Chris Carrabba - Twin Forks (13/11/2013)
When Twin Forks’
Chris Carrabba calls The 59th Sound’s Cassie
Walker, he’s taking a break from loading gear into the van. Twin Forks are
currently on tour for their EP, playing to sold out crowds.“It’s been incredible, especially the
past few nights with the EP being out for a few weeks now, people seem to
really know the songs, it’s just an incredible connection.”
Twin Forks is vastly different to Carrabba’s other work, namely Dashboard Confessional. The new project has got the folk sound to it, and as Carrabba explains, is a sound which he hasn’t always explored musically. “It’s an influence I’ve had my whole life and I was trying to avoid for a long time and then a couple of years ago I was dreading it to be really honest, trying not to get caught showing all my influences and about two years ago I started writing this (Twin Forks) stuff and somewhere in the interim a song kind of got on the radio, which is surprising to me even still, it’s been a phenomenal fun project."
"Everybody in the band is people I’ve worked with as either tour mates from other bands or in Jonathan’s case, he’s a producer that I work with either the bands I’m in or the bands I like to listen to, it was kind of a wish list type of thing. They’re a heap of people that aren’t friends with each other that I assumed would be right and have a special connection with each other if I put them together.”
The resulting band has worked out beautifully. And even though Carrabba is personally well established in the music industry, Twin Forks are being approached and presented as a new band. “We’re playing very small venues, we’re asking the promoters to resist any temptation to sell the tickets out by saying it’s Dashboard Confessional or The Narrative or Bad Books. I think we believe in the band and it’s not a side project, so we want the opportunity to succeed or fail on the merit of what the music is and what the band is and it seems to be succeeding without trading on the names of other bands that we were in, which I think would obviously bring more people out, but all things in time really.”
As Carrabba explained to Cassie, Twin Forks allowed for himseld to expand on his playing styles, predominately finger picking. "I think I just looked at it as an opportunity to. I’m always looking for opportunities to enhance my playing skills, but it was that style of playing was something that I avoided, actively actually, because I thought it made my influences show more readily, but I’ve accepted that those influences are important to me and if they do show through the music I make I think it’s a good way to honour the people who influence me, I certainly learnt a lot from them.”
“It wasn’t that I was scared (to show influences) it was just that I felt like you’re striving for originality and you play something and if you yourself can immediately hear who or what it is, that what it resembles you’ve got to throw it away, start somewhere else. All of these years later I think I’ve proved them that I can have an original take and now I feel that I can still have an original take within the confines of a more traditional style of songwriting.”
Twin Forks are touring Australia as support for City & Colour, a country that Carrabba has personally visited many a time as a headline artist. But Twin Forks will also be performing some headline shows along the way. “I love Australia. I love the fact that I’ve had quite similar personal connections to the audience there as I have had in my home state, I don’t really know what it is, it’s like I have all these pen pals or something, so I’ve been raving about it. To everybody else that this level of touring is kind of new to them and I’ve been saying “just wait until Australia, wait until Australia” what I mean is that the fan base is some impressive. You’ll never meet nicer people. Now I’ll stop talking so I don’t sound like I’m trying to grease the wheels, but whatever I quite enjoy Australia.”
For Dashboard Confessional fans, the end is not here. While Carrabba says he will return to that musical outlet one day, for now his heart is set on Twin Forks. “I will go back to it at some point for sure, I’m not sure specifically how far after this. I don’t have a time line for that. I was actually just listening to some of the Dashboard Confessional songs from the last record today, I haven’t done that in a long time, they’re good songs, there’s no reason not to do it but this is where my heart is right now, that’s all you can do is be honest with yourself.”
Cassie Walker
TWIN FORKS Australian Tour Dates
Brisbane Saturday 30 November w/ City and Colour Riverstage
Ticketmaster136 100
Sydney Sunday 1 December Oxford Art Factory
Moshtix
Newcastle Friday 6 December Cambridge Hotel
Big Tix
PerthSaturday 7 December w/ City and Colour Belvoir Amphitheatre
Ticketmaster136 100
Melbourne Saturday 14 December w/ CIty and Colour Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Ticketmaster136 100
Twin Forks is vastly different to Carrabba’s other work, namely Dashboard Confessional. The new project has got the folk sound to it, and as Carrabba explains, is a sound which he hasn’t always explored musically. “It’s an influence I’ve had my whole life and I was trying to avoid for a long time and then a couple of years ago I was dreading it to be really honest, trying not to get caught showing all my influences and about two years ago I started writing this (Twin Forks) stuff and somewhere in the interim a song kind of got on the radio, which is surprising to me even still, it’s been a phenomenal fun project."
"Everybody in the band is people I’ve worked with as either tour mates from other bands or in Jonathan’s case, he’s a producer that I work with either the bands I’m in or the bands I like to listen to, it was kind of a wish list type of thing. They’re a heap of people that aren’t friends with each other that I assumed would be right and have a special connection with each other if I put them together.”
The resulting band has worked out beautifully. And even though Carrabba is personally well established in the music industry, Twin Forks are being approached and presented as a new band. “We’re playing very small venues, we’re asking the promoters to resist any temptation to sell the tickets out by saying it’s Dashboard Confessional or The Narrative or Bad Books. I think we believe in the band and it’s not a side project, so we want the opportunity to succeed or fail on the merit of what the music is and what the band is and it seems to be succeeding without trading on the names of other bands that we were in, which I think would obviously bring more people out, but all things in time really.”
As Carrabba explained to Cassie, Twin Forks allowed for himseld to expand on his playing styles, predominately finger picking. "I think I just looked at it as an opportunity to. I’m always looking for opportunities to enhance my playing skills, but it was that style of playing was something that I avoided, actively actually, because I thought it made my influences show more readily, but I’ve accepted that those influences are important to me and if they do show through the music I make I think it’s a good way to honour the people who influence me, I certainly learnt a lot from them.”
“It wasn’t that I was scared (to show influences) it was just that I felt like you’re striving for originality and you play something and if you yourself can immediately hear who or what it is, that what it resembles you’ve got to throw it away, start somewhere else. All of these years later I think I’ve proved them that I can have an original take and now I feel that I can still have an original take within the confines of a more traditional style of songwriting.”
Twin Forks are touring Australia as support for City & Colour, a country that Carrabba has personally visited many a time as a headline artist. But Twin Forks will also be performing some headline shows along the way. “I love Australia. I love the fact that I’ve had quite similar personal connections to the audience there as I have had in my home state, I don’t really know what it is, it’s like I have all these pen pals or something, so I’ve been raving about it. To everybody else that this level of touring is kind of new to them and I’ve been saying “just wait until Australia, wait until Australia” what I mean is that the fan base is some impressive. You’ll never meet nicer people. Now I’ll stop talking so I don’t sound like I’m trying to grease the wheels, but whatever I quite enjoy Australia.”
For Dashboard Confessional fans, the end is not here. While Carrabba says he will return to that musical outlet one day, for now his heart is set on Twin Forks. “I will go back to it at some point for sure, I’m not sure specifically how far after this. I don’t have a time line for that. I was actually just listening to some of the Dashboard Confessional songs from the last record today, I haven’t done that in a long time, they’re good songs, there’s no reason not to do it but this is where my heart is right now, that’s all you can do is be honest with yourself.”
Cassie Walker
TWIN FORKS Australian Tour Dates
Brisbane Saturday 30 November w/ City and Colour Riverstage
Ticketmaster136 100
Sydney Sunday 1 December Oxford Art Factory
Moshtix
Newcastle Friday 6 December Cambridge Hotel
Big Tix
PerthSaturday 7 December w/ City and Colour Belvoir Amphitheatre
Ticketmaster136 100
Melbourne Saturday 14 December w/ CIty and Colour Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Ticketmaster136 100