By: Ramsey Ramirez

With their brand of catchy POP, HARDCORE, PUNK, and their crazy energy at live shows, They influenced a generation of kids, and everyone from ALL TIME LOW to FALLOUT BOY. Now get ready to see them on SEPTEMBER 9th at LAS PALMAS EVENT CENTER in McAllen TX! We caught up with Jordan Pundik, Vocalist for New Found Glory to dissect his brain and see what makes him tick. Mmmmmm, brains….

MAGX: Who or What inspired you guys to start making music?

Jordan Pundik: What inspired us to play was that where we lived,
NOTHING WAS GOING ON. We lived in the burbs. We all had a common bond over going to shows, punk, and hardcore. We wanted to do the same thing.

MAGX: Looking back on the last 12/13 years of this, what is your favorite part about the whole experience?

JP: For me looking back, I never thought we would make it out of Florida. But we did. It’s pretty amazing that I’ve been able to see so many different places and things because of the band.

MAGX: If you weren’t in NEW FOUND GLORY, what do you think you would you be?
Astronaut?  Jordan Pundik M.D.?

JP: I would have probably continued going to school or something. I was going for graphic design. It was only a semester though. Then we got asked to open up a string of FLA shows for MXPX. Then a 2 week tour with reel big fish. I said “Hey school! Smoke ya later!”

MAGX: Of all the NFG songs, which is your personal favorite? Why?

JP: My personal fave is “sonny” my grandfather passing away inspired that song. It’s close to my heart. Kids come up to me all the time saying that it helped them through someone close to them passing away.

MAGX: Is there plans for a new album?

JP: Of course! Going to probably start
Recording in January.

MAGX: Do you guys plan out what your albums will sound like or do you just let it happen?

JP: We always let it happen. Were a real band. We obviously have a vision of how we want it to “sound” but that’s all studio magic. The songs though are always what feels right and true to who we are.

MAGX: What do you do on your down time?

JP: On my down time, I tattoo, draw designs for bands merch, hang with my lady and dog, go to target, the movies, take care of my house, hang with family, hike, and surf.

MAGX: How did the collaboration with Zombie legend George Romero come about for the video “DON’T LET HER PULL YOU DOWN”?

JP: We knew we wanted to have that “cheap “B” movie” look, which isn’t a bad thing! It’s awesome. I wish we could have made it more gory though.

MAGX: So how long would you guys survive if a zombie plague erupted and over took most of the world? What would be the secret to your survival?

JP: I think I would know what to do. I’ve been into zombies and horror for a long time. My secret would be to stay up high. Pack a lot of heat (from breaking into gun shops), and also find anything in the form of a shovel or chain saw or lawn mower.

MAGX: If you were granted a super power by some alien
intelligence, what would you want it to be?

JP: I would have an invisibility power. That would totally help
during a zombie attack too!

MAGX: HAHA, Good One! Thanks for your time Jordan! See you at Las Palmas Event Center on Sept. 9th!

JP: Thanks man. Look forward to playing a longer set!!!

MAG-XTRA w/ Jordan Pundik

Fave album:
my bloody
valentine
“loveless”

Fave album cover:
Andrew WK “I get wet” nothing beats a dudes face real big with a bloody nose!

Fave song of all time:
too many to pick just one!

Blondes or Brunettes?
Brunettes

Favorite Food: Sushi

Favorite Movie:
Inglorious Basterds

Favorite Comic Book
Character: Rick from
“The Walking Dead”

Most Prized Possesion:
My skeleton key on my necklace.
Star Wars or Star Trek:
Star Wars

Favorite ZOMBIE Movie:
Lucio Fulci’s
“ZOMBIE”

By: Bob Lopez

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Cory Procter, Drummer of Free Reign and Dallas Cowboy Offensive Lineman, about his budding music career and here’s what he had to say:

Tell me how the band got formed?

It started with Marc Colombo and I jammin’ out on occasion and then Leonard Davis joined in. We started off much like a garage band, but the jam sessions went well and we started doing charity gigs and small shows at places like the Rock Room. About three years ago we played a charity event at the House of Blues in Dallas and then the Grenada Room shortly after and that’s when we started getting a lot of press about it.

How do you find time for both football and the band?

We have time in the offseason. We workout five days a week, but mostly in the morning so we’re done by noon. Then we get some time to go home and rest and later on we’ll meet up and practice in the evenings and on the weekends.

Has being in a band helped you guys on the field?
I definitely think it helps us on the field because it helps us gel. Both on the field and on stage we have to work together as a cohesive unit. In football we need all guys working together and it’s the same as a band. We’re friends in football and in the band.

With football being first, would you say this is the thing you are second best at?
I would say so (he says laughing). It’s more than a hobby. Hopefully after football we can continue this as a second career. We love what we’re doing and want to continue after football.

Who are some of your influences personally and what are the bands influences?

We all come from very different musical backgrounds. Marc and Justin are more metal heads. Marc is really into Metallica and bands like that, and Justin is more into the newer metal like Killswitch.  Leonard has a jazz background but he’s an all-around musician.  Me, I’m a lot like Leonard, an all-around musician, but I come from a country music background with rock influences too.

You’ve played in some pretty big football games in front of 10’s of thousands of people, How does being on stage compare?

The rush is the same.  It’s different in the opponent you face obviously. You’re not going against 300 pound defensive lineman, but you are facing an opponent. You’re going against yourself, trying to play the perfect show to please the fans. Trying to please the fans is also something we’re competing with every night.

Switching gears and asking a football question, you’re a restricted free agent this year, what happens to Free Reign if you get picked up by another team?
We would try to do things from a far, and in the offseason try and get together as much as possible. We’ve done things like that before where Justin will send me a riff and I’ll listen to the track and lay some drums on top of it. It’d be difficult, but since this project has become more serious we’d make it work.

Has Jerry (Jones) ever been to a show?

(laughing) He hasn’t been to a show before, but he knows about the band though. He doesn’t mind he lets us do our thing and doesn’t say much.  Wade Phillips on the other hand likes to get a laugh out of it. During practice he’ll throw out a Free Reign show out every now and then.

For more on FREE REIGN
visit myspace.com/freereign

What has this year been like for Deftones so far?

It’s been great, really great.  We’ve been hard at work getting this album out and it’s been goin by fast just like every year.  This year has been a very productive one. We’re ready to get back out there and the album man (Diamond Eyes).  We’re just really excited about it all.

This album Diamond Eyes is not Eros, correct?

We’re putting Eros on the back burner for now.  The whole thing happened with Chi (Bassist
Chi Cheng was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Santa Clara, CA, on November 4, 2008.) and the whole situation was too much.  So we just decided to start from scratch.  This album  came together really quick it was a very fluid and cool process.

Will the Eros sessions see the light of the day?

We hope to release one of these days.  We just waited out of
respect for Chi.  It’s been a year and half already but until he’s able to come back we’ll let this rest for awhile.  It’s really got a lot of good stuff to it. We just thought it was better to let it chill for awhile.
Rocket Skates, the first single off the new album showed many shades of the heavier Deftones of the past. Is that a premonition to the tone of the record?

We really tend to make records that are all over the place.  There was definitely a spark to writing this.  We had just made Eros and we were all creatively drained. When it came time to making a new record, I honestly wasn’t sure if we could do it.  But all in all it really just came together. Maybe it does sound heavier? There’s always people that want us to sound like we did from the beginning.  We just want to try to do everything different.  The album is pretty well rounded.  We come from a time when records were a viable thing.  So with our records we try to make them enjoyable from beginning to end.

What can you tell us about the Diamond Eyes single?

It’s a pretty cool song, it’s really short its just under 3 minutes long.  It’s got the heavy riff, it’s got off time, and more all packed into one killer groove.  The chorus gets me. It’s a beautiful chorus that really reaches for the sky. It’s one song that came out
really, really cool.  I  love that song personally.  It’s a little
nugget of the record.

What did you guys try to
accomplish with Diamond Eyes?

We just wanted to see what we could do.  We had just done a
record and it was pretty crazy to think lets make another one. I was a bit concerned because I wasn’t sure if we had any
creative juices left. Just when I thought we were totally tapped out, we went and were jamming out with our friend Serge on bass.  Serge is a great friend of the bands we’ve known and toured multiple times with his band Quicksand. He had filled in for Chi awhile back while  he was in surgery.  He was really a perfect fit.  When it came to see if he wanted to jam we were all blown away and were actually able to bury our heads in this record. It was cathartic.  Rather than dwelling on everything we made a new record.

What made you want to go with a different producer this time around?

Well I had met Nick (Raskulinecz – Foo Fighters, Stone Sour) 4 or 5 years ago he did some demo mixing on Saturday Night Wrist. He was just a super cool guy and a rad dude.  I was well aware of his work with other bands and what he had done. When Chino (Moreno, vocals) met him, Rick asked if we wanted to make a record and here we are.  Serge thought he was just coming in to play a few shows and we eneded up making a record. Everything kinda worked out though.  Nick is really a funny ass dude and a great person to be around. He whipped us into shape.   We usually have a pretty relaxed work ethic, I would say.  Nick had a great way of wrangling us in
everyday and we worked daily from noon until about 8pm and it hadn’t been that way for us for awhile.

What were your favorite tracks from the record?

Right now, I really like ‘em all.  They’re new, haven’t been burned out from over playing them.  I like the song Sex Tape a lot.  This album is one of the first times we went into the studio with everything written.  With us it ends up being extremely tedious and extensive.  We traditionally write most of the records in studio.   This is the first time since our first record, Adrenaline we were able to blast it out like that.  It was like we we’re a band all over again.

Many people have said Deftones’ music is therapeutic. What do you think about that?

I think it’s cool.  I like that there’s a million people that would come up with a different meaning for that.  I think it’s great.  That’s what music is all about.  If music helps you through things, if it makes you feel better that’s what it’s supposed to do.  It’s a funny thing because it can bring you back to your best or take you to your absolute worse.  That’s the true beauty of music.  Music is all over the place. I’m glad the people that enjoy our music do so.  I’m more than happy for it to be therapeutic.

This is the first visit to the RGV for  Deftones in 10 years. What do you have to tell the people of McAllen?

I think it was Halloween, I was dressed like a woman. Chi was a pimp and I was a hooker.  I
remember that night vividly. We found a Halloween store in Mcallen close the venue and ended up  buying a bunch of stuff.  I saw a video clip not to long ago of that show.  We were filming a movie about that tour at the time.  A movie that never came out. (haha) We had a clip of me dressed in make up dressed as a woman rocking on the drums. Thats such a great memory. It was really just too much that night.  We’re so stoked to come back.  That show is going to be crazy!  Come and rock out with us EVERYONE!  And one more thing DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS!