Photo: Press / Danny Clinch
The Gaslight Anthem frontman, Brian Fallon has finally embarked on a solo career after almost 10 years with the band that brought us classic American rock songs such as '45', 'The ’59 Sound' and 'American Slang'.
Fallon’s much anticipated debut solo album, Painkillers, will be released on 11 March. With a decade of fine-tuning his song writing talents, Fallon’s solo album promises to showcase his independent creativity away from the band that earned international acclaim with a worldwide legion of fans.
We sat down with the Gaslight Anthem star and discussed his departure from the band and life as a newly born solo artist, as well as simple pleasures in life, such as watching Luther and listening to David Bowie.
You had some doubts about 45, are you finding it easier to have more faith in the songs that you’re writing?
“I don’t think it ever gets easier, you’re always wondering if people are going to like it. I think the answer to that is, do you believe in it? If you do, you have to trust your instincts and let it go. If you think too much, you can make a lot of mistakes. If you go into pleasing people, you become less of yourself. What people were drawn to in the beginning was that you were yourself. If you lose that you become a machine.”
You expressed some trepidation following up 45 to the extent of terminating the band, was this anxiety something that made you turn to solo work?
“The band had done what it set out to achieve. We had gotten a lot farther than we thought. We didn’t know what was next for us. Again, this goes back to the point of, do you do what you want or what people expect? We decided that we didn’t know what was coming next so we were honest with ourselves and said, let’s just stop here for a bit and see what happens. Once that happened, I felt that I had more that I wanted to write and do. The guys were fine with it.”
How are you finding the dynamic of solo work compared to performing with a band?
“It’s so much different. In a band it’s four guys who all have their say. When you’re on your own, you make all the decisions by yourself. Normally when you’re in a band, especially for as long as we’ve been a band, I’ve always had that comfort of asking things like, 'Is this good?' This time, there’s nobody to answer. Again, do you believe in it? If you do, that’s what you go for."
Is that easier? Or do you find it easier writing with people?
“In some ways it’s easier and in some ways it’s not. Having that foundation of encouragement with the band is very comforting. It’s like cheques and balances. It’s all on you really.”
How would you describe the spirit and the feel of your new record?
“I just got back into how I was writing songs in the beginning. Simple chords, lyrics and melodies. If they can stand alone, then that’s it. For me it was stripping it all back. That was comforting in a way, even though it was where I started.”
Painkillers is quite a dark title – what was the reasoning behind that?
“I didn’t think it was dark, I thought it was a positive title. I found that music has always been there for me. It’s a place to go when you need a friend. They turn to music for all different kinds of reasons. For people all over the world, it’s the one common language amongst everyone that they can all relate to. It is sort of like a painkiller."
The album has a track called ‘Wonderful Life’ but also a track called ‘Nobody Wins’, is that bittersweet theme intentional?
“That’s life in a nutshell. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not good. All of it is accepted though. You take the good from the bad and try to learn from it.”
Do you think there’s anything on this record that might surprise Gaslight Anthem fans?
“I don’t think there are any real shocks on the record, but I didn’t intend it to. I wanted it to be something familiar and also something they could easily sit down with and go “alright, I know what this is”. It’s another side to what I do, but I wasn’t trying to pull out any curve balls with this one.”
Do you think there is anything that fans expect of you?
“I do. From what I gather, they have expected me to do this for a long time, which came as a shock for me. For me it was cool because they welcomed it. As soon as I said I was doing this record, they said “cool, we’ve been waiting for something like that”. “
How did you recruit your new comrades for the album?
“Just friends. They were all people that I knew or who butch knew. We just brought in people who knew. We didn’t want to hire any new strangers because you can pull in people and they’ll have their own ideas about how things should go, with different vibes. We just wanted it to be good times.”
How will you divide your solo songs with Gaslight songs on tour?
“I haven’t been playing Gaslight songs. It’s something I’m stepping away from and that we’re taking a break from, so to play those songs now wouldn’t make sense. Playing them would just be rehashing it. Also it’s a special thing that the guys and I do together that makes up the Gaslight Anthem. It’s not something that would be the same if I went and did it on my own. If there was a point where the guys were like, 'We are never going to do this again, and we won’t be a band again ever', then I’d do some of the songs because I don’t want them to go away.
"For now though whilst the band is still a band, I think it would be sort of odd to do those songs. That’s not saying that I won’t pull out a song that Gaslight hasn’t done in years. I might rip out one of those off the cuff, but it wouldn’t be one of the expected ones or a reimagining of one of the songs. I’d do it differently anyway so it didn’t feel like I was trying to cop what Gaslight was doing. That’s the thing - I don’t want to step on their toes. I want to respect the guys and the thing we built together and not try to tarnish that in anyway.”
We lost a number of great acts at the start of the year. Are you a big Bowie or Eagles fan?
“The Eagles taught me how to write songs. I learnt how to sing harmonies from them. Bowie just blew everything out of the water. He was someone who I felt was much like Bob Dylan and Queen in that I could never attain that sort of creativity. You can’t get that again. You don’t even want to emulate it. There are some artists that encourage you to emulate them, like Bruce Springsteen or The Clash. These guys encourage you to start your own band, whereas Bowie was untouchable. He blew my mind and made me want to put down my guitar. This guy is so creative, how can I even come close to that? “
What new bands do you think will be big in 2016?
“I really love that Elle King record, that’s the big one for me. It’s one of the best combinations of songwriter and pop music together. Those are my two favourite things – pop music and songwriting. She’s just killing it out there. Those songs are great. It’s kind of cool because it’s got this country vibe and I’m not even into country music. “
What about classic records?
“I love Highway 61 by Dylan and the first three Bruce records are great. I absorb that stuff like a sponge, I just love it. I sit around listening to the Stones all the time. That’s my thing.”
What’s your favourite Stones album?
“My favourite album is Sticky Fingers. I could listen to that record all the way through. There are so many good songs on that record. Everything that the Stones are good at, they do on Sticky Fingers. There are ballads, ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Sway’ and ‘Wild Horses’. ‘Sister Morphine too’, representing the weird songs. There’s so much on that record. Either that, or my favourite album would be Some Girls. No one says Some Girls, but I think it was a phenomenal record because it’s got ‘Beast of Burden’ and ‘Respectable’ on it, and it’s so much edgier than people give it credit for. That record rips. They do ‘Just My Imagination’ and it’s so cool. I’ve always loved the cover art of those dudes dressed as women, they look terrible, but it’s amazing.”
Are you watching any TV shows at the moment?
“I love Luther a lot. I get wrapped up in that show. I watch a lot of BBC shows like Sherlock. I grew up with American TV and it’s the same thing all the time. I know what’s going to happen before I even put it on. It’s not that great. “
Finally, you’ve toured internationally for a good part of 10 years now. Which country is the most receptive to your music?
“I would say the UK, Germany and the US. The response from those countries have been crazy. It’s gotten way bigger than we thought it would get, which is cool. Germany just embraced the band. I was shocked because I don’t know about what music comes from Germany. English bands, that’s what American kids love. The reverse happens here too. With the German bands, it’s not the same thing – we don’t get much German music. I never got into those that did make it, such as Rammstein. But there’ so much more music there than we get in the US. There’s so much more going on there. I’m glad they like our music so much, but I don’t know why. They’re also super loyal fans. They’ll follow you through your ups and downs, it’s cool.”
Brian Fallon's new solo album, Painkillers, is set for release on 11 March. Pre-order the album here.
