Thursday

Jenia interviews Thursday at the 2009 Taste of Chaos a few months ago.

Walking into Metropolis on April 9^th 2009, it was hard not to notice the dove logo proudly being sported on the majority of the guys and girls waiting in line. This particular logo symbolizes more then just a bird; it represents a band that has one of the strongest fan bases in today’s music scene.  The six guys from New Brunswick, New Jersey who formed Thursday have been together for over a decade now and have released five full-length albums. Having toured with Taste of Chaos in the past, Thursday got the opportunity to headline this year’s tour. I sat down with guitarist Tom Keeley in the bands dressing room a few hours before the last show of their North American tour began. During the interview we were joined, several times, by some of Thursdays other members who added some of their input into the conversation. The interview focuses mainly on Taste of Chaos and their brand new album Common Existence.

CONFRONT:  You were a part of Taste of Chaos in 2006, what’s the experience like now that you’re headlining the tour?

TOM:  Completely different! *laughs* It’s weird to see how much has actually changed since the last time we were on this tour. We were off the road for almost two years writing and recording our record and a lot of the kids coming to these shows this time around just started going to shows in that two years.  They’re literally like thirteen or fourteen years old and for a lot of them this is like their second show. For a band like us, who has been around for 11 years, our most popular record is like ten years old and they’ve never heard of us. That was sort of a shock, to come out on the road and to see that most of these people have never even heard of our band.

CONFRONT: So you’re gaining a lot of new fans?

TOM:  I think the ones that stick around, yeah! I think it’s funny because some of the kids are so young that they’re in high school and they don’t have to think about much like what day of the week it is. It makes me wonder if they think that Bring Me the Horizon is headlining on a Thursday and they’re like “What day of the week is it?! Oh it’s probably Wednesday but Thursday? Okay whatever!” *laughs* That being said we have had a lot of people coming out just for us that are a little bit older and they’re generally not the ones in the pit, they’re the ones standing in the back watching. They do filter up for us when we go on though and they come to the front and hang out with us. Everything’s sort of rearranging in the music world. A two year break is a long time to be away so we have to re-earn it again if you know what I mean. Which is fine, I know we can because I think we’re a good live band.

CONFRONT: You guys are touring with a different group of bands this time around, have you discovered any new music?

TOM:  Cancer Bats! They’re my favorite band on the whole tour. They’re great.

CONFRONT:  Did that start when you began this tour or did you know about them before?

TOM: I had heard about them but I hadn’t actually heard their music so when I saw them for the first time that was the very first time I was hearing them. It just clicked for me. They’re great guys. They’re our buds on this tour.

CONFRONT:  That’s great! Do you have any fun tour stories so far? How long have you been on the road for?

TOM:  Uh, three months?  Something interesting must have happened during that time! Has anything interesting happened on this tour Tucker?

*Tom turns to the bands drummer Tucker who is sitting off to the side playing on his phone*

TUCKER:  Nope

TOM: *laughs* Come on! I know you know. Oh! There was a brawl. A street brawl!

CONFRONT: Really?! Where?

TOM: In Massachusetts, randomly after the show. It was a great show; everyone had a really good show. All the bands went out to this bar to celebrate afterwards.  I actually left about five minutes before everyone spilled out onto the streets and started throwing punches and then the cops came. A couple of people had to go home with injuries like broken noses and bloody eyes and it was nasty. It wasn’t fun but…*starts to laugh*

CONFRONT: Certainly not fun but it’s interesting!

TOM:  Yeah it counts! It was crazy!

CONFRONT:  Has there been a show on this tour so far that has stood out as one of your favorite stops?

TOM:  Yeah! Where was it? *starts laughing* Where was that one?! Andrew! What were the really good shows?

*Andrew, the bands synth player, walks into the room*

ANDREW:  On this tour?

TOM:  Yeah.

ANDREW:  New Jersey, Baltimore, Chicago was okay. We had one really wild one….

TOM: I’m trying to think of what my favorite show was.

TUCKER: New York was good.

ANDREW: New Jersey was really good. I think Baltimore was a surprise.

TOM:  Our hometown shows are generally really fun.

CONFRONT: What makes those shows stand out? The crowds, the energy…?

TOM: Well for our hometown, most bands generally do better in their hometowns but we hadn’t played there in awhile. We’ve had this tradition for the past five years that we do a couple of shows between Christmas and New Years and it had officially become a tradition because we had reached the five year mark but because we did this tour we weren’t allowed to do our Christmas show so a lot of kids were disappointed about that so they came out for this one instead. Just the energy of just getting to do something, it was exciting. New York is always fun. There’s just such a cool energy in that town. There’s so much music history there.

CONFRONT: Have you guys had the chance to play a lot of shows in Montreal?

TOM:  No, I couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve played here but it couldn’t to be more then six times.

CONFRONT: Do you enjoy playing here?

TOM: Yeah! It’s great. We’ve been here probably three or four times for Warped Tour. I’ve always said that Montreal was a rad city to play in.

CONFRONT:  Can you compare Warped Tour to Taste of Chaos?

TOM: Not really. Well, not anymore anyways. You used to be able to say that it was like Warped Tour at night in clubs. Even though there were always fewer bands. I don’t know, this time it’s more of a club tour. It’s not like a band extravaganza where there’s like twelve bands. Everything is sort of scaled down now because the economy is so awful back in the States right now. Honestly this time around I couldn’t see them as being more different. One is outside, sweaty, three month long circus with eighty bands and this one is more like a regular tour with four or five bands.

CONFRONT: Alright, so let’s go back a little bit into the history of Thursday.

TOM: Okay!

CONFRONT:  How did you all meet and decide to form this band?

TOM: Back in College, Tucker and I started playing together because we always wanted to be in a hardcore band like Lifetime. He had a set of drums and I had a really crappy guitar and a really crappy guitar amp and we would just jam together every weekend. Our friends had bands and we just really wanted to be able to play with them. Through College in drawing class I met Tim, our bass player, and I met Geoff, our singer, at a show through mutual friends and we just hit it off. Our only goal in the beginning was to be able to play Geoffs basement. He was putting on shows, he was the kid who was the punk rock promoter before you really needed a promoter. We wrote like four songs, to a point where we could just play four songs that’s all we could do. We would play for 20 minutes, as the first band out of ten bands. We did that for a year and a half.  For about two years we just stayed in New Brunswick, New Jersey and had a cool little scene going. We’d play a couple shows a week.

CONFRONT: Started to get your name out there..

TOM: Sort of yeah! I mean just in New Jersey and down to Pennsylvania and into Massachusetts. They were the small but really crucial three points; New York, D.C and Boston. We’d just jump in a dodge mini van and just take week long trips down to Florida. That’s actually how we started touring. Through people we met in Geoffs basement, we’d go play in other bands basements. Everything was just off the radar and just for fun. There was no money being made. If there was money it was because people had donated gas money so you could get from city to city. Those are the beginnings, something to do while we were in College.

CONFRONT: So what would you guys define as your sound?

TOM: I wouldn’t. *laughs* No, I mean the safest label you could put on it would be post-hardcore. I mean most of the bands we listened to growing up were hardcore bands. For us this sort of happened after that. There’s a lot of hardcore influence so post-hardcore is fine by me. I like to think it’s a little more progressive then the typical post-hardcore sound but that’s just me, who cares what I think. *starts laughing*

CONFRONT: You guys have a new album out!

TOM: Yes we do!

CONFRONT: How does it compare to your previous ones?

TOM: It’s heavier then the last one. We put out “A City by the Light Divided” it was sort of leaning more towards the experimental and it was more of an expansive and delicate sound. I mean there were still heavy songs. This new record is just heavier. People have been comparing it to our album Full Collapse but sonically I just don’t see it whatsoever. Full Collapse is a heavy record but sonically it’s just pillow-y and it’s not abrasive when I listen to it and this new one is just full out abrasive like in the most traditional sense how punk rock is supposed to be. I guess it’s more immediate and Full Collapse is really immediate. The feelings people would have would hit them immediately but with some of our other records you have to live with it and think about it and live with it. Common Existence just comes in and hits you over the face and you’re in it.

CONFRONT: So you’d say this new album really grabs your attention and drags you in?

TOM: Yeah definitely.

CONFRONT: Is there a meaning behind the name?

TOM: Yup! Geoff’s probably the person to ask but my interpretation of it, the idea of Common Existence is a response to the title War All the Time. War All the Time was about every little event in our lives that we go through was like a tiny war. Inner personal relationship was like a war, very combative and dark. Common Existence is more about every little event that we have that we used to think about with a sense of anxiety and fear. It’s every little one of these life events that used to seem so traumatic but now it’s like everyone’s going through it. No matter how much drama you have in your life or how unique your weird little traumatic event is, there are millions of other people going through it as well. It’s sort of like the human condition. It’s what binds all of us. It’s totally common. It’s really not that unique, which is sort of a comforting idea when you reach your late 20′s. You leave your angst behind and you kind of grow out of it and realize you’re all the same and you wonder what you were freaking about all this time.

CONFRONT: Wow. You would never think to look at a title and get such a deep meaning out of it! Do you have a favorite song off the album?

TOM: Yup a couple! Circuits of Fever is probably my favorite and then Beyond the Visible Spectrum.

CONFRONT: Awesome! So you guys have a huge fan base. Do you have any crazy fan encounters to share?

TOM: Oh yeah. It’s sort of a blessing and..well I wouldn’t say it’s a curse. It’s a blessing and then it’s a little uncomfortable. Our fans for some reason really dig deep into our band and when they form a connection with our music it’s a very strong connection, it’s a bond. I think it’s because Geoff is so honest in his lyrics. He’s really personal and he has nothing to hide when he writes, he puts himself completely into it. The people who attach themselves to these lyrics, they relate very specifically to him as person, or at least they feel like they do. There have been a number times where people come up to him or one of us and pour their hearts out. It’s basically a stranger on the street, we never met them, I mean we have a connection through our music but on a personal level we never met them. They’ll come up to us and unload all of their issues and things they’re going through. If I wasn’t so socially anxious, I’d say it was kind of a beautiful thing. Someone looking for a connection and they feel safe because of some art that you made and they feel safe to divulge all this information. It’s really a beautiful thing because music to me is the closest thing to religion. I’m not a religious person but it definitely felt that way playing music all this time. It’s a unifying force with people. As long as I can keep myself from worrying “Oh my god this person is crazy”. You know what I mean? If I can take that shelter off it’s fine. It can be a little unnerving.

CONFRONT: But you have to feel kind of honored at the same time don’t you?

TOM: Yeah totally. It’s totally humbling.

CONFRONT: So I have a few questions we ask everyone for the magazine.

TOM: Okay! Sure.

CONFRONT: What was the first and last CD you bought?

TOM: Who buys CD’s anymore? *laughter* The first CD I bought, well I didn’t buy my first CD. The first one I ever got my sister gave to me.

CONFRONT: That still counts!

TOM: Okay, there were three of them. She gave me the Rollins Band – End of Silence which was Henry Rollins band. She also gave me Use Your Illusions 1 & 2 by Guns N’ Roses and she gave me a cassette tape of Simpsons Sing the Blues. That was…

CONFRONT: A long time ago?

TOM: *laughs* Fifth grade! The last CD I bought was a band called the Duke Spirit. They have a record called Neptune. It’s weird. It’s sort of like a 90′s sounding Indie rock.

CONFRONT: I’ve never heard of them!

TOM: They’re cool, its female vocals and they’re from England. It’s a mix between indie rock, punk rock and R&B. It’s really fun. Lots of tambourine. *laughter*

CONFRONT: What was the first and last show you attended? Not performed at, just attended.

TOM: The first concert I ever went to was Lollapalooza with Greenday, Smashing Pumpkins, and Beastie Boys.

CONFRONT: That must have been an awesome show.

TOM: Oh yeah it was great! Smashing Pumpkins were great. Beastie Boys were playing Ill Communications so they were playing instruments. It was really fun. The last show I went to was a Bon Jovi concert. We were label mates for awhile at Island and our manager Eric wanted everyone to go to this concert at the Nokia Theater in New York, so me, Andrew & Geoff all went to the show…

*Tucker clears his throat from the couch off to the side*

TOM: Oh, Tucker went too! *laughter* We ended up in this VIP lounge, like a balcony on the side and we’re watching the show and I was thinking to myself “Wow! I never thought I’d say I was at a Bon Jovi concert” and I look down and sitting in front of me behind this red rope was Jay-Z and Beyoncé! They were just totally hanging out and watching Bon Jovi.

CONFRONT: That’s awesome!

TOM: Yeah totally! We actually went backstage and met Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.

CONFRONT: He puts on a great show though. He knows how to entertain the crowd.

TOM: Yeah! He rocks out man! I like Richie. He’s my favorite. *laughter*

CONFRONT: Finish the sentence: I have never..

TOM: Done heroine.

CONFRONT: And I would never…

TOM: Do heroine! *laughter*

CONFRONT: Well that was easy! Last question, what do you want your legacy to be as a band or as an individual?

TOM: You know what? I’m not sure. I don’t know that I worry about that too much. I just kind of enjoy whatever time this band has left. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. All the, not to be cliché, trials and tribulations have been totally worth it. I don’t regret anything. I don’t want to ever regret doing this band you know? Hopefully, if people are looking through history books they’ll see that, hopefully, we’ve left a positive mark. I think we will.  I guess a legacy of transparency and honesty. I’d like people to know that regular people can do what’s in their hearts and be successful at it as long as they care. It doesn’t matter if you’re talented enough. If you care enough and you sacrifice enough and you throw yourself into something you’re passionate about you can be successful at it.

CONFRONT: Well that’s a great legacy! Thanks so much for doing this interview.

TOM: Sure! Thank you! Will we see you up there for the show?

CONFRONT: Of course!

It was a real pleasure to get to sit down with a band like Thursday who, despite being in the spotlight for as long as they have, had to be some of the most down to earth guys I’ve ever spoken with. There was still so much excitement in Tom’s voice when he spoke of all that the band has accomplished since they first formed and how much they still wish to accomplish.  While I didn’t get the chance to stick around for the show, I did get to hear from many fans later that night. The general consensus was that, just as they always do, Thursday had blown the roof off of the venue and had delivered a performance that left their fans screaming for more. Somehow that just didn’t surprise me.

To learn more about Thursday visit them at their website:  www.thursday.net & at their Myspace: www.myspace.com/thursday