FaceCulture Interview with Brian

Part 1




Part 2

I'm a little surprised this hasn't been discussed yet. Brian speaks about really interesting stuff in here.

Thanks for sharing, this was really cool! I liked also I could see his reactions to some of the questions.

Jesus he's so guarded in this interview

Sometimes he talks like 60's interview Bob Dylan like in No Direction Home

DeathoftheCool wrote:

Jesus he's so guarded in this interview

I feel like Brian is either an absolute delight to interview or an absolute chore and there is little in between. Don't know what it is, but some interviews he just seems to want nothing to do with it (which is completely understandable as much as he has to do stuff like this being asked the same questions).

Am I the only one that is confused how Brian can say Get Hurt is NOT a divorce album a la Blood on the Tracks? I mean, I get his whole argument that many of these songs are years in the making and not just a response to the divorce, but how the hell is this not a divorce-based album? Is there even a song on the album that doesn't explicitly speak to that general theme? This, to me, is Gaslight's Elsie.

shredderrrrrr wrote:

Am I the only one that is confused how Brian can say Get Hurt is NOT a divorce album a la Blood on the Tracks? I mean, I get his whole argument that many of these songs are years in the making and not just a response to the divorce, but how the hell is this not a divorce-based album? Is there even a song on the album that doesn't explicitly speak to that general theme? This, to me, is Gaslight's Elsie.

Yeah I found it odd as well. It's definitely a presence in every song. I think he's just not interested in talking about the subject matter and getting into specifics which adds some mystery and ambiguity to the songs. It's a tough thing, deciding what to talk about in regards to your songs.

shredderrrrrr wrote:

DeathoftheCool wrote:

Jesus he's so guarded in this interview

I feel like Brian is either an absolute delight to interview or an absolute chore and there is little in between. Don't know what it is, but some interviews he just seems to want nothing to do with it (which is completely understandable as much as he has to do stuff like this being asked the same questions).

I agree with everything you said with the exception of it being "completely understandable."

I felt really bad for the interviewer here. Brian really shat on a lot of his questions for no apparent reason. Like this exchange:

Interviewer - "Do you know why you picked that title?"
Brian - "Why did you wear that shirt this morning?"

Seriously? You expect us to believe that the band put as much effort into the naming of their new album as someone deciding on what to wear? And even if that's the case it's still a legitimate question that deserves a legitimate answer.

Jack wrote:

I felt really bad for the interviewer here. Brian really shat on a lot of his questions for no apparent reason. Like this exchange:

Interviewer - "Do you know why you picked that title?"
Brian - "Why did you wear that shirt this morning?"

Seriously? You expect us to believe that the band put as much effort into the naming of their new album as someone deciding on what to wear? And even if that's the case it's still a legitimate question that deserves a legitimate answer.

yeah seriously. these are the types of questions i would have asked if i had the chance to interview brian and it sucks that he's not willing to answer them

Wow. He's kind of a dick in that interview.

If you thought Brian was in a bad mood during that interview, you haven't seen this one yet.



Apperantly they flew in early, but still...

I honestly don't see where he was being a dick. With the shirt comment I thought he was trying to make an analogy. Like it was just an innate choice he couldn't explain.

BuddyHolly wrote:

If you thought Brian was in a bad mood during that interview, you haven't seen this one yet.



Apperantly they flew in early, but still...

Yeah, this was one of the other interviews that immediately came to mind.

NeverTrustAJunkie wrote:

I honestly don't see where he was being a dick. With the shirt comment I thought he was trying to make an analogy. Like it was just an innate choice he couldn't explain.

I wouldn't say "dick" as much as "guarded" or "annoyed." He wasn't being mean or anything--he just seemed as though he had no interest in actually having a conversation.

shredderrrrrr wrote:

NeverTrustAJunkie wrote:

I honestly don't see where he was being a dick. With the shirt comment I thought he was trying to make an analogy. Like it was just an innate choice he couldn't explain.

I wouldn't say "dick" as much as "guarded" or "annoyed." He wasn't being mean or anything--he just seemed as though he had no interest in actually having a conversation.

I would describe his attitude here as "petulant teen."

I only listened to the audio. Maybe if I watched it would come off different. But I didn't detect any kind of bad attitude.

shredderrrrrr wrote:

BuddyHolly wrote:

If you thought Brian was in a bad mood during that interview, you haven't seen this one yet.



Apperantly they flew in early, but still...

Yeah, this was one of the other interviews that immediately came to mind.

He barely says 5 words in that ^^ interview And it kinda looks like his throat was bothering him (just speculating). Which might explain why he was trying to deflect the questions to Alex a bit and could lead to a less than perfect mood.

I don't know, I think he just gets a bit snarky sometimes but I don't think that makes him a dick. Personally, I like snarky people. I trust them more than people who are overly pleasant

I wouldn't say he was a dick in the interview, he just doesn't seem that into it, perhaps he's tired and could have done without it on this particular day. I think he's quite awkward in this one and i put that down to having a camera stuck in his face. It looks like its quite close and therefore may have been off putting, I also think the way the guy asks the questions and his voice is quite creepy.

Anyone can have a bad day, being tired and stuff... But maybe he should've let someone else handle the interview and not get in front of a camera.

BuddyHolly wrote:

Anyone can have a bad day.

Definitely and I think that everyone commenting understands that. If I had a camera crew recording me do my job, it would definitely capture some attitude on certain days.

Shrewsbury_Stars wrote:

BuddyHolly wrote:

Anyone can have a bad day.

Definitely and I think that everyone commenting understands that. If I had a camera crew recording me do my job, it would definitely capture some attitude on certain days.

Well this (doing interviews in front of a camera) kinda is part of his job now

FaceCulture interview: I think he probably just doesn't want to talk about it anymore. It seems like that's all that's discussed about that record and frankly it's a disservice to it IMO. Whatever inspired it, I think it's their best record so far. It's my favorite set of lyrics, that's for sure. I didn't think he was so much dick-ish as being cautious (ok….maybe a little defensive… ) because this guy did his homework and Brian probably wanted to prevent an uncomfortable situation. If he opens up that bag of worms by answering certain questions, he could wind up with an interviewer that starts digging where he shouldn't. This is a personal situation. But at the same time you cannot have revisionist history. Every flipping interview when that record came out talked about its inspiration (whether it be all or just in part related to the break up). So how do you mitigate that? Delicately answering questions in a way that avoids the details of a personal event but doesn't completely backpedal one way or another. And minimizing certain pieces that maybe you were more apt to discuss a year ago that you aren't now. Because he's also in a different place, I would imagine. Actually, I would hope he is. I think we all do.

Pinkpop interview: I can't say that I blame his responses (or Alex's). Could he have been a little more into it? Probably. But the interviewer was asking some kind of stupid questions. Should have been more prepared. Asking whether or not you are playing a mix of songs from both records was just lazy…I don't know…I think after a while it's just like, "My job is to be in a band and make music and perform." The rest gets tedious, even though it's part of the deal they signed up for…I do 20 things a day that aren't part of my job that I don't like. And some days, I get snarky about it cuz I just don't feel like it…(not an excuse, but just saying'…)...

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

shredderrrrrr wrote:

BuddyHolly wrote:

If you thought Brian was in a bad mood during that interview, you haven't seen this one yet.



Apperantly they flew in early, but still...

Yeah, this was one of the other interviews that immediately came to mind.

He barely says 5 words in that ^^ interview And it kinda looks like his throat was bothering him (just speculating). Which might explain why he was trying to deflect the questions to Alex a bit and could lead to a less than perfect mood.

I don't know, I think he just gets a bit snarky sometimes but I don't think that makes him a dick. Personally, I like snarky people. I trust them more than people who are overly pleasant

Oh no doubt--I don't think he was being a dick in any of the interviews at question. I just said he looked in a bad mood and/or guarded. And I think it's understandable. I know how pissy I get when traveling even for a week. Imagining doing that for months on end, being tried and grumpy as hell, and having to put on a smile and answer the same generic questions over and over sounds awful. I just don't think Brian does as well as others hiding his annoyance.