So I’m walking up the stairs into a hallway holding the entrances to various Roxy green rooms prepared to face my worst nightmare- five It Boys! (Judah, Duck, Matt, Tommy, Jeffrey) with better hair than myself- and dear god it was as nerve racking as the walking through the hallway sans clothes nightmare.  Five minutes later, hair products aside, I’m instant bffs with my former frienemies.

They nominated me to take the reins in the hot seat while they lean back on the couch and we were ready to get a little up close and personal- the girl in a winter white dress and boots and the boys laced in chucks- ready to rock at a moment’s notice.

BNB:  Alright boys- introduce yourselves!

M:  What’s up I’m Matt, lead vox.

J:  I’m Jeff I play guitar.

D:  I’m Duck- Play drums and sing!

J:  I’m Judah, I play guitar and sing!

T:  Sup guys my names Tommy I play bass!

BNB:  Alright let’s get this party started- I hear a lot of Cobra Starship and a little 3oh!3- were they major influences for you?

IB:  I wouldn’t necessarily say that they’re influences- they’re bands that we like- and we like to listen to a lot- we get compared to them a lot!  We do like the bands, but they aren’t necessarily influences- but you know what?  Rock on.

 

BNB:  You guys are competeing for the MTV VMA best breakout L.A. artist- you guys nervous, excited- what’s going on?

IB:  You know- we’re all excited!  Excited, amped for it- we’ve been working so hard the past year.

BNB:  You’re doing something right- the Roxy is PACKED right now!

IB:  Yeah?  And a lot of our friends are “Hollywood”- so they’ll get here you know- later.

BNB:  Better fashionably late than never.

 

BNB:  First place you guys wanna go if you win?

M:  You know- I wanna go to Brazil, I’m gonna go all out on this one!  I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time so…

IB:  I wanna go to Temecula- because that’s where we play next!  Maybe the Sizzler.

BNB:  Hey- let’s not knock the Sizzler.

IB:  Okay, funny story- when I was 9 years old- the ONLY time I’ve ever choked on anything was a cheese pizza at Sizzler’s buffet.  You know how their pizza is like SUPER cheesy?  Well I ate it and my dad’s hand literally went down my throat.  You need to know more stories about my dad, but no pat on the back, no Heimlich maneuver, literally hand, throat, in.

BNB:  So what you’re saying is it really holds some sentimental value for you?

IB:  Sizzler?  Oh it’s the only place I eat.

 

BNB:  So main musical influences aside from the aforementioned?

IB:  Travis Barker, MxPx and New Found Glory, Blink182 and Jawbreaker, Usher’s actually an influence for performing, and Dave Matthews for music.

 

BNB:  Great, now let’s get serious for a sec- do you guys all do your hair together, do you take turns in the bathroom?

IB:  We all stand in a row and do a hair train.  Or the three stooges thing, like one head above the other.

 

BNB:  If you guys could collaborate with another artist on the scene right now…

IB:  JUSTIN BIEBER.

BNB:  you know- Justin Beiber has been an answer for WAY too many people lately.

IB:  I’d say there’s three…Justin Beiber, Usher, and Katy Perry.  You know what let’s reach for the stars- I want Obama!

BNB:  Whoa whoa back it up a sec- Katy Perry or Zooey Deschanel?

IB:  Zooey DePerry  and I have to say Ke$ha’s record is really amazing- I think Dr. Luke just did an amazing job on that one- Dr. Luke- we would work with you.  We would let you do it for free because Lucas, I am your father.

(Dr. Luke- if you’re reading this, shoot me an email- I’d be more than happy to set you guys up.  Lauren Novik, starting bromances, saving lives.)

 

BNB:  Ok so guys don’t like you- but I’m pretty sure the chicks do…any crazy touring stories/ groupie stories?

IB:  You know we’ve only been around for like two days- so not too many crazy stories- I got to hang out with my mom for like four days so.

BNB:  I feel comfortable counting her as a chick.

IB:  Funny story about that though- his dad does not like me, because his mom likes me- a lot.  Now wait wait- it’s not anything like that- it’s 100% mutual love.  His mom- that’s it for me.  Shit just got really weird man.

 

BNB:  Do you guys van it up on tour?

IB:  We do jets.  No this one we’re in a van/trailer- and I think on our next tour we might even have a bus sponsorship!

BNB:  Nice!  So what’s currently on heavy rotation in the transportation vehicle?

IB:  If Tommy’s shotgun- which he usually is- it’s a lot of Katy Perry and that new band you introduced us to- what is it? That new band you like!?

(Breaks into song)

T:  Bad City!  I’m just going to throw that out there right now because I want to tour with them more than anything- BAD CITY.

(Bad City if you’re perusing this article as well, again, send me an email- Ima hook you all up.)

IB:  They’re this new band on Atlantic, and it’s all like old school hair metal.

 

BNB:  How’d you guys all form- Craigslist, Personal Ads?

IB:  It was actually the Pennysaver.  Nah, long story short me and the Leary’s (Duck & Judah) have been friends for probably like twelve years now and we’ve always wanted to start a pop/rock band- so I finally called and was like hey, you guys wanna start that band we’ve been talking about for years?  They said yes, and literally flew out like probably a week after I called, I was like wow you guys ARE serious!  They like showed up at my doorstep.  We ran into Tommy and Jeff here in Hollywood and they were like both amazing musicians, had toured before and we definitely liked what they had to offer, so BOOM- It Boys! formation.

 

BNB:  Alright now come on- how the hell did you come up with the name “It Boys!”

IB:  You know what- we didn’t come up with it!  To be honest, everybody else in the world named us.  We were recording our first album- and like every band starts with like 400 names- and now looking back we’re like REALLY?!  That was in the running?!  Like on the maybe list “The Coconuts”- like what is that!  We thought that was a great idea!  And then like everybody around us, and all the people we’d been hanging out with would be like “there’s the it boys” so it just kinda stuck.  And people gravitated towards the name and I think the one thing that we get a lot, whether somebody hates it or not- is that they remember it EVERY time.

 

BNB:  What would you do for a Klondike bar?

IB:  I got this- I GOT THIS!  (bursts into song) For that chocolatey coated, ice cream loaded, big and thick no room for a stick- what would I doooooo (rest of boys harmonize) for a Klondike bar!

BNB:  That will now go down as my favorite answer I’ve ever received for that question.

IB:  Wait now I want to ask you a question.  What’s the mentos song?

(Before I have time to answer)

IB:  Mentos fresher, fresh goes better, mentos fresher with mentos fresh and full of life- Mentos!  The freshmaker!

 

IB:  No, but really- when can we ask you questions?

BNB:  Alright- ask me- I’m ready!

IB:  If you had to date one of us- who would it be?  First go by looks- then go by personality.

T:  No dude- you want her to tell us who the ugliest one is!?  Come on!

IB:  No, no- do it- we want to know!

BNB:  Ok…hmm….I would have to say- that I don’t mix business with pleasure!  So you can ask me another because I totally did not answer that one.

IB:  Ok, Ok, what size boo….Ts are you wearing?

(rest of band sighs in relief he did not ask the question we had all expected)

BNB:  7 and a half!

M:  Nice looking boots.

 

BNB:  Closing remarks?

D:  We love you.

M:  We’ve got a lot of upcoming things- check out our MySpace- www.myspace.com/itboys and head to fantourage for contests- we do a new contest every show!

BNB:  Yeah you guys have the number one song on- fantourage I believe?

M:  Yeah, yeah we do!

IB:  And go to craigslist.com if you need anything used.  I got some cool stuff on there.

BNB:  And look at their pictures for hair tips and tricks- clearly.

IB:  Judah Leery sheers slash it boys dot com OR @JudahLeerySheers

 

Making mental notes of the hair gospel I just heard I made my way back into the crowd of people littering the Roxy floor, and I’ve seen the place packed before- but this was insanity.  Could they really be THIS good live?  The answer, in a word, is yes.

The boys stormed the stage taking turns jumping from amp to amp and back to the stage’s edge to serenade what seemed like thousands of faces all there for them.  I have to say the entire scene erupted into mass chaos when the guys started the intro to “Guys Don’t Like Me”- and you can tell why they wouldn’t with girls everywhere entranced by sexy quintet.  Matt and his band of merry heartbreakers undoubtedly have fun with their songs- and definitely don’t take themselves too seriously- which is a great change.  Though style wise the boys clearly belong in L.A., their personalities would tell you otherwise (as you can clearly see from our banter clad interview!) and they have fun playing off each other- and the crowd!

They’ll be competing tonight for the coveted MTV VMA breakout L.A. artist- and the other two bands have some FIERCE competition with these boys!  You can go out to support at The Music Box- and they welcome cyberstalkers on their Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter accounts!  Watch out for these guys- the It Boys! are where it’s at.