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Here's an interview from SMNnews.com for you to read:

Call To Preserve are a hardcore band from Florida who have just released an album on Facedown Records. The band play was influenced by acts like Madball, Strongarm, and No Innocent Victim. SMN News spoke with guitarist Harbor Partin about their From Isolation album, the Florida underground scene, and his views on the Christian hardcore scene.

I know you the members of the band got their start playing more punk inspired music. How did the evolution towards hardcore happen?
I think as a band our musical tastes got heavier so we just gravitated towards that type of music. I remember at first I was the only one in the band that wasn’t really into hardcore and I just wanted to play punk, but then I heard bands like American Nightmare who played traditional hardcore and it turned me on to hardcore. Plus as it turns out hardcore is a lot more fun to play, so I guess that probably had something to do with it.

Although your sound is tough, there’s a lot of melody in certain spots. It reminded me of Terror with some Stretch Armstrong thrown in there and a more straight-forward hooky element to it. Can you talk about the writing process?
Yea we all grew up on Stretch Arm Strong so I think that influence definitely came out a little more on this album. When we were writing we worked a lot more on song structure and having parts that would be memorable. When we were picking and choosing what was going to be in a song we were going “ok, what does this part bring to the overall song? ” It made us try some things that I think we might have been to afraid to try before because it wasn’t typical hardcore type stuff, but I think it paid off in the end.

This interview is for a site that is definitely not Christian. We cover everything from Norwegian black metal to bands like Cannibal Corpse and Incantation. What do you have to say to the kid who’s looking at his computer right now and questioning us for covering a band like yours?
I don’t know really know what else to say except to keep an open mind. When it comes down to it, lyrics or and personal beliefs aside, we’re still a hardcore band. I don’t mean to be cliche and say hardcore is about standing up for what you believe in, but it kind of is. Diversity is what has made hardcore great from the beginning. Even in the early days when there were bands that stood up against religion, you had Krishna bands like Cro-Mags that were vocal about their faith. Imagine if no one would’ve listened to Cro-Mags because they didn’t share the same beliefs. Hardcore wouldn’t be the same. So I guess keep that in mind.

Did you guys ever find yourselves in a situation where you’re on a bill with bands that were resistant to playing with you because of your religious beliefs? For example, I’m not Christian but that doesn’t stop me from listening to bands that might be but I there must be people who don’t feel that way.
I suppose there are people who feel that way, but we haven’t encountered too many people like that. We’ve played with all different types of bands and everyone we’ve ever played with has seemed to respect what believe. I think part of the reason is because we’re not a real preachy band. You can look at our lyrics and talk to us and know what we’re about, but we’re really into just playing and letting the music speak for itself. I’m sure there’s tons of bands we play with who aren’t into what we’re about, but I guess not to the point where they wouldn’t want to play with us. There’s a lot of bands I’d like to play with that aren’t Christian, so I don’t see why it couldn’t work the other way too.

Do you think because of the religious overtones, kids who listen to positive hardcore follow the lyrical content closer?
It’s hard to say. I guess we have a lot of positive type songs, but I know with the new album there were a few songs where the outlook isn’t exactly positive. A song like “Sinking Sun” has kind of a bleak outlook to it, just because that was how I felt at the time that I wrote it. I know we talk about a lot of positive stuff, but I hope that anyone could relate to our music, no matter where they are in life.

Which songs on From Isolation are people responding to the most on tour? “Hope For the Fallen” seems like one that would go over really well live.
“Hope for the Fallen” does alright, but I think it’s going to be one of those songs that’s going to do much better once people get more familiar with the new album. I think “Sinking Sun” has probably had the best response out of all them, probably because it’s been on our MySpace for a while now and it’s got that intro in the beginning. Shameless has also gone over really well. It’s probably the heaviest song on the album, possibly the heaviest song we’ve ever written so people tend to react to that song very well.

On the song “Sinking Sun” you have the lyrical refrain, “We come from isolation but we’re never alone.” Who is the “we” in that particular track?
That line is about thinking you’re alone in whatever mess you’ve gotten yourself into and then realizing that it’s not just you who goes through low points in their lives. It’s everyone. You have to face the reality of your decisions by yourself, but it’s kind of a common aspect of being human and we can share the burden of our struggles. “We” is pretty much everyone in the most general sense.

It seems like the Florida hardcore scene is really coming up lately. Can you talk about some of the bands that we should keep our eyes out for?
Yeah Florida Hardcore is pretty dope. One of our favorite bands here has got to be Infected. We’ve known their singer Josh for a long time and has come on the road with us a few times. They played a bunch of our cd release shows and they’re awesome to watch live. They’ve got a real pissed, thrashy, sound. Definitely got that Infest or Seige vibe to them, but darker. Definitely check out Infected. Good dudes and good music.

I loved Strongarm and actually became friends with Nick and Steve from the band years later when I was in a band that was signed to Nick’s label. How important was that band to Christian hardcore and the Florida music scene?
That band was extremely important, especially when it comes to the genre of “spirit filled hardcore.” They were definitely a huge influence on this band, not only the music but also what they stood for and how they stood out in the scene at the time. What stands out about them to me is that they’re music was just as good as any of the other hardcore bands at the time who weren’t Christian and that definitely cemented them as one of the defining Christian hardcore bands. They’re definitely a huge influence on Christian hardcore now as far as their message goes, but I wish more bands actually sounded like them. There’s too few Christian bands who still follow in their footsteps musically and I wish there were more.
How is the tour going with For Today? Are the turn-outs decent and how are the out-of-control gas prices affecting everything?

So far the tour’s been going pretty awesome. Everyone in For Today are awesome dudes and they’re a lot of fun to hang out with. For the most part the turn outs have been great, probably better than decent. There’s always good and bad shows on tour, but even the shows with less kids haven’t been that bad and they’ve all turned to be a good time. Gas is definitely taking its toll, but we’re still surviving. It could be worse because gas has actually gone down since we’ve been on tour, so I guess if gas would’ve gone up instead we’d probably be really hurting right now. So yea, we’re still a pretty broke band, but we’re gonna be ok. This is what we love to do so nothing’s going to stop us.

What’s the best part about being in Call To Preserve and what’s the worst?
The best part is getting to do what I love and travel the country with my best friends. The worst part is that since I’ve decided not to have a real job, I’m broke and I can hardly afford to feed myself. Don’t even ask me how I plan to pay off my student loans because I don’t have an answer.

Name your 5 favorite hardcore albums of all time.
In no particular order:

American Nightmare: Background Music
Dag Nasty: Can I Say
Stretch Armstrong: The Rituals of Life
Give up the Ghost: We’re Down Till We’re Underground
Cro Mags: Age of Quarrel

Home Sweet Home.

Our time on the minotour ended a few days ago and now we're all back home safe in Florida and enjoying the fact that it's not 30 degrees outside. We had planned on being out for another week, but some of the dates fell through and we didn't feel like having 3 days off between the next show and losing even more money, so we decided to cancel the few dates we had left and head home.

The last few days of the tour ended being way chillier than what we expected for a fall tour. On Tuesday we were driving from New York City to Pittsburg when it started snowing like crazy. I didn't think there would be a chance in the world we would see snow in October, especially with all the global warming hoopla nowadays. We pulled over and some of us got out and acted like little kids playing in the snow, but after about 5 minutes though we remembered how snow sucks (especially wet, northeast, October snow) and remembered how everyone hates it when it snows and now we have 6 more hours to drive in this slush. Luckily the snow let up after not too long and we got to Pittsburgh safe. After we survived the roads, our lungs had to survive the smoky death trap that is Club Octane where we played that night. I don't even remember how our set went. I just remember about 100 underage kids smoking in a small room and making the place resemble a gas chamber. It was so sad to see all those young kids smoking. I just wanted to tell all those kids good luck having working lungs in the future, cause I was only there for a couple hours and I thought I was getting Bronchitis.
Our last show was in Edinborough Pa, at the hangout and I thought it was good show to leave off with, except for the fact that both me and matt broke a string within 5 minutes of each other. War of Ages came and hung out and even did a surprise song at the beginning of For Today's set. Kids were stoked! I'm not going lie though, I was more stoked on the fact that a Misfits cover band played that night. It's not that I don't like War Ages, it's just that I Love the Misfits! I probably enjoyed that band more than any other local band I saw on this tour. At the end of the show we had a small snowball fight with For Today which turned into a air soft gun fight, which really wasn't fair because Dave from For Today was the only one with an air soft gun.
After out debacle we said our goodbyes and wished them well. We're gonna miss those dudes! Such awesome guys and we'll be stoked to hang out with them at Facedown Fest. After the show we drove 18 hours straight and got home on Halloween Night with just enough time to crash some parties and make fun of drunk girls. I love Halloween!

We got a couple dates coming up this month. One being this show:
Lots of good bands on this show, and hopefully you'll get to see most of them before the show gets shut down. just kidding!...but seriously.
We'll be announcing our Novemeber/December dates with Grave Maker (Think Fast!) very shortly. Stay Posted!- Harbor and CTP

We hate days off

Last minute show today. Just go ahead and add our name to the list. We play 1st for 15 minutes.


Also here's another video for you to check out:

Fast times in the Jersey countryside

Greetings from the middle of nowhere New Jersey! I would like to tell you where exactly we are in the garden state, but I honestly have no idea. We played in Clinton tonight and after the show we followed this nice family on what we thought would be a short drive to stay at their house. After about 10 minutes of driving we got into a rural area and I thought, "Oh that's nice, they live in a quaint little area." 20 minutes later country road turns into even more country road and we're still not to the house. Back at home nothing good ever happens this deep into the woods. All the sudden I started thinking of that movie Wicker Man and thought there might be a possibility we were being taken to be sacrificed at the hands of pagan farmers, bent on spilling the blood of good Christian boys, all just to appease the land so they're crop would yield plenty for their little backwoods Wiccan agricultural commune. fortunately that is not the case and we are all alive, and enjoying the hospitality of this nice family.

Last night we played in Annapolis, Maryland, where not a whole lot a kids showed up, but the few that did seemed to be stoked. Plus, we got to hang out with a couple of dudes from xLooking Forwardx and that's always fun. Justin came and hung for a little bit and then after the show we all stayed at Kevin D's new place, which is pretty ballin'. All those guys seem pretty stoked to not be playing shows in xLFx right now, but since they're all doing grown up things like having kids and getting married and having real jobs, I can't really blame them. At least we still get to hang out when we come to Maryland.
This band called One Step Too Many played the show, and it was great to play with those dudes. They have great musical taste for a band whose singer is barely old enough to drive. On a tour where I've seen at least 5 kids wearing a The Devil Wears Prada shirt every night, they were a breath of fresh air. You can check them out here.
Tonight's show was a little wierd. There were over 200 kids in this church's gym, but everyone stood in the back most of the time. The "pit" was in the middle of the floor, but nobody was in front of them. It was just odd. I think it might have to do with the venue's rules about "no riding on the crowd" and having "happy pits." I'm sure having about 5 kids there who knew what hardcore was didn't help either.

Our show tomorrow in Yonkers got canceled. Sucks. We're trying to find a last minute replacement show here in Jersey. We'll see what happens.

Stuff You Should Check Out
First off all, we finally finished our second video blog for this tour, and it's quite possibly the best one we've ever done. It's jammed packed with all sorts of goodies. Watch it:


Here's an Interview we did with Pure Grain Audio. You can check that out here:http://www.puregrainaudio.com/interviews/call-to-preserve
I just want to say, I think the question I'm tired of being asked the most is, "Do you think being a Christian band keeps you from being accepted?" I honestly don't really know the answer. I don't really care either. Sometimes we play to Christian kids and do really well and sometimes we do really bad. Sometimes we play just regular hardcore shows and we do well and sometimes we don't. I have no idea whether or not it's because we're all followers of Jesus or not. I can't always find the correlation of why some people like us and some don't, but I feel like it's not my job to analyze what people think about us. Isn't that their job? Isn't that your job? This little rant shouldn't keep you from reading the article though. Read it and make your own judgements about us.

Lastly, Heather Utley takes awesome pictures like this one:

Check out her site!
We Love You!-Harbor and CTP

Don't be that Gwuy!

So we've been on tour for the past few weeks now, and it's been a lot of fun. We hooked up with For Today a little while ago and we've been causing trouble all over the country. As it turns out they're pretty rad dudes. I would tell you more about the tour, but I don't want to ruin the next video blog, which should be up here in the next few days. It's going to be jam packed with craziness and mischievous behavior that you wont know what to do with yourself.
Besides that, I will say this has been the most metal tour we've been on (translate as no one knows who we are on this tour). In all honesty it's been kind of a mixed bag. A lot of the shows have been like if you dropped a handful of kids who would usually be at our shows into a crowd of 150 kids who've never heard of us, or any other hardcore band for that matter. This does not mean we're not having fun. We definitely are. You will know how much fun soon enough.

If you get a chance, pick up the new issue of Outburn magazine, where you'll find a nice little interview with us, which would be a little nicer had they gotten our album title right. Is it so hard to get "From Isolation" right? C'mon! Go buy it, or come see us at a show and will give you one for free! Actually if I get a chance I'll scan it and put it on here.

Well this was fun. The next entry will include such visual mastery you won't know what to do with yourself.

If the Cohen Brothers toured in a van...

As promised, here is the first video from our cd release tour. I know this one seems a little long, but it's worth watching the whole thing. Of course if you were at one of our shows last week there's a good chance you're in it, so go look for yourself. If you do decide that 8 minutes is pushing your short attention span to unknown levels, fast forward to the last 2 minutes. You won't be sorry.


Also tomorrow we got added to a show last minute in St. Louis with Folsom (we just can't stay away from those dudes!) It's at the Rubar, so come out and have a good time. Later Slater!

Win some shoes from CTP and nike 6.0

So in case you didn't know, Nike 6.0 is making some pretty hot shoes right now, so there's no reason why you shouldn't do this contest and get some free dunks, as well as our brand new cd! You can sign up here. Big thanks goes out to our good friend Adam at 6.0 for hooking this contest up!

We just played a show in Louisville, Kentucky tonight and I guess it wasn't too bad of a show. Supposedly, Hoods played the same place the past two nights before we played, so I guess that probably affected the turn out a little bit. We still had a great time and thanks to everybody for coming out. Right now we're hanging in our friend Heather's basement in Evansville, Indiana where we'll be playing tomorrow. We're definitely stoked because Evansville is always good people and the last few times we've played here have been amazing. There's also this promise of donuts when we get up in the morning and that makes me like being here even more. Oh and I have mention that the staircase to Heather's basement is the steepest staircase I've ever seen. It's like some booby trapped stair case that guards the resting place of the holy grail, or the entrance to a lab of an evil genius. Actually the first thing I thought when I saw it was "Stay close to the candles. The stairway... can be treacherous." If you know where that quote is from you get a free shirt next time we play your town. Enough about stairs. I shouldn't be making blog posts at 4 in the morning. Goodnight!-Harbor

P.S.: I'm in the process of editing the next tour video blog, so be ready!