Norma Jean Interview Transcript

Norma Jean Interview Transcript

Aaron Long: How has the tour been going thus far?

Matt Raines: It’s awesome except for the west part of Canada is the most brutal thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life. It was seriously, Edmonton was negative 29. We’re from the south, we’ve never felt anything like that before. All the show have been incredible, we need to come up here more, we just haven’t done it, and the crowds are awesome, so fun.

A: Do you notice any difference between a Canadian and American crowd.

M: They’re just more stoked. Maybe because they don’t get it as much, but every show just seems like such a big deal., which is so cool, small or big, it’s just been awesome.

A: What’s the writing process like for you guys?

M: It’s usually is just all of us getting together, like people write on their on, but lately I’ve been noticing that people have been writing on their own a lot more, like people have been writing while they’re traveling and stuff. Usually we just get I a small room and just write for three months, but this time I think we’re gonna spread it out a bit more and try to start writing a little bit, little bit, little bit. But that’s usually how it goes everybody puts in their two cents on everything and it just goes from there.

A: How did having guest writers on the last album affect that process?

M: It was cool. It gives you a break, cause you’re used to being in a small room with the same 5 people. Page, the guy from helmet came to Atlanta and spent 3 days with us writing, which was cool, cause it changes the vibe, not to mention we were all obsessed with him as kids. Chino came to the studio for three days, and that was awesome too. We were just setting up and he started playing a riff, and I started jamming with him on drums and before we knew it we started writing a song. We actually wrote two songs with him, but only one made it on the album. But that was awesome, they both were awesome, I think we’d like to do it again, maybe not with those two gua, but with somebody for sure.

A: Is there anybody specific that you’d like to do a song with?

M: Honestly those were the two that we wanted to go for. But now we want to set our sights even higher. I’m a huge Pearl Jam fanatic, and yesterday we were meeting with our management, and were like pearl jam, and they we’re like we’ll talk to them. Of course, there are a million people we’d love to work with, from small heavy bands that we like, to you know pearl jam. We knew page so that was kind of easy, to say come and hang, but with chino we didn’t really know those guys and he was really stoked to do it, so maybe something like that will happen again.

A: what band had the most influence on you personally and for the band as a whole?
M: Pearl Jam for me personally. The band? I think it’s different for everybody. There’s not like necessarily one band that everybody is totally obsessed with, or agrees on. I think it’s a little bit different for everybody, we’re all really different stuff. It’s probably all over the board.

A: The style on anti-mother feels very different form previous albums, was that a conscious decision or was it arrived at more organically?

M: It was kind of conscious but not really. It’s not like we sat around and ad talks wand were like we’re really gonna change, or do this and that, we really just wrote songs so you know there are some songs that are really heavy, heavier than past albums, and then there are some songs that are super melodic. We really just go with it and if we like it we keep going, and if we don’t like it we say it sucks and move on to something else. We don’t just say that’s not melodic enough, or heavy enough or crazy enough we just do it and if we like it we keep it. We try to stay away from the idea of we need to do this. Or we need to write this kind of song, we just go.

A: What do you think the main themes that get touched on this album are.

M: I thin it’s different. We all pitch in on lyrics. Cory’s lyrics are more personal than anybody else’s, Scottie writes a lot too. But I know that what Cory writes, is really personal stuff, maybe it’s the same for Scottie too.

A: how does it feel for you to play theses songs that are super personal for them?

M: I think it’s cool. I’ve always been that guy that was like, check out those drums, or listen to that guys voice, I just never been much of a “wow those lyrics.” I think some people are really into that and some people aren’t. I’ll be into a record and somebody might say, the lyrics are awful, and I’ll be like huh? I’m just not as into that as like Cory and Scottie are.

A: How do you feel being labeled as a Christian band has affected you guys?

M: I don’t know if it has necessarily affected us. I think there are sadly still some people whoa re just gonna be like, “they’re a Christian band, and they don’t want to bother listening to it. Sadly it goes both ways and people who are like, they’re not even Christian when they listen to it. So it’s just kind of weird. Some people know that you’re a Christian band and they expect the world. Ï heard they smoke cigarettes,” or some bullshit like that. That’s the only thing that’s been a bum out about that. We are who we are and really don’t care anyway.

A: what’s one album that everyone should listen too?

M: For current, What am I really into right now? Surprisingly, the new oasis is amazing, I’m pretty obsessed with that band. For heavy stuff, there’s a band called dead guy from the early nineties that a big influence on me, a huge influence. But records of all time for me, would be any Pearl Jam album a certain Pearl Jam record.

A: as a pearl jam, super fan what is your favorite Pearl jam song?

M: Do the Evolution. It’s a middle period song. but pretty much any Pearl Jam song, I can get stoked on.

A: How would you say the scene has changed?

M: I don’t know if it’s really changed, not since years and years ago, when we were young and doing this. Obviously back then, none o this was big. I would never have thought that 10 years ago playing front of 20 people for 50 bucks and staying on peoples floors that we’d ever still be doing this, but this style of music just appealed to a lot of people and we’re able to still do it, so hopefully we’ll be able to still do it for a long time.

A: What’s your favorite city or venue to play?

M: New Orleans, for sure, cause it’s the one city that really different. It’s like, a lot of cities all look the same, in Canada and America. You could tell me I was in any city in America right now and I’d believe you. With New Orleans, it’s just one city you go to that is like a different country it’s just really different. The House of Blues club is really awesome. The norvo is probably my favorite club though, it’s in Virginia and it’s super nice. Hot tub, flat screen tv’s, just super awesome place, but new Orleans is my favorite city for sure.

A: Where do you think your most rabid fan base is?

M: I’d say anywhere in the south, nit then there are those random ones where you hit some place in the Midwest that’s just crazy. Dude, Canada has been crazy, it really has, it’s been just as good as all of our south show. We played Saskatoon, and we’d never played there, and I don’t think that they know who we were, but the y were just pumped, but some places in Canada they were singing every word. It just seems like everyone here is so excited to see theses shows. We all agree that we need to come back here more.

A: Do you prefer this kind of tour over a Warped Tour.

M: Pro’s and Cons to each. It’s nice to play a club like this, and be inside and chill, but then Warped tour is awesome. There’s so many people to hang out with and warped tour is really easy, you play 30 minutes a day, and there’s no production, you just play your 30 minutes and then you’re done or the day, and you just do whatever you want, but ten the heat is awful. So pros and cons to each there’s really cool things about each kind of tour.

A: Was there anybody on warped that you were really stoked to see?

M: we like watching Everytime I die and the Bronx and some other bands, but for the most part there wasn’t a lot of bands that we’re into, it’s a lot of poppy stuff that we’re not really into.

A: Are there any plans for the follow up to anti-mother yet?

M: Not really, we’re just now stating to write. We wrote a bit together before this tour, and everyone has been writing on their own. No plans yet. I think we’ll write more this summer. We plan to take the summer off we’re doing some festival’s fly out for a couple of days, play, but for the most part we’re gonna stay at home, relax and write some, and get together and write some, our goal would be to start recording way late in this year or early next year, something like that, but you never know , that stuff changes all the time, but that would be the goal.