Interview

Babble & Beat - You guys are from New York City. How awesome is it to play for the hometown crowd?

John - It’s fun. Every chance we get to play in New York we take it. This is the first time that we’ve played out here on Long Island at Jones Beach, so it’s pretty cool. Anthony grew up on Long Island and he used to see a lot of shows here, so it’s probably a lot of fun for him.

Babble & Beat - So he has actually seen shows here before?

John - Yeah, and Michael our guitar player. He grew up in Manhattan.

Babble & Beat - Where did you grow up?

John - Santa Barbara, California.

Babble & Beat - With the release of your debut album, many critics raved that you were the next big thing. How hard is it to live up to such high expectations?

John - Well, the press does that every week, so I don’t think [many] bands pay much attention to that. If it makes other people pay attention to your band, then it’s a good thing, but it’s a double edged sword because when someone tells you that you’re supposed to like something it usually has the opposite [effect].

Babble & Beat - What bands inspired you to play music?

John - All of us listen to a lot of different music, but then a lot of it is the same. I think any teenager who wants to pick up a guitar starts listening to Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, so I think that’s what starts you. Then when you get older, you start listening to Punk Rock like The Clash, and I think that’s what we all had in common.

Babble & Beat - You had a highly publicized feud with The Killers. Is that feud still going on?

John - No that was more of a press thing that I don’t think either of the bands really cared about or thought was serious.

Babble & Beat - Your music has been more popular in the UK then in the states. What would you say is the reason that people in the UK have really picked up on it, in comparison to the states?

John - I think the radio stations [in the UK] play more different music, so people get exposed to new stuff all of the time. The United States was getting that way for a while, but it is tougher here because it’s a much bigger country and people listen to different music everywhere. It’s easy for something to become national in the UK because they have one national radio station.

Babble & Beat - What is your next single to hit the radio?

John - ‘Believe’.

Babble & Beat - How crazy was it to be in Dubai playing the Dubai Rock Festival this year?

John - Dubai was really fun. It’s such a modern, but also ancient feeling city. It reminded me of Blade Runner. It’s like Las Vegas – you can snowboard, surf and things like that, but at the same time people are in the traditional dress and it’s a mix of a lot of culture.

Babble & Beat - What is your favorite thing about playing live?

John - When you get a crowd that is really into your music, and you can feed off of their energy, as well as your own.

Babble & Beat - Why did you move to Atlanta, Georgia to record the latest album?

John - We started writing and recording the record while on tour, in the back of our tour bus. Then we took those tracks and demos and worked with a producer, which was a new for us because we produced our first album ourselves.

Babble & Beat - You recorded and produced your first album yourselves?

John - Yeah, we recorded and produced the whole thing in our apartment, so it was really cool to go into a recording studio this time. We still did some of [the new album] the way we did the first album.

Babble & Beat - What is your favorite food to eat while on the road?

John - I would have to say Thai food. Every week that we are on the road we eat Sushi, Thai food and Indian food. A lot of Asian food.

Babble & Beat - Is that all catered for you?

John - No. Incubus has their catering, so you don’t have a choice – you eat what they have out there.

Babble & Beat - I heard that Incubus has a chef on this tour.

John - Yeah, they have their own chef, and everyone else has the caterers. Usually we go out to restaurants.

Babble & Beat - How has this tour with Incubus gone so far?

John - It’s been a lot of fun. We have been playing for really big crowds full of Incubus fans. It’s great playing for people who might not know who you are, and watching them get into it is a cool opportunity.

Babble & Beat - What do you have in store for us tonight?

John - Hopefully no electrocutions - it looks like there is going to be a crazy thunderstorm tonight. I think they made us cut our set a little bit short because of the bad weather coming in.

Babble & Beat - What does the future for The Bravery look like?

John - A lot of touring. That’s what it always looks like. We are out on the road for forever again, but that’s what we like to do. We have the calendar pretty full.

LINKS:
To read our The Bravery concert review from August 9th, CLICK HERE.

Official The Bravery
The Bravery MySpace