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Brand New.
 It's
been only a few years since Brand New released their debut album,
but in the short time they've been in the spotlight, they've
made the transition from small-time band to big, internationally
known band look easier than tying your shoelace. They developed
a huge fan base as they toured relentlessly, and have scored
legions of new fans with their stunning sophomore release 'Deja
Entendu.' Now they're getting ready to visit Australia for the
first time, playing sold out shows with Blink-182 throughout
March.
So how does one prepare for such a huge step in the life of their band? Surely relentless practicing is top of the list? Not so for Brand New's drummer Brian Lane. "I'm hanging out up in New York," explains Lane with a hint of excitement in his voice. "I've actually been snowboarding, which I'm pretty psyched about. I'm going out to the West coast to go snowboarding next week and I haven't gone in about four years because we just haven't had time. So it's nice to be able to get out there with some friends to some real mountains to get some real snowboarding done.
"But we're all really excited about the upcoming tour," Lane assures me. "I'm looking forward to finally visiting Australia - I never thought I'd ever get the chance to. Well, I thought I'd visit at some stage, I just never thought it'd be with my band. It makes us feel great to be able to visit other countries as a band. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of hard work and it can be very tiring. But at the same time it's more than we ever thought we'd get to do - we always thought we'd just stay in our home town playing at bars. So it's so amazing that people so far away like our music. But we're not saying it's anything it's not, and we're not getting our hopes up too much. We're just taking it all for what it's worth and going to come down there and have some fun."
But being on the bill with Blink-182 has meant that even though it's their first visit to Australia, the boys from Brand New are going to be facing some pretty big crowds. Surprisingly, Lane is confident about what will happen. "One of our most recent tours was with Dashboard Confessional last October, so we were playing a lot of big, sold out venues," explains Lane. "So we've kind of just got used to that, so I don't think it's going to be a big deal as far as us being intimidated. The first week of playing to four thousand kids was a bit weird, but now we can say 'Yeah, we'll play to forty thousand kids tonight, it's no big deal.' And that's what's happened for us I think."
Brand New's latest album 'Deja Entendu' has been a shock for long time fans, as the band traded their faster, energetic sound for a much slower, emotional tone - making live shows a lot different than what the band have been used to. "I like to think (the new material) is translating well. I'm pretty sure it is. We just have a lot more variation in our shows now, which I think is important. I know from our own experience that we like to see a band with variations in their live shows. I like to see some slower songs as well as the energetic songs as well. So that's how we're going to try and play, and not have it sound just like the album either," he adds with a chuckle. "It's all about variation."
The band's new sound came naturally when it came to recording. "It definitely wasn't a conscious effort. We knew we didn't want to just write the same record, but at the same time we knew we weren't going to anyway since 'Your Favourite Weapon' was written when we were teenagers. We basically got a record deal and put out the record but it wasn't when we wanted to do it. So we ended up compiling songs from probably a five year period of our teenage years." This time, the band had a lot more time in the studio and a significantly longer time on the road for writing new material. "With the new record, material was all written within about one and a half years. There's quite a bit of time difference between the old record and the new record, so you can't expect things to be the same. Everyone's changed, and we've been playing together for so long now that we know more about what everyone's going to do. So I feel like we're a better band in general now anyway, and it comes through on the new album."
Also coming through on the album is an undertone of hostility, as Lane explains that the band failed to see eye-to-eye with producer Steven Haigler, something I wasn't expecting to hear. But Lane definitely isn't shy about his feelings on the situation. "You think he'd help with the new material? Man, we hated working with him. We felt like in a lot of ways he held us back. Rather than saying 'That guitar was good, but it could be better', he'd just tell us we sucked, which wasn't nice. But in a good way, I think the frustration we had with him kind of shaped the feel of the record. So if you listen, you can probably hear us playing harder and faster than we otherwise would have."
Ryan Smith
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Brand New's 'Deja Entendu' is out
now through Eleven/EMI, and Brand New play with Blink-182
and Gyroscope at the Entertainment Centre on Sat 13 March.
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The latest issue
available now!
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