Q&A: Gaslight Anthem cutting loose and having fun on tour (Benny Interview)

The Gaslight Anthem returns to St. Louis, promoting its album “Get Hurt,” with a show at the Ready Room. “The songs on this record are way more smoothed out,” says drummer Benny Horowitz. “I think it’s a more intimate record.”

How did “Get Hurt” come together? The way it works for us, we’ll start a record and usually it’s one song that you finish that’s a good one, and it winds up dictating the vibe of where the rest of the album is gonna go. It’s our fifth record, and we’re going on 10 years as a band. We’re looking at the band having a long successful career with the same members. If you look at the arc of most bands, they didn’t stay put with the same vibe as before. They tried new (stuff). It felt like the important thing to do for a band in our position. We wanted to take chances and try new things but not step too far out and alienate people.

What was that one song? “Stay Vicious.” Once we wrote it, we wanted to lead off the record like that. ... It was a good song for confidence building and for stepping out.

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