Scott Shiflett is living his adolescent fantasy.
"I always dreamed about playing the bass," Shiflett said during a telephone interview from Philadelphia, Pa. "And I have never looked at my job playing bass as a career. It's never felt that way."Shiflett's band, face to face, -- including guitarist/vocalist Trever Keith, guitarist Chad Yaro and drummer Pete Parada -- will play Club DV8, 115 S. West Temple, Saturday, Aug. 7. Doors open at 7 p.m.
The main reason Shiflett enjoys playing bass is that he was in his 30s when people started taking notice of face to face.
"We really didn't think anything was going to happen with this band," he said with a laugh. "But when it did, we were older and more prepared to deal with the following. We had a better view of the bigger picture. We were at a point where we felt comfortable with what we were doing, and weren't on any type of riotous decisions."
Shiflett said it was a wonderful opportunity to be playing live music anyway. "The fans we did make and are still making are what make this job a rush. And there's the fact that all of us in the band are best friends. That makes the touring better.
"I mean, if someone told me a few years ago that I'd be touring the country in a van, or opening for bands like Bad Religion and playing the Warped Tour, I would have laughed in your face."
When face to face formed in 1990, it was with Keith, drummer Rob Kurth and bassist Matt Riddle. But Shiflett replaced Riddle in 1995. Up to then, the band released its 1992 debut album , "Don't Turn Away," which was re-released on Fat Wreck Chords. Yaro then came on board and the band released an extended-play record called "Over It."
By 1995, the band had completed and let loose the album "Big Choice" on the masses. The album went gold, selling more than 100,000 copies.
"One of the biggest things we had to face was getting the music out over those preconceived notions of what we were about," explained Shiflett. "I mean, we are an island in and of ourselves. We have never been part of a clique, and we've had to really play hard to gain our fans.
"But once we started doing that, the band's popularity has grown and grown. And we, as a band, have been trying to grow, too."
The latest addition to face to face is drummer Parada. "We knew Pete as a studio technician. When we were auditioning drummers, he was the one setting up the microphones and stuff. Then one day a friend of ours said we needed to check out this guy named Pete Parada. We were like, 'Why didn't you tell us you played drums?' and he was like, 'You didn't ask.' "
The band's new album, "Ignorance is Bliss," was self-financed and self-produced.
"We were scared, but excited," Shiflett said. "We were one of the few lucky bands who were able to get out of our contract with A&M Records before the Interscope merger.
"And we made sure this album was going to be our best and funnest to make. We always try to record a better album than the last. And this time, there were no label big-wig interventions. We felt free. That's why we titled the album the way we did."