Straylight Run Interview - 02.18.2005
Interview with John Nolan (vocals, guitar) and Shaun Cooper (bass)Interview by Rob Todd & Nate Frusti | 02.18.2005 | Ann Arbor, MI | The Blind Pig
What do you think has been the key to your breakthrough success of late, other than the money? Shaun: We’ve had a lot of money behind us, Victory [Records] has been good to us – no not really. No, they’ve been alright to us, I’m just being a dick. That’ll have to be edited won’t it, getting off to a good start? I don’t know, we’ve been very lucky, our video has been getting lots of air play, we’re happy about that. I think it’s a pretty decent song. We’ve put together an album that I’m very proud of, I think that helps as well. What do you think John?
John: I think that being able to tour for a year before [Straylight Run] came out definitely helped.
Shaun: That internet’s a hell of a thing.
John: And putting the songs up on the internet. I’m sure it didn’t hurt coming out of Taking Back Sunday; we had a lot of attention right from the beginning which a lot of bands don’t have. Although I think we probably lost a lot of people that were there because of Taking Back Sunday and I think we’re starting to get a different fan base now. We definitely started from a position where we had a lot more attention on us than a lot of bands get to have in the beginning.
About that, I noticed that all of the bands tonight are featuring members from other bands that have had fame.
John: We just noticed that. We decided to do the ‘Ex-Members Tour’ or the ‘Side Project Tour.’ I actually just realized it the other day when we did an interview they were asking me to tell a little bit about all the bands on this tour and then as I went through it I started realizing that everything I was saying was like, ‘They were in this band and they were in this band.’ It’s just coincidence.
Shaun: I think it’s ‘cause this is the only thing that all of us know. We know how to tour and be in bands so everyone keeps doing it ‘cause it’s like that. Or, as I said in a previous interview – ‘pumping gas.’
John: They were the only options. For us anyway. Will was gonna be an accountant.
The Blind Pig is a pretty small venue. Was it intentional to schedule such a small show?
John: We played here once before on the New Amsterdams tour that we did and it was a good show, I remember it being one of the better shows. Sometimes when you go on a tour some shows are kinda crappy. The ones that are good really stand out so I think this place, for that reason, kind of stood out as a place to go back to when we have to route our way back home.
Did you expect the show to sell out so fast?
John: I don’t even know how fast it sold out?
Within the first month of going on sale.
John: I had no idea. I’d definitely prefer to play a small place like this and have it sell out quick than play a big place and have it half empty.
Was there a specific purpose to this tour?
Shaun: Just to go home now.
John: This part of the tour is really just to go home. We were on tour with Something Corporate and the last show was in Las Vegas, which is obviously very far from New York. So rather than just drive home and pay for two days drive on the bus we figured we play some shows and get some bands together that we’d like to tour with and work our way back home.
Tell us a little bit about how the band got started, how long have you guys known each other?
John: Will was in Breaking Pangaea which we knew him from that. I knew Shaun from when we were in a band together.
Shaun: A previous endeavor. It did pretty good (Laughter).
John: Then I knew my sister ‘cause she’s my sister (Laughter).
What’s the story behind the continued relationship with Victory Records?
Shaun: We didn’t have a choice (laughter).
John: We did have a bit of a choice.
Shaun: Yes we did, I’m being a jerk – again.
John: We did have a contractual obligation to Victory. It was from Taking Back Sunday. People probably don’t realize but when you sign with a label the individuals in the band sign for themselves and it’s not one big contract. So Shaun and I had our contract with Victory and they allowed us to talk with some other labels about maybe buying out the deal but it would have had to be a major label and we weren’t sure if we wanted to go that route.
Shaun: We didn’t know how much money it would cost to sign to a major label and it would kind of screw us over and we didn’t know how long that stupid process would take. We were like, ‘Lets get a record out! That’s all we want to do.’ And we DID IT!
John: They were good enough to work Will and Michelle into a new deal that they worked out with us.
Shaun: A nice fair deal.
John: That was very cool. And that’s pretty much how it happened.
Going back to the Something Corporate tour. I notice you had a keyboardist/guitarist who’s not listed on any of your information. Who is he and is he a permanent member?
Shaun: If he keeps acting up the way he does he’s gonna get the boot sooner than later (Laughter), that’s for sure! He’s a fine young man by the name of Isaac Berker and he’s also from Baldwin (NY) like me and John and Michelle. I’ve known him since seventh grade, we were in jazz band together. We used to smoke a lot of pot together too but then we quit the weed.
Was that his first tour with you guys? He looked a little nervous to say the least.
John: It was his first tour ever I think.
Shaun: No, the Hot Rod tour was. […] He’s from hardcore bands so he’s used to swinging his guitar around and stuff so he still has to find his little niche there on our stage. He’s gonna figure it out just fine. I gave him some laxatives today so he’ll probably be on fire, running around like a madman trying not to crap himself silly. We’ll see what happens.
Is it true that you guys will be performing for MTV's Unplugged?
Shaun: I saw that rumor on our message boards and I haven’t heard anything about it myself.
John: We will be on MTV.com. We’re going to be on playing acoustic songs. I don’t think they do [Unplugged] anymore.
Shaun: I think the last one was Dashboard [Confessional] or LL Cool J. It was so gross. He had his shirt off and all his armpit hair and it had all that deodorant in it and he’d put his arms up and everybody would be like, ‘Put your arms down LL, you’re making a fool out of yourself sir!’ But he wouldn’t listen. He’d beat the crap out of me.
Do you have any plans to release a new single and video from your self-titled album?
John: We talk about a video (Laughter).
Shaun: We haven’t discussed this with anyone except people inside our band. We were thinking about maybe “Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs” would be our next single and throw everyone for a loop (laughter). Should I get into the content?
John: Yeah, why not? It won’t happen anyway so at least we’ll get to talk about it.
Shaun: It’s kind of Michelle’s concept. We’d all be sitting around watching TV and flipping through the channels and we’d fall on all these early 90s sitcoms like “Beverly Hills 90210.” Michelle would be Brenda, John would be Brandon, I would be Dillon, and Will would be Steve (Laughter) and Michelle would have one eye plastered way up on her forehead ‘cause Shannon Doherty crooked eyes. John and I would be busy drunk driving or something – a very special “90201.”
John: We’d start it out there but we thought about doing a whole 90s show theme where we’d flip around the channels and do “Seinfeld” and of course I would be Jerry, Will would be Kramer, Shaun would be George, Michelle would be Elaine and so on and so forth with your various early 90s TV show.
Shaun: My favorite one of the bunch, because it would be staring me, I would be “Walker Texas Ranger.” I’d get to dress up like Chuck Norris’ role as Walker!
John: And I’d get to be your black sidekick.
Shaun: Yes yes, and we’d fight crime together. We’d take on 10 fighters at a time and we’d defeat with karate. So, yeah, that’s the plan. It’s a pipe dream really.
John: We don’t even know if we’re gonna put out another single. But if we do, keep your eyes open for that one!
Have you been writing new stuff then?
John: [Turning to his laptop] We’ve been writing some new stuff right here. I’ve been working on mixing some stuff that we recorded. We had a day off on this tour so we recorded a new song that Michelle wrote. Yeah, we have a ton of stuff. We haven’t really worked a lot of it out as a band yet and I’d say that we have about eight or nine new songs just kind of demoed as acoustic versions of songs. So whenever we get some time we’ll probably try to really arrange them and work some stuff out and start recording to get ready to start really record them. But that’s still way off but we’re just trying to plan ahead and keep ourselves busy.
What else do you guys do on tour?
John: A decent amount of reading.
Shaun: I’m in the middle of three books right now.
John: [Very skeptically] Oh yeah? What books?
Shaun: Well I didn’t start my first blood book yet. I’m reading, what’s it called – Scott On Neil.
John: Scott On Neil? It sounds like some sort of gay literature that you’re reading here.
Shaun: Shut up!
John: It’s Me and Neil isn’t it?
Shaun: Neil and Me! It’s a book written by Neil Young’s daddy, Scott Young, all about Neil Young and Scott Young’s life together as a father and son. His dad’s a writer, and a pretty good one at that. I got another one, what is it? Letters From a Moron? This guy’s just a crazy writer and I guess he’s a friend of Jerry Seinfeld ‘cause Jerry Seinfeld wrote the forward on it. He just writes all these ridiculous letters to all these ridiculous magazines to try and get his work published. They show you all the stupid stories he wrote about him mowing the lawn and getting his toe chopped off and he sent it to like Pets Magazine or something.
What’s the one thing that you bring with you on tour that you can’t live without?
John: I think DVDs in general, or my DVD booklet is the most important thing I bring on tour. ‘Cause if I didn’t get to watch movies I don’t know what I’d do with myself sometimes.
You’d be forced to talk to the other members of the band.
John: Yeah, I’d have to socialize with the rest of my band and you know that’s not gonna happen anytime soon (laughter).
So that’s what happened with Taking Back Sunday.
John: Yup, I would just lock myself in a room and watch videos all day.
Shaun: And I don’t mind it, he can get away with that crap with me ‘cause he’s got a great mouth (Laughter). As longs as he’s happy watching his movies and giving me oral pleasure.
Is it true that on the track "Sympathy for the Martyr" that [John’s] mother makes a guest appearance in the background of the track? If yes, whose idea was it?
John: The idea, where did it come from? I don’t know. She was there, up visiting the studio. She’s just very interested in the whole recording process and she was just hangin’ around in the studio and we just figured why not. There’s that part at the end and we wanted to have a group vocal sort of thing. I didn’t actually end up being exactly how I imagined it. I imagined it being more of a choir thing but towards the end it gets to be multiple vocals and then my Mom and Michelle and also my girlfriend was also around.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Shaun: Thanks for having us.
John: Yeah, I don’t have anything particularly interesting to say.
