Joyce Manor is playing the Sinclair on Sunday night, cialis and unless you’ve spent your entire summer practicing your stage diving form at a local pool, sickness you probably aren’t prepared for the fury they’re about to unleash. We talked with lead singer/guitarist Barry Johnson about the insanity of their live show and why playing for only 30 minutes just makes sense.
If you can’t make it to the show on Sunday, check out their new album Never Hungover Again, which is out now on Epitaph Records.
Allston Pudding: Your new album has been out for a few months and people are suddenly comparing you to the Smiths – what did you do differently on this one?
Joyce Manor: Well this is the first record where Chase wrote his guitar parts. I used to do everything and delegate tasks, but now he came with guitar lines and it was awesome. It made the song so that they weren’t either of ours specifically, so we could both be really excited about them.
AP: The new album has been well received, but what I’m really interested in is your live show. I’ve seen you twice and both shows have been insane – like the kind of insane that you don’t normally see at a place the size of the Sinclair. What’s that like?
JM: Yeah it’s really strange. You start off playing shows and you need to win people over. And then you start getting popular and you play house shows in California and it gets crazy like that. We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to translate that into playing a bigger venue.
Some of these shows you go into and you’re like “oh man this is going to be weird, this stage is huge and it’s sterile and the room is air conditioned and there’s all these lights”. I’m always worried it’s not going to turn into that sweaty crazy delirious time, but usually it does.
AP: So you’ve got all these fans joining you on stage – does that bother you?
JM: No, not really. When you play in hardcore bands, it’s a physical thing. No one comes to a Joyce Manor show to hear us play. None of us are fucking incredible musicians or good at singing or anything. So all that shit’s great. If it’s some kid who is super excited to get on stage and sing with us, that’s awesome. I would be pretty sad if that ever left – it wouldn’t be the same without that.
AP: So you’ve done some opening gigs lately, including some shows with Brand New where I’m guessing the crowd wasn’t as into it. What’s that like?
JM: We were very grateful for that opportunity and it was a great thing to do, but to me, it’s just not as much fun. You can’t just be up there going nuts and losing yourself in it unless everyone else is doing it. Punk is very much 50/50 between the audience and the band – opening most shows feels more like 90/10.
AP: So that’s another thing about your shows – they go by so quickly – I’ve seen you headline twice and you’ve only played 30 minutes each time. Are you beefing that up now that you have more songs?
JM: We like keeping it short – I think our set list is still 30 minutes. If you’re going to put everything into it, you can only go for so long. You need to hold something back to play for an hour. It’s better to do 30 minutes and give it everything.
I kind of wish other bands would do it. I see other bands and I’m like “I don’t think I have and hour and fifteen of this in me, I need to go grab a cigarette.” I’ve seen bands that can do it for and hour and half, two hours, but I don’t think we’re there yet.
AP: So your songs are really short, which helps with the 30 minute thing. Where does that come from? Is it a conscious decision to keep them so short?
JM: Yes – I edit a lot. I start with a lot of bad stuff, cut it down, come back to it, and figure out what I want to focus on. I don’t just sit down, strum a few chords and think about how I feel. I might edit to a fault, but there’s always a moment where it comes into focus and it’s there, it just takes a while.
AP: So you guys are playing Boston on Sunday – if your band was a character from the American revolution, who would you be?
JM: Oh man…. I’m going to sound like an idiot but I don’t know anything about the American revolution. I was terrible in school.
AP: Well if anyone asks, tell them Paul Revere, he’s popular around here
JM: Alright yeah, Paul Revere!