As promised, the second part of our interview with 36 Crazyfists' Brock Lindow. Brock was kind enough to elaborate on the 11 tracks that are featured on 'The Tide And Its Takers'.
The All Night Lights
I think that a lot of the songs on the record are a mix of things you go through in life as a (young) person. Things like knowing that you have to pay your rent in a week and you don’t have the money. But you get through it. The All Night Lights came to be when I was thinking about my life and the life of the band, and the life of friends who you’ve had forever and of friends who have passed away. I’ve grown from all that experience, and life is a massive learning process. I wrote it during a day when it was light for 24 hours, so hence the title. The song is definitely about growing older, about losing and gaining new experiences.
We Gave It Hell
MR: Why isn’t it ‘We Give It Hell’?
Brock: That’s a good one! The track is about the breath of new life for the band when we got a deal with Ferret, and having people around you, guys who send you mails with ‘don’t ever quit’! There is a lyric in it that says “I`m lost at sea with guides to spare”; meaning that there is a lot of support for the band and ourselves. It’s the ‘fist in the air song’.
Back Harlow Road
The All Night Lights
I think that a lot of the songs on the record are a mix of things you go through in life as a (young) person. Things like knowing that you have to pay your rent in a week and you don’t have the money. But you get through it. The All Night Lights came to be when I was thinking about my life and the life of the band, and the life of friends who you’ve had forever and of friends who have passed away. I’ve grown from all that experience, and life is a massive learning process. I wrote it during a day when it was light for 24 hours, so hence the title. The song is definitely about growing older, about losing and gaining new experiences.
We Gave It Hell
MR: Why isn’t it ‘We Give It Hell’?
Brock: That’s a good one! The track is about the breath of new life for the band when we got a deal with Ferret, and having people around you, guys who send you mails with ‘don’t ever quit’! There is a lyric in it that says “I`m lost at sea with guides to spare”; meaning that there is a lot of support for the band and ourselves. It’s the ‘fist in the air song’.
Back Harlow Road
The track is about my sisters. They didn’t speak to each other for over a year. It was an extremely ridiculous situation. They were never really close, but they didn’t speak to each other for a year, and it was a big thing in our family. But nobody really talked about it. So I wrote the song because I was bummed about it, and I got in a huge fight about it with my older sister because I thought that it was a horrible situation. But when the record came out they got back together and are friends again, so the song actually became irrelevant!
Clear the Coast
Me and Adam (Twelve Tribes) wrote it together. He was moving to San Diego to start a new part of his life, and we talked about things like that. You have to be able to face the day and being strong for the things to come.
Waiting On A War
We are all growing up in war times, and I think that it’s a difficult thing for younger people. All of us are having to deal with the mentality of seeing the news and only see fear tactics and things like that. I don’t watch much TV because of that reason. I want to enjoy my life and live it in peace. People need love in their lives on a certain level and I think that’s getting misplaced these days. It’s about dealing with this wartime mentality.
Only A Year Or So
This was definitely something I’ve never done before and it came way better then I imagined. It features lyrics, text from letters of a soldier in Iraq he send his wife. I met him online a couple of years ago, and he was in Iraq. He was telling me that he goes on these convoys and listens to our music. I didn’t know how to take that at first. When we were working on that track, and I didn’t know what to do with it. So I had an idea; I contacted that guy and asked if he could share some letters that he sends his wife, about the feeling of separation. He sent me like 7 letters, and it had some of the craziest stuff I’ve ever read. Things like “I`m not sure, but I think that I might have killed 12 people today”, heavy stuff.
We recorded it with a friend of mine, and a girl I knew who’s brother is currently in Iraq. She had never done anything like that, but she did it in one take. I read his letter back and wrote the choruses, and I got the title from watching the news. There was this lady with a baby in her arms, and her husband had to go back to Iraq for his second deployment. And she said ‘Hopefully it’s for only a year or so’, while had only been back for a few weeks. I`m not anti-war, so much as I am pro-troops. I think that a lot of those guys don’t want to do the things they do, but it’s their duty, and I have a lot of respect for that.
I met the guy during the DevilDriver tour at a show at Fort Bragg. We had a few beers and I asked him if he wanted to hear the song. So he came on the motor home, and I put it on. And everyone is sitting around, and I looked at him and I saw he was crying. And then I started crying. It was one of those things that you only see in movies, a once in a life time experience. It was a really moving. He is stationed in Milan so I`ll see him a few days, which is really cool. Ferret wanted to make it a single because they thought it is an amazing song, which was surprising. We might do a video for it, but we`ll probably never play it live. I`m glad that they know that it’s more than just a song.
Absent are the Saints
MR: Somewhere you said ‘It’s not about the bike’..
I like to be vague! But Lance Armstrong’s ‘It’s not about the bike’ is one of my favorite books. As soon as I finished it I knew that I had to do something about my life. I had been singing about broken hearts and woe is me shit and all that stuff. This is great if you need that outlet, and a lot of people use their relationship-mishaps for a source of musicial inspiration. But I turned around, and I want to write about things that have lofty goals or about struggles I’ve been through and made me feel victorious. Also, I`m getting bummed out about the press saying that Absent Are The Saints is about not praying to God and doing it yourself. But I have faith, and I do have my own personal relationship with God which hasn’t anything to do with a book or structural religion. I meant that if there are things going wrong in your life, you have to get up and change it. Don’t rely on a prayer only; rely on yourself to get it done. In that way it’s almost a kind of pagan view!
Vast and Vague
When you are born, you initially know what is right and what is wrong. Life takes you all over, but in the end there is a voice that always tells you if you are right or wrong. When you’re being an asshole to someone you usually know that you are doing something wrong and you will have to make up for that. That path is ‘vast and vague’.
When Distance is The Closest Reminder
MR: The title pretty much sums it up, it’s about being away from home?
It’s hard for me because it’s so true for me. I dedicated a whole damn record to Alaska (A Snowcapped Romance, ed.) It’s always in my heart and I`m really passionate about the place, so unconsciously things about that seem to slip into the songs. But I just love being home around my family and friends; stupid things like the Thai restaurant near my house. And duty also calls, I love playing in this band and meeting new people all the time. That’s a love/hate thing!
Northern November
Actually, it’s pretty cheesy, since it’s a love song. Me and my wife, we have one night a week called date night. And this is probably more info then anyone wants to know! I wrote it late November, before we were going to record the record in early December. I wanted to talk about my relationship with my wife in a vague way so it most people wouldn’t really get it, since I don’t want to write a cheesy ‘oo I love you!’ kind of thing.
The Tide And Its Takers
Again, about my wife! It’s also about all the things that have changed in my life since 2002 when Bitterness The Star came out..and it’s a nice almost ‘ballad’ like song.
MR: Regarding that, when is the much rumored acoustic album coming out?
We love to do these songs but we will never make a full record of them. I read a debate about it on a forum, but I won’t see that happening! But the reason that it’s been talked about that we are hoping to do a DVD this Christmas. Ferret asked us and that was great, since I have party footage since 1993! When they brought it up we thought it would be cool to have the DVD come out with a 4 song EP, since me and Steve like to write and do this acoustic stuff, our little Johnny Cash moment. But as far as I know the DVD will be out somewhere early next year, and it will be great! The fans would love to have one and I would love to have one too! I`m really happy about it, since it’s a great chance to document the band, there is a lot of history to cover. We’ll probably film a hometown show in the Convention center, and we play for three to five thousand people there, not many bands get to do that!
MR: And what does the title itself mean to you?
Everything comes and goes, good and bad. Sometimes you think that “man, those were the days”, but when you were in those days..and it wasn’t all that great? I think it’s important to realize that things come and go, and people will come and leave your life, some things will be difficult, you`ll have certain amazing moments which make you think “wow, I can’t believe I’ve finally done that” and you will have fond memories of things. That is what the title means to me.
We would like to thank Brock for taking the time for again, a lenghty talk with Metalrage!
Clear the Coast
Me and Adam (Twelve Tribes) wrote it together. He was moving to San Diego to start a new part of his life, and we talked about things like that. You have to be able to face the day and being strong for the things to come.
Waiting On A War
We are all growing up in war times, and I think that it’s a difficult thing for younger people. All of us are having to deal with the mentality of seeing the news and only see fear tactics and things like that. I don’t watch much TV because of that reason. I want to enjoy my life and live it in peace. People need love in their lives on a certain level and I think that’s getting misplaced these days. It’s about dealing with this wartime mentality.
Only A Year Or So
This was definitely something I’ve never done before and it came way better then I imagined. It features lyrics, text from letters of a soldier in Iraq he send his wife. I met him online a couple of years ago, and he was in Iraq. He was telling me that he goes on these convoys and listens to our music. I didn’t know how to take that at first. When we were working on that track, and I didn’t know what to do with it. So I had an idea; I contacted that guy and asked if he could share some letters that he sends his wife, about the feeling of separation. He sent me like 7 letters, and it had some of the craziest stuff I’ve ever read. Things like “I`m not sure, but I think that I might have killed 12 people today”, heavy stuff.
We recorded it with a friend of mine, and a girl I knew who’s brother is currently in Iraq. She had never done anything like that, but she did it in one take. I read his letter back and wrote the choruses, and I got the title from watching the news. There was this lady with a baby in her arms, and her husband had to go back to Iraq for his second deployment. And she said ‘Hopefully it’s for only a year or so’, while had only been back for a few weeks. I`m not anti-war, so much as I am pro-troops. I think that a lot of those guys don’t want to do the things they do, but it’s their duty, and I have a lot of respect for that.
I met the guy during the DevilDriver tour at a show at Fort Bragg. We had a few beers and I asked him if he wanted to hear the song. So he came on the motor home, and I put it on. And everyone is sitting around, and I looked at him and I saw he was crying. And then I started crying. It was one of those things that you only see in movies, a once in a life time experience. It was a really moving. He is stationed in Milan so I`ll see him a few days, which is really cool. Ferret wanted to make it a single because they thought it is an amazing song, which was surprising. We might do a video for it, but we`ll probably never play it live. I`m glad that they know that it’s more than just a song.
Absent are the Saints
MR: Somewhere you said ‘It’s not about the bike’..
I like to be vague! But Lance Armstrong’s ‘It’s not about the bike’ is one of my favorite books. As soon as I finished it I knew that I had to do something about my life. I had been singing about broken hearts and woe is me shit and all that stuff. This is great if you need that outlet, and a lot of people use their relationship-mishaps for a source of musicial inspiration. But I turned around, and I want to write about things that have lofty goals or about struggles I’ve been through and made me feel victorious. Also, I`m getting bummed out about the press saying that Absent Are The Saints is about not praying to God and doing it yourself. But I have faith, and I do have my own personal relationship with God which hasn’t anything to do with a book or structural religion. I meant that if there are things going wrong in your life, you have to get up and change it. Don’t rely on a prayer only; rely on yourself to get it done. In that way it’s almost a kind of pagan view!
Vast and Vague
When you are born, you initially know what is right and what is wrong. Life takes you all over, but in the end there is a voice that always tells you if you are right or wrong. When you’re being an asshole to someone you usually know that you are doing something wrong and you will have to make up for that. That path is ‘vast and vague’.
When Distance is The Closest Reminder
MR: The title pretty much sums it up, it’s about being away from home?
It’s hard for me because it’s so true for me. I dedicated a whole damn record to Alaska (A Snowcapped Romance, ed.) It’s always in my heart and I`m really passionate about the place, so unconsciously things about that seem to slip into the songs. But I just love being home around my family and friends; stupid things like the Thai restaurant near my house. And duty also calls, I love playing in this band and meeting new people all the time. That’s a love/hate thing!
Northern November
Actually, it’s pretty cheesy, since it’s a love song. Me and my wife, we have one night a week called date night. And this is probably more info then anyone wants to know! I wrote it late November, before we were going to record the record in early December. I wanted to talk about my relationship with my wife in a vague way so it most people wouldn’t really get it, since I don’t want to write a cheesy ‘oo I love you!’ kind of thing.
The Tide And Its Takers
Again, about my wife! It’s also about all the things that have changed in my life since 2002 when Bitterness The Star came out..and it’s a nice almost ‘ballad’ like song.
MR: Regarding that, when is the much rumored acoustic album coming out?
We love to do these songs but we will never make a full record of them. I read a debate about it on a forum, but I won’t see that happening! But the reason that it’s been talked about that we are hoping to do a DVD this Christmas. Ferret asked us and that was great, since I have party footage since 1993! When they brought it up we thought it would be cool to have the DVD come out with a 4 song EP, since me and Steve like to write and do this acoustic stuff, our little Johnny Cash moment. But as far as I know the DVD will be out somewhere early next year, and it will be great! The fans would love to have one and I would love to have one too! I`m really happy about it, since it’s a great chance to document the band, there is a lot of history to cover. We’ll probably film a hometown show in the Convention center, and we play for three to five thousand people there, not many bands get to do that!
MR: And what does the title itself mean to you?
Everything comes and goes, good and bad. Sometimes you think that “man, those were the days”, but when you were in those days..and it wasn’t all that great? I think it’s important to realize that things come and go, and people will come and leave your life, some things will be difficult, you`ll have certain amazing moments which make you think “wow, I can’t believe I’ve finally done that” and you will have fond memories of things. That is what the title means to me.
We would like to thank Brock for taking the time for again, a lenghty talk with Metalrage!
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