If we had to name a band that we would follow to the end of the earth, this would be it.
Beloved New Jersey rock quartet The Gaslight Anthem are in the midst of a triumphant tour to celebrate their latest album, History Books, but they’ll soon return to their native state, where they’re set to play two shows in Asbury Park: August 16 at Asbury Park Summerstage, then September 15 for the Sea.Hear.Now festival. (And, for good measure, they’ll also do another concert in the area, with a performance in New York City’s Central Park on August 21.)
Calling from his hotel room during a tour stop in Seattle, drummer Benny Horowitz says he and his bandmates have a special treat in store for their home state fans: “When we get out to Jersey and start playing those shows, I think we’ll probably kick out some older songs for the old school crowd who’ve been coming to see us a long time.”
For all of their shows, though, Horowitz promises that they’ll also play their hits, such as “The ’59 Sound” and “45,” which have made The Gaslight Anthem such a popular act for almost two decades now.
Horowitz adds that it’s been especially fun for the band to play new material from their sixth album, History Books, which was released last October. “I think it’s always an interesting thing because the songs take a little bit of a different shape when you start playing them live. Especially a band like us, who gives ourselves the freedom of adapting as we go. It’s almost like field testing songs and seeing if people are jiving on them or not. It’s always fun.
“I know people want to hear a band play all their old songs and nothing else,” he continues, “but you’ve got to remember that it’s exciting as an artist to make new stuff and tinker around with it.”
For some time, it was uncertain when – or maybe even if – The Gaslight Anthem would ever release new material and tour again. They went on hiatus in 2018, with no firm plan for returning, but, as Horowitz explains, deciding to resurrect The Gaslight Anthem was a decision the band members made “pretty organically – almost the same way we decided to go on hiatus: it wasn’t bound by any certain timeframe or sets of rules. It was bound by when we think we can do the thing again the way it should be done. That took a while to get to that place, but when we [did], it was a natural, ‘All right, let’s do it, it’s time.’”
Some things have changed since the last time they worked together, though. “Touring’s a little different than when we stopped,” the drummer says. “Lot of family obligations and types of things like that we weren’t exactly into seven or eight years ago, so it’s a different thing. I think it takes a lot of adjusting: physically, mentally, all of it.”
Still, the bond Horowitz and his bandmates have formed over the years clearly outweighs these challenges. “There’s a closeness to it that the only other people I have this with is my family,” Horowitz says. “I’ve spent so much time – more time, maybe – with these people in vans and airplanes and buses and backstage rooms all over the world than I have with anyone else in the last 20 years. These people know the ins and outs about you in a very, very unique and stark kind of way.”
Successfully keeping a group together is, he says, “like keeping any adult relationship good. You need empathy. You need to listen. You need to communicate. You need to literally take anything you’ve learned from a marriage counselor and apply it to being in a band; it’s probably pretty similar.”
For his part, Horowitz was quite young when he started aiming to become part of a band like this. “It was one of those things where I was a great fan and appreciator of rock and roll at a really early age,” he says.
In particular, punk rock really resonated with him. “I wasn’t a bad kid, but certainly a misfit kid who was a little bit off the beaten path of your normal New Jersey suburb kind of upbringing.” By playing the drums for bands in the punk scene, “I found my people and I found my place, and I think that’s one of the reasons why I dove so headfirst into it. It was like-minded people of like-minded values, which wasn’t something I was finding in other places.”
He recalls feeling instantly inspired as The Gaslight Anthem began taking shape in 2006. “I first got hooked up with Brian [Fallon, vocalist/guitarist] through a mutual friend – he had an EP out with a different band, and I was immediately taken by his songs and song craft. I was excited to be in a band with somebody who has a point of view like that, who is a proper songwriter. And I was in other bands with [lead guitarist] Alex Rosamilia prior to Gaslight, and knew he was just a great player.” Once bassist Alex Levine joined, the lineup was set – and, unusually, has remained stable ever since.
Horowitz soon realized that other people could also sense The Gaslight Anthem’s potential. “There was quite an obvious difference in people’s reactions when Gaslight did a demo. I just knew immediately that there was something there that people were latching onto, and it felt special. I think that’s one of the reasons [why] we went so hard when we were a young band, because it was like, ‘We finally have this opportunity – we really need to seize it.’”
While their debut album, 2007’s Sink or Swim, earned positive reviews, it was their follow-up release that would bring them substantial fame when the title track from The ’59 Sound (2008) quickly became a hit around the world. Their following albums were also favorably received, especially 2012’s Handwritten, which contains their biggest hit single to date, the aforementioned “45.”
But, Horowitz says, this exceptional success has not made the band complacent. “I think nobody expects more out of us than us. Gaslight has never gotten off of a stage and looked at each other and been like, ‘Great job, guys! Good show!’ Like, it’s pretty low key. Even when we make songs, we’ll be stoked about it, but there’s not a lot of bravado, and I think we don’t get very impressed with ourselves for very long.”
That said, Horowitz is pleased as he looks back on everything that he and his bandmates have accomplished with The Gaslight Anthem: “I’m so proud of all of it.”
FOR TICKETS & INFO ON THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM’S LIVE SHOWS, VISIT THEIR WEBSITE!
