Hello and long time no post. Many apologies for anyone out there who stops by regularly.
I recently interview Senses Fail for College Gentleman magazine. For those unfamiliar with the group, they're a punk/emo/hardcore hybrid from northern New Jersey who are, in my not particularly humble opinion, the most consistent, earnest, passionate, and legit band to come out of the early 2000's emo explosion. They came up with groups like Thursday, Finch, My Chemical Romance, and Poison the Well, and have put out four records, each of which is better than the last. So, check 'em out if you're unfamiliar.
Below, I've posted the outtakes from the interview, for fun and for fans of the band who might get a kick out of reading the moments during which our conversation derailed. Many thanks to the band, who were incredibly accommodating and forthcoming. It was their second interview of the day, it was very cold and windy, they had just come off along drive, and were in a pretty desolate section of a city (Omaha) they aren't really familiar with. They could've been curt, they could've been stand offish, but they were friendly, relaxed, and excited to talk about their new (and best) record, The Fire. You can see the entire interview here, check out The Fire here, and see my review of the album here.
Sense Fail Interview Outtakes
Dramatis Personae
Buddy: Lead Singer
Jason: Bassist extrordinaire
Dude with Mustache: Guitarist Zack Roach.
Zablocki: Lead guitar.
(from left: Drummer Dan Trapp, Buddy, Zablocki, Jason)
Conversating about hardcore and Jersey.
Buddy: …I listen to a lot of H20.
CG: Is their new record good? I loved them in high school.
Buddy: It’s great.
Jason: The new record is fuckin’ awesome. Nothing to Prove…it’s real good.
CG: So now I have a couple of New Jersey questions. On your blog you wrote: “See, in New Jersey, we're very limited and short with our communication amongst each other. We basically speak in a sophisticated form of clicks and whistles, but instead we use insults and original explicative phrases to show love and disapproval.” I find that that gets me in trouble, living in Omaha. I went for coffee this morning, and the woman told me it sounded like I was grunting, and not speaking…
Buddy: [laughs] I get it, I get it. “Stop asking me about all this goddamn shit, just get me the coffee.”
CG: When you’re on tour, do you have problems with that?
Buddy: Yes, absolutely. I have problems in general just answering questions. Like in an interview, I’m in the mentality that I’m going from point A to point B, and if you’re in my fucking way…get out of my way. I’m gonna use my horn.
CG: People don’t beep here when they drive.
Buddy: Nope.
CG: I’m like, he-llo!
Buddy: Right? It’s there, and that’s my car voice.
Jason: That’s all I’ve got right now.
Buddy: So…I don’t know. I find that people think if you’re very straight forward…they don’t necessarily understand it. Like, if people just you if you’re havin’ a bad day, and you’re like, yeah, I’m havin’ a fuckin’ bad day, people around here would like, whoa…
Discussing South Jersey and Philadelphia…
Buddy: But if you’ve ever been to Pennsylvania, it’s got nothing to do with the rest of Pennsylvania…
CG: It’s all Amish people.
Jason: And Pittsburgh, which is just a bunch of Steeler’s fans.
Buddy: Yep, Steeler’s fans and Penguins fans, and that’s it. They don’t…
Jason: They eat rocks.
On the state of the music industry/extended finale…
Buddy: We gotta, fuckin’, just…find a new way to do things that’s efficient for us. And every band, too. It’s not getting any better, the music industry…
Jason: Like, one day people will get up and decide ‘Yeah, I’ll buy a record.’
Buddy: It’s only gonna get worse. You gotta find the best way to operate.
CG: I actually went to Best Buy yesterday to get the record and it was sold out.
Jason: We’ve actually been hearing that a lot. But it’s because…
CG: Because they had like three copies to begin with.
Jason: [laughs] Yep.
Buddy: I think it’s that nobody would buy enough copies for them to distribute…that’s the problem.
Jason: Yeah, the problem is starting at the stores. They don’t order records anymore, so it just stays that way.
Buddy: But Best Buy got a little too fuckin’ “buy shit” happy…
Jason: And Hot Topic.
Buddy: …and their DVD and CD sections were like massive, and it’s like…
Jason: You can’t maintain that.
Guy with Mustache: DVDs still do well.
Jason: Do they?
CG: Netflix buys a shitload of DVDs. Somebody’s making money off of that.
Jason: Oh yeah. Uh huh.
Dude with Mustache: They’ve got Blu-ray burners now that are super fast and real cheap, no shit.
Buddy: Dude, I’ve been downloading movies on torrent sites. Fuck it. I’m not paying anyone for any artistic shit cause no one’s paying me. I’m stealing records. But I’ll go to the show. For free.
Jason: [laughs]
Buddy: But I’ll buy a shirt. That’s my contribution. Buying merch.
CG: That goes right to the band, yeah?
Jason: Sometimes. Unless they sign a 360 deal. Ha ha ha! Wahn-wahn. And then they have to steal money from themselves.
Buddy: Then you gotta hide your money.
Jason: Hide your wife, hide your kids.
CG: I guess this doesn’t really apply to the guy in the Atlanta hat, but was it a bummer to be on tour and have the Yankees go out of the play offs?
Buddy: It’s kinda really hard to follow the play offs when you’re on tour. I knew they weren’t gonna win it. I said that six months ago. They didn’t have it, so. I mean, it’s a bummer, but they’ve won so many times, but I can handle them not winning with grace.
Zablocki: Did you see Girardi signed a three year extension today?
Buddy: Yeah.
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