{"id":22489,"date":"2014-08-10T12:17:55","date_gmt":"2014-08-10T02:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=22489"},"modified":"2014-08-10T13:30:52","modified_gmt":"2014-08-10T03:30:52","slug":"benny-horowitz-of-the-gaslight-anthem-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2014\/08\/benny-horowitz-of-the-gaslight-anthem-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Benny Horowitz of The Gaslight Anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n<\/a>\u201c\u2026it\u2019s funny having a guy like Brian in the band and a lyricist like that, I\u2019m just like anybody that listens to Gaslight at home when I hear these lyrics you know? So I rarely even ever ask Brian where it\u2019s coming from because I start to think about where I think it\u2019s coming from and the way that the lyrics connect with me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one band I\u2019ve attached to over the last few years it\u2019s been The Gaslight Anthem, when you listen to the band and I mean really listen to the band and the songs they create you get drawn in, you feel these words and to me that\u2019s what music is all about. With majority of their previous album \u2018Handwritten\u2019 mirroring my life, and now with \u2018Get Hurt\u2019 wanting to do the same, this is a band I relate to and it\u2019s a pleasure to have them around and able to create music for people. If you don\u2019t know of this band, do yourself a favour\u2026<\/p>\n

Sitting on the couch at home with a baseball game on mute, we had the chance to catch up with Benny again, but this time in support of the band\u2019s amazing new album \u2018Get Hurt\u2019, so he fills us in on its creation, its evolution, its simplistic cover\u2026 and more.<\/p>\n

To start off, can you give us one word that you feel sums up the album perfectly?<\/strong>
\nOh\u2026 one of these questions\u2026 hmm\u2026 *pauses* you know it\u2019s funny, the first word that comes to my mind is presumptuous but not the record being the record being presumptuous but me saying one nugget of a word to describe it. I can\u2019t think of a word that\u2019s not going to make me sound like an asshole *laughs* because I could say \u2018Awesome\u2019 or just some adjective, I don\u2019t know, man it\u2019s just a rock and roll record. I can\u2019t think of one word, maybe let\u2019s come back to it at the end, maybe it\u2019ll come to me then.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been playing the album nonstop since I received the stream, I instantly loved it, what feelings did you have when you finally heard the album finished in its entirety?<\/strong>
\nI was stoked man, I definitely was. When I\u2019m in the studio and we\u2019re picking through songs it\u2019s almost impossible for me to hear them in sort of a more open objective kind of way, then we go home and I start hearing mixes and that\u2019s when I can start hearing the whole thing, and when I started hearing mixes man, I got really excited. I\u2019m super happy with the way the record panned out and I feel like it has like a kind of energy that maybe we haven\u2019t been able to capture for a little while on our records which really excites me you know? I always want our records to almost sound like we sound live and that hasn\u2019t been the case for a little while, so I\u2019m super excited about it man, glad you like it, thanks.<\/p>\n

Can you tell us about the title track and namesake of the album \u2018Get Hurt\u2019 and what it represents to you?<\/strong>
\nYeah, well\u2026 I think it\u2019s more of a cool song to me, and it\u2019s funny having a guy like Brian in the band and a lyricist like that, I\u2019m just like anybody that listens to Gaslight at home when I hear these lyrics you know? So I rarely even ever ask Brian where it\u2019s coming from because I start to think about where I think it\u2019s coming from and the way that the lyrics connect with me, so I definitely hear that song and I think about like those heartbreaking situations that I\u2019m in *laughs* and just the way it feels. It really connects with me when I hear the lyrics and I really hope it\u2019s one of those songs that different people can take different things from you know? It\u2019s funny, he always keeps surprising me with the stuff he makes, just keeps writing really great songs, and I learned fast in this band that we early on in the band we would write a song and Brian would be \u2018Nah I don\u2019t like this\u2019 and we started throwing it away and I\u2019d be like super scared to throw it away because I thought it was pretty good. Then he just kept on writing more really good songs and it\u2019s pretty much just kept coming since then and it\u2019s pretty awesome.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I have to ask about the album cover and the upside down heart, so very simple, why was this the choice for \u2018Get Hurt\u2019?<\/strong>
\nIt was one of those things, we were looking through a few different covers and options and that came in and it was one of those things where all of us had the same reaction, you\u2019re looking at it and the first thing I want to think is \u2018oh no\u2026 it\u2019s too simple, upside down heart, whatever\u2026\u2019 and I just kept looking at it and I\u2019m thinking about \u2018Get Hurt\u2019 and we already knew that was going to be the album name and it was yeah, it kind of just says it all with a lot of brevity you know\u2026 we couldn\u2019t think of a cooler association, the image just matches exactly how the record wants to feel. It\u2019s just super cool, I\u2019m really happy just having this one strong image to go along with it. We worked with this guy John who had worked on \u2018Exile on Main St\u2019 for The Rolling Stones and the cover of \u2018Endless Summer\u2019 the surfing movie, we were working with him and he came to New York and he\u2019s taking a lot of photos and we met at a museum and got all this imagery together and we were putting covers together and he came up with this concept, he sent it and yeah it was one of those easy, easy band decisions and something like a record cover can go on and on and on with people and their opinions *laughs* but this one we just saw and we were all completely on board with.<\/p>\n

\u2018Handwritten\u2019 was hands down my album of the year in 2012, when you have to follow up what was such a perfect album for the band, do you have an idea of how you wanted it to go or did you let it naturally evolve?<\/strong>
\nI think a little bit of both, we always in song writing need to have this natural evolution where you don\u2019t step outside of yourself too much but you move, you don\u2019t stay in the same place and I think one of the things we just knew we wanted to do was not spin our wheels and not make the same record and not become one of those bands that\u2019s just afraid to keep challenging themselves and be confident about what they want to write and try some new things you know? I think that was really important to us, I really found in my head it was much more of a risk to just go ahead and make the same record we know how to make and making something that was different. You know what? It\u2019s just not as fun and not as creative to not try new things and challenge yourself, I mean it\u2019s one of the coolest things about playing music for your life is the fact that I do something that you can never perfect you know what I mean? It\u2019s not like a video game you can play perfectly or anything like that, you can always get better at this, you can always learn more and you can always get deeper into it, so it\u2019s like I\u2019m glad I play with a bunch of guys that feel the same way and we can keep taking steps and do something interesting.<\/p>\n

Now recording this album in \u2018Music City\u2019 in Nashville, was the city itself somewhat of an influence on you as you made the album?<\/strong>
\nUmmm\u2026<\/p>\n

You can say no\u2026 *laughs*<\/strong>
\nYou know *laughs*, maybe not\u2026 and that\u2019s no diss to Nashville, that\u2019s more about us spending six days a week, twelve hours a day in the studio you know *laughs* so if you can get a great idea from a town from the twenty people that work in the studio and takeout food then it was probably more of an effect *laughs*. I mean we got out into town more than we did last time, like we went to go eat a bunch, meet people and go out drinking a little bit, but one of the reasons we do like going to Nashville is that we don\u2019t know a lot of people down there and we can kind of do our thing, and if we went to New York or LA we would feel obligated to hang out with people and see our friends and stuff like that. So we like to get away when we\u2019re doing the record anyway because it just works out for us, so Nashville\u2019s the perfect place for that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Helter Skeleton\u2019 was an absolute stand out for me on the album, how stoked were you when you came up with that name?<\/strong>
\nOh yeah, I don\u2019t think twice about something like that, he says we\u2019re going to name a song \u2018Helter Skeleton\u2019 and I\u2019m like \u2018Yeah Rad!\u2019 *laughs* you\u2019re not going to find any debate from me with something cool like that.<\/p>\n

Five albums in now, what do you see as the biggest challenge the band has had to face to get to where you are today?<\/strong>
\nThe biggest\u2026 I mean I don\u2019t know man, it\u2019s tricky, what we do is tricky because you\u2019re dealing with music, you\u2019re dealing with creative stuff, you\u2019re dealing with environments with four to five and now up to ten to twelve people, travel together nine months out of the year piled on top of each other and it\u2019s just any manner of things that can go wrong at any point in that process, there\u2019s so many variables that have to go right. So much of it\u2019s just like putting your head down and actually working hard\u2026 So what\u2019s like the hardest thing we\u2019ve had to overcome?… probably ourselves *laughs* that\u2019s a tricky question, I know you\u2019ve stumped me twice in this interview, it\u2019s one of those things, there\u2019s a lot of hurdles that you have to get through and a lot of variables and trying to think of one challenge is a little difficult. That being said in order to keep the same four guys in a band and spend as much time together as we have and do all that stuff, I mean there\u2019s a level of respect and a level where people need to know the push and pull and that buttons of other people to really make it work functionally and I think while you\u2019re doing that you manage to learn a lot about yourself you know, it\u2019s easier to see yourself when you see yourself through the eyes of another person you know? I think that\u2019s the biggest challenge for any band and you\u2019ve got to make sure these people are communicating and staying on the same page, or else it\u2019s just going to get ugly and go in directions you just don\u2019t want it to go. I think we really learned that you really need to take control of shit like that, the way your band goes and the direction it goes, I think people get into it and they forget that it\u2019s all in your hands, but you\u2019ve got to fight for that, that\u2019s a challenge in the sort of industry that we work around, so I think to give you some to that question that\u2019s definitely a part of it.<\/p>\n

It would be remiss of me to not ask about Australia, so any chance we\u2019ll see you here again soon?<\/strong>
\nI can\u2019t say exactly and just to leave myself a little out I can say that 90% chance we\u2019ll be in Australia next year, I know it\u2019s been talked about and definitely in the plans but nothing set at all yet. It\u2019s a great place for us to go, I love the shows there, I love the people, I love the place so we\u2019re always looking forward to get back, yeah, I\u2019m almost certain we\u2019ll be there next year.<\/p>\n

Well feel free to come back for Soundwave\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh yeah, that\u2019s definitely one of the possibilities, like I said, nothing\u2019s concrete yet\u2026 but that was one of the funnest tours I\u2019ve done for sure. Loved that tour.<\/p>\n

Lastly, with the year over halfway done, let\u2019s try and predict the remainder of it, so finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2014, The Gaslight Anthem will\u2026<\/strong>
\nStill be a band, still playing shows, and by the end of 2014 we\u2019re going to be in a deep freeze in the New Jersey winter chilling out *laughs* and then getting ready for 2015. You won\u2019t find too much drama here, we just do our thing you know? *laughs*<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> New Jersey, USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>\u00a0Brian Fallon \u2013 Vocals \/ Guitar, Benny Horowitz \u2013 Drums, Alex Levine \u2013 Bass, Alex Rosamilia – Guitar<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.thegaslightanthem.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Get Hurt (out now \u2013 Warner Music Australia)
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