Anberlin

Oh the joys of 2007 ...


Top 10 Songs of 2007:

1. Cold War Kids
"Saint John"

2. The White Stripes
"You Don't Know What Love Is"

3. Interpol
"Heinrich Maneuver"

4. The Veils
"Advice for Young Mothers to Be"

5. Ryan Adams
"It Takes Two"

6. Bruce Springstein
"Livin' in the Future"

7. Jimmy Eat World
"Big Casino"

8. Bloc Party
"Song for Clay (Dissapear Here)"

9. Against Me!
"Up the Cuts"

10. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
"666 Conducer"

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Anberlin on Buzznet: Profile | Community | Official Website

well, we're out on warped tour and i could not be more stoked.  everyone is so cool, and there are tons and tons of people showing up to the shows everyday. the highlight is meeting all the other musicians.  coheed, circa survive, and killswitch have been some of the coolest people.

our highlights as far as shows have been main stage in salt lake city utah! but i wanted to say thanks so much to everyone in denver, we got set back because of the rain; everyone stayed around and watched us at 8pm! even after being out  in the weather all day.

we're on till july 27th and after that were going to take our first real break since february. it will be nice to finally be able to unpack my suitcase and hang out with my family and friends!

my brother and i will finally be able to watch transformers, and i will get to celebrate my niece's birthday, even if it's a month late! we're doing a lot of fly-out dates and it looks like were going to
spend time in the UK! hopefully!

this fall were going out with an amazing band, but we were asked not to tell everyone just yet, but trust me it's worth the wait!

talk to you soon!
-stephen

so our 4am united flight arrived here last night and they lost my suitcase! no worries though, im learning to live without my possessions, but my toothbrush?  not sure i can live without that!  oh
well, tonight is going to be amazing.  i can't wait, every year at cornerstone the show gets better and better! we are playing with our friends in relient k so life is alright!

were heading out on our first ever warped tour tomorrow morning!  the first shows are in California, so it can't start off any better!  we're excited to see our friends in bayside, and it will be my first chance to see circa survive and coheed live!   it seems every time we're on tour (which is always) they're on tour!

the godspeed video is up on myspace.com, so go check it out!  we have received a lot of great feedback and i am glad everyone is stoked on it because i think that slow motion shot of nate in the middle of the video is unreal! 

see you guys out on warped!  and if you don't catch us there we are going on the most unreal tour this fall!  you won't believe it!  but i can't tell you just yet. sorry.  soon friends!
-stephen christian

well we just arrived two days ago here in adelaide, australia. what an amazing advernture thus far, as many of you know we had never been to singapore or japan before.

all the shows were amazing but in singapore we played a small acoustic secret show at a really cool club called hope. i think absolutely everyone was singing along because i couldn't even hear myself
singing. in life that is going to go down as one of the greatest shows for me personally. i could not stop smiling the entire time. we all made a promise to each other to translate more of our songs to
acoustic guitars because we did not want that night to stop at all.

japan was insane. i tried to speak japanese in between each song, but it wasn't too good. hopefully it's the thought that counts. i can't wait to go back to japan, it didn't feel like we had enough time there at
all.  but i think the shows went well enough that we will!

we are now in adelaide, australia sitting downstairs waiting to play.  and i am really really ready to play. im thinking about just telling copeland to pack it up because i am so excited.  it has been such a great tour being out with those guys, over dinner last night aaron marsh (copeland singer) said that this didnt even feel like tour; just hanging out with friends. and that's exactly how i feel as well. we even worked on some backing vocals last night in the hotel room for anchor&braille.  shhhh don't tell anyone!

the video is done! were just looking through a couple of edits and deciding which one we look the prettiest in. ha. hope all is well friends!

-stephen

it has been SO good to be home these last few days.  deon, joey, and i played cornerstone florida, playing some of my songs  for 'anchor&braille'.  nate has been hanging out in tampa with friends and family, we were supposed to go see rouge wave together but were both pretty 'showed' out so we skipped it for a coffee shop.  christian has been hanging out with his friends in southern cali and is now in seattle washington. he just had a bday a couple days ago and were planning on celebrating it when we see him again... IN JAPAN!  we are so excited about hitting the road, its our first time to japan so we have no idea what to expect. i have been doing australian interviews the last couple days and the majority of the journalists are saying that the shows are going to be pretty insane, some are already even sold out and were weeks away!!!!   see everyone on warped tour!
-stephen

i think if i could i would never come off this tour.  i would just stay with the 4 of these bands and hope no one would ever get tired of us traveling with the same people!  tonight wraps up the last night that bayside will be with us, unfortunately!  they are amazing musicians, with great fans, and incredible people!

tonight we are here in Pittsburgh, home of steel and zao.  the boys in zao are coming out tonight, so i'm really excited. we have had a lot of friends come out these last couple shows;  matt kearney, hawthorne heights,  say anything, emery, and a couple other bands. good times!

we're excited to be heading into canada here soon, new bands new tour; the end of the tour we are playing bamboozle for the second time & immediately after that we head off to sweden to shoot our music video for 'godspeed'!!!!

that's about it from over here.  i'll keep you updated if anything else exciting happens.

SOMEONE WIN THAT CAR ON ANBERLINCITIES.COM ALREADY!!!!

-stephen

friends,
 
i just wanted to take this opportunity to personally say thank you so much for the support & being such a big part of anberlin's success. without you we would not have had the opportunities to travel, tour, and pursue music & our dreams. this is the most exciting time in our band's history because our cd 'CITIES' comes out tomorrow, tuesday, february 20th. this album is simply the best record that we have ever put out, and are so excited to finally be able to share it with you.
 
we are playing an acoustic show tonight, february 19th, in our home town, orlando, florida. the show is going to be at park avenue cd's and @ 10:30pm were going to start, and then at midnight were going to be selling the record. we would love everyone to come, but even if you miss this show we are headlining across the country with bayside, meg & dia, and jonezetta, all the dates are up on anberlin.com  and are beginning to sell out, so get your tickets now so you can come sing along.

also, we are playing a free myspace secret show with our friends in bayside tomorrow night at the social in orlando, florida.  if you live anywhere in the area, please come out and help us celebrate the release of ‘CITIES.’  it’s going to be an amazing time.  doors open at 6:00pm but get there early so you don’t miss your chance to get into the show. 
 
your friend,
stephen christian
(anberlin singer)

hey guys this is stephen from anberlin,

just wanted to post a blog to let you know what going on in the lives of me and boys.  well on his off time joey has continued to write more for the next next album, he is a machine and the songs he are coming up with are ridiculous; he has also randomly started taking up cooking and i have
been over to his house these last couple nights and it's nice not having to pay to eat lately!

deon has been gracing the cover of this weeks buzznet.com, and he and i just got back a couple days ago from india. i think it really got to him and he is talking about coming with me to africa this december.

knate has been busy doing video blogs (on youtube), hanging out in atlanta with his brother, and in addition, him and i drove to orlando yesterday to sign 1,000 cities booklets that will be available free with the purchase of  "cities" at select fye stores on street date.

like i said before deon and i just got back about a week ago from india it was an unreal experience (you can read more on modesty.blogspot.com).  i've just been hanging out with the 'roommates', got to spend some time in vienna, austria, and had an amazing chance to play (with my side project anchor&braille) up in new york city with dustin from thrice. were (a&b) playing again this weekend in orlando.

next week we are starting to practice for the upcoming tour with bayside. we are really excited about the tour because not only do we get to play new songs, but we are going on tour with a full lighting
and stage crew, the first time for us ever!  the shows are really filling up fast which is so amazing, and a couple are even close to selling out and were about a month away from them! amazing!

thank all you guys for pre-ordering for 'CITIES' that comes out on feb.20, and for coming to see us on our tour! hope to get a chance to meet you all there.

your friend,
stephen christian

Answered by Stephen Christian – lead singer

What city's music scene is underrated?  Overrated?

I think the city with the most underrated music scene is Seattle, Washington;  I think a lot of people overlook this scene because of the big novelty of grunge coming from there in the 90's.  But today the music scene in Seattle is thriving and growing.  Overrated is Southern California;  I think the usually innovative California has taken a turn for the stagnant with bands coming out of there sounding the same as the music coming out of there 10 years ago.  Sad, but they either need a serious revival or its time to move on.

If any one of your songs could become a theme for a television show, which song would you choose, and for what show?

Well , I think “Godspeed” would make a great song for a “Cops” type show, maybe one of those Spike TV shows where the whole show is about crazy chase scenes.  “Inevitable” would be a great song for a sappy season finally of a show like “Friends” or something.  “Autobahn” off our first record, “Blueprints For The Black Market,” could have been an AMAZING car commercial "DRIVE TO DREAM TO LIVE - WITH KIA" (see!?!)

Did you make any new years resolutions? If so, what are they?

No, I didn't make any New Year’s Resolutions because for most people they fade within the first 2 weeks.  I do however keep a list of 101 goals with me that rotate periodically.  I don't think bettering yourself should be confined only to the New Year, but all year round.

As a band that puts out vinyls, are you vinyl collectors yourself?  Do you feel that's still an important medium?

ABSOLUTELY!  I love vinyl and have an avid collection (including 3 copies of my favorite Beatles album “Let It Be”) but my prize find is a promotional only UK copy of “The Queen Is Dead” by The Smiths. The first vinyl I ever got was a band called “Circle of Birds” which I felt sounded better on vinyl...thus my addiction was spawned.  Since then Nate, the drummer, has taken on the hobby as well and now has twice as many records as i do.   I would love to put more vinyl out in the future, this is only a 7", but would have really have liked to do a full album version with extra songs not on the CD.  I feel is still an important medium because, in my opinion, music nowadays is so easily consumed.  It’s never really heard, it is more or less consumed as background noise and not as 'art' anymore.  With vinyl, you have to make a concerted effort to locate and purchase a record player, purchase not so accessible vinyl (usually not at major retailers) then put the needle to the record and because of this time taken, usually the music consumer actually sits and listens to the record and really digests its content.

I think more people would “get” and enjoy the music they listen to if they actually took the time to hear what the musician/poet was trying
to say.

What are some of your LEAST favorite cities and why?

Wow.  This is a hard answer to be politically correct on, but I'll be honest.  I really don't like Baltimore, I love the Bay side area, but as far as the inner city where we usually perform, it is a bit sketchy.   Milwaukee is another city that is not on my top 10.  I almost killed us there once because unannounced to me you can park your car in a lane on the right side of the road, so you could be driving along and slam into a parked car.  Also, some of the signals are on the side of the road and some are overhead, so one time I literally almost got us into an accident because i drove right through a red light.

What is the first record that each of you recall purchasing yourself?

The first record i think i ever bought was Bon Jovi "Slippery When Wet."  My dad liked the song “Livin on a Prayer,” so he let me buy it.  I think i was 6 or so when it came out, so i thought it was a HUGE deal that my parents let me buy this rather heavy rock (or so i thought at
the time) tape.

If you win the opportunity to do AOL Sessions, what are a few covers you would you like to play?

My first choice to bring up to the guys would be The Smiths.  I saw that no one has even attempted to cover this band on the AOL sessions yet and it would be great!  If not, I would love to do a song by either Smashing Pumpkins or Oasis.

Is Stephen still flattered when people say he looks like Rod Stewart?

Well, I used to have bleached blond hair and a mullet and I got the Rod Stewart thing a lot.  Now my hair is long all over and red/brown, so I don't know if there are going to be many correlations anymore.  But crap, Rod Stewart had a great career, got rich, and has a hot wife half his
age... sounds good to me!

Are there any Anberlin songs you wrote that you are embarrassed about now.  Why?

Well, “Foreign Language” off “Blueprints For The Black Market” could be the only song that comes to mind that I have mixed emotions about.  But it could be the best or the worst song we have ever wrote.  Best because it is very Beatles-pop with 2 choruses and undeniably catchy, or it could be the worst because, well it’s cheesy. So who knows... but for now we will just leave it the idiot-savant of all the songs we have ever written.