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Cityzen: Could you describe the first show you did with the new line up? Adam: The very first show we did was in Jersey at Birch Hill, not the big room, but at the Stingray room. We played there and it was awesome. We were really nervous about it but at the same time really stoked to be playing. Cityzen: Your sophomore release “Where You Want To Be” just came out, so I was wondering, what is your favorite song to play on the new album? Adam: We’re actually pissed because – well, not pissed – but with the Warped Tour schedule, you only get a half hour to play, and we don’t want to be the band that just goes up and only plays new songs. Just from being a fan of bands, I remember when they’d have a new album and would only play new stuff, I’d be so mad. So we haven’t had much of a chance to play many of the songs off the new album, so I don’t know which one is our favorite yet. Matt: It’s pretty exciting that people
are knowing the new songs so well already. We’re playing
like three or four of the new ones, and to see people singing
along feels really cool. Adam: Oh, nerve wrecking. Matt: Yeah. Adam: Terrifying.
Adam: I don’t think it was a matter of turning them down. I think it was just what was right for us at the time. Matt? Matt: Yeah, I think that’s pretty much the way to say it. It wasn’t like we were shooing away the major labels. It just didn’t seem like the right thing for us. And it’s important that people are willing to expel the myth that the major label is the bad guy and the indie label is the good guy ‘cause – and you’re going to have to just trust me on this – that is so far from the truth it’s unbelievable. They’re both record labels, they both sell records – everyone’s in the same business. Just because the indie guy doesn’t have millions and millions of dollars to do something doesn’t mean he’s the good guy. You just have to find a good label with good people to work with you. Cityzen: Did you feel any pressure going into the studio for the first time with the band and having to follow up the success of your first album? Adam: We had to go through a long process of getting that out of our heads and just focusing on what we were doing. There were definitely times where we felt that pressure a lot, but through the course of writing, we just fell right in place and focused more on just making music. Matt: As any artist will say, at the end of the day, what matters is if you the artist like it, not what everyone else thinks – well, it does matter what everyone else thinks, but first and foremost, you have to stand behind it and be willing to take whatever criticism comes with it, and be willing to perform the music. We knew we had a pretty lofty challenge, but it’s not like we did it any differently than if there wasn’t that challenge there. We set ourselves to make a great record no matter what. Writing was a long process – we were throwing stuff all over the place (laughs). Some days we would spend four hours and come up with nothing, and other days, everything came out so smoothly. Cityzen: Did you ever think you’d make it this far? How do you handle this “fame” of being a well-recognized band now? Adam: Oh, well, “fame,” and everything associated with “rockstardom” – that’s all just bullshit, really (laughs). We’ve done things we never expected to do. Like when we were recording the first record, I remember the conversation we had, like, “Man, could you imagine if we sold 300 records?” and then the number got huge. I think it’s more just us trying to outdo ourselves more than anything else. Matt: It’s the context really. Another word for “fame” should be “context” because if it was you or you or you (points around the room) doing what he and I do, it would be the same. You know? Kids go up to you for what you do, not so much for who you are. They don’t know us as individuals, beyond the music. After you get off the stage, everything changes. When I go somewhere in my neighborhood, no one knows who the hell I am and that’s great, I love that. But here at Warped, if I try to go get Domino’s or a drink, I can’t because it’s a different context here and at shows.
Adam: I’d be married to Chris Martin. Did he marry Gwyneth yet? Matt: Yeah, I think he did. Adam: Really? Damn. Matt: Yeah. Maybe we can be roommates together. Adam: Roommates, yeah! Matt: Well anyways, we’d be touring forever if everything worked out perfectly in the future. If all goes well we’ll be able to make another record. I think the ideal thing for any band is to just keep doing it and to have a small fan base or a growing fan base or a loyal fan base. I mean, if we can just keep doing this – if we’re doing this in a year or two years or three or whatever – that’s success. Success isn’t just one big record and then chill out; for me, it’s playing until my heart stops beating. Cityzen: What was your reaction to seeing the new record debut at #3 on the Billboard Charts? Adam: Oh man, we were like “What’s going on?!” Matt: We were kind of mad that Ashlee Simpson beat us though. Adam: Yeah, I mean, she’s not real dude – she’s not a real artist. It’s the same thing with Paris Hilton – she’s famous for being rich and naked! (laughs) Matt: It was crazy though. I mean, I was like “Oh, you must mean the indie chart, or the ‘dork band’ chart, right?” But no, it’s the big one. It doesn’t make any sense – it’s totally surreal for us to see that that many people like the band and our music. It’s important to us to keep our focus on that and not on the numbers. Yeah, there was a lot of hugging going around… Adam: And then we drove our Porsches really fast, without air bags, and on our cell phones too (laughs). Cityzen: Speaking of cell phones – you guys recently posted a cell phone number on your website and told fans to call it – how crazy was that? Adam: Well it started out when I put our guitar tech’s number in our tour journal ‘cause I thought it would be funny – which it was (laughs). Cityzen: Poor guy. Matt: His bill was astronomical… Adam: And then from that, we were just like, “Yo, we should just get a phone so fans could talk to us!” Matt used it the most ‘cause he’s the most talkative… Matt: Yeah and I was bored a lot. Yeah it was crazy. Nokia gave us a phone to use for this and it was just so overwhelming. We got so many calls. It was funny how much it would ring – it would never stop! Cityzen: What were the conversations like? Any interesting ones you can pick out from memory? Matt: Tons of interesting conversations. Well the craziest thing is that I’ve met people that I’ve actually talked to! This one dude, his name is Otis, he called so many times, to the point where when he’d call, it would be just as if one of your friends called you – just like, “Hey dude, what’s up? – I’m just chilling – Oh cool! Catch you later” (laughs). It would just be Otis going “Hey man! That’s so cool you guys picked up your phone again! Alright, later!” and that’s all he wanted, was just for us to pick up when he’d call. Cityzen: Awwww. Matt: And then, I met him, and he’s this big dude and just awesome. We did it again this summer too. We got some other phones and I put my number up on the journal and it was out of control. I can’t even turn the phone on anymore ‘cause it was that crazy. I had like, 140 missed calls in an hour. Cityzen: Whoa. Adam: I can’t even count that high that fast! (laughs) Cityzen: Did you guys get text messages as well? Matt: Text messages more than calls, seemingly because the text message box would just fill up and stay full. It would just be people asking to call them back and texting with their numbers. But it was like you couldn’t even call them back because the phone would keep ringing! It was impossible to dial a number fast enough before the phone would ring again (laughs). It’s cool though, I think other bands should do it because it gives you a way to get in touch with your fans – it separates the obvious band thing and makes it more like we’re friends. (Nokia – Connecting People. To learn more about how Nokia can help your band connect with your fans, visit www.nokia.com. We now return to the Nokia/Cityzen Entertainment Taking Back Sunday interview, brought to you by Nokia – Connecting People. - OB, ed.) Cityzen: What bands do you hang out with on Warped? What do you do in your free time, like who do you watch? Adam: We drive our Porsches really fast. Matt: Thursday’s back on the tour today so we’re really excited for that. Those guys are our boys, we really like them. Adam: Yeah, thank God they’re back, we love them. We hang out with the Matchbook Romance guys a lot, those guys are really cool. The Letter Kills guys are really cool too. It’s kinda like a freefall after the shows. We just set up a tent and chill and sit around. There aren’t many people we haven’t met or hung out with. The Early November are really good…The Matches…there are so many… Matt: I’d say maybe the younger bands tend to stick together and are more friendly. I think there’s sort of an unintentional divide between some of the older bands Adam: Well yeah, when we walk up to NOFX, they don’t have any idea who we are (laughs). Matt: They came on our bus one night and Mark, our drummer, was on the couch and just staring at them (laughs). And Mark’s loud and boisterous usually, but he just sat on the couch looking all dazed and turned to me to whisper “Dude…do you know who that is?” But yeah, they just came on our bus and took some beer and left (laughs) and it was cool, man. I really like Sean from Yellowcard, he’s a really nice guy. Adam: Yeah. Matt: And I like Josh from Story of the Year. Cityzen: Any crazy stories to share from the tour? Matt: Dude, every day someone does something ridiculous that you wouldn’t believe (laughs). I saw some dude in Montana jump off a building – like a small one-story building – with an inner tube onto a dumpster?! I don’t know why he was doing it?? (laughs). But he was just like “WATCH THIS!” and jumped and landed on a dumpster. He landed right into the dumpster and all you could see was just this big cloud of dust emerge (laughs). I looked in and the dude was just like “AHHH THAT WAS SO COOL.” I was like, “Dude…what are you doing?” We just walked away because we didn’t want to smell too (laughs). Adam: Yeah, stuff like that – you’ll just be walking on the grounds and crazy stuff like that always happens. You just have to be like, “Dude…ok…” (laughs).
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