The guys of Circa Survive aren’t afraid to walk around with their hearts on their sleeves. The five guys that comprise this Philadelphia band couldn’t have been more candid and down-to- earth when I sat down with them last week.
Vocalist Anthony Green, guitarist Brendan Ekstrom and guitarist Colin Frangicetto took some time right after what they call their biggest show to date to talk to me a little more about the band.
The Concordian: You guys are currently on tour with My Chemical Romance and Thrice, and right after you’ll be going out on the road with the International Noise Conspiracy. How does it feel to be playing with all these big names? Is that something you like, or do you feel out of your element?
Anthony: I definitely don’t feel out of our element. It’s definitely strange to play in front of 6000 kids. This is the most people we’ve ever played in front of tonight. It definitely feels like we have a lot to get used to but I definitely don’t feel that we’re out of our element. The bands that we are playing with are big but are kind of friends of ours. It’s gratifying in that aspect, but it’s also really humbling because they are so successful and so big. It’s a little surreal.
Colin: For me, it’s definitely intense because I’m a fan of all the bands we are playing with, especially when you look at bands like Thrice and the singer of International Noise Conspiracy, who was in Refused. That band blew my head off when I was a little kid, so the fact that we get to share the stage with all of the bands…I mean My Chemical Romance is practically the biggest band in America right now, when it comes to bands that are cool. To us, it’s just an honor.
The Concordian: I know you guys were here recently with Mae and you played at El Salon, so that’s a pretty big jump.
Colin: We like both extremes. We like playing for five people or 5000 people; either one is fine. It’s all about energy; whatever people are giving you, you are going to give back to them. I’ve found that in both situations it’s gratifying, but this is crazy and surreal.
Anthony: At El Salon I could literally poke kids in the eyes if I wanted to. I couldn’t have jumped the barrier tonight if I had stilts. If I would have had a trampoline, I would have still landed halfway. That also makes you more conscious of your performance. It’s way more about your band at that point. That’s a really good challenge and can only make you better.
The Concordian: I read in your tour diary that you guys feel you’ve been lucky to have been paired up with other great bands on tours. When things get hard on the road, does that motivate you to keep going?
Colin: I think in some situations it does but I think that in our older bands it might have been a motivation. The positive thing is that in this band, we are our own motivation. When things get bad on the road, we rely on each other to goof around and make each other feel better. We make the most of every situation. Today, we really didn’t think we would make this show. We were looking at our clocks thinking, it’s still two hours away; doors are at this time. We were cracking jokes up until we got through the border. That’s just the way we are. We feel that we are lucky to be with these bands, but most of all we are lucky to be with each other.
The Concordian: Do you feel like there’s a brotherhood between you guys?
Colin: Just ridiculous situations that you’re put in with these people that are amazing and you think “wow. If they can deal with it than I can.”
Brendan: I think we’ve all come to the point where we know that whatever is going to happen is going to happen. We have to laugh about it because the most ridiculous stuff happens to us all the time.
Colin: It’s been that way from the start. That just happens and you are just like, “what?”
The Concordian: But is it worth it?
Anthony: It’s so worth it. We definitely wouldn’t be in Canada right now if it wasn’t so worth it.
Colin: I mean that’s the way our old bands were: you got to a situation where you got to a hump and you had to keep pushing and tough it out, or every five seconds you are like, “Let’s go home!”
Brendan: I remember sitting at the border actually one time, we were sitting there for six hours and I was like, “Let’s go, this is our chance to get into Canada and play a couple of shows with Alexisonfire,” but everybody in the band were just kind of like, “This is not going to work, let’s just go home”.
Colin: It’s at the point now, where our communication with the band, we all know what we want and we are going to go any length to get it. But when it comes down to it, nothing comes before our friendship and everyone’s well-being. That’s the most important, and next is playing our asses off every night.
The Concordian: I read in your diary that some people have been telling you guys you’ve been selling out because you’re playing with big bands. What’s that all about? How does that make you feel?
Anthony: I usually get filled with the most joyous laughter ever just because I never ever flattered myself enough where I would be in a situation and someone would be like, “yeah, you’re selling out.” I don’t know who that dude is but just the fact that he said that makes me feel awesome.
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Brendan: No one actually said that. There were people on our message board saying, “oh, you’re going with My Chemical Romance. What’s the deal with that?”
Anthony: The only thing that has ever motivated me to say something like that about a band was out of jealousy or I was just bummed that they weren’t mine anymore. I used to hate sharing bands and I think that definitely changes with age but as far as how I feel about that when I hear that stuff, I love it!
Colin: Dude, a manager friend of mine a couple of years ago said that as soon as you hear 15-year-olds say you’re selling out, you know you’re on the right track [laughs].
Brendan: I feel like selling out just means that you’ve changed your attitude entirely, and no one knows what our attitude is.
Colin: I don’t even know if I believe in selling out; I don’t even know if that exists.
Anthony: I think at the point in time where you start doing things that you don’t want to do and things that go against your stuff that you intentionally wanted to do…
Colin: But who would ever know that? We’ve never broadcasted our views on anything so people would never know that.
Brendan: We’ll know when we’ll have sold out and we’ll feel shitty about it.
Anthony: Say a dude starts a cookie stand and all of friends are coming to get cookies and then all of a sudden he gets money to move into a building and make the cookies there and all of friends are bummed because they have to wait in line. That’s it. You still get your cookies, it’s still the same dude. You want him to be able to grow…
Colin: But you want your cookies fast. That’s a good metaphor! [Laughs].
Brendan: If we ever ran out of cookies, we sold out! [Laughs].
The Concordian: If we could talk about your crowd for a minute, you guys do have a lot of younger girls at your shows. Obviously you’re somewhat older than that. Do you find it weird that people that age will relate to your music?
Anthony: I’ve gotten responses from younger people and people our own age; it’s pretty diverse. It seems that people who are into our band are definitely a diverse age but it doesn’t surprise me at all that anybody would be able to relate to what we are putting out.
Colin: My sister is 16 and my mindset when I am talking to her and when I am home, that whole thing, puts me back in that time when I was going through all the crap that I went through when I was her age. I think about it and honestly, I feel that people like that are the people who need our music more. We are a band that’s never going to sit there and discriminate, saying, “we don’t want you to like our music because you’re this or that.” That’s one thing that’s completely a given is that anyone is allowed to listen to us. It’s an open door policy, anyone can listen.
The Concordian: You guys are very candid and open in your journal entries and on your myspace page. Is it hard for you to open up or do you do it to relate to your fans?
Anthony: I guess it is to communicate with those people, to the people who are paying attention to that medium.
Brendan: I never think about it. I just get on there and start writing. I just don’t care really. The whole thing started out of honesty.
Colin: I think the biggest thing is that it’s really cool to be in a band and to come to a show like this but I feel like it is our responsibility to understand that if people are there to listen, then let’s be open and let’s talk about stuff. The fact that anyone gives a s**t in the first place is so complimentary and so flattering. That’s gratifying enough. So if we can put our feelings out there and people actually care, that’s amazing!
Brendan: There are so many s**theads in bands today, sorry but it’s true, that don’t care about people at all. So if I can go on the internet and have that platform to say something good to people, then I’ll try.
Colin: The youth are the most important people to reach. At first when you look at them, you kind of look over them. But a couple of years down the line you are like, “why are all these people so screwed up?,” and it’s because nobody cared about them when they were 15. When it comes down to it, you have to pay attention to these people when they are young and feed them good things, otherwise when they get to be 21 they are going to be a bunch of a**holes.
The Concordian: Where would you like to see yourselves in a couple of years with this band?
Colin: Happy!
Anthony: Happy! That’s it!
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