Feature / Interviews
For The Crown

Words: Zed • Posted pre-2010

October 4, 2003 marked the ending of 2 crucial bay area bands: The Damage Done and For The Crown. Prior to For The Crown's last show, ScenePointBlank got an interview with the band to reflect on the band's memorable times, taking crowns on dates, and fighting off groupies. This is over a year old, sorry about the delay!

ScenePointBlank: What's your name and what do you play?

Donald: I'm Donald, I play guitar.

Andrew: I'm Andrew and I sing.

ScenePointBlank: How did Flinch Factor develop into For The Crown?

*mob laughs*

Andrew: Ok, do you want a serious answer?

ScenePointBlank: Yeah.

Andrew: We were this really shitty punk band. We played this show with a band called Figure Four from Canada and Through It All.

*laughter*

Andrew: You can say 'Haha' like laughs in there.

*Matt arrives*

Andrew: That's Matt our bassist.

Matt: Basically I run the show. No matter what Andrew says, I wrote all that shit.

Andrew: We played that show, and everyone was like, 'Man, this band sucks.' So I was like, 'Dude, I want to be in a hardcore band.' So the next day we broke up, and that same day, we started For The Crown.

Donald: Basically.

ScenePointBlank: Where did the name For The Crown come from?

Andrew: We were talking about Flinch Factor, none of us liked the name, and our drummer was like, 'Yeah, we should call ourselves Cloud Factories.' *laughter*

Andrew: And I was like, 'How about we call ourselves The Crown?' But then there was that metal band, The Crown. So we just threw the 'For' in there.

ScenePointBlank: Was it originally the number four?

Andrew: It was actually the number eight, but then we changed it to four, then we changed it to the word for.

Matt: Before the number, it was like the verb, like eating, like how I'm eating this apple right now.

*Matt is eating apple*

ScenePointBlank: How did Blueprint go for you guys?

Matt: Recording the record was hecka fun, it was really fun to record. We weren't extremely happy with how the layout came out, but I like the songs, we all like the songs and we're all happy with how it sounds.

Andrew: I think it's very diverse musically, because we wrote the songs over the course our entire time as a band. So a couple of the songs we wrote in the first two months of our existence, and some of them we wrote the night before, because we did write one the night before.

ScenePointBlank: Which one was that?

Matt: Don't tell, it'll ruin it. Find it yourselves.

Andrew: Yeah, it's like a 'Where's Waldo?', except it's a song, and it's not waldo.

ScenePointBlank: Any clues?

Matt: No... it's about buildings...

ScenePointBlank: Have you written anything new since that?

Andrew: Yeah, we wrote five songs, but they aren't going to be recorded or released.

ScenePointBlank: Why?

Matt: The reason why is because we felt extremely rushed and we wanted to put something out that we were proud of, and certain members in the band did not feel like putting the effort into it. It just didn't work out.

ScenePointBlank: Do you have any final releases?

Andrew: The demo discography thing is actually a Rick Ta Life type thing. I put that out originally at our record release show for the first twenty five people who bought Blueprint, and then Duncan A.K.A. Rick Ta Life bootlegged it and is selling at the show tonight.

Matt: It's cool, we don't mind, it's all good.

Andrew: Duncan's cute.

*Phil enters*

ScenePointBlank: What was your favorite show?

Matt: The Nick Traina Benefit we played here

Donald: And Seattle.

Matt: Yeah, and Seattle.

Donald: And Prescott.

Matt: We played here [at Gilman] for that Nick Traina Benefit with All Bets Off and some other bands. It was really good. We did a Link 80 cover, and Phil played Trumpet. It was the first time people reacted to our songs. They weren't just like 'wow, cool, new songs.' They actually moved around.

Related features

Endless Mike and the Beagle Club

One Question Interviews • November 26, 2025

Mike Miller (Endless Mike and the Beagle Club) SPB; Why “The Beagle Club”? Do you have a favorite breed of dog? Miller: Looks like we get two questions for the One Question Interview. Love it. Why the Beagle Club? My friend Joe used to live on Beagle Club Road. At … Read more

PANEL

One Question Interviews • November 25, 2025

Annie Sparrows (PANEL) SPB: What does the name PANEL mean to you? Sparrows: I feel like PANEL is an aesthetically pleasing 5 letter word with multiple meanings that, in different contexts, appeal to me. "Panel of experts," as in everyone's a critic. "Wood panel," as in something nice looking that … Read more

Cheap Perfume

One Question Interviews • November 24, 2025

Jane No (Cheap Perfume - guitar/co-vocals) SPB: How has the band’s mission or message evolved since when you first formed? Jane No: When we started, our focus was feminist rage, calling out sexism and celebrating women’s power. That’s still who we are, but over time we’ve zoomed out to see … Read more

Fest 23 – The Wrap

Music / Fest 23 • November 15, 2025

Pure Joy The 23rd FEST in Gainesville, Florida recently wrapped up. Scene Point Blank has been to the majority of them over the past two decades, beginning at FEST 5. I've personally attended roughly half of them. And at FEST 23, I saw 44 bands in 3 days (an even … Read more

The Saints

Interviews • November 14, 2025

As The Skids sang, The Saints are coming!.......Storming North America! The Saints ’73-’78 land on North American soil in early November and will feature original Saints members, guitarist Ed Kuepper and drummer Ivor Hay, and filling out this lineup is singer Mark Arm (Mudhoney), guitarist Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party … Read more

Related news

Wilco News: Tweedy into Rehab, New Album Online

Posted in Bands on April 6, 2004

Related reviews

For the Crown

Blueprint
Give Me Strength (2003)

It's so sad when a great band releases a great album and then breaks up soon after before they even get a chance to showcase their talent to the world. Such a thing happened to For the Crown, a melodic hardcore band hailing from the Bay Area in California. The quartet released on one full length in their short lifespan. … Read more

More from this section

The Saints

Interviews • November 14, 2025

As The Skids sang, The Saints are coming!.......Storming North America! The Saints ’73-’78 land on North American soil in early November and will feature original Saints members, guitarist Ed Kuepper and drummer Ivor Hay, and filling out this lineup is singer Mark Arm (Mudhoney), guitarist Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party … Read more

Fest 23: Artist Interviews

Interviews / Fest 23 • October 18, 2025

FEST 23 takes place later this month, from Oct. 24-26 in Gainesville, FL. Something like a billion bands are driving, flying, canoeing, and snowshoeing to the festival from across the country -- many of them for the first time and many come back to play nearly every year. Scene Point … Read more

Arms Aloft

Interviews • June 23, 2025

Remember Election Day 2024? Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe you've blocked it out. That's fair, but there was one pleasant surprise that day: a new EP from Wisconsin's Arms Aloft. It took a while to claw out of the darkness in November, then Year End 2024 coverage took over the Scene … Read more