The Lowdown: Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional

"It's obsessive and it's weird and it's so incredible."

November 5, 2009, 09:16 PM

Views: 610   Comments: 4

Altsounds: For a few years there, you guys dominated the airwaves. You were all over radio and television and Dashboard was unavoidable. You've been rather low key more recently. Have you been taking some time off?

Chris Carrabba: We've been doing stuff. I never take time off of the music. It took just over 2 years to make this record properly. We decided to just focus and concentrate on that. I would hope that we're more famous. I wouldn't say we were 'dominating' the way other people were. I don't think we were terribly overplayed at the time. We were a popular group, and the fans we picked up at the time were ok with us being popular... just not TOO popular.

Once upon a time, emo was an emerging mainstream genre of music, and you were more or less the posterchild. At that point in time where it seemed like everyone had something to say about your band and your style, did you ever feel pressured to make a certain kind of music?

We made the songs we cared to make and we tried to be sort of unwavered by it all. We wanted to be distanced from that pressure. There will always be pressure when you're a professional musician, but we stayed out of the 'emo' discussion. There was no pressure at all when the songs on the first 2 albums were written. Those songs were written in complete anonymity, with no prospects of being heard. We became popular through those songs and they were embraced by the fans. Some people said that since we were popular, we needed to change. Others said we better not change. It was a slippery slope. We had to stop and clarify- This is what we like. This is how we feel we're growing. It would have been short-sighted to veer in a different direction. It may have paid dividends, but it wouldn't have felt honest.

This new album comes out on November 10, called Alter the Ending. What motivated you to make this record?

There were several motivations. Obviously I never feel like I can be 'overly motivated' to make one. I am constantly making records. What motivated us to do this one the way we did- we felt like we had the opportunity to finally fulfill this commitment we made to each other as bandmates. A couple of the guys, well all of the guys, really, came into this a little later. It was just me on the first record. It took me a long while, a couple more records, before we were able to marry these two camps. There was the songwriting before the band and the songwriting after. We wanted to make a record that represented what we really are as a band, different from those two clearly defined worlds.

Wait... so would you say this is the first real genuine Dashboard Confessional album?

I think that's an overstatement. The first ones were defining of what we were. We aren't that anymore. This is the first record of who we really are now. After Dusk and Summer, which was complicated to make, we were discussing a lot on an intellectual level about the band. We were trying to discern why those first 2 albums struck a chord with the audience the way they did. The guys in the band joined because they were fans of my music. They felt the way other people did, so they were more aware of things than I was. I wondered if they had ever felt that way again. That's why we made The Shade of Poison Trees. It was revisiting that original style of songwriting. Maybe it was like 'Let's look back through the lens, but let's all do it together.'

It was a unique experience to be able to share with them. There was a total lack of fanfare. It let the band become a part of that chapter of what Dashboard was. I didn't realize that they hadn't really been invested in this. After we made that record, my band was on fire in a way I had never seen them before. It was the first time maybe we all had a feeling like we were starting on the same starting line. It was OUR record instead of mine.

I was reading through your fan reviews on your MySpace profile. There's some really interesting stuff in there! Your fans aren't stupid. There was one word/idea that kept popping up- nostalgia...

Wow! That's really interesting. That's exactly how I feel about this record. I don't feel like I wrote it from a place of nostalgia, really, but it has that feeling. The only time I can react objectively, like with a pure outlook of what something is, is when I play it for someone I care about and respect for the first time. You can hear it the way they hear it and get an appreciation for it in a totally new way. There was something I was finding... I could sense this instant familiarity with the tone of the stories, or maybe the tone of the songs. I felt like there was nostalgia to it. The people I have played it for- I don't think they're feeling nostalgic for Dashboard specifically. It seems like the songs themselves are evoking memories of feelings or a certain time in their lives. It's interesting that the fans are picking up on that up so clearly...

There is definitely something familiar about it. At no point does it feel like you're trying to recapture the past.. it's more like you exist as a fixed point in time and space. You sound like 2003, no matter what year it is.

Is it the way the songs are written? What sounds like 2003?

It's hard to explain. Yeah, how the songs are written and recorded, I guess. It doesn't sound 'dated' by any means... just very familiar.

Well, I like that. I like when I put on a record for the first time and it feels like we already know each other. [laughs]

This is a question I ask of many artists- Do you believe in fate/destiny?

I like to believe in fate, but I like more to believe that you can steer your own ship. Fate sounds great when things are going awesome. You want to believe that it was all meant to be. You don't feel that way when things are going poorly. I think there's more power in that one- when you're against the tide and things aren't working, you know you can right the ship. That's a feeling I prefer.

You're known for writing romantic songs...in your opinion, what is the most romantic song ever written?

"Every Breath You Take." What makes it great is that it's so creepy. It's obsessive and it's weird and it's so incredible. It sounds beautiful and romantic, but you get down to the lyrics and you're made to wonder. I like that kind of romance... when you feel ok being creeped out a little.

Is this something we need to talk about, Chris? Are you driving past girls houses late at night? Calling and hanging up? Hacking them up in the shower?

[laughs] I don't like DOING that, but I like songs about that, for some reason.

Do you think people need to hold a physical copy of the music in their hands to really connect to it?

No, I don't. I do think I am the kind of person that needs to, but I'm of the last generation, probably, where part of embracing a new record is holding it while you listen, reading the lyrics. There are so many mysteries to a physical album. Like in the lyrics it says 'A' but they sing 'The.' Why did they make that decision while recording? Or seeing the image of the band or the art they feel represents what the band is all about. The first time you hear the music it's through all of these filters the band puts out there.

I've finally accepted that physical albums are no longer popular. People want instant gratification. They get the song they want to hear without the other songs the band wants them to hear. 'Maybe I'll listen to the preview and pick up one or two more songs.' That's not the vision of the band. That's not how it was intended. I think having the physical copy enhances the listening experience.

Now that I finally think I have a record cover that I think tells the story, most people will see it in a little inch and a half digital image. You see the band and they look like they enjoy being in a band. That's what our new album is. I just got the box of CDs yesterday and as I'm holding one of them up to look at it, it occurs to me that not many people will really see it like this.

Do you have any unfinished business?

I have ONLY unfinished business. I'm being so honest with you right now. That's all I've got in my life is unfinished business. In all things, I like to keep a back door creaked open a little as a way to get in or a way to escape.

ALTER THE ENDING available everywhere November 10.

Altsounds
Dashboard Confessional on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report