Last month we had the honor, privilege, and time of our life (pun intended) at the pop punk/emo/alternative rock festival that has taken the world by storm over the last three years – When We Were Young. The fest’s über-current presence in today’s music scene mixed with the appreciation-based nostalgia for the soundtrack of many of our youths is something we thoroughly enjoyed reporting on and something we are very, very, very thankful for.
The year 2024 has been a true celebration of Senses Fail. At When We Were Young Festival, the band took the stage to perform Still Searching cover-to-cover. It’s an incredible album with ebbs and flows; such a record feels dynamic and constant. The more somber moments lead the way to heavier and more vicious tracks. It’s a gorgeous pop punk balance. Two of the band’s biggest hits from their career are from that record, as well, so the absolute wall of people who showed up to their set at this stacked Las Vegas festival proved just how exciting this was to everyone. It felt like there wasn’t a single person who attended the fest that didn’t head out Senses Fail’s killer set, which was amazing. This band is truly on a roll once again.
Not only that, but the group is playing their beloved debut album, Let It Enfold You, in full all across the United States right now. The aptly titled New Jersey Vs The World Tour comes to Montclair tomorrow, November 14, and Friday, November 15. One of the dates at The Wellmont will even be live-streamed for everyone to see! Talk about putting ‘the world’ into the tour!
We had the chance to talk with Buddy Nielsen, the spirited lead singer of Senses Fail, about this nostaglic festival, their own tour, and the new album that they’re currently writing.
We’re here at When We Were Young Festival and you just played Still Searching in full. What was that like?
It was awesome! It was really fun. It was crazy to do it at a festival this big and play a record. You never really envision that when you write a record – playing the entire thing at a festival. It was really cool.
Even the slower moments like on “Lost and Found” went over well.
That one felt good, yeah! That one was actually one of the highlights for me. You think the slower song might actually be not good, but it worked out really well.
When you’re playing this live, do you feel a lot of nostalgia?
It’s a kind of a new experience. It feels completely new because you’re doing it in a completely new environment. This is not the studio or even how we toured it before. You’re playing outside during the day. The only equivalent is Warped Tour, and you wouldn’t play a record on Warped Tour. This is cool.
When you’re playing a record front to back, is it weird when fans know the tracklist/setlist? They know what’s coming next.
I don’t think so. I think the weird part is that [an album] is generally not designed for a live show. It’s designed to be listened to. A live show would be much more packed with energetic stuff, peaks and valleys. Some records translate really well live. Some are better on record and vice versa. It really depends on your preference as a listener.
I remember that at Riot Festival in 2019, Senses Fail performed Let It Enfold You in full. I caught that!
That’s a great festival record. That is a really good festival record because it’s just constant. This one’s a little more flow-y. We’ve never done this at a festival, so it’s a totally new experience.
While talking about Let It Enfold You, we have to talk about the New Jersey Vs The World Tour. How are you feeling about that?
I’m so stoked! It’s doing so well; all the shows are sold out. It’s crazy to be doing this 20-year anniversary that was written when I was 18 years old. I’m just really excited to go do it. I’m sort of at a loss for words about how to put this experience, comparatively to the band before it… it just feels like the band is more successful than we were ever. It’s pretty wild to think about or wrap your head around. It kind of feels like a new band, but we’re clearly not.
Even when you dropped A Game of Chess in 2022, the hype I felt with that release, it felt like a band’s debut album on the scene.
Yeah! I feel like we’ve got to follow it up. That’s what we’re going to spend a lot of time next year doing: really trying to write the record that everybody wants to hear, whatever that is. We’re still working on it.
Do you have full songs or bits and pieces?
A little bit of both! We’ve got a lot of songs. I’ve written a lot. I know a lot of bands say that – AFI has famously been like, “We write 90 songs,” but, yeah, we’ve written a lot of songs already and a lot of it is still very young in the process. I don’t really know when we’re going to be finished. We’re going to spend a long time on this to make sure it’s perfect.
Every Sense Fail record has its own identity. How do you know when it’s complete?
I don’t know [Laughs]. I think I’m more open to other people helping me figure out when that might be. I’m actually working with some former members of the band to help. It’s not just up to me. I like opening it up to more of a democratic process. Some of the last records have been, “Hey, this is what I want to do!” This is going to be more, “What are we collectively – us, as a band – trying to achieve?”
That’s interesting, because every member of Senses Fail has their own idea of what it is.
Yeah, I think it’s going to hopefully be the Voltron of Senses Fail. We’re going to get every good piece of the band connected.
Next year is the 10th anniversary of Pull The Thorns From Your Heart. Do you have anything planned?
I would love to do a show where we play the record in full. It’s my personal favorite record of the band, so I’d absolutely love to play the record in full. That would be a dream, a goal for the people that really want to hear it, so we need to give them an opportunity to do it.
While we’re talking about album plays, Life Is Not A Waiting Room was toured last year. I’ve always said that it’s the hidden gem of the Senses Fail discography.
It [brief pause] blew my mind about how well it did. Thinking about the record and what I think about it, there’s a lot of people that do love it. It was really fun to do and super successful. It kind of makes you want to do it for every record just to give people the opportunity to have their moment. People like that, too, because we’ve been a band so long, certain entry points are all over the map. If you started listening in 2010, it’s going to be The Fire. Then you go back and listen to all the other records, but still that record means something to you. I’d like to give people the opportunity to have their moment.
Fans like myself appreciate it so much. I’m 25, so…
You didn’t have the opportunity! That’s the other reason, too. People might have gone back and listened.
I do want to talk about today’s set. As a fan looking behind me and seeing a sea of people, I wanted to asked what that is like.
It’s a little overwhelming. I’m just up there trying to do my job. That sounds kind of ‘eh,’ but when we’re doing a record, I want to represent the record that people have come to know. I don’t want to let them down. For me, I’m not nervous, but very focused. I want to deliver what people are expecting. For people who, this is their record and this is what they want to see, I want them to have a really great experience. I don’t want them to walk away and go, “I liked it better on record.” I want them to be like, “This is better!” I went and saw Kasey Musgraces a couple weeks ago. I was blown away by how much more I liked the live versions of the songs versus the record. That’s the goal: it’s better to see live.
Photo by Cameron Gile
I need to ask because I am also a huge Ice Nine Kills fan: you’ve played “Death By Water” live, but we’ve never seen “The Fly” live?
No! We’ve never seen “The Fly,” and the last time I saw Ice Nine they were opening for Falling In Reverse in Vegas and [Spencer Charnas] was really sick. He got super sick and needed IVs and all this stuff so we couldn’t set anything up. We’ll make it happen. Spencer and I will make it happen.
So before I die, I have a shot to see “The Fly” live with the two of you? That’s all I want.
Absolutely. I think it has to happen.
Here at When We Were Young Festival in 2022, you came on stage during Ice Nine Kills’ set for “Wurst Vacation.”
That was so fun! Dude, I was like, “I want to get killed!” [Laughs] It was super fun. I enjoyed that very much.
Now that you’ve done your When We Were Young set today, what do you have planned for tomorrow?
I’ve got a little more planned. There’s more sharks, more boats. I’m going to dress like Freddie Mercury. I’m going to go a little more nuts, a little bit more unhinged. This was the, “Hey, let’s make sure we deliver” set; tomorrow is going to be the party.
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