new Brian interview (Washington)

here's a brand new interview with Brian from Washington (so 'no' Steph, you haven't read this before )

http://rantnravewithjohn.com/2009/10/26/interview-brian-fallon-2/


by John Nagle

The 9:30 Club was packed. 1300 kids were crammed into every corner. The house light went down and The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” blared through the PA. A huge backdrop slowly rose to the rafters as The Gaslight Anthem came onstage. Dressed in a white t-shirt and black pants, Brian Fallon grinned as he strapped on his Les Paul guitar. The band respectfully waited for Joe Strummer to finish the chorus before launching into “High Lonesome.” The Gaslight Anthem are now legitimate.

I sat down with Brian after the show to discuss the importance of the 9:30, meeting Bruce Springsteen and finding his character.

Last time we talked you were playing the Recher Theatre, and now you’ve sold out the 9:30 Club. How does it feel?
Brian Fallon: It’s awesome. Everyone’s been really good to us. It seems like whatever we were drawing in May has doubled and tripled in some areas. It’s really validating. At the same time, we have a lot to lose now. I’m feeling the pressure writing the new record.

Do you think it’s the promotion or constant touring?
BF: I think it’s a mixture of both, plus word of mouth. I think God likes our band, because we’re doing so well. Someone is definitely looking out for us.

What does playing the 9:30 Club mean to you?
BF: This is the spot where only the most legitimate bands get to play. DC is the hardest place to play because they don’t care. It’s like a mini-England. They are like, “OK, why should you play here? Prove it!” Even the smallest clubs are like that. We were never able to get a show here, even in the smallest clubs.

Not even The Black Cat?
BF:No way dude! We could never get a show there. The Loved Ones got us a show there, and we were in the small room. That was only a year and a half ago. They would not touch us. Then all of the sudden they tell us, “You guys are playing the 9:30 Club.” Then a few weeks later they tell us, “Oh by the way, it’s sold out.” If you can play DC, you can play anywhere. This was a real triumph for us.

What was it like playing “The ’59 Sound” with Bruce Springsteen in England?
BF: That was insane. It was absolutely unreal. I knew at that moment that I was doing something of some value. It wasn’t just me that thought it was valuable anymore. I was like, “OK, this means something to people. This is a delicate thing now.” It became about more than four guys in a band. I was like “OK, what’s going on here? Is this really gonna happen?” Because even at this stage, we have to stay on tour otherwise we wouldn’t be able to pay our bills. I would probably be making more if I was still a carpenter. But there’s that chance that we might really do it. Now I’m thinking, “What if I could afford a really nice car? What would I do? What kind of person would I be? Would I change?” I don’t know, and that’s weird. You can almost smell it. Is this really going to happen to us? Are we going to be like Pearl Jam and have a long, long career? Are we going to be around in ten years? That’s insane.

Jersey bands tend to have long careers. Springsteen and Bon Jovi still fill arenas.
BF: It’s weird though, because those guys treat me like I’m the next one. That’s what really freaks me out. Bruce’s crew treats me like I’m Bruce at that age. It’s really something else. People really think that we can do it. I’m really excited to see what happens in the next year.

What was it like meeting Springsteen for the first time?
BF: He came in gracefully and had a bunch of stories. He told me all about when he started. He hung out.

Was it his idea to play “The ’59 Sound?”
BF: It was his. We didn’t know he was coming. He just said, “I want to play ‘The ’59 Sound’ with you. I just looked at him and said, “OK.” After we did it the first time, he asked me if I wanted to sing with him during their set. I was just like, “Yeah!” We did “No Surrender.” The second day, he came out and did “The ’59 Sound” with us, and I did “No Surrender” again. It was unreal. I was in front of a hundred thousand people. It’s so weird, because you look and you see nothing but dots. I looked around and was like, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Did you have to adapt your performance for such a big crowd?
BF: Nope. I just went for it.

How did the crowd respond?
BF: We won them over. When we first started playing, they were very skeptical. Their arms were folded and hands were on their chin like “Who is this kid?” Then they started clapping and smiling, and laughing. By the end, they were going ballistic. You can’t win Britain over with hype. I respect them for that.

Now that you are playing bigger venues, is it easier for you to turn on the swagger?
BF: Yeah. I actually watched Bruce do that. He taught me that the person that you give to the people doesn’t have to be the person you give to your friends and family. It’s OK to have that. It’s a protection thing.

Mystique is an important thing to have. Not many bands have it anymore.
BF: Exactly. I don’t think the kids necessarily want to know my everyday secrets. They want you to seem more mysterious and special than you really are, even if you’re not. It’s about being larger than life. I get up during the day, and my hair is messy and I’m wearing the same ratty clothes. When it gets close to showtime, I start combing my hair and then I put my boots on. When I put the boots on, I become the guy. I’m the guy wearing the boots to work. It’s the little things like that. The one thing I haven’t done is change my clothes. Whatever I wear that day is what I wear onstage. Then when you put the guitar on, you become a different person.

The Clash blare over the PA and the metamorphosis is complete.
BF: Right. But I don’t turn on the character when I’m outside and someone comes up to me. If a kid comes up to me, they get the real person. That’s the difference. That’s what Joe Strummer was doing. At the same time, I’ve also learned not to let people ask too much of me. At a certain point you just say, “Hey man, good to meet you, but I gotta go.” I’ve learned to just say no. In that instant, they get it and they say, “I went too far.”

There has to be a few boundaries.
BF: Yup. It’s a way of protecting myself. You put so much into this character and being honest with people and telling stories that they can relate to and hopefully be able to help them in their real life that it’s exhausting. I put so much into this character that when I get up in the morning, I usually don’t have a lot to give. I’m tired and emotionally spent.

Does having a routine help?
BF: Oh yeah. I’ve figured out that if you eat and brush your teeth at the same time every day, you start to feel like more of a normal person. Once you figure out how to separate what you do when you are normal and what you do when you are performing, it gets easier. In real life, I’m not the life of the party. I’m usually the guy in the corner trying to eat as quietly as I can. That’s who I really am. The character is the person I wish I was in high school. That’s not who I am, that’s who I was when I went home and played guitar in the mirror. It’s the same thing. At the end of the day, everyone just wants to be Mike Ness or Bruce Springsteen or Angus Young or Sebastian Bach. Everyone’s trying to be their hero.

You got some tattoos today. Isn’t it a risk getting tattoos on tour?
BF:(laughs) Probably. You just gotta keep it really clean. My friend knew the guy and gave me a good recommendation and I checked all the equipment before we got started.

What did you get?
BF: (rolls up pant leg) I got an old fashioned shaving razor with some blood on it. It symbolizes the old saying, “Cut ‘em off at the knees.” It means to be smarter than your enemies. As our band has grown, I’ve met the snakes of the snakes. Everyone tells you that they can do something for you. I’ve been educating myself about how the music business goes, and I’ve watched the rise and fall of other bands. Behind the Music is the best thing ever, because it tells you what not to do.

When did you start getting tattoos?
BF: I got my first one when I was 16. I got a couple when I was 17. Then when I was 18, I went for it. When I was 12 years old, I was sitting in my friend’s apartment watching 120 Minutes and the video for Social Distortion’s “Story of My Life” came on. I saw Mike Ness and I was like, “Oh my god, that’s my life. I’m getting a hundred tattoos, I’m going to play guitar and I am going to be in a punk rock n’ roll band.” That was the end of it, and now he’s a friend of mine. It’s surreal. I got to sing “Story of My Life” with him the other night. He just came up and asked me and I was like, “OH MY GOD! Mike Ness wants me to sing with him.” He’s so cool man. Everything he does is cool. The guy you see onstage is the guy you see in real life.

Just turned up to 11.
BF: Yup. Exactly.

The tour is finishing up soon, correct?
BF: Yup. We have six or seven dates left.

How long have you been on the road?
BF: We’ve had two week breaks here and there, but it’s been about three and a half years. We’re taking six months off and making a new record. The new record will be a harder, less ‘50s influenced version of The ’59 Sound. We’re writing in the same style, but it’s more bluesy and faster. The ’59 Sound is pretty fast, but it’s quiet. We’ve turned it all up. The slapback echo on the vocals is gone. It’s a meaner record. We’re not a meaner band, but we’re worldly. We’ve taken a lot of kicks since the last record.

The ’59 Sound came out a year ago, but the songs were written before that.
BF: Yeah. We wrote the songs almost two years ago. I can’t write about the same stuff anymore. I want to write about what I know now, because I’m a different person.

During your set, I noticed that the songs seem heavier and you guys are improvising more. How have the songs evolved in three years?
BF: They’ve gotten more experimental. They are a little harder than before, but I think that’s because we’re a rougher band now. Even though we’ve done well, we’re still in the same position. Everyone is always telling us that we’ve made it, but we have not made it.

There was an almost religious furor tonight. Every kid was with you.
BF:Yup. I can’t explain it.

Well, there is a moment in “Great Expectations” where you sing, “We were always waiting, always waiting…”
BF: “For something to happen!” It’s almost like a revival. It’s really cool.

It feels like the kids are trying to get something out.
BF: They are. I want to ask important questions like, “What are you going to do with your life?” That’s the big thing. Your life is something you have. What are you going to do with it? I like to make people think about big questions.

The big questions are scary.
BF: They are. I try to create a big forum where I don’t give out all the answers, but let them figure it out for themselves. I don’t have all the right answers. I have one or two of them, but I certainly don’t have all of them. If I meet a kid one on one, then I’ll tell him what I think, but generally I just try to stir the pot. I try to remind people that every day is special and you never know what is going to happen.

You want music to mean something.
BF: Yeah, because it meant something to me.

Is the new record going to be released on SideOneDummy?
BF: Yup.

So the rumors that you had signed to a major label were false.
BF: Yes. People expect us to sign with a major label because that’s what everyone else in our position has done. There are only a handful of bands that haven’t taken a major label contract. We’re not doing it to stay punk; we’re doing it because we don’t want to lose everything we’ve built. If we sign with a major label, there is chance we might get rich, but chances are we won’t have a top ten record. So we’d probably get dropped. You can make big money today and lose everything or you can wait ten years and probably make the same amount of money. I’d rather wait. I’ll have my career, my integrity, the rights to my songs, everything. Instant fame would make me crazy. I get weird now. If I came out here right after the show as all the kids were leaving and anyone could talk to me, I’d lose it. This place holds like 1300 people. What if it was 25,000 in an arena? I’d lose it. I could never be Billie Joe Armstrong.

So I can’t option The ’59 Sound as a musical?
BF: (laughs) No way man! That is not happening. Unless you want to star in it.

first time ever I've bumped a thread, but I thought the interview was too good to drop out of the 'latest topics' list within an hour

Great interview, the stuff about Brian's on-stage persona versus his real-life persona is really interesting.

AWESOME!

love it!

I also love this. Thanks for posting

Intrigued by the prospects of the new stuff....Good interview.