September

Interview: Colin Frangicetto /// Circa Survive & Psychic Babble
http://sonicxbloom.t...o-circa-survive

Colin Frangicetto has always been a personal inspiration for me. It was right around my freshman year in high school when I first heard of him. It was at the beginning of the band Circa Survive’s life, a now thriving force in the music scene. Colin was regularly posting entries on the bands website, which was more of a tour diary it seemed. I remember feeling really connected to him and the band. I can recall him writing about life on tour, it was my first look into the “on the road” lifestyle and it enthralled me. It was the personal, in depth, honest writing that he and the rest of the band did that really made me fall in love with music. Eight years later I was lucky enough to get Colin on the phone and ask him what has been itching at me for years. This interview took place in March of 2012. Colin was juggling his successful art career, his solo music ventures under the moniker “Psychic Babble”, and at the time of the call had taken a break from tracking the now popular Circa album “Violent Waves”. Some of it may be a bit out dated, but the conversation went as follows. (Interview conducted by Tim Brown)

First off, tell me your name and what bands or projects you’re involved with.
My names Colin and I am in Circa Survive and I paint stuff and I have a solo thing called Psychic Babble.

You’ve been involved music for a while; walk through how you got yourself into music.
I think I was like 13 and I started playing my dads guitar, he had a guitar lying around, he used to be a band a long time ago when he was in his 20’s. He knew I was getting into rock and he was like “Use this.” It was a Strat I was just messing around with it and then I guess when I started middle school is when I met friends who were into music too. When I was in elementary school and I would start to get into Pearl Jam and stuff when they first came out with Ten. Everyone in elementary school was awesome at sports so I was kind of like, the weirdo and then once I got to middle school I met some other weirdo’s and we started jamming. One of them had a drum set; I think everyone had guitars and shit. I don’t think we even had a bass. But it kind of started to spiral from there. Everyone I had met started to be like “What are you listening to?” or “What do you play?” and then it’s like “Oh, you want to start a band?” and by the time I was 15 I was probably in like four bands at any given time. I think that’s just the way a lot of people get into it when you’re younger. I guess when it got serious was more like 16ish. The band I was in was called Yellow Five. Our guitar player’s dad was a friend with a guy who had a studio, which was kind of crazy for me, but yeah so we wound up recording our first set. And that was the first crazy experience that I had was going into the studio at like 15 or 16 and like having my mind blown about how to record stuff. By the time I was a junior in high school I was in This Day Forward. And I had gotten into Minor Threat and all that stuff like punk and more aggressive stuff. And some guys wanted to play like Converge style stuff and that’s what I wanted at the time. So like in gym class they had said they needed a drummer and I was like well I played snare drum in middle school so I could probably play drums. And plus my neighbor had given me a drum set for my birthday. So I just started learning how to play the set. And we were a band for like a year and you know the hardcore community was so easy to fall into. If you wanted to play you just had to like start e-mailing around and you find people who put on shows in halls and stuff. By the time it was graduation it was like go to school during the week and Friday would come and we would jump in our cars and drive to wherever it was we were playing. Sometimes that was all the way to Florida from Pennsylvania so we would drive Friday night Saturday during the day, get there Saturday night and play the show then drive all the way and miss a day of school, you know? It was crazy. It was an obsession. And all of us worked part time jobs during the week and saved up and when summer came we would just self-book all across the U.S. and it was how we spent our summers, and our money haha. And from then on it just kept growing you know, playing shows in Upstate New York and start catching the ears of people who put on Hell Fest and stuff like that. We were on some local label called Break Even and they like pressed a thousand tapes for us and we never thought we would sell more than a hundred and we ended up selling out within like 6 months. Then Eulogy came around with an actual record deal and from there it just took off. It was more serious and touring nonstop during the summer. By the time we were out of school it was just constantly on our minds like “Should we do this full time?”. We were thinking; Poison the Well and From Autumn to Ashes and Thursday all of our friends’ bands were going full time and hitting huge. And we were like “Yeah let’s go full time, not to get rich just to do it as a job. Make shitty money doing this and it’ll be great.” So we did that for a few years.

That actually leads great into my next question; when was it clear to you that this would be a career for you?
Well you know its weird because the first inclination to try it was certainly not confirmed with any amazing result. For This Day Forward, our last album was on Equal Vision. EV bought us out of our Eulogy deal and that’s when we decided to go full time. At that point I was in community college and doing This Day Forward part time and going to school full time and I was actually going to community college in Philly and wound up getting an internship working in NY for Roadrunner Records and I kind of finagled my way into getting double credits for it. So I got credits for that and some online courses and bam I was a full time student living in New York City getting a community college degree which felt like the biggest scam ever but I totally pulled it off. It was incredible I met so many people and the hunger to do music full time really blossomed. Seeing all these shitty bands doing it and being fine, I was like “Well we’re good, we can do this.” But touring a year straight for our last album wasn’t really received well by our fan base. They just wanted the chugging breakdowns and we were getting into more structured songwriting with melodies and stuff. That was the year we decided to get a booking agent and a lawyer and step it up but it was so daunting to be on the road. We were on the biggest tour we could ever imagine if you’re a hardcore fan. It was the Take Action Tour with Poison the Well and Shadows Fall and all these huge bands for like 2,500 people, but we sold like one cd and one t-shirt a night and it was like oh we can’t do this. So a year of that put a damper on it for everybody and at that point it was like well we’ve been a band for 6 or 7 years and only full time for a year but it was obvious that it was punishing us and completely ruining our friendships so we just decided to kill that band. It was pretty shattering. Putting all your time and all your soul into something and suddenly its gone. For me I was like I don’t know if I want to do something like that again. So I was writing music on the side and doing it for fun, and maybe 6 months later Anthony [Green] is calling me asking to hang out. We had been buds for a long time and he just popped the question of like “Hey I’m gonna quit my band that’s about to be huge and instead to a project with you, how does that sound?” And I was kind of like why the hell would you do that you idiot. Because to me, I was such a big supporter of him from day one. He was always one of my favorite singers since I met him and Audience of One, his first band; we played tons of tours with them. And after he was getting clean and stuff I was just like “Man, if he can get his shit together…” and when I heard the Saosin demos I was like “This is going to be massive, it’s going to be fucking huge” and when he told me he wanted to quit I was like dude just stick it out because the Anthony I knew was always getting scaring and bailing on things and stuff so I though it was one of those things. He was like “No, we don’t have a lot in common and they want different things from me and I just want to be home and make music with people I love” and he was like “if I quit though then you gotta do this for real with me.” and I didn’t even really give it a though I was like “Yup, okay.” I was kind of betting on him not doing it and less than a week later he totally quit mid flight going back to California to meet back with them, turned around and came home and we started Circa Survive the next day just me and him. And I think within a month or so we were signed to Equal Vision just the two of us without a band and we were getting members and stuff. Crazy.

Life for a musician in that first early band can definitely be daunting at times, so how did it feel to experience the massive breakthrough of Circa, especially since it was made on a gamble in the first place.
Right, it was probably one of the best feelings that I’ve ever had in my life. I mean basically like I said that whole situation with This Day Forward, getting the chance to have all we wanted and then it turned out no its just a band, it isn’t going to work like that was a huge sense of rejection. I remember being on the tour that we all dubbed the “Scrape Across America Tour” like the whole tour sucked. It was tanking, there was nobody coming to the shows. And then down in California we played Chain Reaction and it was sold out. We thought it was the best thing ever that could happen. And so they’re all in there and everybody’s watching the first band, and then the whole place empties out while we play. We played for like three people, you know. And that was just kind of like we couldn’t catch a break that was just the way things went. So then fast forward like a year and a half later, after Circa had made our first record [Juturna], but it wasn’t out yet. And we out on our first tour, we were with Bear vs. Shark and Gatsby’s American Dream and we were back at Chain Reaction. And we were the opening band and honestly, that same thing happened but in reverse. Everyone came, it was always sold out and we opened the shows, and they were the craziest shows that we had played to date at that point. And it felt like “Holy shit this is real, things are really happening”. We only had two songs out on the Internet that people even knew but you know the whole crowd was just going insane the entire time and as soon as we were done playing, everyone left. And it was like the complete reversal in the same exact spot that it had happened previously and it just felt like…I felt horrible for Bear vs. Shark and Gatsby’s but it felt so good to know that it was working and that just kind of escalated from then on. Our first two tours, we were just that band. We were the opening band getting paid like a hundred bucks a night but we were selling out the shows and people were just leaving after us. And it just felt really badass to be that band.

Circa is known for having a really passionate fan base. When you were growing up did you feel that same way about any bands?
Man, so many. I think the ones that have really stuck around for me are bands like Radiohead and Pearl Jam. There’s a lot more but it has kind of morphed because a lot of the bands that I was such a fan of when I was younger I’ve become peers with. Bands like Saves the Day and Thursday and stuff, bands that I’ve looked up to forever eventually became our schools in a way. I’m still a total fan of them, but not in the same way I look up to like Pearl Jam or Radiohead or like Bjork; artists that blow my mind consistently that I don’t have a personal relationship with. It’s the same thing with Dredg. We listened to El Cielo like everyday when we were writing Juturna. Never even imagining that our first big support tour would be opening for them. And again never imagining that five years after that we would take them out on tour. And then that I would do an art show with Drew, their bassist, who’s one of my favorite visual artists. It’s crazy the shit that can happen once you get a confidence and start to build on it and you have a fan base that follows you. It’s just a wild ride.

Circa shows have gotten a good name for being really high energy and a bit crazy. What’s it like to be on the stage, on the other side of the craziness that you guys are creating?
It’s really one of the things I’m most thankful for. As an artist and as a person. I look forward to those spans of time when we’re headlining to our crowds. Don’t get me wrong; opening for a bigger band is always cool and really exciting. But when I know we’re going out for like 6 weeks and we’re headlining so it’s just going to be mostly Circa fans, I know what to expect in a way. Like the energy that’s thrown at us every night. It is so amazingly supportive, passionate, and just dedicated. Every tour gets bigger, and any day where I’m nervous about like turnout or anything like that it always washes away. Like what was I ever worried about. Like now we don’t really worry, we just do our thing. It seems like things are just still in a natural steady incline of healthy growth. Nothing like “We’re going to become buzz band of the week!” or anything like that. And that’s what we want. We want to be that band that organically grows. It was fast at the beginning but now everything has sort of leveled out and I feel like it’s just a very natural thing that we have. But our shows are just so therapeutic. For us and I hope our fans. Like, when my wife was first coming to our shows she was like “Oh my god, I cant understand how people would subject themselves to that kind of shit on purpose. And love it so much.” And one step further she’s like “I can’t believe what Anthony does. Like, letting a million people touch him all the time and just being completely one with them” And I think know she has a total different appreciation where she sees that it is like that. We do try to let down all those barriers and sometimes it’s just a fun rock show but sometimes its borderline spiritual experience. That’s the best it can be. At its worst it’s a fucking wild ass good time. Of all the bad shows I’ve played being in different bands, Circa’s bad shows are most band’s good shows. Our standards have been relentlessly raised over and over again and I think now the confidence carries so much. You let go of the worry and become part of the show and make it something special for everyone involved. Were in a really good spot with it.

Touring is something that artists strive for early on. After years it can get pretty daunting though. What’s something about touring that will never get old for you?
For me, something that won’t get old is just performing. Because every show can have this unique identity as a stand out time like this is when this happened or that’s the night this happened but ultimately it never really feels bad to have that relief. But there is plenty of shit that does get old. But the release we get from performing will never. And I think just the activity and traveling the world with your best friends it pretty awesome regardless.

Speaking of that, Circa recently went for a run down in Australia. How did that go?
It was incredible. It was our second time there and the tour went so well, so much better than we ever could have imagined. Especially just looking at the line up at first was intimidating because it was all real heavy bands. We knew it was going to be fun because we had friends like Dredg and Saves the Day and Thursday on there and we knew some bands we wanted to check out. But we had dudes from all over, everywhere from like Slipknot and the Used all these bands you wouldn’t expect to be Circa fans coming up saying I love your band, we were like holy shit really? Haha

So you guys are in the middle of recording your fourth studio album. With the past albums, your core sound seemed to change slightly with each new release. So far, is that what we can expect from the new album?
Yeah I think so. I think its very fluid with Circa’s spirit. And I think that you would be able to tell that it’s us right away, of course. But there’s definitely a lot of new energy on the record, a lot of new things that we’re trying. This record feels the most free of all of them. It’s definitely the least painful record to make. I think were just in such a good place mentally and as a group just really tight and extremely understanding of each other’s stuff. And in a way we went back to the mentality of Juturna. There’s no focus on people flaws, unless they ask for it. There’s very little fighting. There’s not much debate going on, it’s just like “Yeah that’s fucking awesome, that’s what it should be”. It’s not the huge weight of “Everything’s riding on this record.” That’s completely gone. I feel like we know who we are and we are confident to try new things and were confident that our fans will follow us down any road we tend to go down at this point. On the last record we tried some different ways of songwriting and then kind of split the difference with this one like some of the old stuff that we would do, stuff we learned on the last record and then this new shit that we can kind of experiment with.

The last album [Blue Sky Noise] was described by you guys as a new chapter for the band, is this one going to be a new chapter as well, or an extension of the last?
I think this is a drastically new chapter as well. I think if you looked at our records from start to finish it would be like: Juturna is chapter one, On Letting Go is like the middle of chapter one, and then you have chapter two with Blue Sky Noise and this would be chapter three, in my book. But I’m sure that would be different for everyone. Over the last couple years there’s been so many big changes in all of our lives and I think we’ve come to grips with the idea that nothing lasts forever and that this band is so lucky and we so accomplished already that a lot of this is just bonus stuff now. We just want to do right by us and the legacy that we’ve created. We want to treat our fans with respect and write and perform music that means something to us. And when it seems like maybe that’s not the case, we’ll hang it up.I think there’s something really comforting in knowing that one day this will end so let’s give it everything we have now and not trip out over shit that doesn’t matter.

Switching gears to your side project, Psychic Babble. How did that start?
Psychic Babble was just a thing where I was writing songs on the side for a long time. Probably around the time of On Letting Go I would write something here and there that I knew was not really Circa-ish. It was just an exercise of continuing to record and do stuff on my own. I was like “Fuck I haven’t sang in a really long time.” All the bands I was in growing up, with the exception of This Day Forward, I would always sing and play guitar and I felt like doing that again so I started singing on these songs and you know after three or four years I was like well I have like 15 songs maybe I should do something with this. I found a gap in our schedule and I was like “fuck it, I’m going to go for this.” I took all the stuff I’ve been recording over the years and refined them. Redid tracks, and just kind of did it. I put it out myself and it was a great feeling. It was a great exercise of like, I don’t have to check with anyone else I don’t have to get a label or go through anything. It was very freeing. When you’re recording with a band it’s awesome and there’s a comfort there, which is great. But doing this there was a loneliness that I think was really important for me to feel to come back to appreciate what I have with a cooperation.

Where would you like to see Psychic Babble end up?
I really don’t even care. Whatever happens. For me, it’s cool to have a moniker to put music out under. I’m really into doing scoring type stuff. I did a really short score for a short film last year and loved it; it was such a good experience. And I feel like if I ever do that again I would just do it as Psychic Babble. It’s just something there. There’s not this huge goal for it or anything. I’ll definitely make more records, you know? It’s just good having another reason to do something and it’s a totally different vibe than what Circa is.

You said before that you didn’t plan on touring PB anytime soon. If you were to, what would you want your show to be like?
Well, revising that, I did say that and I stuck to it pretty hardcore in the beginning. I would say I had no plans of touring this. But now the more I have sat on it and the more people have started to appreciate the record and it’s gotten this huge response I definitely want to go out and play shows with it. It just has to be the right time. Basically what I would want it to be is one of those things where people walk away and want to come back the next time I’m there. That’s kind of the only thing I would want to feel.

On top of being in Circa Survive and on your own with Psychic Babble, you’re also a visual artist. How do you find time to paint with such a busy schedule?
You just have to make time. Right now I get up at 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning everyday. I go to the studio, get there by 11:00 and work there until about midnight. Come home and eat dinner with my wife then I’m usually painting until about 4:00 in the morning. That’s just how I roll right now, haha. I have my first solo gallery show in July, it’s just so important to me. It’s just as important to me as music. I just have to make time for it or it will just go away.

Where can people see your art?
Just my name dot com. colinfrangicetto.com or they could go to facebook.com/colinfrangicettoart.

12:42 pm • 11 May 2013

[Interview] Guitar Questions with Brendan Ekstrom of Circa Survive
Posted on May 1, 2013 . by Steve Posted in Blog, Interviews
http://livication.co...m-circa-survive



Circa Survive released their fourth full-length studio album last year, and the guys have been busy on several different national and international tours ever since. We got the chance to sit down with Anthony Green during their last Orlando stop in September. It wasn’t long before they came back to Central Florida with Minus The Bear, on another tour that stopped through Tampa’s Ritz Ybor. This time we got to talk to Brendan Ekstrom, one of the low key guitar aficionados that provide Circa Survive with their signature sound.


When did you first start playing guitar?
I was in high school. I think I was 16 or 17 when I got my first guitar, and I learned a couple Nirvana riffs. High school was a really weird time for me, so I didn’t really dedicate myself to it at the time, but I was definitely interested. Then I think around 20 years old, maybe 21, I started to really kind of jam with some friends and do some more. Everything was like, punk rock, though. So I never had that sweet background where I went and learned all the Metallica records and knew how to shred or anything, I was just always sort of like, half-assing it. I wanted to do it, but was never great at it.

Just kind of played around?
Yeah, just kind of noodling, trying to make fun shapes with my fingers and stuff like that.

Cool, that’s probably how you came up with such a signature sound.
It’s possible.

What do you remember about your first guitar?
It’s called a Martin Stinger, and I don’t think it’s actually affiliated with Martin guitars at all, but it’s this red guitar that had a Grateful Dead “Paint Your Face” sticker on it that looked like it was just melting off the side of the guitar. It was a total piece of shit. I gave it to my nephew. My nephew was born — Not my nephew…my cousin’s son was born the same birthday as me, April 6th. So after I got a nicer guitar I gave him my guitar. He’s taking care of it somewhere.

What do you like about your guitars now?
Well, I started playing Melancon Guitars…I guess about 8 years ago, like right around when Circa Survive started, and they’re very lightweight and just feel really nice to me, I kind of got addicted to them. There’s a couple guitars…I never really did Fender or Gibson, never really did like, the sort of mainstream things. Which is weird ’cause, they obviously sound amazing, that’s why everybody uses them, but I don’t know. Girard has always been really good to me – that’s the guy that builds the guitars and helps me out. There’s a couple other kind of boutique guitars I plan on trying out soon but haven’t really done it yet.

I’ve always thought that your guitar – the main one – the natural wood one, looks really beautiful. I’m just a little bit envious.
The first one that I ever bought, it was like one-piece ash, all-natural looking, and a one-piece neck and fretboard, like it was all one-piece rosewood with no fret markers on it, and it was the most beautiful guitar I have ever seen in my life. It had like a built-in MIDI pickup and like, custom pickups and it was perfect condition, and I was just like “I can’t keep this. I beat the shit out of everything I own. This is too nice for me to own.” So I ended up trading it for some gear and another Melancon guitar, and now I’m like – I would fucking kill to have this guitar back. It was so gorgeous, I want it so bad.

Yeah, but if you love something you’ve got to let it free, I guess…right?
I suppose.

Unless it’s a really nice guitar.
Maybe it’ll come back to me.

Maybe, just maybe. So were there any musicians or influences that you think shaped your guitar playing early on?
Early on…like I said when I first started playing it was sort of the grunge era for me, I was 16 when, you know, all that shit was happening. And I learned by playing Silverchair’s first record, and The Toadies’ first record, and Clutch. Like, Clutch was really influential because the guitar player does a lot of sort of bluesy patterns, and like, sort of groove-oriented patterns around the drums, so I think that that really stuck with me a lot when I first started playing. But as far as just listening to stuff, like, Pink Floyd and Sunny Day Real Estate and Tool have always been probably like the most influential. And Led Zeppelin, stuff like that.
Is there any one piece of gear that you really love, that you feel shapes or defines your sound more than any other piece of gear?
I guess I really don’t know. I mean…

They’ve all got their purposes, huh?
It’s hard to say. I had this pedal for a long time that was in my chain, but to say that it shaped my sound would be like…insane, considering my amp and my guitar are probably the two biggest factors in what I really sound like. But I had this Durham Electronics Sex Drive pedal that… I’d put it in front of any amp and it would just sound like, sparkly and brighter and more alive in a way, and it died recently, and I bought a new one and it just doesn’t sound the same and I’m so bummed about it.

Weird.
Yeah, so…

Maybe it was like a different version or something?
Yeah, it’s like a newer pedal in a smaller box, and of course they say it sounds the same, but I don’t think any two pedals are going to sound exactly the same, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I mean, down to individual wiring and stuff, I guess. You know?
Yeah. But recently like, I’ve been playing a Strymon Timeline pedal, which is a delay pedal, and it’s been one of the most integral things because it’s easy for me to program multiple delay settings into that without having a rack unit or anything. So that’s really helped my live show a lot, and it’s really diverse. You can do a lot with it. And also, I’ve just been into like, using a lot of weird fuzz along with this bass octave pedal, that just…like on “Birth Of The Economic Hitman” on the new record, there’s a breakdown at the end of that song where I use a Keeley fuzz pedal with a low octave and it just sounds like it’s going to rip your head off. I really love that sound.

Yeah, sounds pretty awesome. It seems like a lot of people really are inspired by how you guys use effects, and especially delays. Like, the delays you guys use create a lot of cool atmospheres and ambiences sometimes.
I mean, it’s mostly just noodling. People are always like “How’d you come up with that?” and I’m like “Well first of all, don’t know what you’re doing. Go plug something in and start turning the knobs, and you’ll get somewhere.

That’s another thing people, I think, are amazed at. Like, the way you and Colin, you don’t really have a set rhythm or lead guitarist. You guys just kinda – it almost like you’re just noodling but the noodling works and intertwines so well.
I think we realized after the first two records, we were like, “Yo, like, every once in a while I’m going to play rhythm so you’re going to hear how cool that lead is, or that you’re doing there.” So over the years we’ve tried to do that a little bit more and just let some of the melodies shine out, because we had so many counter-melodies on the first two records, and we didn’t want that to die all together, but at the same time wanted to let some of them stand out a little bit more.

Do you have any tips before we go for new guitarists that are starting out today that maybe are inspired by what you guys are doing in Circa Survive?
I mean, for musicians in general I just feel like it’s important to take chances, you know? If some guys are touring in a band and they need somebody to fill in on guitar, even if you don’t love that, if that’s an opportunity for you to get out there and meet some people, then you’ve gotta take chances, because this whole business is so luck-related, and I think it’s just about being good to people and taking chances and working. And I think Circa was all about that from the beginning, like, we wanted to get together with other people that we knew were going to work and take this seriously, and as much as, you know, we have fun and we’re silly, we know this is really all we have outside of family, and it supports our family, so, you know.

Right. You guys do amazing at it and I think you’ve got a real dedicated crowd, and we all love you guys, and keep doing your thing, man.
I appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot.

Great talking to you.

Circa Survive On Going Independent & Backstage Rituals

Hype Malaysia Interview http://hype.my/2013/...kstage-rituals/

May 02, 2013



Having recently gone independent for their fourth album, “Violent Waves”, American rock band Circa Survive definitely has some stories to tell. Fortunately, they were in town recently for Livescape Asia’s Rockawayfest Showcase held at Bentley Music Auditorium. We were lucky enough to have had the opportunity to interview Circa Survive frontman Anthony Green. Let’s hear it from the man himself!

What were some of the challenges that Circa Survive faced after deciding to go independent?
“It’s like any small business. You wanna keep a small overhead so that you’ll have a better chance at breaking even and eventually, making a profit. When you’re dealing with a major label, all they’re concerned about is making profit. Yet, they spend so much money – in excess, on your recording. When they’re bankrolling on your recording, they kinda feel like they can come in and whether or not you let them have a say, you’d kinda feel creatively obligated to them because they’re financially backing you. Whereas when you’re doing it yourself and you go into your friend’s studio and you’re managing the budget for your own album for..you know, very little money, and you can still make it sound like having your vision come true without having to spend the money that a major label would spend, you won’t put all that pressure on people to buy your record.”

How did that work in Circa Survive’s advantage then, going independent?
“We budget this album so that we didn’t have to go out and sell 100,000 copies to make 1,000,000 dollars back for the recording cost. Recording costs very little. And in my opinion, this is one of the best recordings that the band has ever had. So, we sacrificed zero creative, zero production value, and ended up with a better product and we were able to sell very little but still make a profit. Which is something we’ve never done!”



Do you know if your next album is going to be better than this one or do you think that you could make it better than this one?
“I think that in order to be a true artiste, you have to be in like..a perpetual state of arrival. You can’t ever think that you’ve gotten anywhere; you can’t ever think that this is the best album. This is not – it’s just the latest album. Regardless of what people say or critics say..you can’t ever think that you’ve gotten anywhere.”
Do you still get nervous when you get on stage? What are some of the rituals that you do before you get on stage?
“Every night! I tend to get very quiet for maybe an hour or two hours before we play. I’m usually just not engaging with anybody – I kinda just like to sit. Sometimes, I visualize myself already on stage and already enjoying it. You know, like I’m visualizing that it’s already happening, already going well, and I’m already feeling great about it. And that helps me put my anxiety or my nerves at rest. I also like to stare at people. I pick one or two people out in the crowd and they’ll be the only people..”

What? How do your fans react when you do that?
“They’re very weirded out by it! Very. It’s awkward – but for them, not me. I’d feel like I’m in control and they’re just like..what is he doing, why is he staring at me? (laughs)”

Were you at their Rockawayfest Showcase gig? Did you catch Anthony Green staring at you? Were you “weirded out”? Drop us your comments if you were there!



Special thanks to our awesome friends from Livescape Asia for making this interview happen, and much love to Anthony for taking time off to speak to us.

Interview : Anthony Green of Circa Survive
http://sightofsoundm...-circa-survive/
March 22, 2013 By Matt Christine



After a short walk from the box office, where I had just picked up my photo pass for the night’s show, I found my way to a back parking lot behind the Sherman Theater to see Circa Survive‘s tour bus. I was scheduled to interview Anthony Green at 6:30PM that day, but both he and I were ready to go early so after a text to the tour manager we decided we would just go ahead and knock out earlier. As I climbed onto the fully packed bus I was greeted by Anthony and we headed to the back of the bus where we could sit down and get this interview started. As I set up my gear I noticed just how dark it was and we made the decision to just record the audio of the interview, luckily I had Henry Chung from Neostar Promotions along with me for the interview because he was able to snap a few photos using my camera to run along with the transcript and audio. I clicked the record button and Anthony and I got the interview started off.

Matt Christine : Thank you for sitting down with Sight of Sound Magazine today Anthony.
Anthony Green : No problem.

Matt : Welcome home to a certain extent.
Anthony : Sort of, yeah.

Matt : Yeah, close enough. Have you guys ever played at the Sherman Theater before?
Anthony : We played here once like a year or two ago with Taking Back Sunday, right when they got like all of the original members back in the band. It was really cool.

Matt : That sounds awesome, well let’s talk about “Violent Waves.” It was self-released. Which I know was a really big deal for you as a band and the music industry as a whole reacted positively to that decision. Do you foresee the band continuing down this path in the future?
Anthony : Yeah, there is no reason why would ever stray from that now. Unless we found a really perfect partner and the deal was really good you know? I can’t imagine why would release a record any other way.

Matt : Well much respect to you guys for self-releasing that album, I know there is a certain degree of professionalism that comes along with doing that and it is a lot different than what most bands are doing.
Anthony : Yeah, people don’t relieze how much is involved in releasing a record there is a lot - Da-da? - Heyy buddy, wanna come say hi? -Yeah - There is a lot that is involved in promoting and releasing an album and that is hard to do when you are also writing and recording it all. I think it would be difficult for a band that hasn’t been touring for 10 years and had a pretty dedicated and awesome following.

Matt : Yeah, I would imagine that would help. So how does it feel to see a lot of the bands within the “local” scene grow and gain as much attention as it has? Bands like Title Fight and even Motionless In White.
Anthony : It is always awesome seeing young bands from the area, you know like Balance and Composure and Title Fight, just killing it like they are doing. They make such good music, I love Title Fight and Balance and Composure so much and it is so awesome to see other people catching on.

Matt : Yeah, Pennsylvania is really becoming a hot market for new music.
Anthony : You know I feel there has always been a great like hardcore and punk rock scene here but it is cool to see it busting through.

Matt : It is definetly making it’s impression on the world now. So a few years ago you put out the “Appendages – EP” on vinyl for Record Store Day. Will you guys be doing anything special for Record Store Day this year?
Anthony : I don’t think we have anything - Daddy?! - I’m doing an interview buddy, you wanna come say hi? - I think we are just planning on releasing new music and we just didn’t have it ready in time for Record Store Day.

Matt : It happens, well you guys just wrapped up a headlining tour in the fall, you did an acoustic tour with Geof and now you’re at the half-way point of a co-headlining tour with Minus the Bear. Whats in-store for summer?
Anthony : Well we are going to Australia and Asia with Coheed and Cambria. We are going to do Hawaii, we are going to write and I’m going to do my next solo record, so a lot of stuff. Always busy.

Matt : With nearly a decade’s worth of music, what would be your favorite song to perform live?
Anthony : You can’t really pick favorites because there is so much and there is not a song that we ever have that I wouldn’t want to play that wouldn’t make me feel good to play. We have been closing the nights with “Get Out” and that as the last song to play kind of feels good, it is a great end to the set.

Matt : I saw on Facebook that people were voting for the setlist, is that something you do often?
Anthony : We actually just started that on this tour because the last tour was the first time we ever changed the set every night. Now that we have so much more material and so much to choose from it helps us sometimes to hear that a bunch of people want to hear “All your friends are gone” , so we do it.

Matt : That is great, I haven’t seen many bands have that pre-show interaction with their fans before.
Anthony : Technology is amazing if you use the right way. We are able to stay in contact and in touch with the main core of our fans. Those are the people who will come out and buy the record right when it comes or buy tickets right away, they just really love the band.

Matt : So does anybody have day jobs when at home and not touring?
Anthony : No, not that I know of. This is it. We’ve been making a living doing this for awhile now but we would probably be making more money working full time at 7/11. Its not about making a shitload of money as much as it is just doing what you love.

Matt : What have you guys been listening to these days?c
Anthony : Well I love that Title Fight record, they are really good. I love Balance and Composure, listen to that record a whole lot, the new Deftones gets put on almost every I time I put my headphones on before bed. I love that album.

Matt : They were just here at the Sherman Theater actually.
Anthony : Yeah, the lady out front was telling us about that.

Matt : A few years ago, there was a piece in Alternative Press where you interviewed Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction. Have you two kept in touch since then?
Anthony : No it was kind of a one off, it was cool though. There is a possibility that Circa might do something with them in the future. I don’t know if he would even remember of me, it would have been sweet if we were like best buds after that though.

Matt : The deluxe version of last year’s ‘Beautiful Things‘ was one of the rare bonus editions in that there were some awesome songs left off of the regular edition. How did you get Chino from the Deftones, Nate from FUN., Lights and Ida Maria to appear on it?
Anthony : We really just sent the songs out to the people we wanted to be on them and those were the people that responded. I sent Chino that song cause I wanted him to do it and luckily at the last minute he got back and was like I got this track and I like it. I thought he hadn’t gotten it or didn’t want to do it.

Matt : Was there anyone who didn’t get back to you?
Anthony : There was, John from Portugal the Man. We wanted him to be on “Get Yours While you Can” but he was too busy, so he better do it next time.

Matt : Well that is all that I have for you, should be a good show tonight.
Anthony : Dude it is going to be a great tonight, I love this town. Anytime we play around this area it is always fun.

Matt : No doubt, well thanks again for sitting down with Sight of Sound Magazine today, I’ll see you later on from the photo pit for the first three songs.
Anthony : No problem brother.

Below is the original audio recording from the interview, there are a few “off topic” moments where Anthony, Henry and I had discussions during the interview as well as a few more interruptions and distractions that I edited out just for ease of reading.
Don’t forget to check that out our photo and review coverage of Circa Survive‘s return to Pennsylvania.

Rockstar Uproar Festival Tour
w/ Alice In Chains, Jane’s Addiction, Coheed and Cambria, Walking Papers, Danko Jones, Middle Class Rut, New Politics, Chuck Shaffer Picture Show & one local battle of the bands winner
08.09.2013 - Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
08.10.2013 - Hartford, CT @ The Comcast Theatre
08.11.2013 - Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
08.13.2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
08.14.2013 - Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
08.16.2013 - Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
08.17.2013 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
08.18.2013 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
08.20.2013 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
08.22.2013 - Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
08.23.2013 - Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center
08.24.2013 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theater
08.27.2013 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Zoo Amphitheater
08.28.2013 - Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion
08.29.2013 - The Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08.31.2013 - Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheatre
09.01.2013 - Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
09.02.2013 - Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
09.05.2013 - Nampa, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheatre
09.08.2013 - Ridgefield, WA @ Sleep Country Amphitheater
09.11.2013 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
09.13.2013 - Phoenix, AZ @ Desert Sky Pavilion
09.14.2013 - Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
09.15.2013 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater