Andrew Everding of Thursday

This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

This interview was conducted with keyboardist Andrew Everding of Thursday. All of the questions are fan-submitted questions.

”Demo #5″ didn’t make it onto the new album. Are there any plans for that song?

It’ll probably be released at some point, you know. Most everything that we, because we had written like seventeen songs and there are only 11 on the record, so there’s plenty floating around. We’ll probably wait and see what happens. I mean, we could release an EP, we could just put them out, give them away. There’s a whole bunch of options though.

Do you think that the charity EP with the A City By The Light Divided track with Converge and all will ever see a 2006 release?

I seriously couldn’t tell you because I have no idea. We haven’t really talked about it as a band yet. I mean, it’s done on our end, but the other bands, I’m not sure. It’s a possibility but I can’t guarantee anything.

Are there any plans to play “Mass As Shadows,” “Evacuate,” “NY Batteri,” or “Even The Sand” live ever?

Haha. Probably not. I’d have to say no. We’re kind of moving forward and away from that stuff. We hardly play anything off of Waiting anymore. It’s just a different representation of the band and the line-up has changed a little bit.

Starland Ballroom vs. Stone Pony: which one is more fun to play?

Starland is more fun. We’ve played it more times and I feel more comfortable there. The Stone Pony has more history but I like Starland more and the shows there are a little more intense.

Who originally came up with the glockenspiel idea on “Telegraph Avenue Kiss”?

That was me. We were just messing around in practice with that song and, it just reminded me of something. I think I was more inspired by someone like Bruce Springsteen. I like fully orchestrated music. It could have been a guitar lead there or something, but I figured why not use a glockenspiel? I want to branch out and use other stuff like that. I think it sounds good.

Have you or the rest of the band heard feedback on the new album from your musical peers? You know, other bands like Thrice, mewithoutYou, Explosions In The Sky, etc.

Everyone’s been really cool about it. Everyone seems to be digging it, the bands that listened to it. I haven’t heard anything from the Thrice boys, I don’t know if they’ve heard it yet. Everyone’s been really supportive though, especially on the peer level. They all seem to like the crazy stuff on the record. The musician-style stuff.

What songs would you say are connected? From past interviews, we’ve heard that songs such as Dying in New Brunswick/Sugar, Jet Black/Tomorrow, Counting/Running and songs like that have a certain connection. Anything from this album?

“We Will Overcome” and “Sugar In The Sacrement.” Really, the record is connected as a whole. There’s an instrumental track that divides the record and it’s really like it ties in with a title of a city with the light divided. There are two parts to the record and I feel that the record i completely connected. One is the love songwriter, basically saying, “Hey this kind of sucks that people do stuff like this” and there’s “Telegraph Avenue Kiss” which is a love song but not really.

Is “Running From The Rain” going to be the next single?

I have no idea. We haven’t even talked about it yet. I wish I could indulge in things like this. We’ve talked about our next single but we haven’t decided anything yet. It’s in good contention right now though, I can say that.

What inspired “Marches and Maneuvers?”

To be honest, I really have no idea. I haven’t thought about that song in a long time. That’s probably a better question for Geoff but he’s not around right now. I’m not really sure.

How do you feel about the “War All The Time” music video being pretty much non-rotational because of its “questionable content?”

Well that’s the usual thing that happens with videos sometimes. I really don’t think it’s controversial at all, but at the time, it was a bit controversial with stuff going on. Nothing was ever dictated to us as to what was controversial at the time. I just seriously think that they didn’t like the video. That’s how I feel about it and it was basically their way of saying, “Hey, we’re not going to play this video.” It was very aggravating because we spent all this time and energy on it and all this money to try and make this really cool thing and we thought the song would catch on with people, but it’s one of those things that just didn’t happen and it’s very typical of trying to survive, you know. I mean, now you have all these hip-hop videos where it’s all boobs and booze the whole time. If you think about it, if you turn the TV on right now, then what is really controversial about it? Because it’s somewhat war-related? It didn’t make much sense. It was really infuriating for us. I really just think they didn’t like the video. They like our new video a lot though.

Did you guys ever think of re-shooting it?

No. That’s like re-recording a song and trying to make it better so that people will like it. I think it’s like, if you finish a piece of artwork or something, you have to leave it as it is. There have to be conclusions to art.

Since you are the newest member, how have you been holding up on tour?

Well, I’ve been touring with them for four years, so I’m doing all right. I’m fine with touring, it’s okay.

Were you in any bands before this?

I was in a bunch of bands but nothing that anybody would know of. A lot of it was out of Syracuse. I wasn’t a keyboard player back then, I was a drummer.

How did Thursday find you?

Geoff and I met when I was at school. I went to Syracuse University and he and I had a mutual friend. He came up to visit his friend a couple times and we hung out for a bunch of weekends. We got along really well and he came and saw one of my bands play in New York. He asked me to do music with them, and I was like, “Well, I can’t play drums because you already have a drummer,” so he asked me to try the keyboards. I tried it and it worked out. I waited until I graduated in 2001 and then I moved into Geoff’s parents’ house and then I’ve been with them since.

Do you know if there’s any plans for the videos shot at CBGBs or Webster Hall last fall or Stone Pony this spring?

We just basically have a whole huge archive of video stuff. It’s so much more than just that stuff. Steve’s father has been shooting a lot of things and he’s become pretty close to us. We ourselves have a lot of archival stuff that we’ve been packing away. We have so much footage of everything that it’s almost ridiculous. We would love to put out a DVD someday but right now, there’s no plans. It’s kind of weird when bands put out DVDs at their peak because it’s kind of retrospective. It’s kind of putting a period at the end of a sentence and it’s a bit early. At one point, people will be able to see some of our video stuff.

Are there any plans to collaborate with My Chemical Romance or Gerard Way like guys mentioned a year ago on MTV?

Gerard sang on “Jet Black New Year” before My Chemical Romance really launched. We’re good friends with those boys and they’ve been buddies of ours for a long, long time. We’ll see. It would be awesome but I don’t know. We’ll find out.

Do you know what the story is behind the 1999 Tour EP? I don’t know how much you would know, I guess, since that’s before your time.

1999 Tour EP? I have no idea.

I figured. Well, are there any guest vocals or appearances on the new album that most listeners have missed? Like Jonah on the older material?

On the new album? There’s two people that sang on the new record outside of the band. There’s Amanda Tannen from stellastarr* and the other person is Mary Fridmann, who is the wife of our producer Dave. Pretty much just Geoff on this record though.

What’s the story with “Running From The Rain” being used on the Saturn commercial?

It was something we toiled over. We weren’t sure if we should do something like that, but at this point, we decided that we’ll always have problems trying to get people to hear our music and that’s a way for them to do it. It’s not selling out, we’re not getting a ton of money for it, but we’re at a point where we realize that we need to get as many as people as possible to hear it. It’s not about trying to be this massive, huge band or something, but you have to look at all the people who do commercials like that. It’s weird to see, you know, some of the bands that are in car commercials, and I think how much some of it sucks. But there’s an understanding to it.

Contrary to some of the band’s recent statements, the general consensus is that Full Collapse is still Thursday’s most accomplished record. Do you guys feel that you guys will forever be writing under its shadow?

It’s always a possibility, you know. There are still people and kids who come to talk to us and who want us to basically re-write Full Collapse over again. It’ll never happen because bands evolve and do stuff like that. There’s always going to be that shadow, but War All The Time sold as many records as Full Collapse did. For some people, they don’t even know Full Collapse, they only like War All The Time, and so there’s this shadow of two records, which is a good thing but also can be, you know. Everyone is going to be like that because there’s a lot of people who fell in love with Full Collapse and it was one of the first albums that they fell in love with. There’s always going to be people who wants another one. I mean, there’s always people who want Radiohead to re-write OK Computer again but they wrote it, they don’t need to write it again.

Do you know how Geoff deals with his epilepsy on the road?

He doesn’t have epilepsy.

Well then, never mind.

Haha.

Are you guys going to make up that free acoustic show in Toronto?

Absolutely, at some point. Every show that we miss, we know we need to make up, we know we will do it. It’s just a question of timing. One day we’ll go to Toronto and play a free show.

What do you guys do differently, if anything, when playing larger venues like the one you guys played in at Bamboozle?

We try to make it a Thursday show. There’s definitely certain elements. We brought in a lot of lights and stuff like that, you know. We wanted to and we were given the chance. The transition from small stages to giant stages though, you have to do extra things or else it’ll seem kind of boring.

Yeah.

I actually have a question for you.

Sure.

Where are all of these questions coming from?

From the fans. They just submitted a bunch of questions.

Oh okay. Some of these are really good questions, they made me think.

Are there any connections between songs on previous albums and the new songs?

Yes, absolutely. “Understanding in a Car Crash,” obviously, and the first song on the new record is “The Other Side of the Crash” which is like what happens after the whole incident while “Understanding” is more about the moment itself. This is more about what is beyond that. There’s always stuff that Geoff will try and tie together like that.

Do you know about Geoff’s side project with Daryl [Palumbo] and Cri [ex-Number Twelve Looks Like You]?

Yeah. Cri isn’t in Number Twelve anymore, but I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Geoff about that now. I remember Cri coming over to our practice stage and messing around a little bit, but I never saw Daryl over there. Next time you talk to Geoff, you should ask him.

Is it true that there might be a re-release of Waiting being taken into consideration?

Not to my knowledge.

How did you guys choose the album name?

A City By The Light Divided? It came to Geoff while he was sleeping one night. He woke up and he had those words in his head. He thought it was an Octavio Paz poem but it turned out not to be. It’s very similar to Octavia Paz’s thing and the way that he writes. It’s just something that came to him and it kind of made sense. At first we were going to make it a double record, but that didn’t happen.

How do you guys feel about Victory Records using Thursday’s name to sell Hawthorne Heights records?

We’re limited on what we can say about that stuff but I’m not happy about it, personally. It’s fine, whatever, Tony and Victory Records has rights to our name and always will because the record came out on Victory. The guys knows how to sell records, I’ll say that. I give him credit for that.

What did you get your mother for mother’s day?

Flowers. Yeah, I ordered flowers from 1800flowers.com and they never showed up. I’m getting my mom an extra special present now. I’ll have to call 1800flowers and bitch at them soon.

One person asked why there is little to no screaming on this album.

Yeah, those are those Full Collapse people. They’re getting cranky. There’s some screaming, it’s on the record. It’s like Geoff found common ground between singing and screaming. On past records, there’s both, but now he’s found common ground where there’s really intense singing and stuff. There’s just other more intense stuff now. It shouldn’t be part of the formula though, where there’s soft parts, a heavy part, some screaming and then, you know. There shouldn’t be a formula and I think we’re all getting a little bit old.

Do you guys prefer playing smaller venues?

There’s a specific size that really works best for us. We’ll welcome anything though. The small shows are always super fun because everyone is so close together. The big ones can be just as rad.

What is this specific size?

I’d say like Starland. That place is always super fun. It’s funny, we get asked the venue size question quite a bit.

What are your favorite ones to play live in?

Chicago HOB is great. Starland. I like the Irving Plaza. I like any place in Australia.

A few people wanted to know why Jeff said “k” at the beginning of “At This Velocity?”

He says “okay” actually and it’s just something that, you know, the thing with our producer was that he wanted to put in a lot of nuances and mistakes in the record and leave stuff like that in. It was kind of a big contrast because the first thing he does is scream his head off, you know. It sort of comes out nowhere, it’s kind of cool.

What are your favorite songs of all time?

Thursday or in general?

They didn’t specify, so how about we go with both?

Most of my favorite Thursday songs are off the first record. I really enjoy “Sugar in the Sacrament” and “Into the Blinding Light.” I think those are some really good Thursday songs. Favorite of all time would be “Metal Guru” by T. Rex, “Here Comes the Warm Jets” by Brian Eno, “Only Shallow” by My Bloody Valentine. I don’t know. It’s a tough question but I can give you those at least.

What other New Jersey or New York bands should we keep an eye out for?

Well, I don’t know. I haven’t been really following too much. There haven’t been too many bands that have been catching my eye. I mean, there’s mewithoutYou but I guess they’re getting more popular these days. I think they’re awesome. The Number Twelve is pretty cool, they’re crazy. I really haven’t heard too much. I’m getting old, I can’t keep up.

What’s more of a pain in the ass: Turnpike, Parkway or Route 9?

That’s a good question. I would have to say the Turnpike. I always get stuck in ridiculous traffic on that. I’m not a big fan. I’m not a big fan of any roads in New Jersey. Everything has traffic.

How do you feel the Apple store acoustic from the War All The Time era turned out?

I thought that was really cool. It was just a really cool day and everybody loves Apple products so it was cool to be there. The recording sounds pretty good and I was happy with it. The kids were really into it.

Is “Autumn Leaves Revisited” connected to any older songs, specifically “How Long is the Night?”

I don’t think so. I would have to ask Geoff.

Given that sales of the new album are down relative to first week sales of War All The Time, does the band feel that you guys are still relevant to the “scene?”

Haha. Yeah, I think we’re still relevant. I mean, you have to think about the fact that when War All The Time was released, stores were actually selling hard copies of the record. Now, there’s 1,400 less CDs going out and then there’s the boom of the iTunes generation and MP3s and all. Even though iTunes was around back then and the iPod was prevalent, people were still buying records. It’s not really a good indication of anything. People still come out to see us, and I think that’s a better indication of relevance.

Since we’re on the topic, what are your thoughts on downloading songs illegally and albums leaking?

I don’t know. It’s going to make the record companies have to think about things differently now. Bands can always make money from touring, but kids often don’t think about stuff. Especially if you’re younger and, “Hey how do you people make money?” Thursday is really broke right now. We’re pretty much poor because we took a year and a half off to write this record. We make our money from touring. People are going to do what they do. I’m fine with it. Most people, if they really like it, they’ll go out and buy it, but it’s never going to change and if anything, it’s just going to evolve. There’s going to be no more CDs anymore, it’ll all be digital. That’s a little bit difficult to think about though, for me, because I like actual records and actual LPs so much. They’re going to be completely extinct soon, even though they sound amazing. It’s like, “Oh I just burned this copy offline and this is how this record sounds.” There’s got to be some kind of watermark for downloading. I’m cool with downloading though. The hard part about it is that with the release date, bands tie in things with the date and when people search for stuff and get the record before it comes out, it spoils the record a little bit.

Are there any plans for a headlining tour after Warped?

Yes, there is. I’m not going to say what it is though. Everyone just wants to know all this stuff ahead of time. I mean, I’m happy that people are excited, but people get really itchy about this stuff. No one has patience anymore. Wait, so do you actually run Absolutepunk?

No, Jason Tate does.

Oh ok. Well, we’ve always liked the site, man. Everybody likes it.

This article was originally published on AbsolutePunk.net

Archive Screenshot

more

Not all embedded content is displayed here. You can view the original to see embedded videos, tweets, etc.