Anberlin interview

With a new album under their collective belts and an ever growing fan base, Anberlin are at the forefront of the indie/pop rock (or whatever you want to call it) explosion.

Front man Stephen Christian spoke to us about “Cities”, their upcoming tour with Copeland and why naming your songs after “the city of churches” is a good idea.

Stephen, how you doing today? 

Really good man, how are you? 

I’ll be honest with you,

I’ve got food poisoning so I’m feeling a little sketchy, ha ha. 

Oh man, that sucks. I’m so sorry

to hear that. 

That’s the price you pay

for eating spicy Indian food man, ha ha. 

Ha ha, man, I love Indian food.

I feel for you. 

Where are you guys at the moment? 

Well, it’s about 9pm in the

evening here, and we’re in central Florida, well actually the coast

of Florida. 

Am I correct in assuming that

“Cities” was released a few months ago? 

Yeh, we’ve been on tour since

February 20^th. We just got off the road 2 days ago and we

have about a 10 day break – well maybe a little less than 10 days

and then we head over to Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore! 

This tour has just been amazing!

It’s easily my favourite tour that we’ve been on so far. We’ve

met so many nice people, been in so many great cities and played with

so many great bands. It’s just been a phenomenal run! 

Has this all been through the

US? 

Yeh, it’s been through the US

and Canada.  

Man, the Canadian shows were so

great, it’s easily the best response we’ve ever had there! Cities

is actually the first album that we’ve had locally released there

so it’s just been tremendous. The people are great! The weather’s

been a little gloomy but the tour has just been incredible! 

I actually spoke to George

and the people from all the fishing villages are great. 

Oh man, I’d love to do a tour

like that. Up through the fishing villages and playing places around

there! That sounds amazing. 

Although

positive feedback so early on in the piece? 

We had no idea we’d get a response

like this man. We just do each record and make it as great as we possibly

can. We just set out to make an awesome record.  

The response has been amazing

and surprising at the same time man. As good as it is to get a good

review from the critics it’s the fan response we care about. I’ve

been reading different websites to see what the kids think of our new

record and the feedback has just been overwhelming.  

At the end of the day, the fans

and what they think is way more important than the critics.  

A lot of people view a band’s

to writing the new album? 

At the end of the day, we just

did the best we could. We wanted to write a great record and develop

our sound and style, but we didn’t want to experiment to the point

where people didn’t even recognize us. That’s all you can really

do man. 

Was the writing & recording

how you approached your two previous albums? 

Yeh man, definitely. 

Firstly, we recorded at London

Bridge which is this great studio in Seattle, Washington). We hadn’t

recorded there previously so that was a huge difference.  

Even though we used the same producer

we ended up getting a different guy to mix the record, someone else

to master it and a different engineer as well! 

At the end of the day, we didn’t

want to write “Never Take Friendship Personal” part II. We used

way more keyboards, a boy’s choir, heaps of strings to make it a bit

different. 

Like I said, we wanted to develop

our previous ideas and improve our songs but we didn’t want to change

everything beyond recognition and not be Anberlin anymore. 

Given that you are a more than

writing – or is it more of a collective effort? 

Well, I write most of the lyrics

and the vocals but our lead guitarist Joey is great and really loves

writing, so usually it’s just the 2 of us getting together and writing

songs. 

Our new guitarist Christian is

amazing though man. He was actually in Acceptance… 

Are you serious? Man, I love

that band. That dude is amazing! 

Yeh dude, the guy is a great guitarist

and an amazing song writer. He was actually the primary song writer

in Acceptance so we can’t wait to write an album with him! Even the

new stuff that he and Joey have been playing is blowing everything away

that we’ve done before, so yeh, we’re excited! 

You guys were down a guitar

“Cities” – has a permanent replacement been appointed yet? 

Yeh man, Christian is definitely

in! He will be our last guitarist ever. He completes the band. The guy

sings great, he writes great songs and he puts on a great show so with

all of those things combined there’s no way we’re going to lose

him! 

Did losing Nate affect your

chemistry as a live band? 

I’d actually say it improved

things. 

The thing about Nate was that

he wanted to be in a hardcore band, that’s what he was good at, he

was proficient at writing those kinds of songs. So it felt like he was

unhappy with Anberlin live shows. You know, we’re just regular rock

n roll and he belongs in a hardcore band. 

I think with Nate being happy

and moving on it’s made us a lot happier too so it’s definitely

working out well! 

Some bands NEVER come to Australia

time in as many years – what can we expect from the upcoming shows? 

Oh man, you have no idea! 

We’ve been planning and talking

about this tour for ages! Wanted to come back in January but our label

(Stomp) thought it was a better idea to wait until the new record was

out. 

We’re just so eager to get back

to Australia man and we really wanted to bring over the biggest stage

show that we possibly could from America. And we get to bring our friends

Copeland over as well. They’re just great guys and an amazing band

on Columbia records that you should definitely check out! 

Having Christian in the band now

is just going to make it a better show man. Like I said, the guys great

on guitar and puts on an awesome show so yeh, it’s going to be amazing! 

We’re still blown away by the

response to the shows man. The fact that some of the shows are selling

out when we’re a few weeks out from tour is ridiculous! 

Well, your Melbourne overage

just sold out so we had to add another date! 

Oh man, that’s insane! I can’t

even believe that. It just blows my mind. 

I mean, we come from such a small

town - there are only 20,000 people -  and at the end of the day,

we’re just 5 boys from a small town selling out shows on the other

side of the world. It’s so humbling! I just can’t fathom it.  

Any stand out memories from

your previous trips down under? 

Well, our first ever show in Australia

was in Adelaide and when we arrived we were told that the show had sold

out. We couldn’t believe it man, it was just incredible! 

There are tons of memories though. 

Just driving around in the bus

and seeing the sights was incredible in itself. The whole experience

of being on tour in Australia was just amazing.  

The beaches of Perth definitely

stand out, there are tons! The actually cities of Sydney and Melbourne

are incredible as well! 

The one place that really stands

out though is Surfers Paradise. It reminds me of home! If we could move

out here we’d do it in a heartbeat! 

Is there any reason why you

city? 

Ha ha. Well, Adelaide isn’t

my favourite city BUT like I said, the first show we played in Australia

was there and it sold out so it’s a special memory. But we love Melbourne!

It just wouldn’t have been the same you know, if the lyric was Melbourne… 

Starts singing Melbourne to

the melody of “Adelaide” 

I’m not sure if you’re

at such a rapid rate? 

Oh man, that’s crazy! It doesn’t

even feel real playing 3 Melbourne shows (and having one of them sell

out). If we could just move to Australia that’d be great! Our profile

in Australia is just crazy! 

I’ve seen you guys 5 times

“style over substance”? 

Man, thank you so much for coming

to that many of our shows! That’s incredible! 

This tour will be the best by

far, trust me! We don’t really headline much in the US but now we’re

at a point where we’ve really got our stuff together and yeh, it’s

going to be awesome! 

In regards to the whole, “style

over substance” thing, I think it’s pretty clear to see when people

get on stage… well, people can see through people, you know. When

people start throwing around clichés people catch on pretty quickly. 

We want our fans to feel like

they’re a part of our band and our music, that it’s not just a gimmick.

I mean, without kids buying the record and coming to shows we couldn’t

come to Australia! And we want to finish our career in Australia, ha

ha! 

You know, we actually headlined

in Australia before we did it in the US so we definitely love Australia! 

Anberlin built its (sizeable)

to using cheesy gimmicks? 

It’s almost odd man. We didn’t

try to dump thousands of dollars into marketing and try and get big.

We just make sure we shake hands at our shows and play a great set.

That’s it. It’s just odd!  

A lot of

that something you can relate to? 

Yeh I can appreciate that but

at the same time, I listen to a lot of music. Whether it is blues, rock,

jazz or indie rock I just like to listen because I’m a fan – I just

enjoy hearing new music.  

You know, painters want to see

what other painters are doing, so it’s a similar thing I guess. 

Someone once said to me “you

can listen and imitate a timeless record or you can make one”. We

don’t want to imitate man, we want to make a great record!!! 

What or who are some of the

biggest influences on yourself as an individual and Anberlin as a whole? 

Well, as a whole I’d say the

biggest influences are Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Jimmy Eat World. 

In regards to myself, I’d say

The Smiths, Jeff Buckley and Jimmy Necko. 

Who’s Jimmy Necko sorry? 

That’s cool man. He plays in

this great band call “Ours”. They’re not big at all, but he’s

just an amazing singer/songwriter. Ours are kind of an artist’s band

I guess… 

Like a musicians band? 

Yeh man, definitely. He’s just

amazing. 

The thing I love about The Smiths

is their song writing process. It’s like they’re telling a story

and you’re a part of it! 

The Beatles… man, what can you

say about them. They just write amazing songs. Songs that 20 or 30 years

later are still playing on the radio. They’re just timeless and you

can sing along too them. They just wrote great music. 

Who are some bands that have

caught your ear lately? 

So many bands man. Like I said,

I just love music. 

MEW who are a great band! The

new Jet record which didn’t really get a lot of recognition over here

in the US but I love it. 

Umm, a band called Blonde Red

Head who are just incredible. Sparkle horse, Young Love… man, the

list just goes on. I just love music, ha ha. 

Oh, I definitely love The killers

and Bloc Party! That new Bloc Party record (A Weekend In The City) is

just a great album.  

Hey man, I’ve just been told

we need to finish up unfortunately. 

Oh that sucks man. Do you think

we could finish talking at one of the shows? 

Yeh man, definitely. I’ll

up! 

That’d be great man. It’s

been really great talking to you Cameron. 

Thanks a lot man, it’s been

a pleasure.  

Cool, well I’ll see you in Melbourne!

Anberlin (USA) Australian Tour

June 2007

With Copeland (USA) and Angela’s

Dish 

Dates up at www.myspace.com/anberlin