Gemma sits with front man, Cory BrandanIf you are unfamiliar with Norma Jean, they are a Christian mathcore band from Douglasville, Georgia comprised of:
- Cory Brandan Putman – lead vocals, guitars (2004 – present)
- Chris Day – guitars (1997- present)
- Scottie Henry – guitars (1997 – present)
- Jake Schultz – bass (2003 – present)
- Chris Raines – drums, percussion (2007 – present)
A few month’s ago, Gemma had the opportunity to meet with front man, Cory and the following is the conversation that ensued…
CONFRONT: I know you just released ‘The Anti Mother’ last summer but have you recorded any new material since? Are you guys planning for another album?
CORY: No way. We haven’t had time. We have written new material since then but nothing recorded. We probably won’t record till the very end of this year or next year.
CONFRONT: So you’re definitely planning on another album.
CORY: Oh yeah, for sure.
CONFRONT: Also, for your most recent album ‘The Anti Mother’ you had guest vocals but I read on Wikipedia that the guest singers didn’t just sing certain parts in your songs but they were included in the writing process as well. It’s the first time I’ve heard of that and I find it quite intriguing. How did you decide to do that?
CORY: Well thing is every band does guest vocals and it’s kinda boring. I mean if we wanted to bring guest vocals in we could do that all day long so you know there’s something to learn from writing with someone and collaberating on a song and they also invest themselves into the song we they help you write and we also learn as we go along and what better way to learn than from your favorite artists.
CONFRONT: Do you think you’ll do that again on the next record? Or was is a one time thing?
CORY: We spoke about it but as far as the next album goes we are no where near being close to anything like that. We have like song ideas, not full songs.
CONFRONT: When you guys are done writing all the songs for an album, do you always rename the song titles?
CORY: Oh yeah, well we just give them mop titles at first because we just need something to remember them by while we’re writing them but lyrics aren’t really written and songs really have no meaning, they’re just songs so they’re not ready for titles. Once we’re done with them and they have lyrics then we can name the song and the title will go with it. And usually the mop titles we make up are just completely ridiculous, we make them really stupid.
CONFRONT: Now that they’re finished, do you guys ever get confused and call the songs by their mop titles?
CORY: Yeah, totally. Well I don’t usually do that but the rest of the guys will.
CONFRONT: Um so this is your second to last show in Canada, right?
CORY: This is our last show in Canada.
CONFRONT: Oh really? Ok well how has this Canadian tour been for you guys? Have the crowds responded well to you?
CORY: It’s been amazing! This has probably been the best time we’ve ever been to Canada. We’ve been up here a billion times, different festivals, Warped Tour, Ozfest and a bunch of other things, but this time has just been amazing for sure.
CONFRONT: Do you ever get sick of performing every single night?
CORY: Yes!
CONFRONT: Yeah ’cause it’s still a job.
CORY: Yeah I mean, you just get worn out, just like in anything else. Some nights you get up and you just don’t really wanna play but usually by the time you get on stage and it’s time to do it, you either have to make yourself stop thinking like that or you change your mind anyway because you can’t really go on stage with that kind of attitude.
CONFRONT: Yeah it’s for the fans.
CORY: Mhm.
CONFRONT: A few days ago I was on a site called songmeanings.com and I was reading your lyrics and how your fans interpret them. A lot of your songs seem to be about the Christian life, and/or things Christians believe and go through. Do you ever get criticized for writing about that?
CORY: Hmm that’s a good question… um well first of all we do write about Christianity and our lifestyle but it’s not every song, we do have some songs like that but that’s nothing that we’re ashamed of. Our songs are what they’re about, but as far as getting criticized for that…not really at all which is pretty amazing. The way I see it is like as far what we write about and our beliefs, we’re really no different from any other band. We write about what we believe in just like every other band does, it just so happens that what we write about is, the cornerstone of it is Christianity and our love for God and Jesus and obviously that’s the most important thing in our lives and it’s definitely like you know we still write about the same kind of things any band writes about. It’s just a cornerstone basis of how the song direction will go.
CONFRONT: I noticed that even people who are not of the same faith as you have a lot of respect for you for the fact that you “don’t shove God down their throats”, you find your own way in your writing style to get your point across to people, like with metaphors and stuff. Is that what you are trying to do, like to be discreet about it so people don’t get offended while still definitely keeping your faith included in your music?
CORY: No no, we don’t really give a crap if people get offended. I’m gonna sing about what I wanna sing about and whatever comes out is what comes out. There is no dodging at all, we’re not thinking about anyone’s feelings, honestly. If we did that we would be compromising not only what we believe but mostly just our artistic vision of the song. The lyrics are just as artistically involved in the song as the guitar parts and the drum parts and the way we sing it, it’s a really important detail. And the way we want to write lyrics is there’s really no thought to like “should we say this or not?” We want to get our point across but we also want the song to have the poetic kind of feel to it.
CONFRONT: Do you guys mostly write for yourselves?
CORY: Yeah, well we write for ourselves but we’re not afraid to admit that we write for our fans too. I mean we want people to listen to our music (laughs) you know? If we only wrote for ourselves, I don’t think we’d be putting out records because there’s just something to putting out a record and knowing that people are gonna buy that record and listen to it.
CONFRONT: Ah yes.. And do you ever hear from people who think your music is too loud and dark to be considered Christian music? What do you think about those comments?
CORY: That’s a funny topic because a sound can’t have a belief. A sound that comes out of a speaker can’t be Christian or non-Christian, good or bad, dark or evil because you know, it’s a sound and if your ears interpret it that way, that just means you don’t like it. That’s all it means. It’s the same way if a sound comes out of the radio of some crappy techno band, I hate that crap! My ears interpret that in a terrible way! (laughs) So personally, I think it’s terrible. The thing is people always say “oh you guys are a Christian band” and it’s like yeah, we’ll let you call us that but music can’t be Christian, sound can’t be Christian and it can’t be non-Christian either. So yeah…a big middle finger to the people who think our music is evil..just.. get out of here! (laughs)
CONFRONT: Wow that’s a really cool insight! Um so you know how there are so many young people today looking for their identity and purpose and since it’s not easy to figure out it’s the cause of many depressions at such young ages. When kids admit to you that your music can help them cope with their lives on a daily basis, how does that make you feel?
CORY: That’s amazing. That’s probably one of the most amazing things about being in a band, that we can write a song in some dungen basement in Atlanta Georgia sweating our faces off and go through this entire process of writing a bunch of songs, pre-recording them, recording them, going in with a producer, tracking them, all this stuff goes into it and then all you get is this piece of plastic that comes out but what’s really amazing is for fans, that’s the only thing they see. Just one day our CD is on the shelf, they don’t see everything that comes before that and so it’s really amazing that they can take that and get something out of it and they can be across the ocean, someone we’ll never meet probably and if they can get something from that then that’s truly amazing. To think we can touch someone without really having been physically involved in their lives, it’s cool.
CONFRONT: When someone opens up to you about things of that sort, do you ever feel responsible for them in the sense that you feel like you need to reassure them that things will be ok?
CORY: Yeah that happens and sometimes we might have some advice but the thing is when it comes down to it..I’m some dude in a band. I might not have the best advice for someone with their situation and you know maybe I’ve delt with that and I could relate to them but when it comes down to it I don’t think that people should sensationalize people in bands, or pubic figures for that matter, those people don’t really have the answers for us. It kind of really pisses me off actually when I see celebrities giving their political advice on TV or even their spirtitual advice.. who gives a crap what that dude thinks? Like I think people should make their own decisions and if they have a question for us about what we wrote, or maybe need us to interpret it then we can talk to them about it but for the most part I try to steer away from giving anyone any solid advice on their life because I feel like was that the wrong advice? and I don’t want that to come back on me, you know?
CONFRONT: Yeah, I get exactly what you mean.
CORY: Yeah and when it comes down to it, as far as they know I could be some dude walking down the sidewalk, if you’re gonna ask me a question, ask that dude. It’s the same thing.
CONFRONT: So you don’t find it makes sense that people look up to you guys?
CORY: No, it does make sense and that’s a responsibility that we have to take on and we will but then again when it comes to someone seeking advice, seeking an answer to their problem we just may not be the best people for that.
CONFRONT: Ah ok, I understand that. Anyway, that’s it for today!
CORY: Oh alright! Over and out!
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