FaceCulture Interview with Brian

cms35 wrote:

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'…)...

Well said. I imagine doing press for Get Hurt sucks for Brian. On one hand, he hates having his personal life be out in the open. On the hand, the record is of such a nature that it in a way necessitates discussing his personal life. I imagine it'd hard as an interviewer trying to toe that line.

cms35 wrote:

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'…)...

That's a great response. I personally didn't feel that he was being a dick in either interview. I don't think either interviewer was that great to be honest, and I think I'd be a little less into an interview too if it was lazy and/or uninteresting. The Pinkpop interviewer was kind of terrible. Like to open by saying the last time they played there was "pretty good"? Not that I'm saying to kiss their asses but really....

He's human. He has human responses. You can't possibly be 'on' all the time. It's just unfortunate that because of his position, he sometimes has to have those 'off' days publicly. Realistically maybe he would have seemed more into it if they asked better, more unique and interesting questions...

shredderrrrrr wrote:

......... I just don't think Brian does as well as others hiding his annoyance.

I think that's a good thing. Part of the reason a lot of people like Brian is because he's a very genuine person. And while it's easy to love the positive sides of that, you can't have them without the grumpy days as well.

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

shredderrrrrr wrote:

......... I just don't think Brian does as well as others hiding his annoyance.

I think that's a good thing. Part of the reason a lot of people like Brian is because he's a very genuine person. And while it's easy to love the positive sides of that, you can't have them without the grumpy days as well.

I think it goes along with being such a great songwriter--he wears his emotions visibly.

It's been a while since I've watched the Face Culture interview but I don't remember it as being not good or Brian being annoyed or anything. What I do remember is that it was rather long with a few interesting insights and that the beginning was a bit halting. I had the feeling that this was an interview for a print magazine which was filmed more for documentation than for being aired. But that is just my impression.

And I think the Pinkpop interview is not a fair comparison here. We all know that this year was a difficult one for the band, so I guess doing press was not on top of their "what to do when we're not on stage" list. Also as already said, the interviewer didn't really do a great job either.

As for the "hiding his annoyance" part - I find that actually very refreshing. He (or anyone of the band) is never rude or arrogant but still very authentic. And personally I like that a lot - authenticity is one of the first terms that comes to my mind when I have to describe Gaslight and what makes them special for me.