Nothing like starting an interview by informing the band that you are drinking. As Tall As Lions is fronted by a dude named Dan Nigro. I think it’s a good thing I didn’t know his last name until after I did the interview, or there might have been a different line of questioning.
First, before we get this thing started, I have a question for you. Do you suggest an IPA or a hefeweizen at 12:30 in the afternoon?
Hefeweizen.
All right. I’ll trust you on this one. So honestly, the only thing that I know about your band is that I’ve listened to your last album and I read the Wikipedia page.
OK.
Now the first question I have is based on the Wikipedia page, which several times alluded to an anxiety in song writing. I was wondering if that was true or if there is something that you would like to clear up.
No it’s true. I mean, I think I’ve put a lot of self-imposed pressure on myself over the years in terms of songwriting. I just have some trouble with it. I mean, every time we put out a record I seem to go through this two-month period where I really freak out and I want to quit playing because I feel like I’m not writing up to par with what I know I naturally can.
Ok. Now what are some of the concerns that you put on yourself? What are some of the ideas running through your head that causes some of the pressure?
I don’t know. It has to do with the fact that you’re writing songs on a deadline and you feel like you have to do something that makes your artistically happy but at the end of the day your record label whether they like something or they don’t like something. When you feel that kind of pressure you tend to over think everything and end up writing things that aren’t as good as they would be when you’re just writing for fun.
Got it. You said writing for fun- is that what your normally make music for?
No, I think, not necessarily for fun, but when you’re writing music without any extra pressure. You know, when your writing music because you want to be writing music. You know, writing without thinking that you have to write a certain amount of songs by this day and then you’re going to go into a studio and show the songs to your record label to tell you if they like them and to give you their opinions and all that bullshit. You know, that kind of stuff. And even like, I mean, at the end of the day we get to make the kind of record that we want to make, but that stuff still weighs on me. You do have an ego and you do want people to be happy with what you are creating.
When you write songs, especially lyrics, do you make sure that the spelling is all correct of do you have any issues with spelling?
I don’t really care about that kind of stuff.
All right, fair enough. Have you had any weird experiences with fans as of yet?
With fans? Oh yeah. Tons of weird experiences with fans. I hate to talk about them because you know you have fans reading articles and stuff. But we have run into some really strange people and have had some really creepy and scary encounters with people where they just cross the line of doing really weird stuff that is either offensive or just creepy.
Are there any guidelines you would like to offer fans? You know- “Don’t do these things.”
I think the people that are doing the things in their hearts know when they are doing something that is weird. You know, there is a natural balance to things, and people know when they are doing something off. Some people just don’t give a shit.
Speaking of weird, are you concerned at all with the paranormal? You know ghosts or anything like that?
Nope. Not at all.
The song named “Case of Rapture” -seeing the title I was really hoping it was kind of a mockery of the bumper sticker that I see that says “In case of rapture, the car is yours.”
Oh yeah, or “In case of rapture this car will be abandoned.”
But kind of listening to the song and checking out the lyrics it seems that there was a distaste with Christianity. Is there or with organized religion?
You know, there is a certain sort of distaste with it, not as a whole. It’s not towards people who are Christians or of a certain religions but mainly towards the religions themselves. A lot of times when you meet people, I mean like the song more so deals with Christianity than other things, but you meet a lot of great amazing-hearted individuals, you know. But I think that sometimes when religion gets involved and when people start taking the Bible too seriously and using it to judge other people that’s where things go a little sketchy. The song is more about that than actually saying that “we don’t like Christian people” or “we don’t like this” or “we don’t approve of that.” There is a fine line that it draws and I think that people will sometimes misinterpret the song for being a knock on religion as a whole or a knock on people who are of a certain religion where that’s actually not the case. It’s more towards specific people who use religion to throw their stones.
Right. Do you have any opinions on the recent Catholic and Vatican sex abuse scandals?
To be honest, I haven’t been up on too much of that news. I kind of try to stay away from that; it all seems irrelevant for someone like me to talk about. It’s stilly stuff. You know there are a lot of creepy people out there and some of them end up becoming priests. Just because you’re a priest doesn’t mean you’re a saint.
What’s a better feeling: finding $5 in your pocket that you didn’t know you had or getting a piece of food out of your teeth that you have been trying to all afternoon?
Probably getting the piece of food out of my teeth.
I agree with that. I’ve been loving me some dental floss recently. When we started I asked you IPA or hefeweizen. What’s your favorite beer?
I don’t drink beer actually. I don’t really like beer. It makes me feel bloated.
Do you have an alcoholic drink of choice and/or a nonalcoholic drink of choice?
I would have to say that water is definitely my favorite drink. And if I drink alcohol it is either one of two things: vodka or whiskey.
The whiskey is a good choice. I’m a big fan of whiskey. What hobbies do you have? What are you doing when you’re not doing things with As Tall As Lions?
The last few times I have had any time off from the band I’ve traveled. I really enjoy traveling. I have seen quite a few spots around the world and I plan on seeing quite a few more. So whenever I get some time off from doing music I like to explore.
What’s next on the agenda?
I think I am going to go to either South America or go to some countries in Europe that I haven’t done. So it’s still up for debate, I’m still pricing it out and seeing what’s more realistic for me.
I’m someone who has never left the country, what would you suggest for the first country to visit outside of America?
That’s impossible to say. I don’t know your personality or what you like to do. It’s relative to the person.
You remind me of the limo driver from “Joe versus the Volcano.” Have you seen that movie?
I saw it when I was about six years old. I don’t really remember it.
In it Tom Hank’s character is basically given a whole bunch of credit cards and rents a limo and tells the limo driver he wants to go shopping for clothes, doesn’t know exactly where and the limo driver goes “I can’t tell you where you need to go because clothes make the man and I can’t tell you who you are.” It was very philosophical. That’s it for me, anything else?
Nope.
All right, have a good day and go enjoy some water.
– Jonathan “The Emperor!” Yost