Broomfield band about to get Warped

BROOMFIELD, Colo. –

The colorful tattoos on Kyle Even’s left leg are dedicated to his cross-country music tours. The 23-year-old singer/song writer is living the life he always dreamed. If it gets much better than this he might need to go with smaller tattoos or find another left leg to decorate.

Even and David Schmitt are Breathe Carolina, a Broomfield-based band that this month will bus off with the Vans Warped Tour. The tour, in its 15th incarnation, is a 70-day North American tour that figure eights it way from California, Florida, New York and Canada with a stop at Denver’s Invesco Field. The tour features 46 dates and more than 50 bands.

The punk-fest features multiple stages with most bands playing 40-minute sets from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Warped Tour was always a dream job for Even and Schmitt, 21.

“It’s the biggest dream just because of all the bands that are involved,” Even said. “(We’ll) be playing with punk icons.”

Underoath, A Skylit Drive, Chiodos.

“To just be in the same world and share the same stage is amazing,” Even said. “We just (applied for the tour) and were lucky enough to be selected.

Even, who graduated for Chatfield High School, and Schmitt, 21, who went to Arvada, formed the band two years ago. The name came from a dream Schmitt had when he was 9, about a woman named Carolina. The duo writes their music and uses computers to refine their electronic sound. On tour, the band expands to five including a drummer to bring the music to life.

Wikipedia, yes they even have a Wikipedia page on the Internet, defines their sound as Electronica/screamo. For those who don’t speak punk, it’s actually melodic, danceable music with vocal harmonies and a few screams thrown in to rattle the cages.

Even hates to define the sound, he said.

“We have so many influences, our music is hard to describe. We’re very eclectic,” Even said. “It’s sort of Marilyn Manson meets Daft Punk.”

The duo, who are signed to the Fearless record label, just finished recording their second full-length album “Hello Fascination” that will be in stores by mid-August. They also just finished their second national tour, The Take Action Tour, at the beginning of the year, during which they put 100,000 miles on their van.

Since returning from California after finishing the album, the band members have been based out of Eric Armenta’s family home in Broomfield.

Armenta, 20, who dropped out of Broomfield High School as a junior, has worked as a DJ for Breathe Carolina in the past and will go on the Warped Tour as their drummer.

Armenta said he was more interested in making music than school when he was 17. He finished high school through online courses and has been living the same dream he shares with Even and Schmitt.

“I wasn’t into high school,” Armenta said. “I wanted to play music all the time. It’s kind of crazy (that we’re doing this tour.) I never imagined.”

Playing at Invesco will be a highlight for Armenta, though the stages will be confined to the parking lots around the stadium, he said.

“John Elway is a saint,” he said.

Since the Warped Tour plays many back-to-back dates, this will be the first time the band will travel with a tour bus. And have a driver, a real luxury. The bands on the tour live out of their tour buses, since the concerts last all day, Even said.

Touring is a lot of work, hard on families and mean lots of sacrifices, Even said. But on tour, they are with their friends, working hard and time flies. They wouldn’t have it any other way, they said.

“That’s the dream,” Even said. “Doing what you want to be doing and enjoying it. It really doesn’t matter what it is.”

There are Breathe Carolina T-shirts, music videos with flying and falling paint, fans and sometimes recognition at a shopping mall. They have a featured track on the “Punks does Pop 2” album, playing a Miley Cyrus cover of “See You Again.”

But don’t call them rock stars.

“No one’s following us around with a camera to take pictures of us trying on shoes,” Even said.

The thought of that made Armenta laugh.

“We’re not rock stars,” Armenta said. “We’re just kids hanging out.”