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New Found Glory: Appreciates Your Support After nearly a decade of countless miles logged on the road (including a massive world tour with punk-vets Green Day) and transitioning from indie label Drive-Thru to majors Suretone/Geffen, the band has formed quite a following.
 New Found Glory formed in the summer of 1997, and consists of vocalist Jordan Pundik, bassist Ian Gruskha, drummer Cyrus Bolooki, guitarists Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein.Chad Gilbert gladly postpones lunchtime to converse with HYPEzine.
HYPEzine: What was going through your head during the writing/recording process of Coming Home?
| Chad Gilbert: The whole band wanted to do, well, not a full departure, but we wanted to stay true to ourselves and our fans. What was going through our heads was, "Man, we've been a band for nine years. If we record and put out a record that sounds like all the others, no one is going to like us anymore!" (Laughs.) We wanted to do something different to entertain our fans, and step up musically. HZ: It seems as if this album is more upbeat, compared to your previous releases.
Gilbert: We were in a positive environment. A lot of good things were going on. We wanted to write a record that was fun, and [listeners could] sing along to. I think lots of records lately have been darker-black, screamy and evil. We wanted to make a positive record, singing about someone you like, as opposed to someone you don't like.
HZ: You guys have been around for nearly a decade. Many newer acts look up to you, saying, "New Found Glory paved the way for pop-punk." But you're only in your 20s, and these bands are your peers. What are your thoughts on that?
Gilbert: It's flattering, and I'm just grateful that we started young. We were able to learn a lot. Especially back then, there wasn't MySpace or ITunes, or anything like that. So it's kind of cool starting before any of that stuff came about. It's interesting to see how music [technology] developed. But I'm flattered when young bands say that. It means a lot.
HZ: There was an interview with Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy on MTV.com. He's a huge NFG fan.
Gilbert: Yeah, he's a really cool guy. He used to come see us play in Chicago, whether we played small or big venues. The whole band would come. I just read random interviews. I saw an MTV interview where the guys from Cartel said they always wanted to tour with us. And now they get to tour with us! Certain things like that are just really cool. The thing is, we don't think we're better than anybody. We never have and never will. It's just nice to hear that we've done something that has effected other people.
HZ: Your producer Thom Panunzio (Bob Dylan, U2, Bruce Springsteen) is a legend. How did it feel to work with someone who has made so much history?
Gilbert: It made us feel like we were really doing something special, and it was surreal. It's those kinds of things that mean the most, that he was touched by our songs. I don't really know how to explain it. It was flattering, like, "Maybe we are doing something kinda special here." It gave us the confidence to keep going, I would say.
HZ: His presence must've really helped your craft.
Gilbert: I mean, bands usually write songs. Then the label would say, "We don't like them. You need to change them." But this time, when we wrote songs, the label was saying, "Wow, this is amazing!"
| HZ: What was it like to have someone like Benmont Tench, keyboardist from The Heartbreakers recording piano for the album?
Gilbert: That was crazy, to play with someone like that. Our producer Thom recorded with The Heartbreakers before. He kept telling us, "This guy’s amazing! This guy’s amazing!" So he called him up and played him our music. I guess he was into it, so he came and played. It's crazy because we looked him up on Google and looked at all the records he's played on, Tom Petty to Johnny Cash. And now we're going to be on his list: New Found Glory. It was cool to have someone rooted in music for years hearing our songs. We're a young modern band, but he's like, "These song's are good!"
HZ: It's interesting that you stepped outside the boundaries and didn't record with someone typical from your genre.
Gilbert: It was a different kind of change, which was what we did on the entire record.
HZ: People are probably asking you a lot of questions about Jordan's voice.
Gilbert: Yeah, people are asking, "What happened with Jordan!?" It's weird. People really like it. They like the way he sounds. I mean, a couple people here and there on MySpace are like, "I love it, but I don't know. Sometimes I like his old voice better, but I can't decide." To be honest, it's really funny. I was hanging out with my fiance (Sherri DuPree, Eisley guitarist/vocalist) last night. She's never seen the New Found Glory: The Story So Far DVD, our old DVD. I put it on because I wanted to show her how dumb and silly I looked back then. I showed her the bonus feature. It shows us playing live and playing songs from Nothing Gold Can Stay. I swear to God, Jordan's voice sounds like it does now back then!
HZ: Really? I'll listen to it. I'll go watch the DVD after this interview.
Gilbert: Listen to the bonus features, and listen to Jordan. Listen to his voice. It's way, way lower range. I think it's because he was used to being the studio. He just got really high-pitched and nasally on Catalyst and Sticks and Stones. I was freaking out, like, "Oh my gosh! This is how he sounds now, and that was way back then." So I think in more ways than one, this record is way more like our old self-titled.
HZ: How will you celebrate with the release of Coming Home?
Gilbert: We have an autograph signing, which will be cool. I’m not sure if we'll be playing acoustically in Chicago yet. We picked Chicago because, well, L.A. and everywhere else has always been amazing, but Chicago's like this random spot in the middle of the U.S. The kids freak out about us, and Chicago has always been very loyal.
HZ: Most bands break up after a few years. What is the secret to New Found Glory's longevity?
Gilbert: I learned to keep my ways in the band and not change. Just be grounded, and don't think you’re better than anybody because you are not. We're all in the same band, and we're all gonna die. It doesn't matter how successful we get. We're all going to end up in the same spot, whether you're a homeless person or a freakin' rich person. It doesn't matter. There is no reason to think you're better than anybody and to treat people differently. That's the thing, to always be humble. There's so many bands and so much music. Things change so much that you've got to love what you do. You have to play songs because you love what you're doing, not because you want to become famous. That's why we’ve been around for almost 10 years.
HZ: How did you get involved with an organization like Music Saves Lives?
Gilbert: With our band, people come to us, and they're like, "Hey, we need help. Or we want to see if you guys would be into this." We're always for it because that's the whole point about being in a band. We get our music out there. But if people need help, by using your fans or your popularity to raise money or to help a good cause, then we're always down.
HZ: What provoked the recording of Eisley's "Ian Is Amazingly Beautiful?"
Gilbert: (Laughs.) That song, it's so funny! I love that song. It's my most favorite song ever!
HZ: Yeah, the title itself is absolutely hilarious.
Gilbert: Exactly, I just think the song's really clever and really funny. We were in London, and I was talking to Sherri online. I was in the lobby of this hotel because I had no Internet in my room. So it was like 2:00 in the morning in London, and we were all hanging out. Ian, well, wasn't drunk, but he had a shot of something. So he was a little bit tipsy. He grabbed my computer, took off his shirt and was like, "'I'm amazing! I'm beautiful! You gotta write a song about me. And it's gonna be called 'Ian Is Amazingly Beautiful!'" He was just joking around. The next morning I woke up and got an email from Sherri. It says, "I wrote this song last night. I want you to listen to it." The next thing I know, it's on their MySpace, and it has all these downloads. So many people have been listening to it.
HZ: That's a great story. Eisley must've had fun tracking it.
Gilbert: Yeah, it's really funny because Eisley's a completely different band, obviously. They're totally from another genre, a whole another world. They support our band. Sherri and Stacy (DuPree, Eisley guitarist) played on our record. They've never really been into our old stuff, but they love, love our new stuff. We support each others' bands.
HZ: Chad, thanks for this interview. Now go enjoy your lunch. Do you have any comments or thoughts you'd like to add?
Gilbert: Thank you to all our fans for supporting us, and go buy our record on Sept 19th!
For Tour Dates and more please visit newfoundglory.com |
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