Interview

I recently got the chance on September 13th at the show in Fort Collins, Colorado to interview Neil and Brendan from The Falcon and The Lawrence Arms, about the new Falcon full length that comes out on September 26th.





Stephen: The first falcon full length comes out on September 26th and is cleverly titled "Unicornography". Now was this title idea sparked by the drunken unicorn t-shirt design you released last year? How did you guys get that idea?

Brendan: uh well we had uh…. Is that a falling star right there?!

Neil: Looks like a jet.

Brendan: Looks crazy. Um sorry… The unicorn design of the t-shirts is always something that defined the sensibility of our products. Unicorns have always been something on our minds when we think about the falcon. (He laughs) It’s really mostly Dan.

Stephen: So he’s the biggest Unicorn fan?

Brendan: I dunno… I think we all like unicorns a lot. I can’t say who the biggest unicorn fan is. He called me one day and found out there was a bar called The Drunken Unicorn and said we should definitely book a show there. I mean he’s thinking unicorns always. Our first record the EP, had the space thing on the cover. It’s sort of an interesting challenge with the falcon to take like the dumbest idea you can think of and try to make it cool. And right up there with space is unicorns. Next record “Unicorns in Space”! (They both laugh)

Stephen: So I see a bunch of stuffed animals but I don’t see a unicorn? (Points to the stuffed animals in the van)

Neil: Right there Gary (points to a stuffed unicorn)

Brendan: He’s the prince of the unicorns.

Neil: He’s the prince of the stuffed animals

Stephen: So what does Gary have to say?

Brendan: Gary doesn’t say much he just kinda lounges. He’s French Canadian so you probably wouldn’t understand him.

Stephen: So the falcon finally gave in after two years and got a my space page. I noticed that Todd (Mohney ex-Rise Against guitar player) is not listed on there as a member of the band. Are you guys a three piece now?

Neil: Yeah he’s not in the band anymore. He hasn’t been in the band since the EP. The falcon has only been a band for 13 to 15 days, no practicing. There actually was a my space page for the falcon two years ago. But what happened was I misplaced the password. But at that point the falcon wasn’t an active band. It was just sorta like, we put out the EP and then trio and The Lawrence Arms were on tour doing that whole thing so we didn’t pay much attention to it.

Stephen: Now was there any writing done during that Alkaline Trio tour?
Brendan: No I mean I had been working on the songs for the full length since right around after we recorded the EP. But um it was completely uncollaborative really until we went into the studio, like I wrote all the songs at my house.

Neil: Well the first song “angry cry of angry pie”

Brendan: Well the first song Dan and I wrote together. Dan played drums and I played guitar.

Stephen: I didn’t know he played drums.

Brendan: eh…you know depends on who you ask.

Neil: I’m sure it sounded exactly like the recorded version, (they both laugh) his drum parts at least.

Stephen: So the EP recording was done at your houses right? So what was the recording process this time?

Brendan: It was a lot more traditional. We went into the studio for two weeks.

Neil: Actually one week.

Brendan: One week yeah. The thing that was cool about it was that it was just three of us in there pretty much. Matt Allison would stop in every once in a while and our friend Andy came in to give us some advice and he’s an engineer as well. Neil really did the engineering and we assisted him.

Neil: It was cool we had never practiced the songs at all. Dan and I had the songs that Brendan played acoustically at his house. Brendan would play guitar and sing scratch vocals while I was in the live room with head phones on. As soon as I got through a take we would keep it, file it away. Do the next song. We did all the song’s drums. Then Dan came in laid down the bass. And it kind of piled up with guitar and vocals.

Stephen: Did you guys collaborate to fine tune the songs when you were in the studio together?

Brendan: Yeah definitely. Especially with my guitar parts and stuff, a lot of them were not though out into we got into the studio. Nothing was really thought out until we got in the studio, maybe the vocals.

Neil: Even that I remember you saying “oh I want to do this! I have an idea”

Brendan: It was a really cool thing. We had the skeleton of these songs and we got to go into the studio and just us, because we weren’t wasting anyone else’s time we just got to build and build. That was a fun process.

Neil: That’s sorta why there are so many guitar solos on there (they both laugh). There was room for it. It was the kinda thing when Brendan would play a solo or I would play a solo we would say “does that sound good to you sounds good to me” And we would move on and wouldn’t question it. We’d listen back at the end of the day and just start cracking up because the solos were all over the place.

Stephen: So you actually got to play guitar on this record then?

Neil: Yeah I played a couple. Like the stuff that Todd did on the EP, I did his part. And some solos here and there. I’d say Brendan probably played about 70 percent of the solos.

Stephen: The Lawrence Arms, you guys went on a “two day hiatus” (sarcastically) and then went all the way to Australia and managed to write two full lengths since then. I know you pretty much answered this but was any of the writing done on the road?

Brendan: We didn’t have a lot of… I farted

Neil: Was that you?! I was gonna say… “What the hell just happened?”

Brendan: Burger King… woo it’s dangerous… You know I don’t really write on the road to be honest. I like writing in the comfort of my home, I like writing first thing in the morning and I like writing by myself. It’s just the way I feel comfortable. A few things that are really hard to do on the road is to be by yourself first thing in the morning.

Stephen: “Oh Calcutta” was pretty much based on brotherhood and friendship between the band. It looks like you are playing with your three best friends in the falcon as well. Was the them inspired by this?

Brendan: I dunno… “Oh Calcutta” was really conceptually sound before we even had started writing. We knew what kind of recorded we wanted to make and what we wanted it to sound like. This record was not really like that. I mean, this was a record where I had all these songs. And I guess a lot of them are pretty depressing in terms of what they are about. I’d say it’s a pretty down beat of a record. I don’t know if I can say there is a single theme that runs through the entire thing.

Stephen: Musically it’s drifted away from the sound of the EP. It sounds a lot more experimental and Rock n Roll. Have you been listening to different types of music, what sparked that?

Brendan: No it was just that… I don’t know exactly how to articulate this the right way… The first EP was sort of baby steps away from the things we had been doing in The Lawrence Arms. But I really didn’t have the balls to do anything too innovative because I just wasn’t sure about what I was doing. The first song we wrote was the opening song on the record which is definitely one of the weirder ones and it just kind of freed up my mind, much like unicorns… (Brendan laughs) I was like I could write a ska song that didn’t suck, that would be really interesting. I found that I was kind of like challenging myself to do things that I normally would never think of doing.

Stephen: I find it totally refreshing. It’s great to go from Oh Calcutta which is super fast and totally different from this CD. I was wondering what you think Lawrence Arms fans will think about it.

Brendan: I don’t really know. If I had to guess I bet they would say “Oh this sounds just like The Lawrence Arms” because that’s what happens whenever any of these records come out. (Brendan laughs).

Neil: The main thing that sounds more Rock n Roll in that direction, is that the acoustic guitar plays a big part in the falcon which it does not in The Lawrence Arms. Also the guitar tone… in the studio we wanted something that sounded like clean plugged in and over driven. But in The Lawrence Arms, Chris is a big rock guitar player. Just in that way it sounds different.

Brendan: I have no idea what fans of The Lawrence Arms are going to think. I’m sure some people are probably going to totally hate it and some people are probably going to like it. That’s just the way it goes with that kind of thing.

Neil: That’s not for us to be concerned.

Stephen: It also sounds like you have explored different vocal styles that you have never done before. Was that something you were looking to do? Try as many things as you can?

Brendan: It just kinda all came from the same place which was more or less just do whatever the fuck we can. I definitely wanted to do some hilarious singing on this record and I got to for sure (Brendan and Neil laugh).

Stephen: And Dan (Andriano) got to do some back up vocals on this record as well?

Brendan: Yeah he sang, he sang quite a bit

Neil: He’s on like every song.
Brendan: Yeah, he’s definitely in every song.

Stephen: And you hadn’t done that in 10 years with each other right?

Brendan: Yeah not at all. It’s pretty remarkable to see how much better at this Danny is than he was 10 years ago. You know I’ve heard all his records and I’ve obviously seen him play live a lot. But my last reference point of him in the studio was a 17 year old kid and now he’s what a 29 year old man and obviously he’s in one of the most successful punk rock bands in the world.

Stephen: Besides you guys though.

Brendan: well yeah exactly…. we’re successful (sarcastically) (they both laugh).

Stephen: Hey I drove two hours to see you guys….

Neil: Hey I guess that is success

Brendan: But you know… I mean he’s good at this stuff now. I mean he was good before but he’s real good now.

Stephen: So did this bring back any memories?

Brendan: Eh I try not to remember anything (he laughs).

Stephen: Trying to block out the Slapstick?

Brendan: No I just mean in general (laughs again)

Stephen: So “Unicorn Odyssey” now this sounds like a Dragon Force title of a song (Brendan laughs) and the I mean intro is pretty epic too… Do you think you guys are going in the direction of a Dragon Force cover band? (They both laugh).

Brendan: Dan came up with the idea “Unicornography”. Then Toby was on the phone with Neil and Toby said that it was called “Unicorn Odyssey”

Neil: It was just based on a misunderstanding of the title “Unicornography” and then we were vacillating between calling the record “Unicorn Odyssey” or “Unicornography” for a little bit and then we went with “Unicornonography” and then ended up titling the song “Unicorn Odyssey”.

Brendan: Yeah that song still clocks in at just like a little over two minutes, something dragon force would never do (he laughs).

Stephen: So are you guys fans of Dragon Force?

Brendan: I find it to be very entertaining, I don’t think I would go as far as to call myself a fan.

Neil: Obviously these guys have talent and can play their instruments but I don’t need to listen to it.

Stephen: Well I’d love to see you guys have a music video where you have dual guitar solos (making a reference to the guitar solo battle in the Dragon Force video for the song “Operation Ground and Pound”).

Neil: You might see that.

Brendan: That shit is funny that shit is totally funny (referring to the dragon force guitar solo battle)

Stephen: Neil, how was it playing ska style drums? was that anything new to you?

Neil: Yeah it was new to me. You know I didn’t think about my drum playing at all for this record. It was the kind of thing where I knew the songs but never sat down and tried to play them before the recordings. I sat down and whatever came out came out. When I had to do the high hat beats I would think of Robby from slapstick or when I was doing the things with the sticks I would think of Stewart Copeland (The Police). It wasn’t thought out to that point. It was fun though. It was the kinda shit that if I was playing it live though I would probably… not know what to do (he laughs). It was more like an in the studio in the moment kind of thing, all the fills were off the top of my head.

Stephen: So you re-recorded “The Routes We Wander” and “Building the Even More Perfect Asshole Parade” How did you decide to choose those two?

Neil: I think those were two of the best received songs on the EP. And also I dunno they just seemed to fit.

Brendan: Yeah I think they seemed the most in line with the tracks we were doing. People say that we have gone away from the sound of the EP and we kinda wanted to put those songs on there to show that the fit on the record pretty well.

Stephen: You guys added some extra guitar solos on those song.

Neil: Yeah for sure, we changed it a little bit melodically. I think it’s a good bridge between the EP and the record. I think that people who don’t have the EP and buy the record and then buy the EP, the EP will sound like The Falcon.

Brendan: Yeah totally.

Neil: Instead of it just being “what’s the weird old recording we just bought?” (They laugh)

Stephen: So on the EP and on this record you added one of those “HOO” things. What’s up with that?

Neil: NO MEANS NO!

Brendan: Yeah, No Means No. Have you ever heard No Means No?

Stephen: Nope

Brendan: You should listen to them, their crazy. Their from Vancouver. Their like nothing you have ever heard.

Stephen: It sounds like something that would be in jungle music or something.

Neil: Yeah they have a little bit of jungle in them.

Brendan: Yeah their pretty fucking awesome.

Neil: Their two brothers that play really involved intricate crazy music. They are definitely punk rock but their songs are like six minutes long. They tell really bizarre stories lyrically.

Brendan: Their album “Wrong” is the one you really want to check out.

Stephen: So on “Oh Calcutta” and Unicornography you guys have mentioned the devil a lot. Is that from hanging out with Skiba (Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio) too much? What’s up with that? Is it a metaphor for something?

Brendan: (they laugh) I mean it should be, right? (Neil laughs). You’re not thinking about the devil, your not really think too much about yourself or people. I don’t mean the devil in terms of a guy with horns. I just mean like the general temptation and black spots that roll through your head. And if it’s not internal it’s external, like the fucking weirdo’s that hang out around here you know?

Neil: And there’s a lot of them!

Brendan: I mean like… sorta like uhh… the devils pretty cool. It’s a cool metaphor. Not necessarily in a satanic way but… not overtly not in a satanic way either I suppose. There is no point when I’m saying anything like fucking “bless me dark father” (Neil laughs). It’s a whole different relationship we have with the devil over here.

Stephen: So no Marilyn Manson collaboration or anything?

Neil: That would be nice!

Brendan: Not just yet. If Marilyn Manson wanted to do something with us I’m sure we’d probably do it.

Neil: Yeah of course.

Stephen: Maybe find a Unicorn to….

Brendan: Sacrifice

Neil: If we found a unicorn I don’t think we’d sacrifice it. Probably sell it to some sort of museum.

Brendan: I’d ride it… I’d ride it into heaven (They both laugh)

Stephen: So I can’t get the “The La-Z-Boy 500” chorus out of my head. When are we going to get to hear that live?

Brendan: Hopefully sometime in October we’re going to try to do a show in Chicago. It’s kind of creeping up here now.

Neil: We’re going to have to figure out a practice schedule.

Brendan: Also just a place to have the show.

Stephen: And Dan will be playing that?

Neil: Yeah he will. We’re going to try to get a drummer and I’m going to play guitar. Just to kind of differentiate it from the Lawrence arms. Because if it’s me and Brendan and Dan on bass then it’s just the Lawrence Arms with Dan. Not really but you know what I’m saying, just change it up a bit plus I love playing guitar.

Stephen: So you haven’t played guitar in a band in what like 10 years?

Neil: The last show I played was a band called Baxter in the summer of 1999. (The next night at the Marquis Theater in Denver, Neil played guitar and sang the song “106 south” off of the record “Ghost Stories”. He did an amazing job and he looked absolutely ecstatic to be playing guitar on stage again).

Stephen: The EP was distributed through interpunk.com is this CD going to have a distributor or will it still be through interpunk again?

Brendan: This is going to be available in stores and in Sam Goodie’s and Best Buy’s, you know all that shit. It’s a real operation these days.

Stephen: So what do you guys think the future of The Falcon is going to be? Whatever happens happens?
(Brendan starts to laugh) Neil: Was that another fart?

Brendan: Haha yeah. I dunno. There is definitely plenty of potential for The Falcon to do as much stuff as people want to hear. And we’ll just have to see what happens. I’m definitely not going to figure it all out today. But I’m not ruling anything out.

Stephen: Musically are you going to keep experimenting?

Brendan: We’ll see who knows… Maybe the next record will be the most straight forward boring album of all time. But I doubt it personally. (They both laugh)