On your latest release, Kill The House Lights, tell me about the three new tracks, ‘Ladies And Gentlemen: My Brother, The Failure,’ ‘Dead Songs’ and ‘Voices On A String.’
Well ‘Dead Songs’ and ‘Voices On A String’had been sitting on the backburner since we did A City By The Light Divided. We had tried to record both of them for that record, but they didn’t really come out the way we wanted them to, which is mostly my fault. I didn’t really have anything good for them yet (haha). So when I started rewriting them, that’s when we sort of realized, they would be cool. And then ‘Ladies And Gentlemen: My Brother, The Failure’ is a brand new one.
We wrote that right when we were deciding to do this project. And the way that we got Tim Kasher involved is when I started writing it I sort of realized that there was a voice in the song that was totally biting Tim Kasher. So I called him up and told him I was ripping him off real bad, but I’d rather that he just do the part and make it totally him, that way I wouldn’t be ripping him off, it would actually be him (haha). He was into it, so that worked out.
I have to say, a lot of people were shocked to hear that you would be releasing Kill The House Lights through Victory Records. Does it feel weird to be working with Victory again after how that relationship ended, and do you plan on signing with them in the future?
It’s not weird actually at all. I mean, sometimes I see the Victory logo and I think how crazy it is and how unexpected it is. But actually it’s been a totally mellow process, like we haven’t had any problems with them whatsoever. Which I guess, maybe is weird that we hadn’t had any problems with them. Considering what everyone’s been saying about them, ever since we first dogged them. So yeah, that’s been weird, but it’s been great. And no, we don’t have any plans right now of re- signing with them.
Do you have any idea who you’re going to sign with?
Yeah we do, but we can’t say. But to be honest, we still haven’t decided.
Recently there was talk about you and Daryl Palumbo from Glassjaw teaming up for a grindcore side project dubbed United Nations. Is there truth to that and if so, when can we expect to hear it?
Yeah I’m recording some of that stuff right now. It’s super fun, I’m having a great time bringing a ton of friends and I’m hoping that it sees an early next year release.
How did that relationship form and where did the idea come from to put this side project together?
Well I’ve known Daryl since we were both 15,16. We would see each other at shows all the time and just bug out to like, Quicksand, Snapcase and stuff like that, and when we both started doing well in bands we just became good friends. We were always into this obscure shit that a lot of people didn’t dig and we were always like, ‘man, we should be in a band like that someday.’ And that’s kind of how United Nations started, us being like, ‘fuck we should do some Antioch Arrow,’ you know, all this real weird, screamy, grindy shit, so we finally decided to do something like that.
And what’s the meaning behind the band name United Nations?
Well I’ve always wanted to like, subvert a really big organization, and United Nations is such a huge organization that I just cant wait to get a cease and desist notice saying we can’t use the name anymore and that we’ve infringed on all these rights. I have a problem with copyright laws, and I think when people shove things down your throat and put it in your face that you have no right to use any of it, that is a form of oppression. I think everyone thinks that we called it United Nations because it’s so many different people from other bands, but it really has nothing to do with that.
Since we’re approaching the end of 2008, tell me, what was the best thing about 2007 for you?
Getting to work with Tim from Cursive.
And the worst thing about 2007?
Probably getting the shit kicked out of me recording the video for ‘Ladies And Gentlemen: My Brother, The Failure.’ The director had me fighting a typewriter, and basically typewriters are like metal blades encased in metal housing so I got cut all over. All the blood in the video is totally my blood, so that was a bitch.
Thursday will be playing at the Starland Ballroom along with Circa Survive and Gaslight Anthem on Dec. 31 in Sayreville, NJ. For more visit thursday.net
Photo Credit: Ryan Bakerink
