Punknews: Describe your band in 10 words or less Jade Lilitri: Kinda poppy, garage, poppy, punkish rock pop music. < r> PN: So, does the full band still have 3 State LInes members? JL: Yeah, well Aaron (Masih) was the very original drummer for State Lines but he only played a few shows with us. Then, when we did the last state lines tour he played drums for us again. So he wasn't in State Lines for too long because we never had a steady drummer. But definitely is in this ban < r> PN: How do you think Fest will be different playing as a new band? JL: I don't know. Seriously, the few times we played Fest as State Lines it was kind of a shock at how many people were there, how good those songs were. I didn't expect anyone to react like that. I kind have low expectations for Oso. It will feel like a new band and not as many people will have heard of us. So, I don't really know what to expect. How many people will go to watch us or anything like that. I definitely feel like it's a cooler time slot, a better time slot than State Lines every had, so we hope to have a good crowd. But there's some good bands playing at the same time. Jeff Rosenstock and Broadcaster from Long Island is playing then. So I have lower expectations, not in a negative way or anything, just like if I had to guess.

PN: I'm sure it'll be better than you expect. I'll be there at least. JL: (Laughs) That's all we can we can k or.

PN: How has your response been for Oso Oso, because you've done some pretty decent touring lately. JL:Touring is one thing that has been very cool. We only really did one really solid tour. Other than that, we've done two days here or there. That one tour was great for us. It was very cool, respose was good. It was interesting, we were expecting a much less responsive tour than with State Lines. People were very excited about the new record, so that's cool I just hope that the people that were excited come e us again.

PN: You also have a pretty big tour coming up, right? JD: Yeah, that's the tour with the Hotelier and Runaway Brother and Spirit of the Beehive. That tour is going down to Fest, so that is going to be a blast. That's going to be the coolest thing I've ever been a part of in terms of playing music and playing with people consistently on a night to night basis. I don't know the Spirit of the Beehive yet, but I'm sure they're going to be awesome people to chill with. Runaway Brother and Hotelier are some of our best friends out of people we've met through music. So, I'm sure it's going o e a lot of fun.

PN:You did a tour with Hotelier where it was just you solo? JL: State Lines toured with them way back in the day and we had such a good time. It paid off really well and we became good friends. They booked that full US tour when I was just starting Oso Oso and they were trying to find someone to go on tour with them, which is crazy to think of now that band trying to find someone to tour with them. So they wanted to know if State Lines would do it and everyone in State Lines was in school at the time. So I said I'll do it, I'll just bring an acoustic guitar and play before you. That's how that story worked out. I've gone on tour with them a bunch, just doing merch or changing strings. We're just such good friends with those guys as a band, we l e anging out with them.

PN: What is it that you look forward to most about playing Fest personally as this will be your third time playing it? It's pretty funny, in terms of looking forward to playing Fest because I don't even look forward to playing. It's not that I'm not excited because I love playing. But I'm gonna be so nervous the whole time, I'm just like "holy shit." You're watching so many bands and they're just killing it and you're like, "Oh God, I don't want to have a bad Fest set." So I get really nervous about that. But leading up to the Fest it is just such an exciting, exciting thing to be at and see all your friends from different places on just one strip in Gainesvill 's like a reunion of sorts.

PN: Why should someone come see you at Fest? JL: Because, maybe they're not that into Jeff Rosenstock or Broadcaster? That's about all I can think of. I guess if you're just chilling on Sunday and you're looking for a little afternoon filler, a little Afternoon Delight, yo k w, come catch the Oso experience.

PN: You guys are playing at High Dive, so it's probably gonna be a packed show. JL: The two times that I've been to Fest before, I never saw a show in there surprisingly. There's great line ups, but just never anything up my alley or there was always someone else playing at the same time. But I've seen pictures and videos from that venue it just seems so cool. I'm was pretty excited when they announce t line up to see we were playing there.

PN:So you have two people that have never played Fest before right? Is Kory Gregory still in the band? JL: Kory is not still in the band. He's a piece of shit so we kicked him out. Nah, he actually has an EP and a record coming out with Prince Daddy and the Hyena. I highly suggest anyone reading this to check them out. They are very good. But yeah, they'll be doing a lot this year. Kory is s l very much a homey, I talk to him every week.

So who will be playing guitar for you? JL: Actually we'll have Billy, the guy who recorded our record playing guitar. He's been with us about a month and a half. Wims l still be there, old reliable in the rhythm section.

PN: How much does that help you to play with guys you've played with before? I think it helps just for sanity purposes. Just for everybody's sanity. Wims is great. Touring with people can be very uptight situation sometimes. But with Wims, not only have we toured together for five years but we've worked the same jobs. We just kinda know, there's a good push and pull. Just knowing how far you can push someone's buttons or when they need to go chill out for a litle while. I think that just kinda carries through. And obviously the longer you play with someone you have an idea what they are doing. That helps I'm sure. But it is definitely more noticeable in how we communicate with each other. The bands we've been in there haven't been any real petty arguements o stupid stuff that you see bands arguing about sometimes.

PN: What's the biggest difference you see playing with guys from State Lines in a new band? The biggest difference now is that when we were in State Lines we played State Lines songs and nobody asked us to. And now wit O , we play Oso songs and people ask us to play State Line songs.

PN: What lessons did you learn from State Lines that you apply to Oso Oso? JL: Most of the lessons from State Lines are about recording stuff and putting out records. I learned that I want to take more time with it and have more of a focus on how things sound and the production. With State Lines there was such an urgency when I was younger to just write a bunch of songs, record it and get it out there. If you wanna do that, that's fine but no one is going to be interested in a band that's putting out new songs every week. And when I look back at all the State Line e rds I just wish we had thought more about the quality of the records.

PN: But don't you think there's a charm to those State LIne records? JL: Definitely, I don't look back at those records and regret it or anything like that. If I could have done that over I would have or anything like that. But with Oso, its definitely a focal point. We want th r ords to be more concentrated, we want to focus on the parts a little more.

PN:Yes, your newest album is the biggest thing I've heard you record. I thin B ly did a great job. There's a lot of credit to be given to him for that as well.

PN:Is that something you want to get more into, cleaner or more polished production? JL: Um, not necessarily cleaner. Not bigger, definitely more polished. I think there was always certain parts we were trying to make cleaner and more polished on this record and as a result came out sounding naturally bigger. It was a littl b unintentional. But it is something we're still harnessing, still working on you know?

PN:Thanks for your time, I know football is getting ready to start so is there anything you want to add? JL: Nah, I'm just gonna go watch the Bears but I think they're gonna suck this year.