was huge.
Dan: Going coast to coast for the first time was actually kind of exciting too.
Anthony: Yeah that was a big moment too, just because we knew that we could do whatever we put our mind too

BB: If you were to describe Action Item to someone who has never heard of you, what would you say?
Anthony: It depends on who you’re talking to, if you were talking to someone in the industry you could explain it in technical terms, like you could say that our music is adult contemporary but for a younger demographic. Or if you were explaining it to someone who maybe would want to come to a show, you’d just say that we’re a band and we play pop music…
Brian: Heartfelt music.
Anthony: And it’s a good time.

BB: What kind of person do you consider to be a good role model?
Brian: Anyone who doesn’t fake the way they act. I think if you’re a genuine person then it really reflects and if you stay true to who you are, in the public eye, then I think it shows.
Anthony: …for me personally, my parents were really good role models. I think that holds true for each of us because we wouldn’t be the type of people we are today if we didn’t follow in their footsteps    

Favorite season?
Brian: Summer
Anthony: Fall
Dan: Summer
David: Winter

Who is your celebrity crush?
Brian: Emma Watson
Anthony: Taylor Swift/Meaghan Martin
Dan: Katy Perry
David: Blake Lively

Who is one person you would like to meet?
( All Laughing )

Brian: Emma Watson
Anthony: Taylor Swift/Meaghan Martin
Dan: Katy Perry
David: Blake Lively

What is your pet peeve?

Brian: When people chew with their mouth open, anything smelly, loud or disgusting you probably shouldn’t do it…
Anthony: Bad odor
Dan: Anything that makes my ears cringe
David: Disorganization, messiness, bad odor

Have you had any embarrassing moments on stage?

Brian: I almost tripped yesterday like three times
Dan: AcYually Brian fell on a bunch of our fans in New York City
Brian: yeah, I was standing on top of a barricade and I was singing and some fan decided to grab my leg and pull me