A conversation burns red (part two)

Valley News: In the song “Black Sheep” you have some pretty intense lyrics. What is the jail cell you speak of? (“What was once your life is now lifeless/What was once your life is now your jail cell…”)

Matt Greiner: It’s about a person who left behind a lot of potential, who left behind something he always dreamed about, for something that he thought would save him but shouldn’t have been in his mind, and he followed it to the end and he left everything for it and now it’s imprisoned him.

I don’t want this to get out, but just between you and me…it’s about… [Sorry, I can’t print this part. I have journalism ethics. But I will give you a hint. It is about someone close to him that chose to stay in a bad relationship over following his dreams]

…That’s the thing – I wanted to keep the lyrics up for interpretation, but drugs, women – all that definitely works. (See Song Lyrics)

VN: Speaking of girls, do you prefer scene girls* or non-scene girls?

MG: Non-scene, straight up. That goes for the entire band; in fact, we want girls who don’t even know we are in a band. It’s okay for my girlfriend – well, I don’t have a girlfriend right now [Oh snap, ladies] – but it’s okay for my future girlfriend to like my music. I just don’t want it to play a central role in why she likes me; that’s pretty shallow.

We like [the girls] with jean skirts and American Eagle. [Laughs] We’re not into the black eyeliner and all that.

VN: Pretty much every girl at your show, then.

MG: I know, man. It’s depressing. Also, the girls who seem to be coming to our shows are looking younger and younger, so we try and stay away from the girls at our shows. Gotta be careful.

VN: For a young band you guys have made a huge amount of progress in a short amount of time. How did you get so good so fast, and can you see anything different that you guys have done as a band compared to other local bands that sound good but spend years at it and don’t get as far?

J.B. Brubaker: I can’t really see anything that we have done differently. We definitely had a year where we worked really hard at getting better at our instruments and that was after the EP and right before “Thrill Seeker.”

VN: Did you take lessons?

JB: Yes. I took a semester of lessons in college and that was a big turning point for the band.

VN: Compared to how you feel now, you must have felt like a little kid on your first tour. How does it feel to be older, experienced and successful?

JB: It feels good. We obviously came a long, long way; I definitely think we sucked back then. [Laughs] I see that we improved.

VN: And do you ever sit back, relax and enjoy that feeling?

JB: I don’t do that. I think my mom does it for me. I feel like I’ve been on cruise control for the last few years. I don’t want to get caught up thinking we’re a big band. I mean, we’re still a baby band in comparison, even compared to other bands on our label [Solid State Records].

VN: What?

JB: Yeah, like Underoath, Haste the Day.

VN: Whatever. Those bands think it’s cool to cry in their songs. I’m not trying to sound all tough like I’ve never cried before, and I don’t mean to get on the whole emo-bashing bandwagon, but seriously, what is with all these Solid State bands these days?

JB: Yeah, we’re definitely not into the singing, and we try to avoid relationships and girlfriend stuff [lyrical content] – the stuff that is covered by everyone else all the time or stuff that’s been done over and over since the ’40s.

I don’t know, I guess it’s just a personal style with some bands. I mean, if you’re into it, why not? It’s just not our cup of tea; it’s not something we’re trying to do. It wouldn’t fit.

*[Scene girls = Girls whose identities are wrapped around being involved in the music scene. They usually – but not always – wear a lot of black clothes, band t-shirts, black eyeliner, black hair with weird uneven haircuts, bandanas, tattoos… They spend 90 percent of their days on MySpace… You get the picture, right?]

Song Lyrics - “Black Sheep”

You’ve fallen captive to what you thought would save you/What you thought would clean your slate/You’re in the thick of it now and you have swallowed the hook/What done is done/We’ll continue on with or without you/Pain must exist in order for healing to survive/Neither one will ever serve their purpose alone/You’ve fallen in love with a dream you’ve never had/You’ve fallen in love with a surreal way of living/Too late to wake, farewell and good luck to you/See you at the end/Too late to wake, too late to waste/I’m throwing in the towel/This is my goodbye/Don’t worry/We saw through your trickery and we’re coming out alive/See you at the end/What was once your life is now lifeless/What was once your life is now your jail cell