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 DAN WATT chats with AGAINST ME! bassist ANDREW SEWARD about their forthcoming record New Wave, The Clash, and… Hobart?
Having started as a one-man show playing punk dives in Gainsville, Floridian punks Against Me! have now released three LPs, countless EPs, toured the world and despite this success, as I found out during my discussion with bass-player Andrew Seward, remained totally grounded.
Against Me!’s forthcoming record – New Wave due out in July – is the follow-up to 2005’s Searching for A Former Clarity and the band’s first record since moving to major label Sire. I asked Andrew what has been the main difference now that they’re playing with the big boys: “The fact that we did go with Sire afforded us the opportunity to record with Butch Vig. I can’t really tell how valuable that was. We had the best time recording this record. With Butch we have achieved the best sound and the best songs… you can’t really put a price tag on that.” Butch Vig is one of the most highly regarded producers of the modern rock, he produced Nevermind and Siamese Dream and is also the drummer for Garbage. In order to achieve the best result the band and Butch went through what could be best described as a courting process: Against Me! sent Butch demos for the songs that would become New Wave and he, months before they started recording, attended their shows and really got to know the band and each individual in it. “He didn’t come into the studio blind, he knew exactly what we were all about because he had immersed himself in our world,” relates Andrew. “My advice: anyone making an album, make best friends with the guy recording it, then it’s really fun and easy to do it.” On completion of recording the album, Against Me! was bestowed the honour to open a show in Las Vegas for Irish punk legends The Pogues. Andrew begins to affectionately giggle as he describes the experience: “Basically Shane McGowan was staggering the whole time… I can’t show you coz we’re on the phone, but he kind of looked like a reed in the wind, just kinda, blowing back and forth. “Later on, Spider Stacy, the tin-whistle player, came in to our dressing room. He was in very good mood coz he had gotten married that day [When in Rome… I mean Las Vegas] and said to us [Andrew putting on a very poor Irish accent] ‘Hey Against Me! I’m sorry we haven’t got to hang out, we hear you’re the new Clash.’” This Clash comparison was made by influential Cali punk magazine Amp just after the release of Searching for A Former Clarity, and while definitely flattered, Andrew maintains Against Me! are their own band. When I lead into the next question with “Now you’ve been to Australia twice…” Andrew immediately comes in very firmly saying “And we’ve been to Tasmania twice as well.” Andrew knows full well that Tassie is a part of Australia, he just understands that very few international bands make the effort to get down there. Andrew has this to say about playing gigs in isolated spots: “Those are the best places to play because everyone goes bonkers. We played Anchorage Alaska at a University, and man, there were like 700 kids crammed into a lunch room going nuts.” Against Me! play The Arena on June 20. New Wave is out in July through Sire/Warner.
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