E: Mark, your band Spitalfield's last release on Victory Records, Stop Doing Bad Things, has been followed by a strong series of tours. As the release date for that album gets farther and farther behind you, does the touring experience become less exciting for you as musicians?
Mark: I guess that really depends on how the album's doing, and what type of press you're coming off of. For example, with our first record--Remember Right Now, with Victory... when the record first came out, it was probably when touring was actually at its slowest, because we were still a new band. Even though you're getting pretty good promo and press and hype and everything, you're still a brand new band. So I think that for your first time out, it's important to get that press, but it's also important to stick out there, and then hopefully six months to a year later, you've developed something when you've hit cities time and time again. And that's what we do... and we tour nine or ten months out of the year, so we keep pretty busy. But then, you know, the second time around, as you get farther away from the release, of course you're a little less visible in the eyes of the media and the kids. And that can be a drag, but like I said, as long as you stay out there... hopefully you're still building. Even if you're not in the public eye as much, hopefully you're drawing more kids, and hopefully you're establishing yourself as a band on all different levels, whether you're supporting a bigger band or headlining or co-headlining or whatever. I don't know, obviously it affects your turnouts, because it affects what type of press you're getting, but it really works both ways you know... how your album is doing.
E: With two fairly successful albums full of material released, what helps you decide how many tracks from each record go on your set list?
Mark: It depends on whether or not we feel there are a lot of kids there to see us, and if so, how many times we've been there. Because when we're like the first out of a four-band package, and we're like the baby band on a tour, we know that we're playing to a mostly new audience. And when that's happening, you obviously want to play what is most current and what the kids are most likely to be picking up at that time. But right now--tonight and for the next month--we're going to be doing a tour where we're playing direct support. We're headlining one night of this, and because of that, we know there are kids coming that have been fans of the band for a while, and there are some new bands, too. So we know we need to mix it up and play some old stuff, too, because even if that's not our favorite material or our most recent material, it's still something they want to hear. And it's only halfway about making yourself happy with your setlist... you have to make the kids who are paying to see you happy. So you've mind of got to find that middle ground... we're doing about 50/50, and hopefully as we press into this record further... since it's only been about five months... once we're into this record a full year or so, maybe it'll be more 60/40 or 70/30, even. But we'll see, because what's old to some people is still new to other people, you know? Especially if they're just hearing you for the first time. So we've just got to weigh out, like I said, where we are in the lineup and how many times we've played that city, and what our set was like the time before that.
E: As the band's singer, you obviously take the helm when it comes to lyric writing... how much of a contribution do other bands make to lyrical developement, and do you feel like that can take from the personal aspects of the songs you're singing?
Mark: Yeah, I handle the majority of the lyrics, and actually... especially on this newer record, but at least a little bit on the last one... actually, I really value the input of the other guys, because even if I kind of feel like they're taking stabs at what I was trying to go after or they're taking away from it, I'd rather everybody be comfortable with it. And sometimes that means that if they don't like a particular line or phrase, it doesn't mean that they'll write it for me... I'll rework it until I'm happy with it and they're happy with it. We try to avoid having anyone dominate anything, even if it's their job, because it's kind of good for anybody's course sometime... like if J.D., our drummer, is playing something we're not happy with, rather than tell him what to do, we'll rework it with him until he's happy and we're happy. So yeah, lyrically, of course sometimes they can be interpreted different ways, and someone can be really into one idea, and really not into another, but you just got to work through it. That's part of being in a band. And I mean, I know I'm the front man on stage, but we definitely try to avoid having me be the frontman as far as lyrics are concerned, because I value everyone else's input. Luckily, though, they're usually happy with what I'm doing, so there aren't too many problems.
E: How radical can the difference in luxury be from tour to tour playing shows?
Mark: *Laughs* It can differ so much, because you know... especially in the U.S., where obviously we've toured the most--I mean, we've been to Europe once and we're going back next month, and we've been to Canada a number of times--but especially in the United States, when you map it out and look at all the different places to play and all the different regions of the country, city-by-city, there are going to be nights where you're playing with a VFW Hall, with a pretty average to sometimes very poor PA system, and you go back stage and you're lucky if you get a bottle of water, you know? And then the next night you're playing in front of a thousand people at a huge club with a great sound system and a great, plush backstage. It can vary so much... anything from sleeping overnight in a van for a little while or crashing on someone's floor you don't know to staying in hotels or whatever. So it's really across the board... now that we've been touring for almost three years full-time, we obviously have a system we like and that we try to stick with, but it depends on what kind of tour you're on and what kind of money you're making--if you're making money on that tour. Because then that will factor into how you live and where you are. *Laughs* But city by city, it really depends on what kind of draw you have and what kind of power you have there, how much you did that night and how much merch you've sold or whatever.
E: You mentioned touring other countries, and I know that several months ago you played the U.K. with Fall Out Boy... do you think that being in another nation has any impact on the performance elements of your show?
Mark: You can definitely see a big difference, but I think that's mainly because you're playing major cities over there, but they're places where you've never been. And if there's any kind of fanbase there at all, which there is, it's crazy because they're so excited. They haven't seen your band. Especially for us--we had a record out for about eighteen or nineteenth months, and we'd never been there, so we always got e-mails and stuff on our message board about coming over there. And it doesn't mean that we're big down there, because we're certainly not, but especially going with a band like Fall Out Boy, for example, who was obviously going to do really well on that tour with or without us, being a support act to them, the kids were just nuts. And it was night after night of that. And they were very excited, saying "When are you coming back? When are you coming back?" Luckily we've been able to have a quick turn around to get back there in October now with Hawthorne Heights, which is another band that's taking off. So I think that from the perspective of the U.K., they have no idea that we're not a band that plays sold out shows every night, you know? *Laughs* Because they're under the impression that we do.
E: With the band on Victory Records, a label with a pretty high rate of success lately with Taking Back Sunday and other members of its roster getting mainstream attention, do you feel like you should be paying close attention to the steps they've taken to get where they are, in hopes of achieving similar success?
Mark: I guess it's kind of specific to each band, you know... it can change here and there, because you never really know what is going to be the next hit with a label like Victory, because if you look at their history of bands that have really taken off on different levels, whether it's early on with heavier bands like Earth Crisis or Snapcase, or a little bit later with Thursday, then into the Taking Back Sunday era and now the Hawthorne Heights era, it's really hard to find an actual pattern other than they're just a very present label, and they'll throw a lot at the wall pretty hard. And we've toured with a bunch of those bands, we've met a bunch of those bands, and to be honest, we're all out there trying to do the same things. Of course, who you're networked with and who you're working with can definitely change things... managers doing other managers favors, booking agents, same thing... I don't know, I think we're all mentally at the same point, even if we're on different labels as far as how many albums we've sold and how many kids we're playing to every night. I mean, of course there are obvious things that'll change, just by the nature of the beast when it comes to touring, and as tours get bigger and bigger as far as your stage show. But I think we all kind of come from the same place... we all just love music and we love playing in front of people, and whether you're playing in front of 45 kids a night, or 4,000, you know what I mean? The dream is still the same. So obviously we'll take notes here or there, and pick up on any ideas that we think were good ideas, because you've got to learn from each other, both the mistakes and the positive things. So we definitely have a watchful eye on all the bands, and the label is very personable, so we definitely are very good friends with the staff and have our ear to the ground with everything that's going on, at least to the best of our ability. So back to the original question, I think we do kind of play off of each other a little bit, but on the same level, you've got to be an individual, and you've got to do what you want to do, so you're never really forced into doing anything.
E: That should just about do it.
Mark: Oh, well hey, anybody reading this, I appreciate you taking the time... and thanks for doing the interview, I really appreciate it.
E: Hey, thank you. |
