5 replies to this topic

[Jose D.]

http://hangout.altso...ca-survive.html

i guess in december his gonna record some songs for his 2nd album...ty ty

[September]

The Lowdown: Anthony Green from Circa Survive

"I was unsettled by that, it bothered me. I was throwing water bottles back at the dude and I eventually just jumped in and started hitting him&a

For some, the name Anthony Green conjures up myriads of differing images; gracing the line-ups of bands like Circa Survive, Saosin, Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer and Audience of One, Green has already
had a more than lucrative career, garnering a respectable fanbase. With more than ten professional musical guest appearances and a second solo album in the works, Green is one of the most prolific and active
musicians on the alternative scene. Following the recent release of Circa Survive’s new album, he has been touring the US and the UK to promote the fresh material. We caught up with him for a chat backstage
before his Birmingham show.

Altsounds: So, how are you doing?

Anthony Green: I’m great.

Altsounds: How long have you been in England?

Green: We’ve been here for a little over six days.

Altsounds: And how’s England been treating you?

Green: It’s awesome!

Altsounds: You’ve been playing quite a lot of shows this year, how’s the tour been so far?

Green: So far it’s been excellent really; we have a lot of fun playing so there haven’t been a lot of complaints. [laughs]

Altsounds: You brought Coheed and Cambria along for some of the tour, and you’ve toured with them for quite a while. Do you have a good relationship with those guys?

Green: Yeah, we’re really good friends with them. We’re real lucky that they wanted to do a tour, they asked us if we were available. They’re really good guys, we were on the same label with them for a little while. Colin and Brendan [guitarists for Circa Survive] took Coheed out the first time they ever played any shows, so we’ve known them for a while.

Altsounds: You’re known for bringing humour and good fun to your live shows…

Green: Really? We are? [laughs]

Altsounds: [laughs] Well I read that you wore a dress once at the Vans Warped Tour in 2007…

Green: It was a hot day!

Altsounds: Haha! Can we expect anything like that tonight?

Green: Nah, I left my dresses at home I’m afraid.

Altsounds: Oh, that’s a shame. On a similar note, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever had happen during a live show?

Green: Sometimes people come on stage and do weird shit. I had somebody throw a beer at me when we played in Las Vegas. This guy was just going and getting drinks, and just throwing them at me. And you know, I was unsettled by that, it bothered me. I was throwing water bottles back at the dude and I eventually just jumped in and started hitting him – I just snapped. He came back to the bus afterwards and he was all like “I love you, you’re the best!” and we were like “Why the fuck were you throwing shit at us then?” He was just some wasted dude. I should be angry at people less, I learned that.

Altsounds: I’ve heard Circa Survive being labelled under a number of different genres; indie, rock, experimental. How would you personally define your sound?

Green: I would just say we’re a rock band man.

Altsounds: You released your latest album,"Blue Sky Noise" in April. How’s the critical response been?

Green: I don’t really know, cos I don’t really pay attention. All I know is that everybody I’ve come into contact with has been pretty positive about it, but my psychiatrist tells me not to read all that critical shit – what reviews say. I think it’s more important that you know something’s good, and you don’t really need any validation from them, or your friends or family.

Altsounds: So would it matter to you if an album of yours had been slated?

Green: The thing that matters to me is that we keep getting to play shows, and keep being a band. So if it’s doing well enough so that we can continue doing that, then that makes me happy. And you can never make everybody happy anyway. I’m too much of a sensitive prick to read into that kinda stuff.

Altsounds: [laughs] Looking back now at the writing and recording process, is there anything you would’ve done differently?

Green: On this album? Not one thing.

Altsounds: On other material?

Green: There are little things on the first two albums that I would’ve given more time, or things I wish I had a moment to sit with before we committed to. Things I would’ve added, not necessarily taken away or changed. We never really had the luxury of having a good amount of time in the studio, but this time we really got the time to do whatever we wanted and make sure it was perfect.

Altsounds: You said on your website after Circa had released Blue Sky Noise you’d begin work on a follow-up to your solo project. How’s that going?

Green: Yeah, it’s good, I’ve got like 8 songs recorded as demos and I think we’re actually just gonna use those demos. I have another 7 or 8 songs I want to record, and I think I have about 10 days to record them in December of this year. So I’m just working on finalising them, and sending them out to the guys in the band – the band that plays on the album. We’re gonna record it in the same place in Avalon, New Jersey. But yeah, when we went to record the demos, we were just figuring out how to do it, and the demos ended up sounding really good. So I think we’re just gonna use the demos for the record. They’re all really raw, and they were all recorded when we were blacked out and drunk. [laughs]

Altsounds: Which makes the best music!

Green: Haha, sometimes! Sometimes it makes the shittiest music!

Altsounds: When you’re not busy recording your own material, what do you listen to? What’ve you got on your iPod?

Green: I’ve been listening this band called Mount St. Helens Vietnam Band, from Seattle. I’ve been listening to Bon Iver a lot, there’s this album I got and sort of forgot about for a while, and now I’ve been listening to it constantly. There’s a band called Beirut who are so good. For a while I’ve felt like there’s no good music around, but right now it feels like there is just so much good music out there. There’s a ton of good shit.

Altsounds: You obviously used to be in the alternative band Saosin, before moving on to form Circa Survive. How did that change come about?

Green: We were getting really close to being signed to a major label, and I was freaking out about it ‘cos it seemed so fast. I wasn’t in a good place personally, I was far away from my family and my friends, and I just didn’t want to do it any more. The band were actually just like ‘you don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna do man’, and I just decided that if I’m gonna make music for a living, I’m gonna do it with people I care about and love, and people that love me. I don’t wanna have to feel like a hired singer.

Altsounds: What do you think the future holds for Circa Survive?

Green: Fuck man! [laughs] Well, I hope we just keep going, y’know? Ever since we started playing together, everything has just taken the proper steps that were needed to be taken and I feel like we’re always getting sharper and we’re always getting closer to what we want, and want to sound like. I just hope the future holds more of that – that growth, our experiments, our music, our creativity. I’d like to see the band be able to go all around the world and play music for everybody, however that works out. I just wanna be happy.

Altsounds: So, what does the future hold for you then?

Green: Well, I’ve got a baby coming in October!

Altsounds: Congratulations!

Green: Thank you. I’m really excited about that. Me and my wife also just bought a house, and honestly, my life at the minute is just right. I love writing music and there hasn’t been a time in the last ten years when I haven’t been anticipating going into the studio, or anticipating having time to write. Even when I go on vacation, I take my guitar with me, I’ll take books with me. I’m writing all the time, I’ll write anywhere – in a train station, on an aeroplane, or backstage, just wherever. It really would be a bleak, bleak future if I ever planned on taking a break from it. You take a break from something that’s troubling, or that’s hurting, and I never want to do that.
My baby inspires me, my wife inspires me –every stage in my life. I feel like an old person, and I’m only 28 years old. I didn’t have to go to college, I didn’t have to do anything like that, I have a job that makes me happy. I’m pretty stoked. [laughs]

Altsounds: [laughs] I would be too! One final question; sometimes you might hear that your band sounds like other artists, like Billy Talent, for example.

Green: Really? People say that?

Altsounds: I’ve heard it! Whether it’s true or not…

Green: I’ve never really listened to Billy Talent, but we went on tour with them. They came over with us in the U.S. when we were on tour with Rise Against. That’s the first time I heard them, and they’re really great dudes. But I’ve never listened to Billy Talent and thought “I need to make a song like that!”. I guess he and I both have pretty high voices though.

Altsounds: So would you say it’s important for you to maintain individuality as a musician, or is it okay to sound like other bands?

Green: I think if you’re inspired by something, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. For my own personal well being, it’s not good for me to go out and aim to do something that someone else has already done. For me, it’s about doing something that I’ve never done. Like you said, he and I sound similar maybe, or maybe our bands have a similar sound, but I think that just brings us closer and helps us to grow.
Maintaining individuality is almost impossible when creating art, most artists are just people who have been inspired by someone else’s art. If I went out and tried to sing like Björk, I wouldn’t ever be able to sound like her, but maybe what I created trying to sound like her is completely unique and different.
However, I do notice that once there’s a popular band about, I see all these other bands trying to sound like them. I find that interesting because usually one of those bands ends up becoming more popular because even though they’re trying to sound like them, they deviate from it because they’re not them, they take on something of their own. Any rock band, in fact any band out there is a rip off of something else. Circa Survive is a rip off of ten thousand different things, we just do it in our own way, so it’s hard to tell. I hope people don’t think we’re trying to rip Billy Talent off… [laughs] that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that!

Altsounds: [laughs] Awesome! Thank you very much for your time!

Green: No problem man, I appreciate it.

Interview by Sam Hardy

[ᜏR]

That was a good interview. I really like Anthony's positivity and i agree with him on his philosophy on art and music. Dude is very inspiring to meh

[serena]

aw!!! A little A.Green on the way! I wonder if it's a girl or boy

[Chrono]

A good read, so thank you good sir.

[Nich]

He deserves all the happiness and success, such a great dude.