Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Senses Fail Interview with Buddy Nielson

Photo by Laura Means

My Apologies to Laura Means. You could have gotten a better seat at the debut of the new Harry Potter film. That is all.

How has the tour been so far?

Nielsen: Great. Really good. Really, really good.
How well do you know the other guys on the tour? You have known Bayside for a while correct?
Nielsen: I didn’t know the other bands. We have done Warped Tour, and some other dates off with Bayside. We all know the same people.
I am a big fan of your latest release “The Fire,” how would you say the recording process differed from previous albums?
Nielsen: We were very focused, and things went very smooth.
As far as the writing behind it, I hear that you can pull inspiration from just about anywhere (movies, songs, etc.). Do you remember any specific examples for this album?
Nielsen: Little things like I was listening to the Deftones a lot during the making of this last record. The mood of that gave ideas for images. Not necessarily the lyrics, but the mood of the record. Certain things like, I used a line from a Turning Point song. Things like that. I will be watching TV and hear a line that is pretty cool to throw into the whole thing.
You mentioned the Deftones, anyone else you are really into right now?
Nielsen: Not really. That is the last record that I heard, that I really liked. I really got into it.
Your lyrics paint pictures of such vivid images and stories, how much of the lyrics are actually personal experiences?
Nielsen: All of it. Not every song, but for the most part.
With such honest and personal lyrics, do you ever have fans come up and say “this song saved my life?” Does it happen often yeah?
Nielsen: Yeah, absolutely.
How does that feel?
Nielsen: It’s weird; I don’t know how to really react. There is no good way to react. It is really awesome, but you can’t be like “that’s really awesome.” You never know really how to react.
Who are some guys you have looked up to stage presence wise, in the past?
Nielsen: I really liked The Vandals. In their old videos the dude used to just freak out, not even sing. When we first started, I never sang. I just ran around and freaked out. Definitely Henry Rollins. Other than that, just go for it. I tend to be one of the more active people onstage.
What kind of advice do you have to guys trying to connect to the crowd?
Nielsen: Not every night you’re going to have that really awesome connection, where you are p-laying really well, you feel good and the crowd is into it. If you are having a good time, it will help the audience have a good time.
How do you feel about social networking?
Nielsen: It is definitely there. You have to use it if you are a band. It helps, and now everyone gets to have an opinion which is cool.
Can we expect anything new from your side project, Bayonet, soon?
Nielsen: We are going to record a full-length when we get home, and put it out.
What spawned the side project?
Nielsen: Just wanted to play fast, kind of punk-rock. Just for fun.
What about touring with them?
Nielsen: Probably not. Don’t really want to tour with them. We tour enough, so I don’t really want to go on a full tour.

No comments:

Post a Comment