Quiet Color Interview - December 2008

By Eliza Czander
Source

Quiet Color: First of all, I just wanted to tell you that I saw you guys play at the in NY a few weeks ago and it was a great show. I brought my little sister and she was in heaven.

Andrew McMahon: Aw, that’s great. Thank you guys for coming out. That was at the Blender Theater, right?

QC: Yeah, that's right.

AM: Kinda a weird venue, with all those seats in the back and everything.

QC: For kids’ parents I guess. I can’t imagine who else would sit back there during a show.

AM: Yeah, it was a little strange.

QC: Speaking of kids, a lot of your fans are kids. Well, teenagers. They have so much access to new music. Do you feel like that's a positive thing, having everything at their fingertips? Sometimes it makes me sad that my little sisters wont know the meaning of going out and getting a new album, listening start to finish.

AM: You know, I don’t know. I mean I think with the downloading and everything kids are able to get more music and get it faster, and if an artist wants to put together liner notes to distribute with their digital download…I mean, that’s what we did, sent out some pretty heavy duty liner notes with our digital download But yeah they lose the whole opening the CD, and reading through it and everything. I still hope that our fans listen to the album from start to finish. But interesting things are happening in music with all the new technology, and I don’t know maybe I’m hopeful, but I feel like things are moving in the right direction.

QC: Like people performing live with an iPod. Is that okay?

AM: You know, I’ve seen people play with a backing iPod, and sometimes it works.

QC: Yeah, maybe. But creating a song on garage band and then exporting it to itunes doesn’t exactly make you a musician.

AM: Yeah, I think it’s just a personal choice. I mean, you have to really have a lot of heart to put yourself out there, and you know, if it’s your means of expression…I just think to be an artist, you can’t really half ass it if you’re going to be around for a while. You have to work at it.

QC: Fair enough. Let’s talk about the tour. How’s it been going so far?

AM: It’s great, you sort of saw the last leg of it there in NY, but now we’re just doing some radio promotions for a little while longer.

QC: You get a little break around Christmas time, right?

AM: Yeah, get a few weeks, I’ll head back home. And then we kick off our international tour next year in 09. I think we start in Japan and then–

QC: Australia! I’m going to be there at the same time, so I’m definitely going to check you guys out in Sydney.

AM: Oh that’s awesome. Australia is one of my favorite places to visit. I always have a great time out there. You’ll love it.

QC: A song that’s getting a lot of air play right now is resolution. Let me ask you about the video. How did it come about that Stephanie Meyers (Author of Twilight) was going to direct it? Were you a fan of hers?

AM: Yeah, you know I read the first book and thought it was great, and a friend of mine had told me that she had talked about us on her website, and you know, we were having a hard time finding a director or really just a concept for the video, so we were trying to think outside the box. So, we asked her if she’d be into it, and she said yes, and it came out great.

QC: Are you into vampires? Kinda feels like they’re taking over the world right now.

AM: Yeah, they are everywhere. I guess it’s just one of these pop culture phenomenons. She obviously knew what she was doing though.

QC: Lets talk about the new album. Do you feel like its been a natural progression up to this point?

AM: About as natural as it could be, I guess. You know, it took a really long time to get it done, but I’m pretty happy with the way things turned out.

QC: I think it’s your best so far.

AM: You do? Thanks, that’s really cool. There was a lot of personal stuff, a lot of exposing at times I think, maybe too much. There were a couple of tracks, we weren’t sure how they fit, but we wanted to show the transitions and you know, I guess how we were growing and progressing as a band.

QC: Whats the writing process like for you? Do you just lock yourself up for a couple of months? Is it collaborative?

AM: It’s agony! No, it can be hell, but rewarding too obviously. It’s completely collaborative. I usually write my own songs, but there’s a lot of people around, a lot of bouncing ideas off one another, seeing what works, what doesn’t.

QC: The Glass Passenger. Where does the title come from?

AM: It was from this song that I wrote, that I ultimately decided not to put on the album. It was just a little too personal, I guess. But it’s this idea of just being a passenger, realizing that life is fragile.

QC: That a person can break?

AM: Yeah, I’ve never described it like that, but yeah. It was just an idea and was used in that song, and I thought it would fit for the album title.

QC: What can you tell me about Dear Jack? Has it been released? I cant seem to find it online.

AM: It hasn’t. It was supposed to, I know, but with the record coming out, I wanted people to focus on the music. I’m a musician, not a documentary film maker. I didn’t want fans seeing me while I was sick and then hearing the album. That just didn’t sit right with me, so we decided to hold off for a while. It will probably end up coming out in the spring.

QC: How did it come about that Tommy Lee was going to do the narration? Did you two know each other ahead of time?

AM: Tommy played drums on one of our records and we’ve collaborated a couple of times, and you know, when I got sick and we decided to do this film, it just sort of came together, and he’s a great friend. I mean, I grew up listening to Motley Crue and watching them on MTV, so it’s pretty awesome. And he’s got a great voice for the narration, and he’s also just great guy. A great human being.

QC: Awesome. Okay, final question. Who are you listening to these days? Who’s on the iPod?

AM: Kings of Leon.

QC: Sex on Fire is my ringtone!

AM: (Laughs) Yeah, that song is pretty great. The second song “Crawl” I’ve been listening to a lot lately. That song sort of blows my mind. The new Death Cab album is great, been listening to that a bit. Um, MGMT. Also, this Canadian girl Lights has sort of been on my radar.

QC: We just did a post on her!

AM: Yeah, she’s got this young voice, those songs just kinda stick in your head.

QC: Yup! Well look, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us.

AM: Yeah, thank you. And thanks for coming to the show!

See you in Sydney, Andrew….