Against Me!

Against Me! have turned themselves into a punk rock household name over the past few years with songwriting that is flooded with honesty and sincerity. They have seen themselves rise to (I'm sure) unexpected heights, and even though they have tweaked their style and grown as musicians, they haven't sacrificed their integrity, which only adds to their appeal.
This interview took place with Tom Gabel on May 19 at Avalon in Boston, MA, with their tour bus parked across from Fenway Park as the Sox suffered a rare defeat. He seemed like a humble character with a lot of introspect and wisdom.

PL: State something interesting about yourself.
TG: Something interesting about myself? I don't know. I was born in Georgia. Thats interesting, right?

PL: Have people's expectations changed of your band over the years?
TG: I'm not sure I know what you mean.
PL: Basically, how people look at you as a band. Do you think they expect more out of you than they did a few years ago?
TG: Maybe. I think my own expectations of myself have changed over the years. I think that would be fair enough to say.

PL: How has the recording process of New Wave compared with past recordings?
TG: It was vastly different in many ways. It took a much longer time. We spent six months making the record. The record before that, Searching for a Former Clarity, took probably a month, with recording and mixing. The record before that was eight days. The record before that was a day, so its definitely changed in that way.
The approach to the process itself was different, in that we did song by song. We did all the drum tracks first, but then we...we'd do "Piss and Vinegar" first. When the drums were finished, we'd do the bass. Then the guitars. Then we'd do the vocals. And then we'd move on to the next song. Usually, the way we'd done it in the past was that we'd do the drums and the bass, and most of the guitars. Go back and do guitar overdubs, and then go and do all the vocals, which, for me, kills me. It was nice to break it up like that.
PL: Do you think most recording processes are different?
TG: Yeah, I'm sure. It all depends on the producer, who you're working with and how much time you have and what you're hoping to accomplish with the band.

PL: Do you think success has changed your band at all?
TG: Inevitably, yeah. I'm sure in ways that we don't necessarily know. But its bound to. We have modest success. We're lucky to be able to do what we do: travel around the country, travel around the world, and play shows to kids who are happy to see us play. Thats an amazing thing. So, even the fact that we're able to do what we're able to do, and that makes us happy, that changes you. You're happy. You're in a good mood and you're excited about what you do in life, so thats awesome.

PL: Why do bands seem compelled to do encores?
TG: Um...I don't know. I feel weird about encores. I don't like the idea of planning an encore. I think they're cheesy, but at the same time, if people want to hear another song or two, we play it. Its especially weird with the whole planning thing, because we only have X amount of songs, so we won't play some songs in case people want to hear other songs.
PL: Do you guys do encores on this tour?
TG: No, because we play right before Mastodon, so we only have a 45 minute to an hour set, and we play for that whole period of time instead of doing that whole cheesy walk off and come back on thing.
PL: Thats better.

PL: Would you rather tour in the summer or winter?
TG: The summer, for sure; for multiple reasons. I try to avoid Florida at all costs in the summer because its very hot. And then, during the winter, you're more prone to sickness, and its no fun to be on tour and have a cold.

PL: Have your musical influences or tastes changed as you've gotten older?
TG: Completely. 100%. I don't want to listen to the same bands all the time, so I go out and try to discover new bands. For new bands, they could be bands that have long since broken up and you're just discovering them, so they're new to you. When you're younger, you're probably a little more close minded about what you're listening to, and you're not as willing to give stuff chances. As I've gotten older, I've probably gotten more open minded.
PL: That makes sense. I've been trying to figure out why my tastes have changed.
TG: As you get older, your mind expands. You're hungry for something new. There's a whole wide world of music, so why limit yourself? A good song is a good song.

PL: Whats a little known fact about No Idea Records?
TG: The office is covered with fish tanks with exotic fish. There's tons of fish downstairs and upstairs.

PL: Whats a little known about Vanessa from Fat Wreck Chords?
TG: Her body is a trained weapon, and she could kick the shit out of you. She learns Krav Maga, the Isreali fighting technique. She trains a couple nights a week, and she's brutal. Don't fuck with her.

PL: What do you think Sire could do for you that Fat couldn't?
TG: I think the unfortunate truth when it comes to the differences between an indie label and a major label-there aren't many differences, but the undeniable difference is that major labels do have better distribution, and they have the ability to get your records into more stores.
PL: It seems like Fat can get into a lot of stores.
TG: They can. They have good distribution in the US, but when you look into distribution overseas and stuff like that, Sire has much better abilities to do that. Its stupid and its unfortunate and I don't like the way it is, but major labels definitely have that ability.

PL: Name one album, besides your own, that you think all kids should have in their collection.
TG: Thats tough. I would say Crass The Feeding of 5000.

PL: Why should people buy New Wave when it comes out?
TG: I don't know. Maybe they shouldn't. Maybe they should listen to a friend's copy first, and get it if they do like it and don't get it if they don't like it. We're happy with it, and I'm happy to share it with people and I hope that people listen to it and they're excited about what they hear.
PL: Are you playing a lot of new songs on this tour?
TG: We'll play four or five songs tonight. We'll probably do a 15-17 song set, so we'll try to fit a few in there.
PL: Do you get sick of playing the same songs over and over?
TG: Yeah. Some songs definitely have a longer shelf life to them. We play "Pints of Guiness" every night and it never gets old, and "Waking is Still Honest" is always fun. I've been playing that song since I was 19 years old, and I'm 26 now. Its a fun song to play. There are definitely some songs that we'll take a break from and go back to it later.

Interviewed by: RF
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