The Beautiful Mistake is a motivated, young band who've already well worn a path from their homes on the California coast to the east coast, played a much-coveted spot at this year's CMJ, and have a head-turning E.P. and ambitious album tucked in their belts. In most cases, success of this measure has the distinct tendency to inflate egos, bury modesty, and turn bands who start out with the best intentions into greedy, unapproachable, salespeople. With this in mind, I padded my expectations with just enough cynicism to accomplish another interview with an up-and-coming, next-generation hardcore band without being disappointed.

A few moments with TBM singer/guitarist Josh, and it became abundantly clear that TBM is determined to tip-the-scales in the right direction with a little heart and honest….and perhaps some dynamic aural demolition too.

Undaunted by a new musical generation that values record sales over sincerity, and exhaustive touring over the bonds of friendship, TBM remains a close knit group of friends who temper staying "grounded" and prioritizing loved ones with their insatiable appetite for making music that matters. The result is a whirlwind of tenacious guitar lines, kidney squeezing rhythms, and tug-of-war tenor gut-spilling to throat-bursting screaming. And their newest record stands out as more insightful, uplifting, and heart-wrenching than most of their current peers in the hardcore/emo genre.

During a seven-week tour of the United States with The All-American Rejects and labelmates the Lyndsay Diaries, Bettawreckonize met with Josh Hagquist to discuss TBM's new record, Light A Match For I Deserve To Burn, and balancing friendship, family and faith with music making.

Interview conducted in person by Tim Anderl. Pictures by Tim and Anne Anderl.

Name: Josh Hagquist (vocals and guitar)
Band: The Beautiful Mistake

BM: How long has The Beautiful Mistake been a band? Under what circumstances did you start playing together?
J: Shawn Grover, our guitarist, and I started the band in January 2001. We were in a band together prior to this band and we were just members of the band; we weren't able to give input creatively or anything. When that dissolved in 2000, we were already best friends and we really enjoyed playing music together so we decided to start the new band. We've had member changes - we started with a different bass player and drummer - but we've had the same lineup for a year now.

BM: So you guys are getting good and tight with each other?
J: Yeah. It is really cool. We finally have people who are dedicated.

BM: Did you know these guys before or did you audition them for the band? Did you know them from other bands?
J:When we first started, we brought along the drummer from our old band and a bass player that we knew who Shawn had been in a band with before. They were local. When we kicked out our old bass player, I met Jon online after posting a random post. It said, "We are looking for a bass player, we aren't signed, we just recorded an E.P. on our own, etc." Well he read it, and listened to our music and really liked it so he came and tried out….

BM: Where was he originally from?
J: Minnesota. He moved out to the band before any album or anything. It was a huge leap of faith for him to join a band, who was for all intents and purposes a bar band….that was what we were doing. We were playing shows, but there was nothing beyond that, no label or anything. Then Armin was in a hardcore band with Shawn a long time ago and when our drummer quit, he seemed a good fit for us and we asked him to come join the band.

BW: Are you all from Riverside, California?
J: We were all living there at one point. Jon and I live in Huntington Beach now. We still practice in Riverside and still consider that our home.

BM: Do you have a camaraderie with any of the other bands from around that area? Like…there are some really great punk bands from that area like Voodoo Glow Skulls right?
J: There are a few. In Riverside and Orange County things are really cliquey as it is. Everyone is in competition with each other and it is really pretty ridiculous. It is hard to build friendships with people and to build a community rather than competing with other people. But there are some hardcore bands that we are really, really good friends with. There is a band called Falling Cycle that practices in the same practice space that we do. They play European metalcore, but we play a lot of shows with them. In fact, our first show of this tour was with them. They are just really cool guys. There are a lot of bands in Orange County that we've become friends with, want to play with, and have fun hanging out with.

BW: How many tours have you done so far?
J: This is our second national tour this year. We've done a lot of West Coast, and like weekend tours kinda going out towards Arizona, and a lot of traveling around southern and central California. This is our second full U.S. tour.

BM: How many dates is it?
J: It is six or seven weeks and our bass player booked the whole tour himself. We've played every night. We had one night off, but other than that we've played every day, sometimes two shows a day.

BM: Did you guys book your last tour? Did you guys play all of those shows? Have you guys had success doing D.I.Y. booking?
J: From MP3.com, getting a good response there, and from networking -- hooking up with bands in other states, or like meeting you guys here in Dayton - so just by meeting people across the U.S. we've been able to hook up with bands and places to play. So our first tour was just hooking up with local bands who had heard us or just wanted us to come play or help us out with shows. This tour was a little easier cause we had the record out and there were people calling us for shows this time. So for Jon to book it….a lot of people have been really surprised he was able to do it because we've played every day. And some of the shows have been to five or six people, but it doesn't matter because we are still playing. This year alone we've had five or six shows in Jersey. We aren't even from there, but that is all him, him booking those shows.

BM: What makes a good show for the Beautiful Mistake?
J: We don't have a preference as to venue. Like we played a VFW Hall last night, we've played all-ages clubs that don't serve alcohol….it is really cool when the people who promote the shows have made fliers and passed them out and have really tried hard to make us feel comfortable. It is not about the money either, though a little is nice so we can get to the next place. The shows that we have the most fun at are the shows where there are kids to see us specifically and they are singing along. That stokes us even when there are only one or two kids like that at the show. We also really appreciate when people are really gracious to us like when they go out with us to eat, or let us stay at their place, or other little things. We always remember that more than how much merch. we sold that night. Stuff like that is always better.

BM: When you recorded the E.P. did you have several songs to choose from or were those the first songs you wrote? How prolific are The Beautiful Mistake and how important is putting out albums to the band?
J: The initial pressing of that was done ourselves. We maxed out our credit cards, did a $300 recording, and those are the songs that you can hear on MP3.com right now. Those were our four favorite songs. We added the other one for the re-recording and that didn't turn out exactly the way that we thought it would turn out. We actually re-recorded the E.P. for the last time recently with a friend of ours, and are happy with how it sounds. So we had the four songs and added another old one for the five-song E.P. that came out on Sidecho. We are still writing, and have a ton of songs that aren't on the record. The song on the Plea For Peace compilation isn't one that has been anywhere else. I think the songs are coming. We are starting to find our niche. While those songs were our favorites, there are a couple that we never play out. The songs are coming and Shawn and I usually come up with most of the ideas, but the band is starting to jam out stuff now and it feels a lot more like a collective. It feels a lot better this way because everyone has an input. The newer stuff is coming out good and we are excited to start playing it for people. I think people will understand the progression. They won't want to hear the same album every time we put something out.

BM: Did you guys shop the E.P.? Is that how you hooked up with Militia Group? Is this your career now?
J: When we initially recorded the E.P., we put it out ourselves and there is a record store at home that we would frequent called Sounds Like Records. One of our friends Alan became a really big supporter of us and put it on the listening both in the store. Well when people would come in to buy Piebald or other indie records, he'd say, "Check out this band, they're from Riverside." So he was our cheerleader or so to speak from the very beginning. We had someone in a visible position who would recommend us to kids who came into buy records. For us in Riverside, that really helped us out.
He was also talking to folks at record labels because he was doing all the indie buying. In the paper every week in Riverside they'd have charts, the record stores would be recording their top-sellers. Every week we were scanning eleven or twelve CD sales and people were like, "Who the hell is this band," because it wasn't in any other record stores for a long time. He was sending out CDs without our knowledge to people at labels and doing other things to push our band because he was our friend. So, we never actively sought out a record label, they just started to call.
We weren't talking to Militia at first, we were talking to Hopeless Records. We became really good friends with Lewis at Hopeless Records, and to this day he is a huge supporter and we love him to death. Anyway, we talked to Militia, and I'd know Chad who runs Militia Group for a couple of years, and they were straight up and really honest and they didn't promise us things that were ridiculous or inflate their own importance to us. They said, "This is what we can do. We really like your band, and if you want to work with us, cool." So we just really felt comfortable and it felt like a family. Through talking to Lewis, he got to know Chad and Rory from the Militia Group. So when we were waiting to decide whether to sign with Hopeless or Militia, Lewis encouraged us to sign with the Militia Group. He passed on us because he thought, they are a smaller label, they'll help you get on your feet, and they'll let you do things at your own speed rather than dropping you right into the frying pan. That was really cool, and I think that was a good decision, the right decision for us.
I really can't say enough good things about Militia. They've bent over backwards and they work really hard for all of their bands, regardless of sales. Like I live with Chad too and I see about all of the other bands. To see Militia support a band like Tora, Tora, Torrance!, who hasn't sold in the four-digits of units in a year, and to see them still excited about their next release and to put them on CMJ means a lot more to me than them just being happy about Rufio, who is their biggest seller. I think that shows that they do believe in their bands and that it isn't a just throw them against the wall and see if they stick mentality. It is really evident in the way that they do business and the way that they are with us outside of business that they really care about us as people.
For the end of your question, we'd love to do this full-time. We quit our jobs to go on this tour. Like Jon and I worked at a mortgage company at home and if that is what I have to do to be able to go on tour I'd love to do it. Ideally we'd love tour for a month, take a couple weeks off, tour some more. That is our goal, we'd like to do it full-time and be able to make a living off it.

BM: I think it is easier for independent bands to do it now than ever before, but I've noticed that there are a lot of bands that do it for a year and then break up afterwards. It also seems like bands are running themselves more like a business now than ever before. Does The Beautiful Mistake ever feel more like a business than a band, and is it taxing in that regard?
J: It is interesting that you ask that now because we just signed on with a management company and we just got our first booking agent who we will begin working with at the beginning of next year. All of us are really big on family, and we are very loyal to the people who support us, whether that means playing a show for free or fighting for Militia, which we will do forever. That also means that for our own peace of mind, that we've made the decision that our health, our families and our friends come before the band. We want to do this a long time. I'm 26 and I'd love to be able to do this for ten years. I've seen bands that have done it that long, I think it is possible. But, we just had a talk about this and we don't want to go on a ten-month tour like Thursday did and come back hating each other or reevaluating whether or not we want to do the band anymore. That sucks. We agreed not to tour longer than a month this next year.
When you go home, you are grounded. You have people there that care about you and don't care if you are in a band. So I think that time at home with family and friends is grounding and foundation for your character and all that stuff. On the road it is easy to get stars in your eyes and think, we're the shit, we rule, we can do no wrong, but what happens when you go home eight months later and you have no friends, and your family has been second or third to doing some dumb band. Those things are more important, and if you have that support I think you will be more successful.
So, we are going to pace ourselves. If that means we don't sell "X" amount of records more a month, oh well, we'll sell those another time. My sanity is not going to take a second and my friendship with the band is not going to take a second to selling records. That is so temporary.

BW: I read online a while back that the members of this band are Christian.
J: Right. All of us are Christians.

BW: Do you feel like being a Christian in the hardcore or punk rock scene hinders you in any way? For example, I think a couple years back the More Than Music Fest kept Roadside Monument off the roster because they were a Christian band on a Christian label. Do you feel like the Christian kids judge you because your music isn't blatantly Christian -- it is open for interpretation - and do you feel like punk kids that are anti-Christian are judging you for being Christian without hearing the music?
J: I think we've avoided that. It is something that is very important to my life. It is one of those grounding things, it keeps me really grounded. I think we've avoided it because we don't really talk about it. Our lyrics are open for interpretation. I would never tell people what to think or how to receive our music. I think bands that have members that are Christian or Buddhist or whatever, I think some of them have any agenda, like they are trying to sell people something. It is like come to the rock show but we will sell you a certain set of beliefs. For us, it is like I'm not a salesman. Someone who is religious may have this interpretation of our lyrics, and someone who is atheist may not getting something that is remotely close to that.
You mentioned Roadside….they were on Tooth and Nail and that label automatically has the tag of Christian record label. While Roadside never had an agenda and weren't there to sell anyone anything, Tooth and Nail are involved in a whole different industry that sells "Christian music" to "Christian people." For us, we don't really understand that whole thing and don't really want any part of that. I feel more at home playing in a dirty bar to five people than at a church playing to a hundred kids that could care less. I don't know if that answers your question. I have nothing to be ashamed of. You can disagree with my personal life….we get kids at shows saying, "Are you Christian?" And it is like yeah, we all our, why lie? We have nothing to be ashamed of. I think there are a lot of lame Christians out there, but on the other hand, there are a lot of lame straight-edge kids out there too. If a straight-edge kid comes up to me and cusses at me because I have a cigarette….it's like "Hi, I'm a human being and it total sucks that you tore me down and made me feel like shit." But, I'm not going to judge every straight edge kid based on that one. I'm sorry if someone of the Christian faith screwed you over, but I'm responsible for myself.
When it comes down to a personal thing, I hope people wouldn't judge me or judge my band based on our faith. We aren't trying to sell you anything or convert you. We are a guest at wherever we play and we let the music speak for itself. Our personal lives don't really come into play that way. I think that people check their brains at the door on this issue a lot of times and don't want to grant any amount of respect for people who are religious. But, we played our release show with Shelter, and their lyrics are openly religious with the Krishna ideology and nobody gives them crap.
It is a shame when bands like Further Seems Forever, who I think are amazing and tear up most bands of that genre….it sucks when people won't listen to them because of their label or because the bass player and drummer are Christians. A lot of the time in the punk scene we talk about respecting others, but at the drop of the hat people want to write off a band like Hopesfall who are on Trustkill because they are Christians. But they are nice people and their band rules. There are tons of great bands who shouldn't be written off on both sides. I'm not going to write off Shelter just because they don't believe what I believe. Or look at a band like Perfect Circle, I think they rule, but I don't necessarily agree with everything that Maynard sings about. I'm not automatically going to write him off because, "Oh, he hates God. He has issues with the Western church." You know what I mean.

BW: Right now you are out with labelmates The Lyndsay Diaries and The All-American Rejects. How long have you all been out together?
J: The Lyndsay Diaries played the first few dates of the tour with us. Scott had some shows fall through and he was already out on the west coast so he asked if he could come along and we already knew him from before. Different type of music but it was cool because we were friends so it didn't really matter. All-American Rejects jumped on the tour in Birmingham, Alabama and they've been on all the way down through Florida and all the way up the east coast. They took some days off when we were in New York for CMJ. They only play one more night and then they are going home because they signed to Dreamworks and have some obligations to attend to. It has been cool. We've gotten to play with a lot of cool bands.
We just finished up at CMJ, which was a Hopeless Records/Militia Showcase at CBGBs. For a bunch of California kids to play this legendary club really blew us away. We played with Lyndsay Diaries, Tora, Tora, Torrance!, The Stereo, Mustard Plug, Atom And His Package and Digger, and the club was sold-out, it was packed full of people and everyone was really cool regardless of the music. We were able to play with some really fun bands and meet some really good people. Whoa, can you hold on for a second. Those are some friends that I went to school with back in 1996.
Excuses himself to briefly hug and speak with his friends.
They go to Ashland University.

BW: That is like four hours away. You should go hook up with your homies.
J: Would you mind? Cool, catch up with me after the show if you have anymore questions.