Against Me!
Against Me!'s Tom Gabel discusses White Crosses, I Was A Teenage Anarchist and Harvest For Hope Foundation.
It’s hard to deny the sheer tenacity of Gainesville, Florida’s Against Me!. Partly started from a police “beatdown,” Against Me! has grown into one of the most recognizable and overall talented punk bands over the past few years. Their previous release, New Wave, was a commercial success - and White Crosses seems to surely follow suit. HEAVE had a chance to sit down with lead singer/founder Tom Gabel and talk about what keeps Against Me! going.
HEAVE: New Wave was huge. When you were recording New Wave did you have the idea of playing Late Night Shows and topping Billboard charts in your mind? In other words, could you, as the artist, feel something special happening?
Tom Gabel: For me what felt special was the actual making of the album, everything that happens after is what it is.
HEAVE: Butch Vig produced New Wave and also produced the new album, White Crosses. What makes him the guy to work with?
Tom Gabel: We got lucky, we stumbled into a working relationship with not only someone who understands our band but someone who also happens to be one of the most talented producers out there. I feel like making the past two albums with Butch has been my high school drop out version of going to college.
HEAVE: You also added Hot Water Music’s drummer George Rebelo, also from Gainesville like yourself. How long had you known George?
Tom Gabel: I've know George for a while now. Against Me! toured with Hot Water Music back in maybe 2002? Then we also toured Australia with The Draft in 2008. Beyond that, Gainesville is a small town; everyone drinks at the same bar. He was the first person I thought of when I knew we needed a new drummer.
HEAVE: The video for “I Was A Teenage Anarchist” features a teenager getting beat by cops. How did you decide to go that route with that video and is that all one take?
Tom Gabel: That teenager getting beat by the cop in the video is me! I'm 29! We asked for video treatments to be submitted at first, none of them really clicked. We had worked with Marc Klasfeld in the past and I was talking with him about ideas I had for it. When I was 15 years old I got beat up by the cops pretty bad, the local news even did a "Police Brutality" piece on me, it was a defining moment for me and sent me down a path that eventually led to me starting this band. That political awakening is the sentiment behind the song. Marc was into the idea of doing something inspired by that story. The video is definitely way more intense than what happened to me. Oh, and yes it is all one take.
HEAVE: White Crosses leaked in March, and it doesn’t come out until June. You didn’t seem to care too much on your blog. Why?
Tom Gabel: When people get upset about something that happens on the internet it's just an unflattering look. Our record leaked, who cares. As long as people are listening I'm happy.
HEAVE: In 2008 you toured with the Foo Fighters, but also played shows for the very noble Harvest Of Hope Foundation. How did that affiliation come about? What does that organization mean to you?
Tom Gabel: We were turned on to Harvest Of Hope by our friend Ryan Murphy who works at No Idea Records and also works for HOH. Growing up in Florida, Migrant Farm Worker Rights and Issue's have always been something I've been aware of. The importance has always seemed really obvious to me. The people who grow and harvest the food we eat deserve infinite more respect than they're given.
HEAVE: I like to play “Thrash Unreal” on Rock Band. The question is, do you?
Tom Gabel: I have never played Thrash Unreal on Rock Band. However, I do get up onstage and play it for real every night which is always enjoyable.
Posted by Wes Soltis on Jun 04, 2010 @ 9:21 pm
