Against Me! 24.05.2010 Interview

Die Band Against Me! aus Gainsville sind Tom Gabel (Gitarre+Gesang), James Bowman (Gitarre), Andrew Seward (Bass), George Rebelo (Drums) und eigentlich wohl auch Jordan (Tourmanager+Mann für alles). Seit Jahren sind die Jungs unterwegs und der Weg führt langsam aber sicher nach Oben. Ihre neue Platte White Crosses kommt jetzt dann auf Warner Music raus und gerade sind Against Me! mal wieder auf Deutschlandtour. Heute vor dem Gig im 59:1 in München hatte ich die Gelegenheit Andrew Seward kurz mit einem Interview zu beglücken.

RTC: Your name and job in the band
A: Hi I am Andrew from Against Me! My actual job in the band is bass player and cheerleader.
RTC: I guess cheerleader is your better position.
A: (makes a dancing movement) Thank you, I’m more talented to that.
RTC: The name of the actual album is White Crosses
A: Yes
RTC: Which will come out soon
A: Yes, in about three weeks in Germany
RTC: And it is the best one of course, but why?
A: Oh well thank you. And why? I guess I would say because what we are doing now is more fun, how do I say it right? It is always more fun to live in the moment and look for the future instead of living in the past.
RTC: Next one, how does your mother describes your music to the neighbors?
A: My mother is a fan of the band, I think she describes it probably – I never had heard her talk to the neighbors about that – probably sound like Creedence Cleerwater Revival but a bit louder.
RTC: How and why did you start with music?
A: It’s funny, I actually started playing the bass when I was 12 years old. Most people start playing guitar that is something else but I remember I wanted the bass because of hair metal bands like Winger or Whitesnake and I wanted a bass because a lot of my friends had guitars and no one played bass, so I figured I could get into a band when I played bass.
RTC: And you are still into hair metal?
A: Ah if it comes on I listen to it, but I don’t listen to it all the time.
RTC: Now let’s get private, can you live of your music or do you have other jobs as well?
A: No no, this is a full time job, so the answer is yes and the other part of the answer is that it would be impossible to actually have another job and do this. Back when I first joined the band eight years ago myself and Jordan who is the tour manager he’s so much in the band he doesn’t play anything but he has been with Against Me! longer than I am in the band, we used to work in a pizza place where he would just smoke weed and drive his car with the ordered pizzas and I would just ride my bike to work and make the pizzas so we would do this if we weren’t on tour for you know a minimum wage until we came to the point they wouldn’t even let us work there anymore because we were gone so much.
RTC: Gone of the much weed?
A: No no no, we were on tour too much, they don’t care about the weed.
RTC: Best song in which you were involved?
A: Like my favorite song done with the band, I give you two answers. My first answer would be Disco Before Breakdown, because it is the 1st song I have ever recorded with Against Me! and it was two weeks after I have joined the band – so it is my very 1st experience. And the 2nd one I would say it is from the new record called High Pressure Low because it is a very fun song to play on the bass, I know the bass is boring…
RTC: But you can do a cheerleader thing to the song.
A: Like that – Hey (does a funny movement)
RTC: Wow, now I’m impressed.
A: I’ll try my moves out. OK, it has a very good bassline and Tom actually wrote it and he played it for me and I go: that’s a great bassline, it is not about anything, it is just about that it is good. All right that is kind of my answer: High Pressure Low and Disco Before The Breakdown.
RTC: Best song which you would like to have written which is out there?
A: Tuff question, any song of Disintegration by The Cure.
RTC: Interesting answer for a hair metal fan playing in Against Me! How does it feel after years of touring with Warren Oakes and now the change without him and the new one (George Rebelo) in the band?
A: Oh at the 1st tour it was different but now it’s almost been a year already and the split with Warren wasn’t a bad thing for either parties, he wanted to do his own thing and we wanted to keep on going and touring, so it is fine. An added bonus for me is that George is also in Hot Water Music and has always been one of my favorite drummers.
RTC: Please let me know if music should be political?
A: I think it depends on the background setting, if it is political it should be smart but I also think that if music just wants to be fun, there is nothing wrong with that. There is a saying: if you wanne be political, just do it well and don’t preach, if you don’t want to be political, just write good music.
RTC: All right, Americans abroad, I hope I’m not like them, I’m not so sure, are you like them?
A: I sure hope not, because we actually just been to the Biergarten place right there having fun and there was a Canadian and 2 Americans and they were by far the loudest people there. It makes me do this I know this doesn’t audible but makes me like shutter (makes an Argghhh face). So we try to be as polite and respectful to every cultural human as possible.
RTC: Let me know the 1st record you have bought?
A: Oh shit it was actually an old metal record by a metal band that no one heard of called Powermatic, it was a cassette, I got it from Camelot Music in Park Way City Mall in Huntsville Alabama.
RTC: And the last one?
A: Last music I bought was actual the new National, I think High Violet, I went to the music store and bought it there.
RTC: Cd or LP?
A: Just on CD, it was ridiculously cheap. It was only 8 Dollar, so I though OK. Well it was James‘ birthday so I bought him 3 CDs, The National, the new Hold Steady and Willie Nelson with his old stuff.
RTC: Willie Nelson is coming to Munich.
A: I saw the poster. Have you seen Willie Nelson? You should go, he is great and he smokes weed!
RTC: Which book can you recommend?
A: I take at the moment „The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay By Michael Chabon, I think it is a very good book.
RTC: Do you know your last three shows you have been?
A: That’s an easy one, Against Me! Against Me! Against no no no. The last band is called Floor, they’ve been broken up for a while and another one is a band called Torch. They are from Miami, they are just amazing heavy, makes you shit your pants, real heavy. And I want to go see Mastadon.
RTC: Imagine you are God and you are able to set up a festival of your choice, name me the five headliners (even dead people or dissolved bands):
A: Otis Reading
The Pogues in like in 1986
Bruce Springsteen and the E-string band circa Darkness From The Age Of Town, so late 70s
Midnight Oil
Slayer, South Of Heaven
RTC: No Against Me! ?
A: No, I am in Against Me! Why should I? Mhhh, but if we could open up the festival, this would be cool, well I am God so yes, we will open up.
RTC: Thanks and have a good concert.