Therefore I Am
December 9th, 2009 - Written by Lili—
Therefore I Am, a band from Boston, Massachusetts, has been working hard since they formed in 2004. Some member changes, a couple of EPs and a few years later, they signed with Equal Vision Records and recorded their album, The Sound Of Human Lives, that came out this past summer.
About a month ago, Therefore I Am was in Montreal for a show at the Underworld as part of their tour with From First to Last. Before the show started, I had the opportunity to discuss with front man, Alex Correia. Since bands were loading their stuff into the venue and doing sound-checks, we decided to head outside and found a spot to start our little chat.
CONFRONT: You were here for the Warped Tour last time right?
ALEX: Yes.
CONFRONT: How was that?
ALEX: It was amazing…except for all the rain…
CONFRONT: I heard about that! I wasn’t here!
ALEX: It was awesome, I mean we played in Montreal this spring before Warped Tour and it was great. We played here at the Underworld and on Warped Tour. It was awesome and then out of nowhere, there was like a monsoon and when we play there are about uh…3 or 4 inches of water on the stage!
CONFRONT: Wow!
ALEX: Yeah, but it was a lot of fun.
CONFRONT: Well it’s definitely something to remember right? You won’t ever forget that!
ALEX: Yeah! And I’m not sure what part of the city it was in but it was beautiful.
CONFRONT: Oh yeah, it’s a little man-made island on the side of Montreal.
ALEX: Oh really? That’s cool.
CONFRONT: Yeah! So what’s been your favourite stop to play at?
ALEX: Ummm…without saying this because I’m here in Montreal, Toronto and Montreal were some of the best shows…and Calgary. But Canada has always been awesome…or Boston, where we’re from. Even though, you know, we’re from there, it’s probably one of our favourite places to play. It’s amazing there.
CONFRONT: Well, yeah! It’s your hometown, it has something special.
ALEX: Yeah, yeah! Exactly.
CONFRONT: So your latest album came out this summer, how was the response to that?
ALEX: Pretty good! I mean, a lot of people have said it’s gone in a little different direction. It’s a little darker and heavier? But I feel like that was just the natural progression of our band; individually and of course as a whole, you know? But it’s been great! I mean, we’ve had a lot of great feedback and it’s brought us a lot of great opportunities and we’re happy so I think that’s the most important thing.
CONFRONT: Yeah, as long as you’re happy with it.
ALEX: Of course.
CONFRONT: So could you describe your sound on that?
ALEX: Um…it’s…I would say… that’s like the hardest question to ever ask someone in a band! Our sound, it’s just raw, it’s more stripped down, especially compared to our older stuff. And I would say it’s just honest. It’s not overproduced; well I don’t like to think it is. I think it represents the mood we were in and where we come from. There’s a certain attitude and vibe, if you will…I feel like our album captures that. It’s very cold and bitter. Much like here I guess. Well it’s not bitter…
CONFRONT: Montreal’s not always cold either!
ALEX: Yeah…that’s true but the winters are pretty bad.
CONFRONT: Yeah the winters are pretty bad…
*laughs*
CONFRONT: So talking about your sound, what are some of your influences now or in the past?
ALEX: Right now, I was just listening to Damien Rice…but as far as older influences, a lot of older hardcore bands and kind of mid-west emo. And when I say “emo” I don’t mean all these new bands, I mean like The Get-Up Kids and Casket Lottery or Braid, things like that. I think those are a lot of our major influences?
CONFRONT: That’s cool! Now, do you have any pre-show rituals?
ALEX: No! I guess a lot of bands do have weird little things they do! Um…no! I guess we show up late…nah we don’t. We just did today.
CONFRONT: That’s not a good ritual!
ALEX: We got stuck at the border today for quite a while. But no…I don’t think we really…I mean I kind of just hang out! That’s such a boring answer, isn’t it? Were you looking for like: we all strip into our underwear, huddle around and chant “oh ohh”
CONFRONT: I don’t know what I was looking for but I mean, simply hanging out could be a pretty cool kind of ‘ritual’ in itself! How did you guys get stuck at the border though?
ALEX: Sometimes, you drive up and it’s like 10 minutes, you’re in and you’re out and then other times, they hear you’re in a band and they like to take their time and you know, it was us and From First To Last there together so it kind of took a little while.
CONFRONT: I see…so tell me, how did Therefore I Am start?
ALEX: There used to be a website in New England called Just Another Scene, and this was before the whole MySpace boom and all of that stuff and it was basically like a message board where there were different forums for listings of shows, bands, venues; everything you kind of needed to know in order to keep in touch with other people. And I found a posting. Some kids were looking for a vocalist and that was Jim and Chris and I messaged them and sent them some demos. We had dinner, it was like a romantic date and then we decided to make music and then shortly after that, Ryan joined. Then it was Travis, our other guitar player and I feel like we came together as this line-up in this band, which to me is the final formation of the band, about 2 and a half, 3 years ago?
CONFRONT: It’s cool that you’ve stayed together.
ALEX: Yeah it took a little while to pin everything down but it’s good.
CONFRONT: As long as it works now right?
ALEX: Yeah!
CONFRONT: And I know that you guys like to keep a really good connection with fans because you network a lot. Why do you think it’s so important though?
ALEX: Well I mean, if you didn’t care about meeting new people, there would be no progression, you know? There would be no real point. Some bands, ultimately, I think it’s about creating music and art that you care about but if you’re really passionate about it, most of the time, you want to share it with other people.
CONFRONT: Yeah of course.
ALEX: So we like to hang out and I feel like this type of music, it is more about the experience as a whole not just the band, not just a few people hanging out at the show. It should be more of a collective experience you know? And we like to play and let everyone know that everyone is just as important, if not more important than the band because without them, there would be no shows, no records being sold. Not to say that no records sold means no money but I mean, people support the bands and it’s important to us to kind of express that so we like to hang out a little more, I feel like, than some bands. These days, it seems like a lot of people want to create music or be in a band to be famous or pick up girls…other…
CONFRONT: Other ambitions?
ALEX: Yeah! Other ambitions; false ambitions in my eyes. But we just like to make music and meet people, live life and do things like this.
CONFRONT: Interviews behind the van?
ALEX: Yeah!
*laugh*
CONFRONT: So then, what do you think of the artists who have kind of “ghost-bloggers” to answer for them on their sites? They don’t respond themselves on say, MySpace for example.
ALEX: Ooh! Yeah, yeah! I don’t know, I think it’s kind of cheesy. But like I said, there are some bands that I feel like don’t care about that and it’s not really what they’re about. They’re just there to write music and try to make money off of it. But where I come from, when you play in a band like this, in this whole genre or scene or whatever you want to say, it’s more about friendship and community so if we had some dude replying to people it would kind of defeat the purpose of why we even do this in the first place so I don’t think it’s that cool. But I mean, I do understand that if you’re in Green Day, you probably don’t have time to respond to 10 000 messages a day but it depends of the person I guess.
CONFRONT: When you put it that way, I guess it does. Now, I have a few typical CONFRONT questions. First, what were the first and last CDs you bought?
ALEX: Oh..first CD I ever bought? Ok. My mom bought me Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits cassette. I bought cassettes before I bought CDs. Um…Quicksand and Green Day were my two first cassettes. And then my first CD was Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins and the last CD I bought was…I know it…I like, never buy CDs anymore.
CONFRONT: Really?
ALEX: It’s really bad actually. Alright here’s the thing. When I was a senior in high school, I had the most epic CD collection but someone broke into my car and stole all of them so I vowed never to buy a CD again because I thought it was pointless. I know it sounds really bad coming from someone who’s in a band…But yeah, it was a band on Warped Tour! Um…the A.K.A.s. They’re an awesome band. I don’t know if you know them.
CONFRONT: I don’t know them but i’ll check them out! Now, your first and last show?
ALEX: Last show? That wasn’t mine?
CONFRONT: Yeah, that wasn’t yours. Last show that you attended.
ALEX: Last show that I attended was Animal Collective in Boston.
CONFRONT: And your first show?
ALEX: First show was…American Nightmare, Reach the Sky and this band…Drained? Who was from my home town and I was about twelve years old and it was the first show I ever went to. It was awesome.
CONFRONT: It must have been! So now, you have to finish these sentences. So first, I would never…
ALEX: …walk outside naked.
CONFRONT: I have never…
ALEX: …walked outside naked.
*laughs*
CONFRONT: Well, you don’t contradict yourself! That’s good! And what do you want to leave as a legacy as a band or as an individual?
ALEX: Uhh…I don’t want to try and leave anything ‘cause I feel like if I try, it’s not really genuine. Maybe that’s not the same for everybody…some people try you know? I just like bringing people together to have a good time. That’s it.
CONFRONT: Well that’s good.
ALEX: But I don’t even really try to do that, it just kind of happens.
CONFRONT: Well at shows, you meet so many different people and it creates possible friendships.
ALEX: And that’s the point, that’s why I’m here! Because it sparked some ideas when I was a youngster and it was a lot of fun and now I’m stuck, addicted.
CONFRONT: And what are your plans for the rest of 2009 and for 2010?
ALEX: Well I’ll be touring with the band. We’re going to tour with this band called Vanna from Boston and Alas the Words from Boston. It’s the New England Takeover Tour.
CONFRONT: That’s pretty cool!
ALEX: And we might be doing a tour with a band from Canada actually in the spring…
CONFRONT: Really? Who?
ALEX: I can’t really say but they’re from Toronto and they’re awesome!
CONFRONT: Ok!
*laugh*
ALEX: And I think we’ll just be on the road for a while and then hopefully writing new material by next year, at the end of 2010.
CONFRONT: Any plans for stops in Montreal?
ALEX: I think so, yeah! I think we’ll be back here soon!
CONFRONT: Now here’s my last question. Could you draw something that represents you or a self-portrait? And explain to me why you drew that?
ALEX: Yeah sure
[At this point, we headed back inside the venue so he could find a place to draw. After Alex drew, Travis Alexander, Therefore I Am’s guitarist, drew a little something too and said it was self-explanatory.]
Alex’s drawing:
ALEX: This is a self-portrait of myself. Big nose included with a little swoop, a little comb-over. Drinking and eating spaghetti and meatballs in the Swiss Alps! Birds are flying and it’s a beautiful sunny day and it’s a personal picnic!
CONFRONT: It’s very nice!
*laughs*
Travis’ drawing:
CONFRONT: Well, thank you for your time. I’ll let you get back up there to join your band mates!
ALEX: Sure! Thanks!
When they finally came onstage later, they put on quite an energetic show; Alex even stepped off the stage and went into the crowd to really get everyone into it. If you want to learn more about the band and hear a couple of their songs, you can check out their MySpace (http://myspace.com/thereforeiam) or their official site (http://www.thereforeiamrock.com/)
—
Related Articles:
Find arcitcles with similar tags: alex correia, confront, confront magazine, music, therefore i am