Why You Should Start A Band
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I started a band with my friends. They were the only people that would start a band with me, and that was plenty enough for me. We made a plan to practice the next day and we did. We learned how to play Green Day’s song “One Of My Lies.”
I had never sang before, but sure why not. I sounded terrible, but it was a good enough place to start. Our bassist Chris would sing, too. He brought in songs he wrote from home. He wrote out the lyrics in his gorgeously cartoony handwriting and drew little pictures on them. Our songs were shaky, but they were enough to fill our drummer PJ’s basement with friends who came to watch us imitate our favorite bands (MXPX, Less Than Jake, Rancid – though thinking of myself imitating Tim Armstrong now gives me a good laugh).
We went to college out of high school because it was expected of us, but we had other plans. Our friend Paul joined the band and every weekend we’d bail out of Pittsburgh to see how far we could get and still be back for class on Monday. All weekend we’d drive insane distances to play shows that certainly weren’t worth those long distances, but it didn’t matter.
The four of us poured all of our time into our band. There was nothing else. We honestly played pretty much any show we were asked to. We found ourselves thrown across the country to places like El Paso, where we somehow opened up for RX Bandits (we had asked to play and someone had said yes, likely because they couldn’t believe we had the nerve).
We came back home for less and less time. Within a few years, we had played a thousand shows. We made friends around the country. We grew more confident. Confident enough to walk up to Henry Rollins at a truckstop and give him a CD (if anyone wants to hear that full story, I would love to tell it).
We always did what felt natural to us. Other bands were pitching themselves to record labels, but it felt more natural to us to tour a lot and wait to see if anyone took notice. This somehow worked out tremendously; we signed to Fueled By Ramen and toured with all these crazy bands who started blowing up and practically becoming sex symbols (what’s up Pete). We, however, wore big floppy Dickies shorts all the time and literally had no style. It’s cool though. It’s pretty funny actually.
We found ourselves in more and more crazy places. In countries outside of our own. On stages in rooms that were (finally) packed. We played our hearts out, just like we had back when the rooms were far from packed.
We didn’t want to ride the coattails of our famous friends, because this seemed unnatural and, for lack of a better word, pretty icky. For the first time, things started to slow down. We began touring much less. It was a relief to be home for a while, but it was also a little scary that we didn’t know what would come next.
I remember spending a lot of time in my bedroom, making some really cool and different song ideas. Songwriting was the constant that kept me driving, even when I didn’t know who or what I was writing these songs for.
Some of our brothers took breaks from being in the band. At the time, I was angry with them, but looking back it all makes sense. Those kinds of breaks or departures are totally natural. I wish I hadn’t been so dramatic about it, but at that time I also had a soul patch, so that’s just one of many things I wish I could go back and change.
As people inevitably do, we grew up. We developed our own lives outside of the band. Explored other creative avenues. I took it as far to as to move to another city, to try and wipe the creative slate clean I guess. Nashville is filled with amazing, creative people doing really awesome things in music. There were opportunities to make a little bit of money through music, but I quickly found out that most of them didn’t have much heart.
I began to realize (again): Stick with your people. Grow with your people. Stop trying to climb some creative ladder to be on the bottom rung of someone else’s thought or the next big trend. Create your own world so one day you and your people can thrive in it.
In our case, those people came to our shows for years. We got to know some of them as friends. They bought our records. They let us sleep on their floors when we played in their town. They participated in an experiment in 2012 to help us break the top ten on iTunes (thanks again you guys). These are the people that matter. To me, starting a band should have everything to do with creativity and personal connection and very little with the music industry.
When we started sending our (admittedly, very different) new record THRILLED out to people in the music industry, many of them told us that we should change our band name. That we should “re-brand” ourselves to fit with our “new sound”. We weren’t cool with that.
This record may be different from what you’re used to hearing from Punchline, but as so many people are so quick to tell us, we’re older now. You can’t play the same kind of music forever, but what you can do is continue to write songs the same way you always have: by collaborating and letting things happen naturally, regardless of genre or trends. That’s how we made Action, and that’s how we made Thrilled, and that’s how we’ll make every album after.
We found an unlikely home for this record on a label called InVogue Records. Yes, they are primarily a hardcore label, but our good friend Nick (who owns the label) believes in our band and that belief trumps all. I’ve known him forever and have met his parents and their weird French dogs. Nick, if you’re reading this we love what you’re doing and I’m sorry I sent you the wrong version of the music video the other day.
Animator Devin Ensz came on board shortly after and spent over THREE HUNDRED HOURS making the music video that’s coming out on Tuesday, hand-tracing every frame. It’s insane how much time he put into this. But all these people – that’s what it’s about.
So what I’m saying is: Find your people. Start a band, or something else. Do amazing things. Not everyone will see eye to eye, but you are a unit. You are greater than the sum of your parts. And down the line, when someone tells you to change your name and rebrand to fit the latest trends, tell them to fuck off. (And hey, even though our new album doesn’t sound “punk”, that’s definitely the most punk thing I’ve ever written on the internet).
A few years ago we made a little tiny dent in the music universe with the help of our people. Come Tuesday, we’re hoping to do it again and show the BIZ that no, we’re not going to abandon our past. Because it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re here, doing what we love and just being thrilled to still be together after all this time.
This is why you should start a band.
One more thought to add to “Why You Should Start A Band.” Band dudes and dudettes, I think you’ll know what I mean.
We were all willing to put our lives on the line because there was nothing we wanted more than to see our band grow and write and perform and succeed. I can say pretty confidently that that alone was the biggest factor in us ever accomplishing anything.
Had we had the attitude of ‘well, let’s put out this record and see what happens’ – I don’t think we’d have ever done a thing. While blind conviction might not be the most efficient approach, you can get a lot of mileage out of it while you figure out the rest.
Honestly, if presented with the chance now – I might not be smart enough to start a band again with the same people. But that commitment I made in one second, without really thinking about it “Yeah sure let’s start a band” – is the best thing I ever did.
Why You Should Start A Band was originally published on Modern Short Stories