Once again Facebook has been amazing. Through Facebook I was able to meet the most amazing guys in a band called As Artifacts and I got to do an interview with their clean vocalist. Rudy is absolutely wonderful and was kind enough to answer a few questions for me. Their music is absolutely fantastic and I hope they can come east coast soon because I would love to get the chance to see them in concert. An added bonus to loving this band: Rudy’s epic dance moves of course! Please check these guys out, give them a shout-out on Facebook and buy their EP.
Q: Would you please give your names and what you do in the band?
a. Travis Bartosek, Dirty vocals
b. Rudy Rosatti, Clean vocals, Guitar
c. Kevin Arquines, Guitar
d. Joey Webb, Keys
e. Stephen Mallory, Bass
f. Michael Yankovich, Drums
Q: Where did the band name come from?
a. We were originally contemplating the name Artifacts after discussing the artifacts left behind in vocal recordings following pitch correction, but we decided it was too close to the band Architects. After Joey was discussing our band “as Artifacts.” That just sort of caught on and rolled from there.
Q: Where is the band based?
a. The band was originally formed in Concord, CA, but is now spread out from Pittsburg, CA to Pleasanton, CA
Q: When did the band officially form?
a. The band’s predecessor, Sink This Ship! was formed in December of 2008, and the name was changed to As Artifacts in November of 2010.
Q: How did you meet each other?
a. The band was formed with Rudy, Kevin, and a few of their close friends, and after being approached by Stephen Mallory over Myspace regarding the open Bass position, he officially joined the band at the end of December 2008. Travis and Mikey were asked to fill in when then permanent members were unavailable to play a show, and in the weeks following the show they asked to join, and became permanent members in January of 2010. Joey was a member of another band that we toured with, and following their breakup we asked him to join in July of 2010.
Q: Did you have a pretty clear idea of what direction you guys wanted the band to take?
a. Each of us have always had different ideas as to what we want As Artifacts to sound like, but we can never seem to settle on just one sound. So we all end up throwing our own bits and pieces into songs, so it sort of ends up as a mesh of what we all want.
Q: What different genres of music do each of you listen to?
a. Rudy Rosatti - Breakdowns and Taylor Swift.
Q: What was the first concert you attended as a kid?
a. Rudy Rosatti - Green Day


Q: Out of all of the band members, who is the most serious and who is the goofiest?
a. Mikey is definitely the most serious, and Travis is the goofiest.
Q: Do you get to interact with your fans pretty regularly or are you a little more distant from the fans?
a. We make sure to reply to every one of our fans who reaches out to us online, and we love to hear from all of them. We may seem distant at shows, but that’s generally because we’re all such awkward people.
Q: Do you feel it is important to stay connected with the fans?
a. Because without our fans, we’re nothing. As cliche as it is to say that, it’s absolutely true.
Q: What was your first concert like as a band?
a. Our first show with our current lineup was at the end of July of last year. It was at our hometown venue, so we had a great turnout and had a great time playing together.
Q: What record label are you signed to?
a. We are currently signed to Findlay, Ohio based record label Invogue Records, which is owned and operated by Nick Moore of Before Their Eyes.
Q: If you had to classify yourself in a musical genre, where would you put the band?
a. Breakdowns and chill stuff.
Q: What is the craziest thing that has happened to any of you at or during a show?
a. There was a period of about a week straight on tour in May where every night Travis would get hit in the face. Whether it be a guitar, a fist, or the ground, he deserved every bit of it.
Q: What inspires the music from a lyrical standpoint?
a. Generally we take situations in our own life situations and use them to write songs with particular themes.
Q: So you released a 7 song EP called ‘Reclamation’ in late February. How have things changed for you as a band since the release?
a. Since our CD has come out, we’ve gotten much more exposure than we ever have in the past. Our old “Sink This Ship!” facebook page plateaued at about 900 fans, and we are currently over 5,500 with the As Artifacts page.
Q: How are things going with the creation of your full length album?
a. We are currently in the middle of writing songs for our full length CD. I believe we’ve written 6 songs that we want to include on the full length, but we’re planning on writing about 15 which we’ll then cut down to a 12 or 13 song cd.
Q: What can fans expect from the upcoming album?
a. You can expect our songs to be ever heavier and even more melodic than ever. You’ll be able to hear without at doubt that we’ve matured quite a bit as song writers and hopefully our fans will enjoy our new songs as much as we’re enjoying writing them!.
Q: Is there a set release date for the album?
a. We don’t have a set release date, currently, but we plan on heading into the studio in February or March of next year to record it, hopefully with a mid-summer release date.
Q: Will you be touring the states after the release?
a. If we could be touring 100% of the time, we would be. Unfortunately, we’re in the middle of a transition between management companies and are looking to get back on the road as soon as possible.
Q: Where can fans purchase your EP release and other band merchandise?
a. We’ve got links on our Facebook page to both our MerchNow page and Big Cartel page to purchase physical copies of our EP as well as 4 shirt designs. You can find our cd available for digital download on iTunes, as well as Napster for streaming.
Q: What future plans do you guys have for the band?
a. Enjoy ourselves as much as possible, and hopefully more and more people become as passionate about our music as we are.
Q: Do you have any advice for fledgling bands that are just starting off in the music world?
a. Play as much as you can, wherever you can. If you’re playing to 10 people, that’s 10 people to put on a show for. Don’t ever take your audience for granted.