Interview — Against Me!

By Jennifer Swann

Back in '97, Tom Gabel began an acoustic one-man band. Eight years and more than 11 releases later, Tom is accompanied by James on guitar, Warren on drums, and Andrew on bass. Despite four or five different line-up changes, the name Against Me! has stuck and is more familiar now than ever. The folk-punk quartet has even been hailed as the messiah of punk rock.

Andrew Seward still thinks of himself the newest member of Against Me!-although he's been with the band for three-and-a-half years. When he joined the band, they started touring immediately and continue to spend more time on the road each year than most people travel in a lifetime. Against Me! have gained a considerable amount of popularity in the past few years. However, as Andrew observes, "For the longest time [...] it's always been about just getting in the van and going as far as you can and playing to whoever. We don't have a manifesto or a game plan; we're just four normal guys who are very lucky to be playing music together."

SKRATCH: How long have you guys been on this tour?
ANDREW: This actual 50-state tour we've only been on for...well, let's see...This is the sixth show, I think. But we played, like, three New York City CMJ shows before that, and we did our like nine-show tour before that. Basically, we're on tour all the time.

SKRATCH: So this is just the beginning leg of the tour right now.
ANDREW: Yeah. I think our last couple shows are in December 12th or 14th or something like that.

SKRATCH: Are you guys used to touring for this long of periods of time?
ANDREW: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We probably tour a total of 10 months out of a year, so we're used to it.

SKRATCH: Is there anything about touring that still really bothers you?
ANDREW: Not so much. I mean, you know, nobody's ever lied [and said] that they don't like sleeping in their own bed. Stuff like that. But we're really lucky to be doing this. We get to travel around everywhere, so I'm not complaining.

SKRATCH: What is the album title [SEARCHING FOR A FORMER CLARITY] a reference to?
ANDREW: I don't know. You have to...All of our stuff is...I know this is a total cop-out answer, but everything is open for you to interpret, you know what I mean? The songs are their own explanations. I mean, what do you think it means?

SKRATCH: Well, I haven't gotten a chance to listen to the whole album yet, but I know that one of the song titles is "Don't Lose Touch". What inspired you guys to write that song?
ANDREW: Well, it came abut the way every other song came about: we just practice for a really long time. We probably took off three months straight, built a little like practice space in the bottom of Tom's garage, and practiced like five nights a week. It came together very tight, and we just fuckin' went for it. That's where "Don't Lose Touch" came from. Actually, we just started playing it, and we're like, "Oh, this is really catchy." And then it just became a song in probably 30 minutes.

SKRATCH: I heard Against Me! is opening up for Green Day in October?
ANDREW: Yeah-October 8th, something like that. At some little place, I'm sure.
SKRATCH:

SKRATCH: [Laughs] And you're playing on the Conan O'Brien show, too, right?
ANDREW: Yeah: it airs on Friday. We're going to New York City to film it on Monday. Playing on Conan is what I've wanted to do since I was like 18 years old. [...] He's the funniest guy on television.

SKRATCH: Are these types of things at all what "Don't Lose Touch" refers to? Is it hard to stay in touch with what's going on with the underground and DIY scene while playing with Green Day and being on TV? or do you feel like you've maintained a pretty good balance between the two?
ANDREW: Oh, I think we have an excellent balance. I mean, yeah, we're playing a show with Green Day and Conan O'Brien, but hell, that's two days out of 365. For 363, we're still doing exactly what we've always done: playing shows wherever, whenever. I think we're pretty balanced.

SKRATCH: What are some other dreams that you've accomplished so far?
ANDREW: Pretty much all of this shit I never thought I'd ever do, so it's really awesome that we've been doing it. This festival flew us over to Tokyo in March just to play one show. Stuff like that is amazing. We're very lucky to be doing this and having these opportunities. In July, we went over and played Iceland, Lithuania, Croatia, Serbia, Poland-all these countries (a lot of [which] used to be part of the U.S.S.R.). If you could rewind to like five years ago, there's no way in hell I'd ever think I'd be doing this.

SKRATCH: Would you say that the vibe from the audiences is the same everywhere? How does it differ in countries such as Japan?
ANDREW: Well, despite the fact that most of them don't speak English, it's really, really amazing to play somewhere like Germany or Tokyo and have people know the words. They're singing along just like if we were playing in, Boston or L.A. So it's really, really cool. It's a goose-bump kind of feeling.

SKRATCH: Did all of you guys always want to be in bands when you were growing up, or did this just sort of happen?
ANDREW: I've been playing bass since I was 12, and I'm 27 now. All I've ever wanted to do was be in bands and travel and not work a real job. I'm pretty sure I can speak for everybody when I say that we've all been in bands ever since we picked up an instrument.

SKRATCH: Halloween's coming up. Do you have any funny stories or favorite costumes?
ANDREW: Well, we're gonna be in Vegas for Halloween. I can't give away any secrets for this year, but it's gonna be spectacular. Last year, I don't know what happened. I just woke up, and I heard that Batman played our show, Bruce Springsteen was there, a big whiskey bottle, a Viking [...] That was last year. I don't remember it.

SKRATCH: [Laughs] So you guys have big plans for this year, as well?
ANDREW: You could say that, yeah.

SKRATCH: Are holidays a big thing for you guys?
ANDREW: Well, Halloween's by far the best holiday. Ever. I don't give a shit if it's all about the candy, and, you know, dressing up and being stupid. Sounds good to me!

SKRATCH: What's one of the coolest costumes you've seen?
ANDREW: Well, it's funny, because I think we dress up more than the audience for Halloween. I'd probably say the coolest outfit I've seen in a long time was last year. The Blood Brothers from Seattle were on tour with us, and they all dressed up as bananas. One of their singers, Johnny, dressed up as the Chiquita Banana lady. That was quite an event.

SKRATCH: It seems like a lot of the bands that get on the same bill with Against Me! are pretty diverse. What's usually the reaction from people who come to the show who may not have previously known about your band?
ANDREW: Hopefully just a good time, you know? I think we make it a point to tour with very diverse bands that don't sound like us. I mean, The Epoxies sure as hell don't sound like us. We don't sound like them, and we don't sound like The Soviettes or Smoke or Fire. I just think that that should be the point of a show. I mean, would you want to go to a show where four bands sound exactly the same?

Pick up the new record, SEARCHING FOR A FORMER CLARITY, and catch Against Me! on tour in a city near you.

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