Location: Nova Rock festival, Nickelsdorf, Austria
Interview date: June 19, 2009
The Gaslight Anthem is one of those bands that has achieved more in a very short time than plenty of other groups manage in the same stretch. The four-piece from New Jersey, USA, released their debut “Sink Or Swim” (XOXO label) in 2007, which got the guys labeled the heirs to the somewhat forgotten “Jersey Shore Sound”.
“Jersey Shore Sound” is a branch of rock`n`roll that was popular along the New Jersey shores of the Atlantic Ocean from the late sixties to the mid-eighties. JSS blends pre-Beatles rock`n`roll, rhythm & blues, doo-wop and the urban culture of the Mid-Atlantic states, like Philadelphia, Maryland, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. It also has a touch of Italian-American flavor and a very colorful range of artists, from Frankie Valli to Bruce Springsteen.
In August 2008 it was followed by their second album “The 59` Sound”, released on SideOneDummy. The guys, who proudly list Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan among their idols, are without a doubt one of the biggest discoveries on the alternative scene in the last few years.
At Nova Rock festival 2009, RockLine sat down with guitarist Alex Rosamilia.
RockLine: You’re the so-called new-wave heirs of the “Jersey Shore Sound”, which was hugely popular in New Jersey from the late sixties to the mid-eighties. How did you guys (The Gaslight Anthem; author’s note) end up in this genre?
Alex Rosamilia: To be honest, I don’t even know exactly what the “Jersey Shore Sound” is, and I don’t know any band that plays that genre. I like Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny. To me it’s always just been rock`n`roll.
RL: There’s a lot of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty influence in your music and songs. What’s your connection to these world-famous legends?
Alex: My mom listened to Springsteen, and Brian (Fallon, the singer; author’s note) is a huge fan of his. Personally, I draw influences from the early eighties, like British pop and acts like Carrie, The Smiths, Happy Mondays … It all comes together in our songs.
RL: Your debut album “Sink or Swim” came out in 2007. In 2008 you released your second album, “The 59` Sound”. In a relatively short time you’ve become one of the biggest and most astonishing discoveries on the alternative scene. How are you handling such a sudden rise?
Alex: So much has happened in such a short time that I haven’t even wrapped my head around all of it. Honestly, I don’t even have time to sit down and think about everything. I know what’s going on, but I’m not taking it all in consciously.
RL: You recorded the first album, “Sink or Swim”, in just one week, while for the second one, “The 59` Sound”, you took five weeks. The latter was produced by Ted Hutt, a former Flogging Molly guitarist, who’s responsible for the more polished, cleaner sound. I’m guessing that was the idea, since you wanted a record that sounds like a “live” album.
Alex: We wanted a record that would sound like Motown from the sixties and seventies. We recorded the first album in a week, and we’d only been a band for a year before that. For the second album we had five weeks. We wanted to catch the essence and give it some soul.
RL: So are you actually going to record a “live” album?
Alex: We haven’t talked about that yet.
RL: What’s your approach going to be for the new album? Is the prep already underway?
Alex: Brian and I started working on the new album just a few days ago. It’s going to be a pretty big project, since we’ve got plenty of time, almost the whole winter. For now we’re writing songs, and we’ll pick ten or twelve of them and then record them.
RL: What were you doing before you started your music career?
Alex: I worked for Puma, the shoe factory, but I didn’t like it much.
Interview by: Lea Lesar
Questions by: Barbara Milharčič and Lea Lesar
Photos: Barbara Milharčič
Photo gallery
