Dan Andriano - Alkaline Trio (14/02/2014)
In April 2013 Alkaline Trio Bassist/ Vocalist Daniel Andriano spoke to The 59th Sound immediately following the release of the band’s eighth LP My Shame Is True. Taking time to chat again nine months later, Dan is stoked to be touring their latest release across Australia for Soundwave 2014, especially considering how big a fan he is of other bands on the line up.
“Are you coming to one of the club shows, or what?! I’m super excited. I was just telling the last interviewer I’m so excited to see Jimmy Eat World. I haven’t seen them in a long time. I’m a big Jimmy Eat World fan, but I’m also excited just to be on the same festival as Baroness. I just got in to that band last year, and their latest album (Yellow & Green) blows my mind! I really hope I get to see them. If it’s one of those things where we’re playing at the same time on different stages that would fucking suck.”
Dan’s dismay at the possibility of missing Baroness is a reminder that in a band or in the pit (sometimes both at once), everyone at Soundwave is a huge music fan. Most of whom gleefully accept that there is a lack of interest modern pop charts have in the world of punk rock, metal, hard rock, etc. This inevitably makes for a less conventional platform for stalwart bands like Alkaline Trio to see which new material really gels with fans. Dan is happy to explain how Matt, Derek, and himself discern which new songs have really made an impact on the fans, and how learning a new song you wrote is trickier than it sounds.
“It’s funny, we tried to learn as much of the new record as we could before we started the last year of touring. We ended up learning… I say learning, what I mean by that is when you’re in the studio the songs change so much, especially the way we write because we all live in different cities. So when we get together to play, inevitably all the songs change a little bit. Sometimes you write parts on the fly while you’re making a record. If I come up with a part while Matt’s out to lunch or asleep on the couch or something, I’ll just record it. Nine times out of ten we’ll just keep what’s recorded, so then there’s little parts we have to relearn or teach each other before the tour.”
“We learned as much as we could before the first tour last spring, and from when we started the tour it was quite apparent in a way, that the reaction to the new songs was going to be quite positive. We were really happy about that, and we did a little dance. Then we tried to determine from there, like “Okay, people seem to like the new record. Great! So what should we be playing? What’s going to be the most fun to play?” So we narrowed down which songs to focus on, and then when we did the fall tour in the states we changed it up and focused on different songs from the new record.”
“But no, we’re not going to play My Shame Is True from top to bottom. We haven’t been down there in way too long! We’re going to try and do a little bit of everything, for sure.”
Although the band may be on top of the new material in a live setting, mistakes can sometimes happen with any material; new, old, or other wise. A trivial missed chord or mistimed strum aside, it is no secret that many travelling musicians – much like sports stars - can be superstitious about certain habits they must oblige while on tour. Believing a particular idiosyncrasy will ensure a disaster-free gig, artists may demand a myriad of peculiar things on a rider, others will stay in the same pants for an entire tour, and a select few require a bald hooker and a particular brand of Gummi Bears. By comparison, Dan’s particular pre-show rituals are exceptionally tame, the particulars of which are explained with tongue firmly in cheek.
“If I make a mistake it’s not because I haven’t listened to the song in a few years. It’s just I’m bound to mess something up. Hang out with me for ten minutes and I’ll fuck something up eventually!”
“We’ve sort of got some routines, I’m not really superstitious. A bout a half hour before the show, Derek and I are back stage or on the bus – depending on how crappy the back stage room is – with the stereo turned up pretty loud listening to a number of classic rock records. Or something new like that band I was talking about Baroness; last year they were kind of our theme music for the pre-show ritual. We would listen to some select tracks from their last album before we go on stage. It’s just all about getting some good energy, like a groove. Derek and I, we provide the groove to the show, so we like to get our groove on.”
“Led Zeppelin, Baroness, James Gang, and a lot of Edgar Winter (laughs). Just things that were good classic rock tunes, good groovin’ bands. That’s where we go, and if I don’t get a good twenty or thirty minutes of good head-nodding groove time before a show, I feel a little cold. I don’t know if it’s habitual or what, but I need that warm up.”
“We’re not just sitting there across from each other in the back lounge, looking at each other listening to the songs. We’re kind of pacing around, maybe doing little stretches, or little kicks, rock moves, twirls. I’m constantly flexing my finger muscles!”
After nearly two decades since Alkaline Trio’s inception, and studio albums arriving with general regularity since well before the turn of last millennium, it’s curious to find that Dan isn’t necessarily a fervently compulsive song writer in down time away from tours. That said, it’s clear he’s at the very least persistent.
“I’m not that prolific, so I just write when I can. I take a lot of walks and runs around where I live, and I’ll get an idea and have to stop and write it in to my phone, or whatever. If I don’t stop and write it down, I will forget. That’s like my mantra; take the thirty seconds to write down the idea. If you don’t, you’re going to be fuckin’ bummed. That (could be) the greatest idea you ever had.”
“So I just try to write constantly because I’m not that good at writing. I’m not trying to be modest, I mean that in terms of being prolific. If I’m not constantly trying to work on something, I would go months without writing a song. It takes me a long time to finish anything. I’ll write a verse and half of a chorus, and then I’ll just sit on that forever. I’ll be like “that’s pretty good!”, then I won’t fuckin’ finish it. If I have to actively seek it out and say “Okay, I’m going to work on this today””.
Dan is quick to assure that although he may spend a great deal of time on some of his songs, it’s certainly not at the dreary bane of perfectionism.
“I don’t really think like that, because I don’t think I really have it in me. I like to keep things natural, and I think there’s a lot to be said for that. I beat myself up over enough lyrically and everything, that when it comes to the song or the melody I like to keep it pretty natural. If I write a part in five minutes, or I write a verse and a chorus in ten minutes that usually means it’s going to be a good song. If I have to labour over every little chord, or try three different little melodies just to force in some strange chord I just learned on YouTube, then it’s probably not going to be a very good song.”
Once Soundwave has maniacally blistered across Australia in all it’s fantastically ear-splitting, punter-thrashing, elation-inducing, and sweat-drenched glory, it’s onward with a continuing world tour and a focus on releasing new material. One can be assured that even after two decades of non-stop tours and studio sessions, Alkaline Trio show no signs of slowing down.
“We do Soundwave, then we’re doing a couple of shows in New Zealand after that, I believe. Which is so cool. Then I come home for almost month, then we go to Europe and England, because we still haven’t done a proper headline tour over there for this record as well. We went over there late last (Northern Hemispheric) Summer to do festivals like Reading and Leeds, mainly did a lot of festivals there.”
“We haven’t done a lot of club stuff over there, so we’ll do that, then take the rest of our summer off to think about what our next record is going to be like. We’re going to start writing, but I think about the fact that My Shame Is True came out in April of 2013, so by the time this next record comes out it will have been two years. That’s if we can get it done! I’ve written one Alkaline Trio song since My Shame Is True came out, and that’s it!”
“I don’t know how many Matt’s written, but I need to start thinking about it. I’m currently working a new (side project with Brendan Kelly of The Lawrence Arms) Emergency Room record, and trying to contribute to another band I’m in called The Falcons. So I’m busy, and I’m trying to be a good husband and Father as well! (Laughs) So, yeah, I’ve got my hands full.”
Todd Gingell
“Are you coming to one of the club shows, or what?! I’m super excited. I was just telling the last interviewer I’m so excited to see Jimmy Eat World. I haven’t seen them in a long time. I’m a big Jimmy Eat World fan, but I’m also excited just to be on the same festival as Baroness. I just got in to that band last year, and their latest album (Yellow & Green) blows my mind! I really hope I get to see them. If it’s one of those things where we’re playing at the same time on different stages that would fucking suck.”
Dan’s dismay at the possibility of missing Baroness is a reminder that in a band or in the pit (sometimes both at once), everyone at Soundwave is a huge music fan. Most of whom gleefully accept that there is a lack of interest modern pop charts have in the world of punk rock, metal, hard rock, etc. This inevitably makes for a less conventional platform for stalwart bands like Alkaline Trio to see which new material really gels with fans. Dan is happy to explain how Matt, Derek, and himself discern which new songs have really made an impact on the fans, and how learning a new song you wrote is trickier than it sounds.
“It’s funny, we tried to learn as much of the new record as we could before we started the last year of touring. We ended up learning… I say learning, what I mean by that is when you’re in the studio the songs change so much, especially the way we write because we all live in different cities. So when we get together to play, inevitably all the songs change a little bit. Sometimes you write parts on the fly while you’re making a record. If I come up with a part while Matt’s out to lunch or asleep on the couch or something, I’ll just record it. Nine times out of ten we’ll just keep what’s recorded, so then there’s little parts we have to relearn or teach each other before the tour.”
“We learned as much as we could before the first tour last spring, and from when we started the tour it was quite apparent in a way, that the reaction to the new songs was going to be quite positive. We were really happy about that, and we did a little dance. Then we tried to determine from there, like “Okay, people seem to like the new record. Great! So what should we be playing? What’s going to be the most fun to play?” So we narrowed down which songs to focus on, and then when we did the fall tour in the states we changed it up and focused on different songs from the new record.”
“But no, we’re not going to play My Shame Is True from top to bottom. We haven’t been down there in way too long! We’re going to try and do a little bit of everything, for sure.”
Although the band may be on top of the new material in a live setting, mistakes can sometimes happen with any material; new, old, or other wise. A trivial missed chord or mistimed strum aside, it is no secret that many travelling musicians – much like sports stars - can be superstitious about certain habits they must oblige while on tour. Believing a particular idiosyncrasy will ensure a disaster-free gig, artists may demand a myriad of peculiar things on a rider, others will stay in the same pants for an entire tour, and a select few require a bald hooker and a particular brand of Gummi Bears. By comparison, Dan’s particular pre-show rituals are exceptionally tame, the particulars of which are explained with tongue firmly in cheek.
“If I make a mistake it’s not because I haven’t listened to the song in a few years. It’s just I’m bound to mess something up. Hang out with me for ten minutes and I’ll fuck something up eventually!”
“We’ve sort of got some routines, I’m not really superstitious. A bout a half hour before the show, Derek and I are back stage or on the bus – depending on how crappy the back stage room is – with the stereo turned up pretty loud listening to a number of classic rock records. Or something new like that band I was talking about Baroness; last year they were kind of our theme music for the pre-show ritual. We would listen to some select tracks from their last album before we go on stage. It’s just all about getting some good energy, like a groove. Derek and I, we provide the groove to the show, so we like to get our groove on.”
“Led Zeppelin, Baroness, James Gang, and a lot of Edgar Winter (laughs). Just things that were good classic rock tunes, good groovin’ bands. That’s where we go, and if I don’t get a good twenty or thirty minutes of good head-nodding groove time before a show, I feel a little cold. I don’t know if it’s habitual or what, but I need that warm up.”
“We’re not just sitting there across from each other in the back lounge, looking at each other listening to the songs. We’re kind of pacing around, maybe doing little stretches, or little kicks, rock moves, twirls. I’m constantly flexing my finger muscles!”
After nearly two decades since Alkaline Trio’s inception, and studio albums arriving with general regularity since well before the turn of last millennium, it’s curious to find that Dan isn’t necessarily a fervently compulsive song writer in down time away from tours. That said, it’s clear he’s at the very least persistent.
“I’m not that prolific, so I just write when I can. I take a lot of walks and runs around where I live, and I’ll get an idea and have to stop and write it in to my phone, or whatever. If I don’t stop and write it down, I will forget. That’s like my mantra; take the thirty seconds to write down the idea. If you don’t, you’re going to be fuckin’ bummed. That (could be) the greatest idea you ever had.”
“So I just try to write constantly because I’m not that good at writing. I’m not trying to be modest, I mean that in terms of being prolific. If I’m not constantly trying to work on something, I would go months without writing a song. It takes me a long time to finish anything. I’ll write a verse and half of a chorus, and then I’ll just sit on that forever. I’ll be like “that’s pretty good!”, then I won’t fuckin’ finish it. If I have to actively seek it out and say “Okay, I’m going to work on this today””.
Dan is quick to assure that although he may spend a great deal of time on some of his songs, it’s certainly not at the dreary bane of perfectionism.
“I don’t really think like that, because I don’t think I really have it in me. I like to keep things natural, and I think there’s a lot to be said for that. I beat myself up over enough lyrically and everything, that when it comes to the song or the melody I like to keep it pretty natural. If I write a part in five minutes, or I write a verse and a chorus in ten minutes that usually means it’s going to be a good song. If I have to labour over every little chord, or try three different little melodies just to force in some strange chord I just learned on YouTube, then it’s probably not going to be a very good song.”
Once Soundwave has maniacally blistered across Australia in all it’s fantastically ear-splitting, punter-thrashing, elation-inducing, and sweat-drenched glory, it’s onward with a continuing world tour and a focus on releasing new material. One can be assured that even after two decades of non-stop tours and studio sessions, Alkaline Trio show no signs of slowing down.
“We do Soundwave, then we’re doing a couple of shows in New Zealand after that, I believe. Which is so cool. Then I come home for almost month, then we go to Europe and England, because we still haven’t done a proper headline tour over there for this record as well. We went over there late last (Northern Hemispheric) Summer to do festivals like Reading and Leeds, mainly did a lot of festivals there.”
“We haven’t done a lot of club stuff over there, so we’ll do that, then take the rest of our summer off to think about what our next record is going to be like. We’re going to start writing, but I think about the fact that My Shame Is True came out in April of 2013, so by the time this next record comes out it will have been two years. That’s if we can get it done! I’ve written one Alkaline Trio song since My Shame Is True came out, and that’s it!”
“I don’t know how many Matt’s written, but I need to start thinking about it. I’m currently working a new (side project with Brendan Kelly of The Lawrence Arms) Emergency Room record, and trying to contribute to another band I’m in called The Falcons. So I’m busy, and I’m trying to be a good husband and Father as well! (Laughs) So, yeah, I’ve got my hands full.”
Todd Gingell