This feature originally appeared in the August issue of AUX Magazine. Download and subscribe for iPhone and iPad.
Handwritten, the latest album from New Brunswick, New Jersey, punk-rock-dudes-turned-dad-approved-rock-band the Gaslight Anthem, is great. It mixes the energy of their early basement material with the wide-open choruses of a proper arena rock spectacle. It’s also their first major label release, and the follow-up to an uneven album deemed by the band themselves as somewhat underwhelming. Which is to say—this record counts.
We holed up with the band in a Toronto art gallery before a small show in advance of the album’s late July release. We talked about heading to Nashville, about the pitfalls of the band’s success, and how tricky it can be to learn all the names you need to know at Mercury Records.
After a string of independent releases, Handwritten marks the Gaslight Anthem’s major label debut. Drummer Benny Horowitz and bassist Alex Levine discuss the changes they’ve already begun to notice as they embark on a new album release cycle.
http://www.aux.tv/2012/08/watch-our-in-depth-interview-with-the-gaslight-anthem-from-the-excitement-of-a-new-audience-to-missing-normal-day-jobs/