Anberlin

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.