Monday, January 08, 2007

Sunday, January 07, 2007

absolute punk

so 50 people or so wrote questions and sent them to absolutepunk.net for an upcoming interview. instead of waiting for the interview i decided to go ahead and answer them all...

godspeed: its about different stories through rock and roll history
where drugs (white lines/black tar & other such chemicals) played a
major downfall or death in the persona's life. such as jimi hendrix,
jim morrison, nico, moon, vicious, etc. its selfish and tiring. i feel
that "rock stars" start believing their own hype and begin on an
egocentric journey that inevitably ends in destruction.

writing process: joey milligan locks himself into his room. writes
songs. burns them on disk. i put on my ipod. wander aimlessly through
city. write lyrics/melody lines. record with dr. midas touch (aaron
sprinkle).

influence: absolutely. its ingrained, essential, and something that
shines forth in not only my words but hopefully my actions as well. my
faith has sustained me my entire life and just because i have this
minuscule fame does not mean i have the right to turn my back on the
Person who gave it to me.

#songs: we went into the studio with 15 songs. cut it down to record
13. put 11 on the cd.

soty: you must live in the northeast because we have toured w/them
alot there, they are great guys! and have treated us better than any
other band ever. but you are right, and we in the band realize that we
will never tour with them again for this reason.

japan: getting to japan/germany has been my lifelong goals for this
band. and on the down low, it looks like we are going to be in japan
in late spring-early summer of 07

itunes: i have no idea. im sorry, but cmon we have never ever had good
distro in canada so steal it where you stole our other albums!

covers: 1. love song, ours came out before 311. we felt for being a
brand new band that that was the best thing to initiate us into the
genre. its a good song from one of the greatest bands 2. rolling
stone? really? who has covered that? we did it for a bob dylan tribute
album so to put a cover song from jeff buckley or frank zappa seemed a
little out of place. 3. depeche mode was a song that we played live,
we all loved the song and decided to record it for fun not knowing at
all that it would be on a punk goes 90's comp. DONT WORRY, we are
seeping into the cred scene on the next record. we covered a no name
band called the smiths.

australia- that is going to be on the japan tour and is penciled in
for late spring/early summer. fav album 2006 magnet (which i bought in
2005 in the UK) so if that doesn't count than i say copeland (eat sleep
repeat)

fav song: it changes all the time. a 2 weeks ago it was *fin, than
last week it was the unwinding cable car, but today it has to be
inevitable because i love the duncan sheik-ish stings. i KNOW this is
our best album ever. maybe the best album in the last 23 months for
sure. ok maybe not, but at least the last 23 seconds. honestly though,
this is our ok computer/london calling. the album that all the others
will be compared to. thanks.

ultimate goals. i think the 5 of us have 5 different set of goals. for
me personally i would like to see anberlins platform grow broad so
that i can impact lives for the better. i want to start taking "fans"
over seas with me when i go on trips like the ones i went on to places
like haiti, ukraine, and upcoming trip to india. i would like to be
able to maintain touring to the extent we are now, while at the same
time... i would like to be able to afford to move out of mommy and
daddys house. but as far as being the biggest band in the world
honestly i dont care at all. i am elated at the memories i have made,
the people i have met, the places i have visited, and the times that i
have got to hang out with my best friends; i would bei completely
content if we never grew another inch. ill never comprimise my beliefs
for anyone or anything, till death do me part.

influence: i once heard someone say you can either get inpiration from
influencial bands or you can become the influencial band. i think by
now we had to do what was natural for us and not listen to the musical
climate around us. anberlin is now completely anberlin. i am not going
to say that we were not influenced because i think musicians are a bi
product of everything that we have heard, read, studied, encountered,
and written. but i feel like we drew from ourselfs on this record, i
know for myself 3 months before we recorded i stopped listening to
anything i felt could influence me. i picked up a lot of blues and
jazz, from simone to stitt, but my fav during the "cleansing phase"
was serge gainsbourg, a french jazz artist. hot.
progression, this is such a more mature record. i KNOW that you will
feel the same after you listen to it. i think we are completely
anberlin, and even though it took us two records to get here, this is
who we are and were intended to become.

wow kate: any more questions? ok cities: on the first record i realize
in retrospect that we were naive, blueprints if taken into a literary
since could be compared to
man vs. nature. we were discovering who we were, and who we wanted to
become, and the whole world conspired to help us become who and what
we are today.
on our second record we realized that we were interwoven with
our surroundings, relationships in our lives took precedent, it was
our friends and family that were the focus of our lives. we also
learned the downside as well, that people hurt us, turned their back
on us, and used us for personal gain. in essence us vs. man.
the third record takes on the ominous and daunting task of
introspection. the city represents the individuality and the pursuit
of life, and this is the most autobiographical album of my career. man
vs. self. the city represents ones own self, to the fearless it looks
conquerable but to the timid and fearful it looks unobtainable.
when one thinks of the word city they never look at their own
surroundings but immediately their mind takes them to something
greater than themselves, a boundless new york city, or a historic and
mysterious london or paris by chance. each task in ones own life,
whether it to follow ones passion or pursue an idea, can be viewed in
one of two ways. it can be seen as a valiant persons attempt to pursue
the very element and core of himself, to fight with all his might to
overcome any obstacle to obtain his potential in this vapor of a life;
or it can be seen as an overwhelming and detouring series of events
that look much to unpropitious to even strive for or pursue.
imagine the pursuit and lust for life as a city, (much like the world
itself there are thousands of beautiful cities, from the finesse of
madrid to the architecture of tokyo) when life presents itself give
yourself to it. follow your intermost draw, know thyself, learn
thyself, we and life are but cities. we all have our own personal
"faith" in Christ, and even though it does differ i think that
everyone on the face of the globe has a different faith from one
another, i don't think any 2 "faiths" look alike. but we all strive,
and i think that is whats most important. knate: yes knate is
gorgeous, his whole family is pretty hot. 2 of his older siblings are
involved in modeling.

view: if i could place ourself into a box i would want people to see
us as the new american oasis, minus the cockiness, better
musicianship, and better looking. joke. (taste of their own medicine).
that is a really good question because i don't know. i do know that i
would like to be respected as a rock musician and not an indie rock,
"christian", emo, or any other labeled genre. i just want to be the
soundtrack for someones life. from good to bad, from romance to loss
of a love one, i want anberlin in the background.

lyrically: i believe this is the most thought out of all the albums,
this is the first time that i have ever tried to tell complete stories
in the songs themselfs. this is also the most autobiographical of all
the records. reclusion is me in this phase of my life. sad but true. i
think i expose a lot more of myself on this record than i think i
should have. but in the long run it will be for the best, because i
think that people grasp on to the music that they themselfs can relate
with. this is not a "religious" album but by far the most spiritual of
the trilogy.

anchor&braille: man i am so excited about this project as well. it is
a different kind of monster all together. aaron marsh has a way of
rubbing the music raw and then giving it the feelings that i wrote
with in mind transcribed onto vinyl. we are about to release a 7"
january 28th-ish. we are currently working on the full lenght and it
should be out later this year. i am doing a couple shows here and
there with the band, but no touring has been set yet because 1/2 the
members of A&B are in the band copeland, and for both bands to be off
tour at the same time would be a miracle in itself.
(anchorandbraille.com *shameless)

sexy: well after jt brought it back, he gave us lessons and now we
teach the classes. im not sure what that means but thank you for that
compliment... maybe. and no i am not willing to play anything of the
sort. cmon! we were like 15!

the haunting (originally called uncanny)

uncanny
(christian)
up on this hill in this uncanny house
the wind makes this place creek
the lights they are flickering
the moon she is lurking the clock it stoped working
at a quater past three
theres something dancing here in the shadows
and i wish it were us
you haunt me baby
you haunt me here tonight
can't get your memory off of my mind
just want your heartbeat on top of mine
theres something dancing here in the shadows
and i wish it were us
you haunt me baby
you haunt me here tonight
up on this hill in this uncanny house
your spirit i can't see but i still believe
i can feel your breath on me
you haunt me baby
you haunt me here tonight
up on this hill in this uncanny house

radiohead: yes. this is our pinnacle so far. i think that with the
experimentation on this record and that fact that we have faced our
demons and have realized that we are not scared to put "slower" songs
on a record that this is our best record. but at the end of the day it
is up to the friends and fans whether or not this is going to be the
best record we have ever made. but i can tell you this, with the other
records i walked out of the studio nervous and unsure of what we had
just made, with this record i walked out with my head high knowing in
my heart i had just created the best record of my life.
all grown up: yes, knate is finally 19 so we are all grown up.

knates hair: murrays and a straightner. i want money now.

a&b vs anb: well when i sit down on piano/guitar and strum out a few
chords i know instantly who it is for, you can hear it in the lyrics &
melody lines. a&b is more ambient and psuedo-insturmental feeling
where anberlin forces you to engage. a&b is more for a rainy day where
as anberlin is when you want to kickbox a rhino. lyrically i feel with
a&b i am allowed lyrcially to reach destinations i am prohibited to
explore with anberlin, just because w/ anberlin the machine and
expectations are already in place, with anchor i can wander anywhere i
want, into "taboo" topics.
hands like secrets: is actually called dismantle.repair. and actually
got the song idea from a comment someone left me on modesty (my online
anberlin blog modesty.blogspot.com) who told me to write a song about
the topic i was discussing. im sure with a little detective work you
can find it yourself.
aaron sprinkle: if the wheel isnt broke dont... for us we felt like
aaron was growing as a producer over the years much like we were
growing as a band. joey and aaron have an amazing chemistry. i think
aaron pushes me in ways i hate, but at the end of the day he forces
the best out of me. so for that i love him. i dont see him as the
"tooth and nail" guy for long, i think other people are learning that
he is a force to be reaconed with and other record labels are going to
start paying top dollar for his production. (i.e. acceptance)
tour with anyone: beatles, smiths, led zeplin.
song live: dance, dance, christa pafgen.
industry: the fake plastic aspect. no longer is about the music but
about image, genre, label, looks, clothes, style, trends, scene,
marketing, publicity, etc. its all just fake plastic trees.
means the most: *fin absolutely hands down. its about my unanswered
questions for God. the characters in the song are all real, and i have
still have so many questions that i don't know if they will ever be
answered until i reach the other side.

favsong live: see above
last song ever: maybe readyfuels. it gave us our start, why not end with it?

days off: well this last tour we hit about 6 different baseball games
in 6 different cities, none of us are really big fans (except our tour
manager seth who is an avid fan of whatever team is winning) but we
all just love the whole experience. but on our days off we like to
visit landmarks like graceland or the arch in st. louis. just random
stuff i guess, but for SURE we don't just sit around.

strayer: his band was called the mosaic (myspace.com/themosaic) and he
does miss it, he is all about hard core and actually played a show
with them in our time off.

our booking agency: they are called the agency group out of nyc. and
yes they do a heck of a job and are stoked to see what they can do in
this upcoming year.

cadence: about 7 months ago actually, but about 3 people knew the song
out of the whole crowd so after the show we all looked at each other
and said 'well there goes that" and have not played it since.

deon: does not need a haircut, i want that mop to grow to his lower
back, so he can whip it around like those guys on vh1 clasic.

nj. sorry you live there. kidding.

deon: haha yes! whenever were in a place for more than a couple days
deon is the official band cook, actually when we get done with the
band he wants to start his own resturaunt called anberpasta! kidding i
dont know what he is going to call it.

gay. well i take it you are equating the word gay stereotypically with
"suck" or "are not that good", which shows me and the other readers of
absolute punk that you have a deep intolerance for human beings with a
differnent sexual orientation by using the description of their
lifestyles as "licentious", "bad", or "of detestation". the sad part
is that you are feeding into a stereotype yourself... you see on your
profile you put your religion as "Christian" and yet you judge other
people's art which they pour tireless hours upon, then hurl your
uneducated deductions and insults, and are clearly exposing your
homophobic tendancies; all which, well i thought, goes against the
judeo-christian religion.
frued would have a field day with you. on your profile you say that
you are straight and yet you enjoy calling people gay, wear womens
clothing, your screenname is "fagtimesinfinity", and your msn
screename is "assofchao22". i think you need to pause and reflect the
next time you call someone "gay" because living in a glass house
definetly has some disadvantages.



creation: we have no idea yet if were playing, but i don't see why not.

twloha: deon is more like a model for it, but we all support to write
and will continue to be behind anything that jaime does. we are
involved with several org. like world vision, unicef, TEN, and others.
raising awarness: i think you are doing a great job so far, make sure
to tell your friends, where the shirt, post on different websites
about twloha and keep them in your thoughts/prayers.
christa: yes, that song was my favorite of ntfp, the girl behind the
song had a glamorious life but ended like godspeed talked about. im
sure you can google her and read all about it.

current favorites: im going to kick myself later when i get to my ipod
and see how many i missed but for now, the sea and cake, magnet,
phoenix, nick drake, the killers, j. tillman, the compound lockdown,
broken social scene, animal collective, pretty girls make graves,
blood brothers, starsailor, mojave 3, rachel's!! you have to listen to
RACHEL'S!!

melborne: supposedly early summer/late spring! we can't wait trust me!

freegin ridiculous: ha.
cities: please see KATE: above

A&B viewed: i can't speak for them all but honestly i don't think they
mind it at all, we all have things that we do on the side. for strayer
he has the mosaic, for knate he is working on 2 projects, one of them
called HOME, and another with timmy from underoath. deon has a
girlfriend and she has an annyoing dog, and joey wants to start
producing records on our off time. i love it that everyone has their
own musical directions because it expands our musical tastes and
strains us to learn new and creative ways to perform and create
anberlin songs. for me i have used A&B lyrics for anberlin songs
because anberlin is my main focus and always will be.

song about: not sure which song your referring to, but if it is
godspeed please see the first question.thanks.

influenced lives. for sure, there is not a song on any of the three
discs that has not happened to me, someone very close, or a thought or
idea that i wanted to pursue. i think, as i said before in this
interview, that i believe people cling on to songs that they themselfs
can relate with. i never want to write a song for the sake of writing
a song, or that i feel will "sell", i want to believe that i have more
integrity than that. the songs on the next record which are completely
autobiographical or personal are: adelaide, the unwinding cable car,
reclusion, alexithymia, inevitable, dismantle.repair, and *fin. so as
you can see its the majority of the record.

haiti/india. i know for sure by taking these trips that i have become
more aware of the world around me and don't feel the ethnocentricm
that i once had. i can say that haiti and the ones i took before it
(moldova, romania, ukraine, etc.) have drivin me to succeed with
anberlin because i know i want to use this platform as a springboard
for pushing others to take global humanitarian trips and to make
change in their world. it is very hard to translate emotions,
feelings, and expierences of something so impactful into simple
lyrics. so no i do not have any songs about haiti, but i do have songs
about wanting to do something more than just eeking by in exsistence.
the chorus of the song "alexithymia" says "there's more to living than
being alive". and for me to "become the change i wish to see in the
world," (ghandi) and to influence the lives of those around me, for
me, is truly living.

fallout. well there has been, and im sure there will be with this next
record as well. we get about an average of 7 "hate" emails a week from
christians who don't think we are living up to their expectations for
our lives. like my father advised me... i have an audience of ONE. and
one day i will have to stand and account of every action to Him. and
only Him. and honestly His oppionion is the only one i care about.
were not going to be liked by everyone, and thats ok, but i have a
sense of peace in my heart, and an understanding that i am putting my
heart, soul, and mind into something that i believe in. and to me it
is an unequivical feeling.

awesome. thank you for that. but any musician can improve themselfs or
their band by simply practicing, working hard, listening to bands in
history that changed the face of music, believe in themselfs, write
music, write more music, & write even more.