Canadian heroes Alexisonfire return to Australia this week to begin their second assault on the Soundwave Festival – their first being in 2008. We caught up with guitarist Dallas Green to talk Faith No More, his side project City & Colour and not wanting to be the biggest band in the world.
Nova (N): You’re returning to Australia to play Soundwave Festival for the second time – was there any hesitation in accepting the offer?
Dallas Green (DG): We love coming down to Australia to play and being able to play on a huge show like Soundwave is amazing. When we saw this year’s line up we were like ‘It’s just getting bigger and better,’ and then they asked us to play. Of course we said yes, because why not go to Australia in the middle of Canadian winter?
N: Who are you looking forward to checking out?
DG: I’m really looking forward to seeing Baroness play because I really, really dig that band. I’m looking forward to Paramore, because I love Paramore. And I’m not even joking! I know people probably think I’m joking, but I’m not. I think it’s great that Hayley’s actually got an amazing voice and that she actually sings. It’s great to see, especially in the auto-tune days that are among us, it’s nice to see someone else actually singing.
N: What about Faith No More? Are you excited to be on the same bill as them?
DG: We all grew up really loving Faith No More so this is just one of those surreal moments, you know? We won’t know how big a deal it is until we look back on it.
N: The question we have to ask, will there be a City & Colour performance at any point on this tour?
DG: Ah, no. Sorry. Last time we did Soundwave I did both – City & Colour during the day, and Alexis at night and it almost killed me. So I’m not going to do that ever again. I promise that one day, I don’t know when, but one day I will come to Australia and do a City & Colour tour. I promise, you just have to be patient because I’m only one person.
N: Is it hard trying to juggle both projects?
DG: It’s a weird situation I never thought I’d have to deal with, but it’s a very nice situation to be in. The fact that people seem to like both is more than I could ask for. I’m just doing my best to try and figure it out. I’ve got lots of new songs and hopefully in 2011 I’ll be ready to put out another City & Colour record and hopefully make my way down to Australia.
N: That’s a long time to wait…
DG: I know, but you have to imagine that one year for me is like two years. You know? That’s how we have to look at it when it comes to me. Think ‘it’s only been one year since Dallas has been here’.
N: Let’s talk about Alexisonfire and the new album ‘Old Crows/Young Cardinals’ – what was your approach to this one?
DG: This time around we tried to record everything as live as possible. We recorded the drums, the bass and the guitar parts all at once, with all four of us in the room together. We just played a song a ton of different times, and we’d just pick the best one – the one that we thought sounded or felt the best – and we would do overdubs and things with the lead guitar parts and vocals and stuff afterwards. At the same time we always want to do something a little different, I guess push ourselves to evolve and not repeat ourselves.
N: Do you think you achieved that on this record?
DG: I definitely think so. I think everybody stepped up to the plate and evolved, and we all became better at what we’re doing. I love it, I think it’s a great record and I’m proud of it.
N: On the Warped Tour last year, you supported the charity Music Saves Lives, and encouraged fans to donate blood in exchange for a meet and greet with Alexisonfire. These days a lot of bands are willing to sell out every single aspect of their career – do you think they’ll achieve longevity?
DG: I think a lot of those people don’t get that without the kids coming to the shows, buying the record and things like that, that they’re nothing. You know? I think there’s a lot of bands out there and a lot of people out there that really truly believe that they deserve the adoration or they deserve the fame and all that. I say this a lot, but I feel like there’s enough people and enough bands that are trying to be the biggest band in the world, so we can just leave them to that and we can do our own thing.
N: That’s the best way to do.
DG: (laughs) yeah, I think so too.
Alexisonfire are touring nationally as part of the Soundwave Festival.
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