Gaslight Anthem (Brian Fallon)

0:33So you have this record done. I've heard it. I love it and we'll talk about it and kind of give people a preview of it. But you don't want to play the songs yet. You were just saying. No. Well, we've also, we just got done with it. So. Just got done with it. Yeah, yeah. We've been knowing that the mastering takes a little bit and the mixing after you're done with recording. So it's not done until then. And then usually, you know, you go do some press or you. Go home for a minute. And then we haven't even gotten to rehearsals yet. So we've only just started with any kind of rehearsing at all. So no. Usually wait until the record's out, you know, to play the songs. Like you don't want, not in this thing. You can't do it. Nothing's a secret anymore. You can't like, you can't go and just say like,

1:20hey everybody, we're going to play our new record. You know, and hopefully you'll like it. You know, maybe if you could not put it on the internet because someone will inevitably put it on the internet. So you just, you have to, it's like, you just, you can't. That's something I don't think about with bands. Like I know like social media has changed. They're like, you don't get the mystique of Zeppelin. They probably couldn't have those stories, you know, like, in today's day and age. But that's the, yeah, that's interesting. But you can control what you do out there. If you just have to know what you're doing and you can't, you can't blurt out every thought you have. And you know what I mean? And you can't just like, you have to be careful with how you present yourself. Because how you present yourself is the way that you will be, you will be perceived with things like Led Zeppelin. And I think they could do that now.

2:05And they would just, they would just probably not talk on that much, you know, if you understand that. Yeah, well some of the Jay Z barely does interviews a lot. Like, anyway, we do, I do want to talk with the record. Cause I love it. And last time you told me, there's like a living time and a writing time. I think you have to experience things that you can write about them. So between the last record and this one, what have you been living? What have you experienced? Oh, I mean, tons of things like this. Okay, I think question, I'm sorry, but specifically. I mean, nothing specifically that has anything to do with writing, I think that, you know, like nothing about, there's no like, you know, specific, again, this is kind of me showing you the way that I'm answering. Okay, so, okay. So what I'm doing is not telling you because that's, I think that the records are there for the,

2:52you know, the listener to decide what the songs are about. I think if you tell them, you know, like, hey, you know, I did this, or like, you know, I did this and then they look for it in the record and then they can look for where they, you know, where are you talking about that specific thing? And then there's, it sort of just becomes less theirs. And more, you know what I mean? Yeah, well, because I read, I think it was a Rolling Stone interview article talking about, maybe you were talking about this record and you wanted to evolve the band. Like you knew you wanted to go in with a different sound. So I'm obviously consciously looking for where things different, where things changing. I'm noticing like the double track vocals and like the lower register voice on parts. And there's, there's still all that gaslight stuff that we love, but then get hurt is the first single. And when I heard that, I was like, whoo, this is gonna be a different album.

3:37Yeah, yeah. No, not, it doesn't go that drastically different, like get hurt, but it's an interesting first song to let people listen to. Yeah, I think that that was the idea is just to kind of let it out. It's for people off. Well, not, I mean, we're not trying to make anybody upset. Like we're not trying to rock the boat just to rock the boat. But I think that putting that out there kind of allowed people to sort of digest the fact that, okay, you know, this is not what I would expect in the first single. You know what I expect? Like a big rock song. But it's just, we also just thought it was a really good song. So we were like, well, you know, I think people would like this. So let's put this one out there. And then that was it. Cool. All right. So you don't want to talk about it too much,

4:23but sometimes it's very simple though as well. Sometimes there isn't like a story. It's just like, you kind of listen to the record and you're just like, well, I think that this one's a good song. So does anyone else in the room think it's a good song? Everybody goes, yeah, I think that's a good song. Okay. Like, and then you just put it out. And then that's it's really, it's really simple sometimes. So I like how you keep using the word simple. Cause it's a simple, like the verse is pretty simple. How do you struggle, or maybe not struggle, but toe the line between simplicity and complexity when you're composing a song? I think naturally I gravitate towards simplicity because it's just a music I came off from. You know, like I don't think like any of the bands that I listen to growing up were exceptionally complex, you know. And I think that they had complexity in the way that they were able to... There's a summary going on.

5:08You know, I don't know what that is. But they would... Is that serious? I think it's one of your someone's phone down here. Someone's phone. That's the most annoying ring I've ever heard in my life. It's probably someone in your band. Yeah, that is horrendous. It's not the most annoying ring. I'm going to take that back. It's not. I exaggerated there. I went too far. But you're a songwriter. You got to know us a little bit sometimes. That's something people could learn. Because they say, so did you really... No, I didn't. I didn't really crash my car and do a thing. Nope. There was a line in a thousand years. You talk about a woman's last words. Yeah. And I find that interesting. You're going to say this was someone's last words. Yeah. That's an interesting thing to choose to write. Because that's a heavy thing, right? Yeah. That was one of those ones where that actually came separate from the song.

5:57I was thinking of another situation. And I was just like, you know, you can't do... It had nothing to do with the band. And you just can't do what people want you to do sometimes. And it's not... Like some people do it out of brattiness or out of rebellion or out of... Just you can't define me kind of thing. And actually the truth is that sometimes simply you just can't do it. And you have to be like, you're not going to get what you're looking for under this. So I just can't give you what you want here. And I think that that's like a funny realization about life. Is that a lot of our time is spent pleasing other people. It is. Everybody has a nature to want people to be happy.

6:43I mean there are a few individuals probably who you probably know someone or I know someone who's just like, I don't care what anyone thinks. And who genuinely doesn't care. But usually those people just go about their own business. And they don't really... I've never had that. I've never had that. Never completed. Yeah, I think to a degree, I want people to be happy. My kind of view is very much that I obviously, like everyone else, would like to get what I want. But I think one of the things that happens is that you would let... Tom, hit the road. I love you. See, people please are even at the end. It's not the manager. Well because you got to give the good and the bad.

7:28You got to give it a little spank and then a little it's okay. Thank you, Jim. And you probably deal with an audience that way too the same way. No. No. No. No. The audience, you just try to make them... That's one thing where yeah, that comes in with the band where you are a people, please are with the audience because you want to give them what they want. You want to challenge them a little. You never want to reprimand your audience. And I know this from experience. You don't want to tell them the wrong because they're not wrong because you're the one that's leading them in the direction anyway. So if you're not leading them in the direction that you would like them to be led in, then you're doing it wrong. Yeah, no I like it. But it's a good segue because I hear you were just writing the set list like five minutes ago.

8:14Yeah. And you know people want to hear certain songs. You might be sick of playing certain songs because I don't know if you are not. I mean I'm sure it happens to any musician at some point. Sure. So how do you decide? Well because I think sometimes you look at your audience and you think yeah, I think if you think about it from the big picture and you go well, you know, kid paid 30 bucks to come or 35 bucks to come and I don't really want to play this song. But I know that the majority of people want to hear this song, you sort of weigh that out and you go, you know what, you just play this song because why wouldn't you want it. The song's doing something different for them than it is for you because they haven't heard it 900 times. They've only heard it maybe once. And so it's exciting for them and if you can learn to give and take, it's just all give and

8:59take everything. I'm trying to remember the last time I saw you and I'm trying to remember if you change arrangements at all to keep it interesting for yourself. Sometimes sometimes we change arrangements a lot and then- What's changed the most over the years? Sometimes we took one song called Boxer that was off American slang and just completely stripped it down to like almost a borderline acoustic song. The version that's on the B-Sides record? Yeah. And then we, you know, kept it like that. But you don't want to do that too much because then you're, you're, I went to see Bob Dylan once and it really bothered me. I think Bob was effort. Well, it made me mad like because he was going in there and he changed all the songs to the point where they were unrecognizable. And the only reason I knew them is because they knew his lyrics as well. So I was like, oh. That's just blowing in the way.

9:45I left. I got it. I left. You left. And you're a huge Dylan fan. Huge Dylan fan. I left. I was like, this is not what I'm being here for. I don't get it. I don't get what he's doing it. I don't understand. Like because he's Bob. But then I saw him another time and he played everything exactly the way it was on record. And I was happy with it. Huh. You know, whereas like, you know, the hoo and Bruce Springsteen, they're very much like, you know, like we're going to give the audience what we want. I want to let you go. I want to keep going with that. That was fun. Sorry. I don't know what they're doing. You got a lot of interviews. That's the deal. Yeah, but they're like, that's a quick. They are quick. Five quick questions. One more answer. I mean, 308. How was that? We're supposed to have 305. I don't know. I don't know. I feel like that was quick. Well, you're in charge of this all day. Well, I got a whole, I want to talk about every song because I love the record so much. But you don't want to talk about those. I'm not going to do that. No, I don't. The reason is I don't want to tell you specifically because I don't want to take the license away.

10:34I learned that from Cheryl Crowe. Of all people. They asked her if a song was about one of our ex-boyfriends one time. I was going to do that. But no, no, no. She said, if I tell you, then it's about that forever and it's never about what the listener wants to be about. I was like, yeah. I was like, well, if it makes you happy then, Cheryl Crowe. Can't be that bad. Five quick questions. One word answers. Okay. Rode or Studio? Studio. Lender McCartney. McCartney. When you hear a song what usually hits you first, lyrics, melody, or rhythm. Melody. If someone's never heard Gaslight before, what song do they start with? 59, so. In one word, the Gaslight Anthem. Band. Band, what did you say last time? Intuit.

11:19Intuit. Intuit. Alright. Thanks, Brian. Yeah, no sweat. Thank you. Appreciate it.