AP Interview. New album update + more

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AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by Norgan » Sat Nov 20, 2010 9:31 pm

It seems some people didn't know about this interview; it was posted on AP a few days ago. Here you go, everyone. Watch and discuss!

http://www.tcdcmedia.com/interviews/sayanything


Edit: I wrote up a transcript...



I'm here today with Max Bemis...

Max: Hi.

So you guys have been on tour with Motion City Soundtrack and Saves The Day. It's been pretty much a "no label" tour. How has it been with no label's push at all?

Max: The label really isn't a part of our touring process—at least they haven't been for many years. We have built up sort of a touring avenue on our own for a really long time, so it's something we don't really depend on a label for.

You guys have been covered on Absolute Punk for quite a long time. How does it feel to have a really supportive fan base that backs you up all of the time?

Max: It's very flattering and it's a factor that I feel like I kind of have to earn as opposed to taking it for granted, which I know a lot of people do who are in our position. And they're great. They just continue, whether it's at the shows or online, voicing their support. It's just a pretty zany group of kids and I just find it pretty surreal that they're willing to sort of put themselves out there just for the sake supporting our band and furthering our band. So we depend on that too.

You originally released the Painful Splits CD. Can you tell us a little about that?

Max: Well, I mean, the idea basically came to me as something I could do in between records because I was originally going to make a full, solo record and go into the studio and do a whole thing, but I decided before I get to that place I can still fiddle with. Especially now that we're on our own and we're in between labels, I'm able to sort of do something like that without having to give any money to a label or anything like that; so I figured now was a good time to do it before we sign again.

You guys have been touring with Saves The Day and I know Chris Conley is one of your good friends and personal idols. How does it feel to tour with him and have a project, Two Tongues.

Max: It's amazing. It's always like a cross between really comforting and then slightly overwhelming. Just because we've been good friends for so long I really do consider him one of my best friends, but the status of Saves The Day as my favorite band hasn't changed either over the years. It's a really interesting dynamic being able to view his as a human being and knowing his personality so well, as opposed to being this abstract—you know, whether a lot of people would look at John Lennon or something like that and be like "I don't know John Lennon, I just know this weird cartoon of John Lennon that people have come up with over the years and that's my concept of him." Whereas I know Chris personally and I know what he's like and it adds a dynamic to my appreciation of what he does; just really loving him as a person as well.

You have been doing song shop for quite a long time. Is it hard to balance Say Anything, song shop, Perma, and Two Tongues all in one?

Max: Not really. They all have their kind of place, and if it were to ever get to that place where I felt overwhelmed we would just kind of pull back on one area. As of right now they all kind of work really well. Two Tongues hasn't really done that much in a while, but we plan on doing something in the future; Perma I think is going to be the next project I work on after our next Say Anything record; Say Anything is like my main focus, so everything kind of falls by the wayside to Say Anything; and then song shop I can do at the end of the day on tour, or when I'm at home I can do it a few hours a day every day, so it's not like I have to tour behind song shop. I'm lucky that it all works so well. It seems to jive.

What was the weirdest song shop request you've gotten?

Max: The weirdest one was still really cool. I mean not to diminish how funny or whatever the person was who asked for this, but there was someone who asked for a song about how they idolized Prince, and how Prince seems to be the answer to all of their problems, and that they wanted to be Prince, and to write a song about that struggle—the struggle to want to be Prince. So that was probably the weirdest thing I've ever written about.

Did they make you have to sing really high notes like Prince?

Max: No. I couldn't possibly. I couldn't hit that guy's register with a gun—with a riffle.

How are you guys going to be approaching the new album, because I know you just got off of your record label recently?

Max: There's many levels. I mean on an artistic level, we have the freedom now to kind of go into—the last time we were talking to record labels we were really young and we have never really put out a record. Doghouse, and then after that when RCA bought us out of our contract, we still were kind of just a promising band and we hadn't really fulfilled anything and they took a lot of risks even just signing us. Whereas now, whoever's signing us kind of has a concept of where the band is at least kind of going. So artistically we have more freedom, and that'll be a standard we set up for ourselves as we go into the next record deal is we want to be able to make the kind of record we want to make. And that doesn't mean it's going to be less commercial, it doesn't mean it's going to just be some wanky, overly artistic record; but I do think that we're a band that benefits from having that kind of space to do what we do. This will be the first time we'll be able to demand that from a label.

Kenny Vasoli I know has been playing bass, which is pretty cool because he's from The Starting Line. I know you guys have been good friends. Is there any possibility that he could join the band in the future?

Max: Well you know the cool thing about Say Anything is that live it's a whole other monster than on the record and there's really only me and Cobe now on the record. So, I mean, there is a chance. Kenny's a really busy guy. He's already in two bands and I think he's starting a third band. But I mean if we could work out anything, I personally would love it.

How do you feel about the state of the music industry today?

Max: I mean, it's always been just kind of a mess and a big load of crap, so taking that out of the picture I think it's in an alright place for what it is. I think for any large corporate structure that's entire purpose is to wring money out of something that's supposed to me pure and artistic is going to be shady. So, I mean, everyone has their issues with the music industry but I think it's like, this is just what it is. So all things considered, the fact that it is kind of a piece of steaming crap, I think it's doing okay. I mean, the major labels are learning that's it's either going to be huge pop artists or forward-thinking, progressive artists that are actually going to stand out in this crowd of so many acts—you know with Myspace and the internet just flooding the market. So I think it's kind of cool that the people who are doing well now are the people who are either challenging or the people who are kind of are obvious, whether it's Ke$sha or something and it's like she should be selling millions of records because she's overtly pop. So I think having less bland, middle, somewhere in between artists is good.

Have you guys ever heard yourself on the radio before because I've heard Hate Everyone quite a few times, I thought it was pretty cool.

Max: You know what's weird is I don't think we have, but that's because I don't listen to the radio very much, I'm like an iPod kind of a guy. When they were playing Hate Everyone in LA where I was living at the time, I was just always listening to my iPod and so I think I missed it. I know lots of our friends have heard it, our fans obviously.

Have you guys ever run into any problems with the movie Say Anything?

Max: No. If anything it's been like a nice little relationship that we have with that movie because... it's so far from what we do, you know being like this sappy, teenager movie from the early 90s or late 80s and then you've got this loud, obnoxious punk band; we don't tend to really cross over anywhere. So, no. They're doing their thing, err, it did its thing, and now we're doing our thing, and it's kind of an homage. We've never run into a problem.

When do you think we can expect the next Say Anything record?

Max: I would expect it later on this year—late this year. That's the goal: fall or winter of this year.
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oib111
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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by oib111 » Sun Nov 21, 2010 11:02 am

Does anybody know if they have a transcript of this somewhere? The mic was just bugging out the entire interview.

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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by david_style6 » Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:52 am

he meant next year right? i mean for the record
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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by Norgan » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:30 am

oib111 wrote:Does anybody know if they have a transcript of this somewhere? The mic was just bugging out the entire interview.
Yeah I'm writing up a transcript of it myself right now and I'm a bit over half way done. It's really annoying to do, though, because Max's thoughts are so all over the place, and the interviewer seems be a bit nervous, it's hard to write down everything without it not making sense with all of the "uhh, umm, i mean, and uhh"s

I might be able to share it here tomorrow or tonight. I have a bit of a busy day today.
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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by oib111 » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:55 am

Don't worry about it. Whenever you finish it is fine with me.

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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by MountainMan » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:50 pm

david_style6 wrote:he meant next year right? i mean for the record
I think so, because if they had a record out by the end of this year, then wow :shock:
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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by david_style6 » Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:41 am

MountainMan wrote:
david_style6 wrote:he meant next year right? i mean for the record
I think so, because if they had a record out by the end of this year, then wow :shock:
wouldn't that be something? haha
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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by transylvanian » Tue Nov 23, 2010 1:27 pm

Late spring/summer 2011 I think is the drop date.
He has 7+ songs finished as demos
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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by Norgan » Thu Nov 25, 2010 1:49 am

Transcript is up in my original post now.

And Max did indeed say "fall or winter of this year." That really does seem too soon, but I can't complain.
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Re: AP Interview. New album update + more

Post by david_style6 » Thu Nov 25, 2010 10:20 am

He probably meant next year
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