BAND: Circa Survive
INTERVIEWER: JenJen Reyes (jenjen@bandvibe.com)
INTERVIEWEE: Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 04.17.08

BAND MEMBERS:
Anthony Green - Vocals
Colin Frangicetto - Guitar
Brendan Ekstrom - Guitar
Steve Clifford - Drums
Nick Beard - Bass

JENJEN: This spring tour is all about supporting the Invisible Children non-profit organization to support Northern Uganda, what would you like to say to your fans in getting involved with the movement?

COLIN: I think when a whole entire tour is behind a cause there’s something to be say about it. It’s a very important non-profit organization that we’ve chosen to work with. Thrice has done a lot of work with them in the past. They did a video loosely based on what the Invisible Children talks about, but basically just go to the website (www.invisiblechildren.com) and inform yourself and check it out. Everything’s there. Everything there is spoken way better than I can put it. It’s something really important if you care about human rights. It’s something you should really be involved with.

JENJEN: The band has played huge festivals like Bamboozle, Coachella, Warped Tour…. How is performing those huge events different than playing on a regular tour?

COLIN: It all depends on what tour we’re actually on, on how different it will be. When we tour with a band like My Chemical Romance, it’s kind of normal. For the most case, it’s a lot different. We like both extremes though. We like the small intimate rooms. We also like the big chaotic, crazy festivals settings with the challenge to try and captivate the audience in that setting. When you can do both, you’re at least doing your job somewhat well which I’m not sure we totally know that, but it’s something that you know every time is going to be different, and it’s going to be interesting. It’s like do what you’re supposed to do and get everyone into it.

JENJEN: Your latest album, On Letting Go, contains powerful real life messages that encourage us not to hold grudges, to love ourselves and to be true to ourselves. What are some things you sacrificed personally this year for the sake of self-improvement?

COLIN: I let go of my cigarette smoking habit.

JENJEN: Have you been successful on that?

COLIN: Yeah, well Nick quit drinking soda to help me so we just reached out our 3 months.

JENJEN: Congratulations! Yeah, I haven’t really drink soda over 1 ½ years. Don’t have any desire too. When I do drink it on some occasions, the carbonation is pretty strong for me.

COLIN: Yah, it’s crazy when you’re used to something and you just don’t pay attention to it anymore and it’s a habit. I think that’s the way cigarettes and soda are for me and Nick. There are times that I miss it and I’ve accepted that I’ll always want one to some degree, but I’ve chosen it’s better for my life to let go of it. It’s like a friend that is a very bad influence that you really love, but you’re like “We’ve got some great times, but sorry!”

JENJEN: I so know how that feels. It’s good that you’re not alone on this and you have a Nick going through a similar situation. It’s good to have support.

COLIN: I think I would have broken down if it wasn’t for him because I so don’t want to let him down (laughs). I think he would know. There were a couple of times where I’d call him and go, “Tell me not to smoke!” And he’d say, “Don’t smoke,” and I go, “OK.”

JENJEN: What is the real meaning of “The Greatest Lie”? I gave up trying to figure that one out.

COLIN: Lyrically? You would probably have to ask Anthony about that. It’s nice that there is still room for interpretation of the songs. Lyrically, that song is really cool. For me, it makes this weird montage in my head when I listen to it, but you’d have to ask Anthony. I’m not sure what the true meaning of it is, but I think it’s cool to have your own meaning to it and try to make sense in your head.

JENJEN: Speaking of songs taken into different meanings, the song, “The Difference between Medicine and Poison Is the Dose” seems like it can be interpreted in so many different ways. It could be about drugs, insecurities, religion, etc… Do you keep a collection of your fans interpretations to your songs, or their experiences related to them written in a book or put them on a website?

COLIN: It’s a really good idea to do it officially. For the first few tours, we brought a notebook with us that we let everyone sign, draw pictures or write us something. So we have a couple of notebooks from those tours. Obviously, Myspace is a living breathing documentation of people’s comments which there are a lot of interpretations on that. Then the website as well now with our updates, and people comment on that. Then there are emails, we got tons of emails from people and Myspace messages that are still there that I would hope one day we will go through and kind of do something with them. A lot of it is like more poetic than anything we would ever do. That in itself is art. It’s nice to read that stuff and be inspired by it. Even when it’s completely off and it’s not what our goal was for the song or message, it’s like “Wow!” and exactly what you were saying about having collection that inspires me to think, “Wow! We should do that actually.”

JENJEN: How was your experience in working with Producer Brian McTernan during the On letting Go album?

COLIN: It was great. Brian is a real dear friend of ours. I think we knew that there were still some things we needed to learn from him as a producer. He definitely put a stamp on the record. The same way that we have a sound and he has a sound also, so he shapes what we do just like any good producer should. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. I mean the process of making that record was actually difficult and emotional. He really helped us with communication issues that we had as a band that we weren’t even aware of. It’s like where you go to a therapist; and you sit down, you start talking through your shit and all the sudden you realized, “Oh man, I have issues with this…” I think that happened with us in the studio. I think it would be easy for us to look back and be like, “Oh if we didn’t work with him, it would be like this…” But actually, it was perfect. We needed to go through everything we went through making that record. Brian is always going to be someone we respect and love as a person. As a producer, we really respect and admire. It was a really good experience and really different than any of us has imagined it would be.

JENJEN: This album sounds like it was breaking the ice between the band and to be open with each other.

COLIN: It was. He (Brian) encouraged a lot of communication. I think for us, the first record and the first touring cycle was a bit of a blur, an automatic mechanical feeling. When you’re making your first record, even though there was pressure, there was this kind of excitement that was dropping us the entire time. By the time we were recording our second record, it was like “woah!” We’re almost approaching a year and half or two years later, we had this flow down and just be like, “Alright, what do we want to do?” “Who are we as a band?” “Who are we as individuals?” All these things came out of nowhere. Just our identity as a group was just starting to form by the time we got into that studio for the second time. It was a different studio which was also I was about to say as far as the experience goes, his (Brian’s) new studio is amazing and the location in Baltimore really added a lot to the overall feeling of being there. I love Baltimore now which I never had experience there, but being there, the area really grows on you. I loved being in his studio. It was awesome.

JENJEN: Might be a third or fourth home, huh?

COLIN: Oh definitely, every time we go through there, we always have to roll up there and say hi, and see whatever bands he’s hanging out with and recording. Him and his wife just had a child so congrats to him if he even reads this.

JENJEN: For the fans that can’t quite put their finger on it, what makes this album distinctive than the rest of the other albums in 2008?

COLIN: That’s a great question. I mean, you tell me, I don’t know. It’s a difficult thing to analyze as an artist. You kind of have to just do what you have to do without questioning it that much. I recently went to South By Southwest (probably my fifth year in a row going), I guess mentally I was in a much different place in going there, and there was 1,000 bands in one city. It’s pretty much the physical equivalent to looking in a hard drive that has 1,000 albums, and yours is just a speck on it. You’re just kind of like, “I don’t know, why do you like us? What makes us different?” To me, I don’t know… I couldn’t tell you. All I know is that what we do feels good and we enjoy it. We have gotten so much feedback from people that enjoy it and encourage us. We just do what we do because that’s what we do. We try to just be honest. We try not to hold back anything.

JENJEN: Here’s a way random question. If all of you were on the reality TV show “Survivor”, which member would win the 1 million dollar prize?

COLIN: 100 percent, it would be Nick.

JENJEN: Why’s that?

COLIN: He’s the most technically able out of all of all of us. Usually, he is the most logical. He has his moments were he’s illogical, but for the most part you can always rely on him like, “Hey, is this fuckin’ crazy?” If it is, he’ll be like, “Yeah!” If it isn’t, he’ll be like, “No.” He’s definitely one of those guys I think all of us can look to and be all, “Hey, can you sign off on this and let me know it’s OK? Otherwise, I’m going to feel kind of unsure about it.” He’s that type of guy who thinks he can fall off from an airplane and survive if he fell into the ocean which is just isn’t true.

JENJEN: What advice would you give to the kids that are starting bands all across America?

COLIN: Anyone that asks us for advice when it comes to music, we tell them, “There’s nothing wrong aiming high. There’s nothing wrong with having strong goals.” I think the reason why we were able to slip through the cracks and gain any kind of success, in the beginning for all of us, we let go of everything. As long as we have a van, we have a home. That was pretty much the way we looked at it. Granted, Anthony and I both lived in Pennsylvania with our parents when we first started, but once these guys came in like Nick, Brendan, Steve… they became obvious that we needed a place for all of us to go. Brendan has practically been living back and forth because he was coming from Maryland, where his family was from, and he would crash on whoever’s couch. Nick was out from California, and he flew out to join the band with nothing. So we took everything that we had and got a real shitty house for three months. We spent all the money that we had on equipment and rent for three months. Basically, we saved the money we had left on bare essentials like food and stuff like that. Once the label helped us in getting a van, we got a van and just went. We were like, “Well, when are we actually going to be stable again?” That rent was only for three months. We moved out of that house, went straight to the studio and made our first record. At that point, there was no looking back. We’re gonna go out and tour, hopefully one day we’ll be able to have a house again and be stable. For a good year straight, we stayed on the road. At the most, we’d stay home for a couple weeks. It was really crazy for at least a year, we didn’t have a steady place to go back to. Everyone was kind of up in the air and in between. So for new bands, be prepared to give up everything you have because that’s the really only way you’ll get anything back. Don’t expect to get a million dollar contract. Don’t expect every show to be filled with a bunch of people. You just have to rely on the people around you. That’s basically how we got through it. As long as we like each other and as long as we have a van, we’ll make it through. We will be alright. We got lucky in a lot of ways, but that was the main thing in the beginning that helped us most: being okay with very little.

JENJEN: On a final note, what would you like to tell your loyal Bandvibe fans today?

COLIN: Just thank you. I think we wake up every day knowing that without the people that care about us, about our music… that we’re pretty much nothing. Thank you very much. It’s hard to even explain it in words, so thanks.

For more official information on Circa Survive, please log onto:
http://www.circasurvive.com
http://www.myspace.com/circasurvive
http://www.purevolume.com/circasurvive

Check out Bandvibe's photo coverage of Circa Survive: