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Alkaline Trio.
 Alkaline Trio have their bags packed, their flights booked and are making a return to Australia after a very, very long time between visits; but drummer Derek Grant wants it on the record that this lull between visits wasn't the band's idea.
"We'd been bugging our people for so long to try and get us some shows down there, but unfortunately when a new album comes out the whole 'machine' sort of goes crazy and we end up doing a lot of touring in the United States and a fair amount of touring in the UK and Europe and it's always difficult for us to find the time to do anything else. So we finally got through all of that, and now we can go to the countries we want to visit and that we really enjoy going to."
The band are aware of their fanbase outside the United States bubble though. "It's always surprising for us that our music is even available outside of our own country. The fact that shows are selling out no matter how big or small they are is amazing to us," he explains. "For us, we'll play anywhere and for anybody. We like to travel, we like meeting new people, we like seeing new places. Sometimes though, when you're talking to your record label or your booking agent, that argument doesn't translate: they want proof that it's going to be a profitable venture. So it's a huge thing when you can finally get to a level in any country where nobody can deny the fact that you'd be able to play there. Once you finally get everybody on the same page it's much easier to do things like come to Australia or Japan or somewhere like that..."
Grant is the first to admit that file sharing and blank discs has changed the face of the music industry. On the flip side, however, these technological advancements have made it easy for a million macabre looking musicians to pimp their band to the unsuspecting kids. Still, Grant sees the bright side. "If you see a band who happen to look a little bit like your band it's nice to see them giving a little nod in your direction. I mean, we certainly wear our influences on our sleeve, which I think is the only way to do it because everybody is inspired by something and I don't think there's any shame in being vocal about that; but as far as the commercialisation of dark punk music or the image that we sort of convey, you could easily make a million arguments as to why Hot Topic selling an Alkaline Trio t-shirt is a bad thing. But if I was fourteen years old and living in the suburbs in the midwest, which is where I grew up, I would love to have access to things like that. When I was younger I had no way to discover those types of things. I was very fortunate to have the people that I did that gave me records and told me to check them out, but there are people who aren't that fortunate and who depend on things like MTV and the radio to show them what's out there. And though that medium is so closed-minded and only showing the flavour of the week, it's still good seeing bands like My Chemical Romance on prime time, I think."
But again, we find a double edged sword. Popularity is fine for new bands, but what about bands like Alkaline Trio, who have such a vast back catalogue? "It's difficult because we're not elitists," admits Grant. "We really appreciate people who've stuck by us so long. We do try to not let them feel alientated by the newer audience and really, the only way we can do that is by going about business as usual. Things have certainly changed as far as how the band sounds. I myself am a new member as of five years ago, and there's been a lot of changes over the past ten years. But at the core of it we're all very down to earth and Matt [Skiba] and Dan [Andriano] are still the same guys they were so many years ago. So we try and make an effort to make sure we're not blown out of proportion and shown to be glamourous rock stars or anything."
Ryan Smith
 | Alkaline Trio play at Fowler's Live on Sun 12 March with Taking Back Sunday, The Hot Lies and The Getaway Plan. |
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