The Alternative Star.com

Anberlin

Before their show in Winnipeg, I got to catch up with Anberlin’s drummer Nate Young to discuss many things, including their new record, what he does in his downtime and what’s up with the supposed Best Of... CD. Special thanks go out to Marc Crevier for making this possible!

How would you compare working with Aaron Sprinkle and Neal Avron?

Young: It was different definitely; you know going from one producer you’ve done three records with to a whole different person. They both have their good things about them but I guess the biggest difference was Neal was like a huge work horse, to the point that we’d start at 9 AM and work until 9 at night. We’d write down everything we’d get done and we had a big list of what we had to do for each song so it was very charted out. You know, we had to figure out each song and what we were going to do, which was good because it challenged us. It was a lot different than Aaron is, both are fine actually I don’t prefer one or the other but Aaron is very laid back. It’s very chill with him, we’re like “Oh yeah, let’s get coffee first then hang out, whenever we start we kind of start” so that aspect was different. Those are the biggest differences between their personalities, they’re both unbelievable producers and I’m very fond of both of them for sure.

So I’m assuming the recording of New Surrender was a lot more stressful.

Yeah, it was definitely more stressful, especially since Aaron Sprinkle is one of our best friends now so going from doing all three with him to a different person certainly took some getting used to and adjusting. It was more stressful also because it was in LA and I hate LA, I can’t stand being there. A lot of stuff involved with it made the process more stressful than any of the other three for sure.

A little while ago “Feel Good Drag” cracked the Top 10.

Yeah! It’s at number 8 right now, which is insane!

 What was your first reaction when you heard that?

Man, it blew my mind! Especially when we first started the band we never even thought we’d be on the radio you know? That blew my mind anyway but the fact that we’re in the Top 10 for Alternative is incredible. You know, we’re just excited to be able to do this but to be able to be on the radio and be in the Top 10 is an unbelievable feeling for sure!

It could certainly be considered a goal by some bands.

Oh yeah, a huge goal, that’s a huge goal! I don’t think we even set that goal because we didn’t even think it was possible so it’s just amazing!

Do you have any goals that you have set for yourself?

Yeah, I think all the goals we’ve set we’ve actually accomplished because our goals are not to be the next Backstreet Boys, you know what I mean? We never were like “Oh, we want to sell a million!” our goal was just to play music and be able to have fans and people who would come out to see us. That was our goal and we exceeded it so that’s awesome! Now our goal is just to continue to make music and continue to put out records that people will like and that we will enjoy ourselves playing. That’s the goal for Anberlin!

Awesome! I heard that “Breaking” will be the next single. Any particular reason why?

Yeah, I think that us and the label felt it was a catchy song. It was a good follow up to “Feel Good Drag” because it showed a little more of the lighter side of Anberlin, you know not as heavy or as dark, just a poppy, catchy side so hopefully it’s a good decision, we’ll see! It’s a little nerve wracking going from 8 and starting all over, trying to push a new single and how it reacts but we’ll see.

Any plans for a video soon?

We’ll see, it depends. We probably won’t shoot a video before it goes to radio so when it goes to radio in a couple weeks we’ll shoot one closely thereafter probably.

 Last question about New Surrender and it was actually submitted by a reader. She noticed that the discs from Cities and New Surrender each have matching artwork for opposite albums and it seemed a little intentional. Are they supposed to be sister CDs in terms of the artwork?

No. I actually do most of the artwork for the records; I think it just kind of fits. Like the New Surrender one is chrome, like a mirror and we always wanted to do something like that because it’s really classy and kind of timeless. But yeah, they’re both plain just for the fact that we wanted everything to focus on the artwork and just make the discs plain. It wasn’t very intentional.

There was a bit of talk about a supposed Best Of... CD coming out on sites like AP.net recently. Do you follow that kind of stuff, what are your thoughts on it?

Yeah, I read it every once in awhile just to keep up and see what kids are saying, we’ve been talking about it. Tooth and Nail is a great label and I guess that’s part of our contract, that they’d be able to put out something like this. I don’t think they’re going to do it until later this year, which will be cool but it’s a little bit strange to us since we’ve only had three records on their label. It’s kind of funny to think that they’re going to put out a Best Of... because there can’t be that many songs, you know? But whatever, we’re not completely opposed to it. We just think it’s weird because we still see ourselves as a small band and that we’d have a Best of Anberlin CD out when we’ve only been around for 6 years but whatever.  

Most people know what Stephen does outside of the band but it’s not as obvious for you. What do you do in your downtime?

I started an art company about a year ago [Verdure Studio]. It’s me, my fiancée, her brother and his wife and we just started it for fun. We get our stuff out there, we have a couple different prints, and we take some pictures. My future brother in law does all the art and drawings but I do that when I’m home too. Plus I ride bikes. I play drums with Tim from Underoath, he has a side project [The Hunter and the Prey] and I play drums for that. When we’re home we record and hopefully we’ll play some shows here and there too. Stephen just gets his out more than I do. I just keep it more laid low, it’s more for fun anyway than it is to be big or whatever.

I read you’ve been playing since you were 14.

I did, I actually started playing in Anberlin when I was 15 though.

What was it like pretty much growing up in the band?

Yeah, it’s definitely different but all the dudes are great guys. They all watched over me and were kind of like my big brothers on tour. I did all my schooling on the road and then when I graduated. It’s definitely a different life and it’s weird to think I’ve been doing this almost half my life. I kind of like it because it’s such an unbelievable thing I’ve been able to do at such a young age. Most people when they stop being in a band, they are in their late 30’s or whatever and I just think I’ve been so blessed to be able to do this from such a young age. It’s cool to think that if the band was to be over, I could still be in my mid 20s, you know? I could do something else with my life that a lot of people might not have the opportunity to do. It’s different for sure but also really cool!

Where do you think you’d be this very second if Anberlin never happened?

Man, I don’t know! Hopefully something in music, I always thought I’d be in music whether it would be Anberlin or something else. Maybe something involved with the music industry or maybe art, I really, really enjoy making art and taking pictures.

How long have you been into art?

I do a lot of old film; like I collect a lot of really old cameras and stuff. Probably the last two years I’ve been doing that. As far as art, I’ve always drawn and painted when I was little and I took art classes. It’s always been something I’m really into for sure.

Lastly, which bands did you listen to that made you want to take up drumming?

When I was younger, I was listening to stuff from my dad like the Beatles and Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin, which kind of started it. Then through my brother just different bands that are kind of in our scene, like MxPx and Green Day and Nirvana, stuff like that kind of made me want to start playing music. When I was even younger there are other ones but mainly those for sure.

MxPx are a good choice.

Yeah for sure, I love them!

And you even ended up signing to their label when you started.

I know, that was probably the biggest deal for me because I grew up thinking Tooth and Nail was the greatest label ever because they had MxPx and when we signed to Tooth and Nail it blew my mind! I met them a couple of years ago and I was so nervous I barely even knew what was going on because they’re still one of my favourite bands! I still get star struck whenever I’m around them.

-Interview conducted by: Deborah Remus

Check out a review of the show here!