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wake the dead.
This Board Is My Home
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 30440 | August 13th, 2006 at 09:48am Article from Blunt, an Australian mag:
The first time I speak to Matt Rubano from Long Island Emo superstars Taking Back Sunday, it’s early in the morning for him as he prepares for what is to be the biggest crowd he’s ever played in front of (“some festival in Berlin, all I know is it’s a LOT of people”). The bass player sounds like he’s just woken up, while I’m well into my third beer on a Friday night at the pub “ needless to say the interview is a little unbalanced. So when technical difficulties force us to reschedule our chat for a few days later, it seems perhaps for the better “ this time I’m up at 7am but Matt seems bright eyed and bushy tailed. “This time I haven’t just woken up so I should be in better shape.” I explain to him that I’m just adjusting to my first coffee of the day, which he finds amusing. Well then, see how it feels!”
The occasion for speaking to Matt comes on the eve of the announcement of Australia’s second ever Taste of Chaos tour, and the fact that Taking Back Sunday will be the headlining band on the run. Coming on the back of their national Australian tour in March and the release of the band 3rd and best album to date, “Louder Now” (which debuted at number 17 on the ARIA Charts), it seems Taking Back Sunday are set to be one of Australia’s most loved bands. And from Matt’s point of view, the feeling is mutual.
“Australia so far has been the highlight of the year. We’ve been wanting to go down there for long and just having the chance to do it and when we did it was such a great experience.”
While the festivals lineup “ consisting of mostly bands on the heavier end of the punk rock spectrum (Underoath, Saosin, Parkway Drive)- seems a lot heavier than the pop rock sounds of “Louder Now”, Matt assures me that Taking Back Sunday are perfectly placed on the bill.
“Part of the good thing about us is that we can easily fit on a bill with bands slanted either way. Whether it was bands that are a bit poppier or bands that are a bit heavier. I think the best thing about this tour will be the simple fact were friends with a lot of these bands like Thursday, Underoath and Anti-Flag as we’ve toured with them and really respect those bands and have a great time together. So musical things will all just fall into place.”
With the release of “Louder Now” in April this year, the band has taken a definite step up in popularity across the globe “ having toured Northern America, Japan, Europe, Australia and New Zealand already in a short space of time. Prior to the band’s first ever run in Australia, rumours had long floated on the internet and in the press of the band’s terrible live show “ a misconception which the band shattered with their top notch live performance on their sold out live shows down under. I ask Matt if he feels the band was ever a bad live act.
“I think the band has taken a lot of steps to improve our show - as individuals in the band and the way that we rehearse and things like that. I don’t think there was ever any shortage of excitement in our live shows “ if anything it was too chaotic and crazy. And we started paying a lot more attention to not just the visual aspect of playing but how it sounds too. I guess that’s good that we surprise people, Id be kinda pissed if the word on the street was that we sucked live.”
The chaotic element to the live show is very much attributed to the microphone swinging, neck strangling antics of vocalist Adam Lazarra. When I met Lazarra in March I immediately noticed the red marks along his arms and neck, and was intrigued as to how he managed to have such brutal scars. Their live set didn’t take long to reveal that it’s no dark secret, but more so that the singer will constantly wrap the mic cord all around his neck and arms whilst somehow rarely missing a note or lyric in the chaos.
“I used to always freak out and say that kid is gonna choke himself to death one day. But in London a couple of months ago I got caught off guard and got a bit distracted - I took a microphone to the face, got hit right above my left eye. I’ve never seen more of my own blood in my own life. So I got a bandage thrown on and finished the gig and went straight off to the emergency room and got my stitches put in. So now I worry more about me than him.”
But from the chaotic onstage antics that Taking Back Sunday display each night, it seems the band lives less of the rock and roll life of excess than you may think. “We’ve been touring so hard for the last four months that we haven’t really been partying at all.” The life of excess and extravaganze made famous by bands of the 70s may be part of rock and roll mythology, but it one look at the wretched faces of Motley Crue and Aerosmith will show you that the lifestyle isn’t pretty for long. The reality of touring seems to be nowadays something fairly different to what the myth suggests. So what is the typical day on tour with Taking Back Sunday?
“The typical day on tour is just hurry up to then go and wait. Like hurry up to go and soundcheck to then wait for sound check. Hurry up to get to the show to then wait for the show. So we try and amuse ourselves in our own ways whether were all hanging out or going into the city that were in. Or sometimes just hanging out alone or watching a movie on the bus or reading a book, listening to music. Basically we never have a shortage of free time, its just free time in places you wouldn’t normally choose to be if you were playing a show. So you’ve gotta be a bit more creative to entertain yourself if you were home.”
But while it may all seems like work and hanging out being boring, it seems if youre cut out for the job, not everything has to be as boring as it sounds.
“I think there’s parts of this being in a band thing that are less appealing to some people then just playing shows and writing and stuff like that. But it all goes along with being in a band and I just think it can be fun and exciting if you approach it that way. Like anything in life if you approach it like it’s a total drag then it will be a drag, but if you try approach things more positively then its always gonna be a lot better.”
While both of Taking Back Sunday’s previous albums have been received well by fans, the coming of “Louder Now” has been the first time that the band has received stronger reviews from press. But Matt is more concerned with what his peers have to say about the music than the press. “I’m more interested in people I know or respect and their opinion on our music. We have a lot of bands that we’re close friends with and we keep in touch with them or just see them out on the road or something like that. A lot of our buddies have given us support and a lot of compliments on the record. It feels good when your peers, just regular guys that are doing what you’re doing and understand your lifestyle “ when they understand and love your music it’s a great feeling.”
“Louder Now” is also the bands first release for Warner, after spending two albums on the independent Victory Records. While many bands with have a backlash for switching to a major label, got TBS it seems the move felt completely natural as the band grew organically. The result is an album with a more vibrant sound and the best song writing the band had come up with yet. The bands lyrics are as strong as ever and if anything, the music is way more original and exciting than it ever has been, while still retaining the edge of the previous records. It seems nothing has been lost in the transition, something which Matt is completely proud of.
“It’s been great for us. Were a real self sufficient band and we’ve been doing this for a while in a really self sufficient way. The second record we even paid for ourselves and we had to do most of it without even the help of a label even though it came out on a label. It doesn’t really matter what the little symbal on the side of the CD says. I think this record with us has been a living example of expelling the myth that the indie is the supposed good guy and the major label is the supposed bad guy because it hasn’t been like that for us at all. With Warner Bros we feel there’s a great team of people that we work with and have our back, and they’ve given us nothing but creative freedom and support to do whatever we want to do and make “Louder Now” what it is.”
But with the success of “Louder Now” coming after many years of touring and a gradual growth, it seems Taking Back Sunday have come up in the same way Fall Out Boy managed to make themselves superstars just last year “ from constant touring and albums on independents to multi-platinum success once they shifted to a major. But whether “Louder Now” will make the same impact isn’t of concern to Matt Rubano.
“Everything with us has been real gradual and anything we’ve accomplished so far we’ve accomplished bit by bit and at the right time. So whatever happens with the future of the band we’ll just do what comes at the right time. I don’t think we’ll ever go pop as something conscious. We’d never make changes to try in attempting to get an audience. We just keep putting out the music we put out and those that get with it, get with it and those don’t, don’t.”
by Luke Logemann
From aproperintroduction.com |
Jesus_of_surburbia_74
King For A Couple Of Days
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 3739
 | August 13th, 2006 at 09:58am I got there new album louder now!!  |
Jesse Lacey
Post Whore
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 23946
 | August 14th, 2006 at 01:28pm It Could Be A Good Excuse:Article from Blunt, an Australian mag:
The first time I speak to Matt Rubano from Long Island Emo superstars Taking Back Sunday, it’s early in the morning for him as he prepares for what is to be the biggest crowd he’s ever played in front of (“some festival in Berlin, all I know is it’s a LOT of people”). The bass player sounds like he’s just woken up, while I’m well into my third beer on a Friday night at the pub “ needless to say the interview is a little unbalanced. So when technical difficulties force us to reschedule our chat for a few days later, it seems perhaps for the better “ this time I’m up at 7am but Matt seems bright eyed and bushy tailed. “This time I haven’t just woken up so I should be in better shape.” I explain to him that I’m just adjusting to my first coffee of the day, which he finds amusing. Well then, see how it feels!”
The occasion for speaking to Matt comes on the eve of the announcement of Australia’s second ever Taste of Chaos tour, and the fact that Taking Back Sunday will be the headlining band on the run. Coming on the back of their national Australian tour in March and the release of the band 3rd and best album to date, “Louder Now” (which debuted at number 17 on the ARIA Charts), it seems Taking Back Sunday are set to be one of Australia’s most loved bands. And from Matt’s point of view, the feeling is mutual.
“Australia so far has been the highlight of the year. We’ve been wanting to go down there for long and just having the chance to do it and when we did it was such a great experience.”
While the festivals lineup “ consisting of mostly bands on the heavier end of the punk rock spectrum (Underoath, Saosin, Parkway Drive)- seems a lot heavier than the pop rock sounds of “Louder Now”, Matt assures me that Taking Back Sunday are perfectly placed on the bill.
“Part of the good thing about us is that we can easily fit on a bill with bands slanted either way. Whether it was bands that are a bit poppier or bands that are a bit heavier. I think the best thing about this tour will be the simple fact were friends with a lot of these bands like Thursday, Underoath and Anti-Flag as we’ve toured with them and really respect those bands and have a great time together. So musical things will all just fall into place.”
With the release of “Louder Now” in April this year, the band has taken a definite step up in popularity across the globe “ having toured Northern America, Japan, Europe, Australia and New Zealand already in a short space of time. Prior to the band’s first ever run in Australia, rumours had long floated on the internet and in the press of the band’s terrible live show “ a misconception which the band shattered with their top notch live performance on their sold out live shows down under. I ask Matt if he feels the band was ever a bad live act.
“I think the band has taken a lot of steps to improve our show - as individuals in the band and the way that we rehearse and things like that. I don’t think there was ever any shortage of excitement in our live shows “ if anything it was too chaotic and crazy. And we started paying a lot more attention to not just the visual aspect of playing but how it sounds too. I guess that’s good that we surprise people, Id be kinda pissed if the word on the street was that we sucked live.”
The chaotic element to the live show is very much attributed to the microphone swinging, neck strangling antics of vocalist Adam Lazarra. When I met Lazarra in March I immediately noticed the red marks along his arms and neck, and was intrigued as to how he managed to have such brutal scars. Their live set didn’t take long to reveal that it’s no dark secret, but more so that the singer will constantly wrap the mic cord all around his neck and arms whilst somehow rarely missing a note or lyric in the chaos.
“I used to always freak out and say that kid is gonna choke himself to death one day. But in London a couple of months ago I got caught off guard and got a bit distracted - I took a microphone to the face, got hit right above my left eye. I’ve never seen more of my own blood in my own life. So I got a bandage thrown on and finished the gig and went straight off to the emergency room and got my stitches put in. So now I worry more about me than him.”
But from the chaotic onstage antics that Taking Back Sunday display each night, it seems the band lives less of the rock and roll life of excess than you may think. “We’ve been touring so hard for the last four months that we haven’t really been partying at all.” The life of excess and extravaganze made famous by bands of the 70s may be part of rock and roll mythology, but it one look at the wretched faces of Motley Crue and Aerosmith will show you that the lifestyle isn’t pretty for long. The reality of touring seems to be nowadays something fairly different to what the myth suggests. So what is the typical day on tour with Taking Back Sunday?
“The typical day on tour is just hurry up to then go and wait. Like hurry up to go and soundcheck to then wait for sound check. Hurry up to get to the show to then wait for the show. So we try and amuse ourselves in our own ways whether were all hanging out or going into the city that were in. Or sometimes just hanging out alone or watching a movie on the bus or reading a book, listening to music. Basically we never have a shortage of free time, its just free time in places you wouldn’t normally choose to be if you were playing a show. So you’ve gotta be a bit more creative to entertain yourself if you were home.”
But while it may all seems like work and hanging out being boring, it seems if youre cut out for the job, not everything has to be as boring as it sounds.
“I think there’s parts of this being in a band thing that are less appealing to some people then just playing shows and writing and stuff like that. But it all goes along with being in a band and I just think it can be fun and exciting if you approach it that way. Like anything in life if you approach it like it’s a total drag then it will be a drag, but if you try approach things more positively then its always gonna be a lot better.”
While both of Taking Back Sunday’s previous albums have been received well by fans, the coming of “Louder Now” has been the first time that the band has received stronger reviews from press. But Matt is more concerned with what his peers have to say about the music than the press. “I’m more interested in people I know or respect and their opinion on our music. We have a lot of bands that we’re close friends with and we keep in touch with them or just see them out on the road or something like that. A lot of our buddies have given us support and a lot of compliments on the record. It feels good when your peers, just regular guys that are doing what you’re doing and understand your lifestyle “ when they understand and love your music it’s a great feeling.”
“Louder Now” is also the bands first release for Warner, after spending two albums on the independent Victory Records. While many bands with have a backlash for switching to a major label, got TBS it seems the move felt completely natural as the band grew organically. The result is an album with a more vibrant sound and the best song writing the band had come up with yet. The bands lyrics are as strong as ever and if anything, the music is way more original and exciting than it ever has been, while still retaining the edge of the previous records. It seems nothing has been lost in the transition, something which Matt is completely proud of.
“It’s been great for us. Were a real self sufficient band and we’ve been doing this for a while in a really self sufficient way. The second record we even paid for ourselves and we had to do most of it without even the help of a label even though it came out on a label. It doesn’t really matter what the little symbal on the side of the CD says. I think this record with us has been a living example of expelling the myth that the indie is the supposed good guy and the major label is the supposed bad guy because it hasn’t been like that for us at all. With Warner Bros we feel there’s a great team of people that we work with and have our back, and they’ve given us nothing but creative freedom and support to do whatever we want to do and make “Louder Now” what it is.”
But with the success of “Louder Now” coming after many years of touring and a gradual growth, it seems Taking Back Sunday have come up in the same way Fall Out Boy managed to make themselves superstars just last year “ from constant touring and albums on independents to multi-platinum success once they shifted to a major. But whether “Louder Now” will make the same impact isn’t of concern to Matt Rubano.
“Everything with us has been real gradual and anything we’ve accomplished so far we’ve accomplished bit by bit and at the right time. So whatever happens with the future of the band we’ll just do what comes at the right time. I don’t think we’ll ever go pop as something conscious. We’d never make changes to try in attempting to get an audience. We just keep putting out the music we put out and those that get with it, get with it and those don’t, don’t.”
by Luke Logemann
From aproperintroduction.com
Adam needs to stop chocking himself with the mic cord.  |
Walking_Insomniac
Geek
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 100 | August 14th, 2006 at 01:59pm i love the band |
Jesse Lacey
Post Whore
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 23946
| August 14th, 2006 at 02:06pm Walking_Insomniac:i love the band
Yay! 
What's your favorite TBS song? |
Amy.
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 5239 | August 15th, 2006 at 02:49am Thanks for that interview Lik |
"x"
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 7330 | August 15th, 2006 at 03:41am ^ I have the scan of that, would you like me to scan it? |
Amy.
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 5239 | August 15th, 2006 at 03:45am HANNAH Nightmare™:^ I have the scan of that, would you like me to scan it? =O would you? |
"x"
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 7330 | August 15th, 2006 at 04:08am If you like =] |
Amy.
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 5239 | August 15th, 2006 at 04:28am Please please please ^_^ |
"x"
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 7330 | August 15th, 2006 at 04:29am Yup. Gimme 10 mins. |
Amy.
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 5239 | August 15th, 2006 at 04:31am You're a star! |
"x"
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 7330 | August 15th, 2006 at 04:50am |
Amy.
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 5239 | August 15th, 2006 at 04:55am Thank you soooooo much!  |
"x"
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 7330 | August 15th, 2006 at 05:30am You're welcome =] |
Roses For The Dead
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 7109 | August 15th, 2006 at 05:45am Im seeing TBS at Taste Of Chaos in October  |
"x"
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 7330 | August 15th, 2006 at 05:46am [QUOTE="I  |
Roses For The Dead
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 7109 | August 15th, 2006 at 05:51am HANNAH Nightmare™:
Hannah what issue was that of Blunt with TBS on the front?
i seen a picture of that cover in the Panic one and i was like  when i seen it |
"x"
Falling In Love With The Board
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 7330 | August 15th, 2006 at 06:39am The one before the Panic! one ;_; |
I_Wanna_B_The_Minority
King For A Couple Of Days
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 2321 | August 15th, 2006 at 06:59am i love TBS' 'Whats It Feel Like To Be A Ghost' |
