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| ::Interviews:: |
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| review & interview content, as well as web site graphics & design, copywrite 2003-2004 Euphonia Online. use of materials granted only with reasonable purposes. |
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| interviewed by robby sumner |
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| Interview with Will August 5th, 2005 |
John Nolan - Vocals, Guitar, Piano Michelle Nolan - Piano, Vocals, Guitar Shaun Cooper - Bass Will Noon - Drums |
| E: Will, you've gained notoriety playing in various bands throughout your career. Having gone from Breaking Pangaea to Straylight Run, does it start to feel like your life has been completely dominated by music for over half a decade? Will: Half a decade? That makes me feel old. But actually, my life has been pretty much dominated by music for much longer than that. In my senior year of high school I joined a touring band, and while all my friends went to college in the fall, I went on tour. E: As a drummer, does the style you play with change in different contexts? Will: I'd have to say that my playing definitely changes depending on what band or context I'm playing in. But it also changes from song to song, and even when any given band does an acoustic version of a song. With Breaking Pangaea, we were definitely focused on the technical performance aspect of our live shows. That, along with energy and dynamics, was a big part of it. With Straylight Run I tend to lay back a bit more and try to provide an undercurrent to help move the song along, while not being too obvious or upfront. I try to let the vocal melodies and lyrics have as much room as they can. E: Do you think drums often go overlooked when kids look at what creates the vibe a song puts out? Will: I think drums can sometimes be overlooked. But in other cases they make or break a song. Especially with some modern music--any kind of dance music is heavily relying on a beat to move people. And hip-hop as well. E: Do you think the best drumming experience you get is when you can be touring and playing in an active band? or is just working hard in your basement going to let you nail all the right beats? Will: Well, those two situations are completely different. They are both totally valuable. Being on the road constantly and playing every night is a great way to get a handle on how to take what you're doing and translate, or rather convey, that message to an audience. It also builds up a great understanding of the dynamics and relationships of playing along with other musicians. Both of those things can really never be matched from practicing by yourself. Now having said that, there are all sorts of fundamental elements and techniques that would be ignored and underdeveloped if you never took the time to practice on your own. Playing the same ten songs every night doesn't make someone a very diverse drummer or musician. E: Straylight Run came into play in the scene with well-known histories for all its members, obviously enough, but you guys have really successfully ripped any preconceptions or associations to shreds and made a whole new notch without too many ties. I'm assuming this is ideal for you--what about your band makes the kids not constantly refer to you as "...ex-Taking Back Sunday and Breaking Pangaea"? Will: Straylight definitely was plagued with the "ex-members" title for a while. There was also a ton of rumors and gossip regarding the band and its conception early on. But I think that we did our very best to dispute, dispel, or ignore the rumors and gossip, and that resulted in that whole wave of hype washing away as quickly as it could. As for the ex-members pigeon-holing, I think that people realized early on that Straylight Run isn't any sort of second wave or imitation. We've done things on our own terms and there aren't many comparisons to our previous endeavors that can be made, so we are what we are, nothing more nothing less. We are Straylight Run. E: Does constant recording and touring keep you from keeping up with the stuff you'd do if you weren't in a band? You seen the new Chocolate Factory and read the new Harry Potter yet? Will: The schedule that we live by can be really stressful and draining. But at the same time, when we have short periods of downtime, we often have absolutely no obligations. So I think it's important to be able to motivate yourself to make use of all that time. I've recently started surfing and building drums, which has been great during the recording process because I tend to wake up fairly early and I can get a lot done before I head into the studio. I also loved the original Willy Wonka movie, so I was very excited to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was a great movie. And so long as you don't compare it to the first one, it stands up on its own as being a really wonderful movie. E: I still can't get over the Oompa Loompas being in metallic jumpsuits playing Van Halen riffs. That's a little much. Will: I love some of John Brion's work. I think he did this movie. But some of the Oompas' songs were a little cluttered and I couldn't quite get a grasp on what they were saying. Other than that, he did a great job, though. E: Do you see the music you write for SR being good soundtrack music? "Existentialism on Prom Night" sounds like once-gawky-now-popular teenagers should be kissing at a lake somewhere. Will: Funny you should say that. It was actually used for many of the commercials for "Summerland" on the WB. It's the one with Aunt Becky--I never saw the show, but I assume it to be a teen drama in the vein of Dawson's Creek. Other than that, I definitely think that some of moods we try to convey with the music can easily be adapted to provide an effective backing track for a movie... some songs more than others. E: Does it ever start to overwhelm you that the music you're coming up with in your head is finding its way to television, possibly movies, and most certainly in thousands of CD players and computers? Will: People actually ask that sort of question a lot. Not interviewers, but more friends and family. They'll see us on TV and ask "How crazy is it to see yourself on TV?". I suppose it's different for everyone, but for me, I've spent more than the last decade slowly building up to this point. You record a demo on a 4-track tape recorder and you get used to hearing that. Then you record a CD or someone films a live show, and you slowly get used to seeing yourself from other people's perspectives. By the time I started seeing myself on TV with any sort of regularity, I came to understand it more in terms of a business rather than being giddy and excited that I'm on TV. I suppose I'm fairly jaded. Maybe not as a business... maybe more in terms of a way of critically analyzing our art. I'll see the video and think of the good and bad aspects of it. What was awkward? What looked unprofessional? What was beautiful? E: With the different demo stages that your new album went through, what was the deciding factor on what songs would get put onto the new record? "A Slow Descent" was left off, even though it seemed to be a pretty big fan favorite. Will: That is actually a pretty tough stage of the writing/recording process. When you first record a song, no matter how amazing or terrible the recording sounds, what gets captured along with the sound is the excitement and energy of the musicians. When you try to go back and recreate what you had once recorded, and improve upon it, sometimes you can never recreate that energy or intensity. And sometimes that energy is in the form of a calm, melancholy, or depressing vibe. So sometimes you can't do a song justice by just going through the motions with better gear or a more experienced producer/engineer. And on top of this, other times you'll second guess what's best for the song by comparing it to what you know and what you are familiar with. It's very hard to take an old song in a new direction. It's sometimes scary, but sometimes that leap of faith can really create a world of difference. E: With all the filesharing and leaking these days, is a band like you more hesitant to record new material earlier than is necessary? Will: I suppose that could be a consideration for some. But I personally don't think that would sway me. It's not technology that is leaking these songs, though it makes it easier. If you trust someone to keep a secret, regardless of what that is, it's up to them to honor that wish. People are people--we haven't really changed much since Shakespeare was writing plays about us and all the crazy things we do. Some people will lie, cheat, and steal. Others will give you the shirt off their back, or take a bullet for you. I'd spend more time figuring out who's who and less time worrying about file transferring. Having said that, if something we record isn't supposed to be public, I do everything I can to keep it that way. E: If a band like yours suddenly decides it doesn't like the direction it's going, and it just wants to make a few changes without disbanding, is it easy to turn around and do things differently than your course indicated? Will: In general, I think that is one of the hardest things for a band to do. We've actually faced this to a certain extent, with expectations that many people had for Straylight Run. The problem is that if you change your sound, you may end up alienating fans. Sometimes that's a lot, sometimes it's only a few. This would be fine if people that didn't like your music stopped listening, and those that did started to listen. But the problem is that people that may enjoy your new music may not get the chance because they may have this preconceived notion of who you are and what you sound like. So you lose your old fans, and your new potential fans won't give you a chance because of expectations. Many times, you'll see a band change their name even if there is no line-up changes, to try to avoid that misconception that some people might have. E: When you do have time just to enjoy yourself, what've you been listening to? Will: Right now I'm actually listening to some old live Breaking Pangaea. We did a few radio shows back in Philly and I have the MP3's on my old computer. It's quite a throw back. You haven't lived till you've heard Fred do "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson. E: Does the band see each other a lot when not on tour or recording? Will: I think for the most part, we see each other regularly. Though I'm definitely the odd-man out. I'm not as social as the rest of the gang in certain contexts, and I really don't feel as though New York is my home, so I feel out of place. I spend more time with my drums than anyone else, really. E: Do you ever write material that doesn't really fit SR that you think you might release later on with another project? Will: Luckily, so far Straylight has been diverse enough for most of us to be happy and feel safe bringing anything to the table. Our first record had lots of drum loops and strings and all sorts of things that we had all worked with for the first time. This band basically is our outlet without boundaries. I think our new EP will showcase this very well. E: What are the plans for that? Will: The EP is set to drop October 4th. With a live DVD following in November. E: Got big plans for the future? Will: The fall releases will keep us pretty busy. We'll be on the road supporting them a bit in the fall, and as always we'll be working on our next full-length and mapping out the future. E: Any advice for youngsters? Will: Stay in school until it makes sense for you to not... don't do drugs... listen to your parents unless they aren't very good parents. Read more books and watch less TV. E: Sounds good! Thanks so much. Will: No problem. I enjoyed it. |
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