Fatally Yours
Interview with the Alkaline Trio's Dan Andriano
“We always wanted to be a big band and we’re still trying to become one,” vocalist/bassist Dan Andriano admits. “I want to be the biggest band in the world.”
It’s that kind of candor that has come to be expected from the Alkaline Trio.
Forming from the ashes of the emo-before-emo-was-cool band Tuesday and ska-punk legend Slapstick, the Alkaline Trio has been the band for gloomy kids for nearly a decade. Often drawing on themes such as alcoholism, pain and death, the Trio has never sat idly by, reveling in their loosely-given “pop punk” tag. Their records sound like epitaphs, their songs like blood-soaked suicide notes, and their teenage and twenty-something audience is right there to join in the pain, sincerely or otherwise.
Currently touring in support of their upcoming fifth record Crimson, Andriano and company are uncharacteristically brimming with optimism.
“We’re always trying to think of different ways to make our records interesting. It sounds like us, but better,” Andriano says of Crimson. “There are some interesting string arrangements and keyboard parts. We‘re doing things like that more.”
“We all kind of feel like the last record (Good Mourning), when all was said and done, was kind of a sub-par record on our part, but it still went over pretty well,” Andriano continues. “But we all feel like this record is pretty great. We don’t see why this one wouldn’t do as well, or better.”
Many critics tend to agree with Andriano; Good Mourning was little more than a shell of the formerly powerful band that was responsible for Midwestern punk classics Goddamnit and Maybe I’ll Catch Fire. Despite the lack of luster, Mourning sold relatively well due to the X Factor in the equation, the Trio’s fans: a much more steadfast pack than is typically found in the fickle, “what have you done for me lately” world of punk rock.
“Our fans are great,” Andriano says. “Being on tour can be hard when you’re out for so long. We’ve been doing this for close to 15 years with different bands. Missing home and missing my wife and various aspects of home life gets very hard. But the kids that come out to our shows are amazing. They’re really loyal and we appreciate that.”
Despite Andriano’s recent marriage and the upcoming wedding of guitarist and fellow vocalist Matt Skiba, the Trio hasn’t lost their hard-living edge, Andriano says.
I’ve been married for almost three years and it doesn’t affect anything I’ve done,” Andriano said. “It doesn’t really have an effect on our band. We do what we do in the band and we do what we do in our personal lives.”
Crimson marks the third record for the Trio with drummer Derek Grant, formerly of the Detroit-punk outfit the Suicide Machines. The drumming position, which in the past has been a revolving door, is now solidified.
“He’s been our guy for like three years, so he’ll continue to be our guy,” Andriano says. “He’s a phenomenal drummer. He understands songwriting. He can play every instrument pretty much better than Matt or I combined.”
In addition to bringing the heat behind the kit, Grant puts a whole new set of tools on the Trio table.
“He’s very good at adding different kinds of things,” Andriano explains. “He’s the one who comes up with the string arrangements and the piano parts and different little additives that Matt or I might not have thought of. He’s also great to tour with. We’re all sort of in the same mindset, which is something that we didn’t have with previous drummers.”
While being labeled a punk band brings a certain caché, many punk bands trip through a serious pitfall when garnering mainstream attention. The inspecific but occasionally offensive slur “sellout” is thrown around a great deal, a de facto four letter word within the indie landscape. But according to Andriano, this isn’t an issue for Alkaline Trio. It’s playbook hasn’t changed, and they will continue to do what they do without fear of backlash from their critics.
“I don’t really have an opinion on that,” Andriano said. “I honestly don’t hear it that much in relation to our band. But we never made any promises. We never said that we were going to play at [Chicago punk venue] the Fireside Bowl and nowhere else. We don’t record albums so people won’t hear them. I want as many people to hear our record and like it as possible.”
And despite the occasional naysayer, Andriano stands behind his band’s actions.
“I don’t really care if someone wants to call me a sellout,” Andriano says. “That person doesn’t know me and he doesn’t know my motives. They can say whatever they want.” VS
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