American Television

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This past month, I was able to schedule a Zoom call with DC-based punk rock band, American Television, to discuss their upcoming EP, You Are Not Alone. In this interview, I asked the band members about their writing process, what to make of DC’s current political situation, their past touring experience, and much more. The band is playing a record release show at Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia next month, and tickets are on sale here. Also, pre-orders are on-going for You Are Not Alone over at Smartpunk Records.

Thank you guys for your time today. Like I mentioned before we started the interview, I’m also from the DC area, so it’s nice to finally connect with you guys in person. I’ve got to start by asking, what do you make of this whole current administration’s stance going on in the city right now?

Bryan: We talked about it before we started here. We all live in the suburbs, but we all consider DC our “home base” as a band. That’s where we play most of our shows, when our friends play or touring bands come through, that’s where we spend most of our time with music. It’s in DC, and it’s just really frustrating and disappointing to see what’s going on this week. I think the people that are doing this, are the ones that don’t belong here, and they are trying to shape it in their image. And it’s not the image of what DC is or should be, and it’s, you know, it’s very frustrating. It’s very fascist, and I just hope people don’t get hurt.

Absolutely…any guidance for the punk rock community right now?

Bryan: Well, I guess like when it comes to standing behind a political party, blindly, is probably not a good approach to being political in general. You should always hold people in leadership in question and to a high regard. And I think blind faith in somebody, like our current president, is kind of a pretty toxic approach to trying to change the world. Whether it’s for the things that you want or the things that others believe in, like more equality and things like that. So I think we should always question people in leadership roles. And I think I’ve made my decision on Donald Trump a very long time ago. I grew up in New York, and I knew him long before he was even a political figure, and he’s kind of always been trash in my eyes. So, yeah, I just kind of would question people in authority, always. They don’t always have your best intentions in mind.

Yeah, and that’s not just a “punk rock ethos” either. That’s just being a good person kind of thing.

Bryan: Oh, yeah.

So you guys have also performed at some legendary DC venues in the area, like the 9:30 Club, recently. So what was that experience like, playing at a venue like that?

Bryan: Well, growing up in the area, I have been going to shows there. I only went to the original location. I’m old, but I’m not that old.

The club just celebrated 45 years!

Bryan: But I have been going to the new location, quote/unquote for 20 plus years now, to see all my big, favorite bands that come through town. That’s where they play. The 9:30 Club has a reputation, not just in town, but in the country, and in the world, as being one of the best rock clubs there is. And we were fortunate enough, through some connections in the area, to get invited to open for The Pietasters. One of DC’s long-standing best bands. They were super generous and super thoughtful and invited us to open their annual holiday show. And it was just, all day long, from check-in, to sound check, to catering and all that kind of stuff, things that we’re not usually used to as a little punk rock band, but it was super awesome. It was a top of the bucket list item cross-off moment for me.

Yeah, and you mentioned The Pietasters. They’re one of the bands that when I was going to college at St Mary’s College in Southern Maryland, they played one of our holiday festivals or something like that, for the kids on campus. I remember they put on a kick ass show. And they’re obviously from the area, too.

Bryan: Yeah! And they’ve still got it after all these years!

For sure. Anything else to share about the 9:30 Club experience?

Chris: A slightly different perspective. I grew up going to shows there as well, and it was a dream to play there. I also do events for a living, and I’m very familiar with backstages all around the country and around the planet, and I have to give them the nod to emphasize the nod that Bryan gave them, their crew, their facility, and everything, was some of the best I’ve ever seen. It was such a great experience, from start to finish with them. I can’t say enough good stuff about that crew.

That’s awesome. And Seth Horowitz is a very hospitable person from the people I talked to for bands I’ve met with, and I had the privilege of meeting him the other day too…

Chris: That’s cool!

So the next question I have for you guys is that you played the Vans Warped Tour on the DC date on the Smartpunk Records stage. How has it been working with your label, Smartpunk, and how did they create this cool opportunity?

Bryan: Matt, who runs the label, kind of comes from the DIY world. He has a band himself called Debt Neglector. And Jordan, one of one of his friends, is in a band called Virginity, but also works for the label. And they’re pretty ingrained in the small music scene. But I think, because of how they built their label by really releasing older albums that hadn’t been released in a long time, and so they built this sort of name, and now they’re using it to elevate some smaller bands like ourselves into the conversation. So having played Warped Tour, we just got asked to submit a song to a comp, and we’ve been on XM Radio like we wouldn’t have had these opportunities without Smartpunk behind us. So whenever they say, “we’ve got something, are you interested?“ There’s probably a 99.9% chance to say, “yeah,” and that Warped Tour experience…I think most of us in the band have at least been to one. I’ve been to probably six, starting from ‘90-’95, or so to 2001, and so to be able to say that we were part of that, it feels historic. Yet again, not something that was on my permanent bucket list, because I didn’t know the Warped Tour was coming back, but 9:30 Club and Warped Tour within the same 365 days? Pretty psyched that we got that opportunity!

Yeah, because the only other major festival that we had was HFStival back in the day. And for the Vans Warped Tour to make a comeback was huge!

Chris: Bryan, did you ever go to HFStival?

Bryan: Right towards the end of their run there up in Baltimore, at the Ravens stadium. And they tried their revival this past year as well, but I wasn’t there. The lineup looked pretty good, but no knocks, but it didn’t look like the audience was into it.

Not a festival kind of, kind of lineup when you have the non-general admission, feel to it. You know what I mean? Everybody was stuck in their seats. So what guidance do you guys have for fans trying to keep their mental health in check during this crazy political climate that’s going on these days?

Chris: I don’t know if I have any advice, but I will say, from a mental health perspective, in my life and my age, I have learned all kinds of things. From breathing techniques to meditation to just overall reflection time, and making sure you have time to clear your head and stare at the sky and just kind of hit the reset <button> or process everything that’s happening in your life, in your day, and in the world. I don’t know if it helps, but it definitely gets me by.

Yeah, I mean, that’s one way of looking at it. It’s hard with smartphones these days. There’s always a million notifications about whatever bat shit nuts thing Trump did. But, the main reason why we’re talking today is your new EP, called You Are Not Alone, drops September 19th, via Smartpunk Records. I love the urgency of the title track. Do you think that’s a pretty good indication of the direction you guys took for this record?

Bryan: Yeah, I think that there are themes that resonate, whether it’s the patterns that we fall into every day, or the feeling of isolation that we probably all definitely felt during COVID, but may continue to feel. Those <themes> seem to appear in the record. I think you know that that title came from Chris. He was like, “why don’t we write a song with that chorus? It’s been stuck in my head, and I’m feeling that way,” and so we kind of worked together to build that up into what I think is probably one of the bigger choruses that we’ve written as a band. So I’m psyched about that, and hopefully it becomes an anthem of some kind for people who need it.

And is Smartpunk gonna do a vinyl of the EP?

Bryan: Yes, the vinyl will be coming out on September 19 as well. It’s up for pre-order now. And then it’ll be on streaming and all that too.

That’s awesome, because I need to add more to my collection. Obviously, I got Scars, your last record, the blood-splattered variant. So that new EP will look good next to that one!

Bryan: Awesome! Yeah, and the packaging on this one is pretty cool too. Like, all the music is pressed to side A, so side B was left for an etching. So we did a silk screen on the back of the record, and then the packaging is all tied into that. The colors of the packaging, which are like pinks, purples, and blues that the record is, is a two-color vinyl. So it’s kind of like pulled from that palette as well. So we’re all pretty psyched on it. And that <artwork> was done by Stereo Design, one of the artists that Chris has worked with before, and we had Rockets Are Red do our previous album, but we wanted to try someone new to interpret what we’ve got, and so we worked with him on this one.

That’s awesome. And how much creative control does Smartpunk give you when you guys want to put out a certain packaging, work with a certain producer or so forth?

Chris: All of the control.

That’s awesome. That’s what you would want as an artist, right?

Bryan: I mean, I think had we done something offensive or something like that, they might have put their foot down. But obviously they trust us and we’re, we’re not in a world to do something like that anyway.

Yeah, but like I said, that’s the way it should be for most artists…having control of your own art. Can you walk me through a day in the life of American Television, when you guys have a concert that evening? What goes into not only your warm up schedule, but also just kind of browsing the cities that you guys are going to?

Bryan: Yeah, I think when we’re in other cities, we do try to get into town. We’ll wake up, hop in the van, probably whoever’s in the shotgun has control over the playlist, and we get to go from there. And then once we get to town, we usually leave about two to three hours before we have to go to the venue in order to grab some food. Maybe check out something that we heard was unique in the area. So just try to take in a little of the city, I guess, as a band who is on the road. I mean, we’re not on it as frequently as many other bands, but when you’re out there, you quickly learn that with the drive and the playing, there’s not a lot of time in between to actually see cities. So I’ve heard other people who’ve been at this much longer and much more professionally than ourselves, they basically say when they went to Germany, they never really saw it.

Yeah, tour itineraries can be a little crazy sometimes…

Bryan: But yeah, we take the time to have a look. Get a hot tip on the local food. Make sure we have it walk around a little bit, and then hopefully hang out a little after the show and high five each other in the parking lot…and then crash wherever we’re crashing. And something that’s been important to us is breakfast restaurants. The most important meal of the day for a reason, so it’s just finding the place with the best French toast and coffee, or whatever it may be, has always been paramount in every town we’ve been in.

Chris: I travel a lot, so I keep a Google Maps file of all the “nom nom” places that I want to try.

Is that the official name of the file? The “nom nom” file? <Laughter>

Chris: It actually does say “nom nom”. <Laughter> And I noticed when I started traveling with these guys, I noticed that we would pull in somewhere, and Bryan would go, “all right, fine…I want to check out down the street.” And I was like, we’re on the same page! <Laughter> Before we pull into town, we’re eyeballing the places where we can go.

So, apparently you’re going to have a “foodie” Instagram account the next time you’re on tour?

Chris: To get all three of us to answer a question, it has to be about food! <Laughter>

<Laughter> That’s funny! What would be your dream lineup, or a band that you would like to play with that’s still active today?

Chris: We will all have wildly different answers…

Bryan: Yeah. I mean, I think I would just say a band that would be awesome to open for, and has been a huge influence on us. Would be Face To Face. They’re a huge influence on us. I think we could win over their crowd a little bit, because it’s probably some people that like the same thing. And they seem, I don’t know the guys, but they seem like cool dudes to hang out with and would be a fun time.

Yeah, absolutely, that’s a good one.

Chris: I’m surprised Bryan didn’t say this, but Avail would be one of the bands I’d love to play with. We’re one degree from separation now, because when we played a fest, Tim Barry’s playing a solo set in the same venue we’re playing. So now we’re like one degree of separation from Avail. So let’s make that happen. I guess I didn’t count them as active, because they only play once a year.

Steve: I think just from a gut reaction standpoint, the first thing that popped into my head would be Strung Out. I think overall, I don’t know if there’s much of an influence in this band, but for me musically, that’s one of my big ones. And the first thing that came to mind, so I would definitely be stoked to do something like that one day. I’ll cross my fingers!

Well, hopefully this article does well enough to make some of your dreams come true…

Chris: If they read it!

It was great connecting with you guys. Hopefully I can get connected with you guys the next time you come through DC, which I believe is very soon…?

Bryan: Yeah, we’re playing Jammin Java in Vienna in October. That’s a record release show.

Yeah, Jammin Java is not too far from me. It’s like 30 minutes away, so yeah, that should work! As long as I’m not on vacation or on the moon somewhere, I’ll try to come over. <Laughter> Appreciate you guys!

American Television: Thanks, Adam!

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