Dan Andriano - Alkaline Trio (10/05/2013)
Alkaline Trio vocalist/bassist Dan Andriano took a moment from his a busy touring schedule to chat with The 59th Sound about the My Shame Is True, the band’s ninth studio release in their 15-plus year career.
“It was gonna be bad”, states a the recognisably husky-voiced Dan Andriano, bassist and one half of Alkaline Trio’s primary vocalists.
Not at all referring to their latest album, thankfully, but rather a sore throat bore from playing in dry climates in southern USA on the first leg of their impending eight month global tour.
Speaking from Texas, and well and truly on the mend after sensibly postponing press to rest his voice for a few days, Andriano is gracious and matter-of-fact in equal measure while discussing the particulars of creating My Shame Is True; an album produced by punk-rock legends Bill Stephenson and Jason Livermore.
Between them, the two share a collective half-century of experience engineering, mixing, and playing with the likes of Black Flag, NOFX, Descendents, Lagwagon, MxPx, and Rise Against, just to name a few.
“From beginning to end (they were) there day and night, just ready to work. Very driven, very focused, and I really appreciate that. You can end up in situations sometimes where you don’t feel like you’re getting someone’s full attention, and that can cause constant issues, some trust issues. We were all in it together from start to finish.”
In relation to the process of writing new lyrics Dan insists it’s an entirely organic affair.
“We just kind of write whatever’s on our minds at the time. That’s pretty much how we always do it, and how we always will. I think if I set on writing something I wasn’t fully immersed in at the time it might sound fictitious or too much of a stretch.”
After more than a decade of working together, it’s no surprise that finding an album title also comes pretty naturally.
“We kind of have an idea (for the album title), one of us might just be walking by and think of something funny or something stupid, whatever, and just write up on the board. We always keep brainstorming ideas like that. Derek was the one who actually came up with the title. I was asleep, it was pretty late if I remember correctly... Derek had written it up on the board and Matt was right behind him just waking up, and saw that and loved it, so when I woke up and found out we all agreed it was definitely in the running. We never thought of anything better! It seemed to really suit the album, and we love Elvis Costello a lot so it’s kind of a tribute to him in there, and a really great pun that suits the content of the album.”
My shame is true contains a hallmark of sorts for the band, being the first time a guest lead-vocalist has appeared on an Alkaline Trio track. Namely Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath. Dan explains the reason behind inviting McIlrath to team up for vocals on the album’s sixth track I, Pessimist.
“We’ve been old friends of Rise Against’s for years. We kind of grew up in neighbouring suburbs, our old bands played with their old bands, so we’ve been buds with Tim for a long time. Plus I really think Tim is king of what he does, y’know? That very hard, high-energy attack vocals, I think he’s the best at it. I wrote that song and kind of the second I wrote it I knew I wasn’t the person who was supposed to sing it, or at least not all of it. Tim was the first and pretty much only person who came to mind to do that with us, so we were working on the song… Actually before we even started I told Bill my concept for that tune and he got really excited being that he’s someone who’s worked with Tim a lot in the past. So we called Tim and he was gracious enough to fly down with, like, a week’s notice to pump out that tune, and it turned out really great.”
Since politely parting ways with Epic records in 2008, Alkaline Trio have released all their material on their own independent Heart & Skull record label, the namesake of which is taken from their instantly recognisable band logo. Although a joint venture with Epitaph records, Andriano explains the workings behind releasing an album in such a fashion.
“To be perfectly honest it’s our name on there, but our record label is Epitaph. They put our name on there, but (Epitaph owner/ Bad Religion guitarist) Brett (Gurewitz) and everyone at Epitaph don’t try to have control of any of their bands from what I can tell. We certainly have a big amount of trust from them to just go in, make a great record, give it to them, and know they’re going to like it. Sometimes they might ask a band to go back and record a couple more songs, or change a few things, but that’s one thing we never really have to worry about. But yeah, they do all the work, and they’ve been really supportive. We definitely wouldn’t be doing any of this without them.”
Although the band is globally admired by a legion of die-hard fans, Andriano is in no way boastful of his band’s ability to draw a crowd pretty much any where in the world. When queried about the huge festivals the band has lined up as part of the current tour, the man is all humility.
“Last night we played in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A town we’ve only played once or twice before. You go back and play a punk rock club show… Everyone was really nice to us and we had a really good show. We’ve played (Reading and Leads festivals) before. We always have a really good time in England, so Reading and Leads should be a lot of fun. It’s been a while since we played a festival in Belgium, I’m really excited to go back there. I really enjoy their country. There are still a few corners of the world we are yet to see, so we’ll try and get to them all!”
Do not yet despair, Australian fans, at our exclusion from the current tour; Dan is adamant Matt, Derek, and himself will be returning down under soon enough.
“We’re definitely coming, it’s just a matter of when”, states Andriano.
“Getting all the way down there, we want to get the most out of it. We’re waiting to hear from a few different festivals, so we can do some festival shows as well as shows on our own. Hopefully something like Soundwave, that’d be something we’d really love to do, which unfortunately means we wouldn’t be there until early next year. But at least we’re getting there.”
My Shame Is True is released now through Heart & Skull/ Epitaph records.
Todd Gingell
“It was gonna be bad”, states a the recognisably husky-voiced Dan Andriano, bassist and one half of Alkaline Trio’s primary vocalists.
Not at all referring to their latest album, thankfully, but rather a sore throat bore from playing in dry climates in southern USA on the first leg of their impending eight month global tour.
Speaking from Texas, and well and truly on the mend after sensibly postponing press to rest his voice for a few days, Andriano is gracious and matter-of-fact in equal measure while discussing the particulars of creating My Shame Is True; an album produced by punk-rock legends Bill Stephenson and Jason Livermore.
Between them, the two share a collective half-century of experience engineering, mixing, and playing with the likes of Black Flag, NOFX, Descendents, Lagwagon, MxPx, and Rise Against, just to name a few.
“From beginning to end (they were) there day and night, just ready to work. Very driven, very focused, and I really appreciate that. You can end up in situations sometimes where you don’t feel like you’re getting someone’s full attention, and that can cause constant issues, some trust issues. We were all in it together from start to finish.”
In relation to the process of writing new lyrics Dan insists it’s an entirely organic affair.
“We just kind of write whatever’s on our minds at the time. That’s pretty much how we always do it, and how we always will. I think if I set on writing something I wasn’t fully immersed in at the time it might sound fictitious or too much of a stretch.”
After more than a decade of working together, it’s no surprise that finding an album title also comes pretty naturally.
“We kind of have an idea (for the album title), one of us might just be walking by and think of something funny or something stupid, whatever, and just write up on the board. We always keep brainstorming ideas like that. Derek was the one who actually came up with the title. I was asleep, it was pretty late if I remember correctly... Derek had written it up on the board and Matt was right behind him just waking up, and saw that and loved it, so when I woke up and found out we all agreed it was definitely in the running. We never thought of anything better! It seemed to really suit the album, and we love Elvis Costello a lot so it’s kind of a tribute to him in there, and a really great pun that suits the content of the album.”
My shame is true contains a hallmark of sorts for the band, being the first time a guest lead-vocalist has appeared on an Alkaline Trio track. Namely Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath. Dan explains the reason behind inviting McIlrath to team up for vocals on the album’s sixth track I, Pessimist.
“We’ve been old friends of Rise Against’s for years. We kind of grew up in neighbouring suburbs, our old bands played with their old bands, so we’ve been buds with Tim for a long time. Plus I really think Tim is king of what he does, y’know? That very hard, high-energy attack vocals, I think he’s the best at it. I wrote that song and kind of the second I wrote it I knew I wasn’t the person who was supposed to sing it, or at least not all of it. Tim was the first and pretty much only person who came to mind to do that with us, so we were working on the song… Actually before we even started I told Bill my concept for that tune and he got really excited being that he’s someone who’s worked with Tim a lot in the past. So we called Tim and he was gracious enough to fly down with, like, a week’s notice to pump out that tune, and it turned out really great.”
Since politely parting ways with Epic records in 2008, Alkaline Trio have released all their material on their own independent Heart & Skull record label, the namesake of which is taken from their instantly recognisable band logo. Although a joint venture with Epitaph records, Andriano explains the workings behind releasing an album in such a fashion.
“To be perfectly honest it’s our name on there, but our record label is Epitaph. They put our name on there, but (Epitaph owner/ Bad Religion guitarist) Brett (Gurewitz) and everyone at Epitaph don’t try to have control of any of their bands from what I can tell. We certainly have a big amount of trust from them to just go in, make a great record, give it to them, and know they’re going to like it. Sometimes they might ask a band to go back and record a couple more songs, or change a few things, but that’s one thing we never really have to worry about. But yeah, they do all the work, and they’ve been really supportive. We definitely wouldn’t be doing any of this without them.”
Although the band is globally admired by a legion of die-hard fans, Andriano is in no way boastful of his band’s ability to draw a crowd pretty much any where in the world. When queried about the huge festivals the band has lined up as part of the current tour, the man is all humility.
“Last night we played in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A town we’ve only played once or twice before. You go back and play a punk rock club show… Everyone was really nice to us and we had a really good show. We’ve played (Reading and Leads festivals) before. We always have a really good time in England, so Reading and Leads should be a lot of fun. It’s been a while since we played a festival in Belgium, I’m really excited to go back there. I really enjoy their country. There are still a few corners of the world we are yet to see, so we’ll try and get to them all!”
Do not yet despair, Australian fans, at our exclusion from the current tour; Dan is adamant Matt, Derek, and himself will be returning down under soon enough.
“We’re definitely coming, it’s just a matter of when”, states Andriano.
“Getting all the way down there, we want to get the most out of it. We’re waiting to hear from a few different festivals, so we can do some festival shows as well as shows on our own. Hopefully something like Soundwave, that’d be something we’d really love to do, which unfortunately means we wouldn’t be there until early next year. But at least we’re getting there.”
My Shame Is True is released now through Heart & Skull/ Epitaph records.
Todd Gingell