Every Word Handwritten
“We kind of come up with that stuff on the spot, sometimes the night of the show; five minutes before we go on we might be still coming up with the set."
Calling in from his home in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a little pocket of land about 50km south of the Manhattan skyline, Alex Rosamilia sounds completely at ease with his current stock, his humble, unassuming disposition on stage, all sad eyes and minimal showboating, channelled conversationally during his chat.
Since the quartet's 2006 formation, Rosamilia has been the tight-lined six-string undercurrent beneath Brian Fallon's big chords and bigger choruses, the pair, along with long-standing pals Alex Levine (bass) and Benny Horowitz (drums), creating some of the most wide-reaching anthems to come out of the Garden State in years.
Right now The Gaslight Anthem are enjoying some time off before getting back to it once more with a solid few months of touring taking them around America, across Europe and finally, down to Australia. The open road is the band's natural habitat, the boys having just worked through a consistent northern winter schedule. However, Rosamilia assures those experiences won't dictate the set lists we hear this month.
“We don't really do that stuff ahead of time,” he informs. “We kind of come up with that stuff on the spot, sometimes the night of the show; five minutes before we go on we might be still coming up with the set. We try to keep it different because we all love it when a band just plays a different set [each night], and if that's what we expect from other bands then that's the least that we can do as a band.”
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With so much touring currently on their plates, it's that spontaneity that helps keep it fresh for Gaslight, too.
“It does,” Rosamilia concurs. We've never done it but I feel like a song, whatever... say 45, if that was the fifth song of the set every night then that would be boring; we wouldn't like the song so much, y'know, why would we want to play it? And I do feel like fans can see when you're disinterested on stage.” But as Rosamilia beams, the response to the new songs has been “fantastic”. “It's gotten to the point where I can't hear parts of the set because the kids are singing back and it's louder than Brian,” he admits.
Their major label debut from last year, Handwritten, is a master class in considered punk rock. Produced by Brendan O'Brien, the long-player never once bellows at you or takes a swing; it simply shares a smoke, a tale and a smile. It's The Gaslight Anthem's fourth record in six years, and with every release the band has managed to retain their signature sound while adding new shades, from both an instrumental and emotional level. When such an observation is posed to Rosamilia he reasons that he and the guys are simply growing up, and doing so while learning new lessons with every turn.
“Getting older definitely changes your perspective on a lot of things, and hopefully as you get older you get more mature,” he ponders. “Not [only] as in, like, your perspective on how you see things, but from a musical standpoint, too. Things I used to love; bands I used to love a couple of years ago, I just don't have the time for anymore, and bands that I forgot after I 'matured into better music', I've found myself going back to. Just because [now] I'm not afraid to tell people that I like them or whatever.”
Explaining all this, Rosamilia talks with a learnt understanding, one that can only be developed through extended time chasing the sun and growing up out of a suitcase. Indeed, there's no denying The Gaslight Anthem have experienced more in seven years than most individuals tackle with a lifetime at their disposal. So, does the band consider themselves old dogs? “I don't want to,” the guitarist deadpans with a smile. “But lately, I dunno...”
He might shrug off the term, but Rosamilia has acquired some new tricks, or at least, techniques. “Knowing when not to play,” he says. “This is as important as when to play, and it can sometimes make [the songs] sound even better. That's just what I took from [Handwritten], but I'm not sure that's what everyone took away from it. I've been known in the past to be a little noodley we'll say. But I've learned to tone it down and be a little more tasteful. When you're younger you think that the more you play the better it sounds, but as you get older you realise that the less you play the better it sounds.”
Like their previous efforts, colourful and instantly relatable narratives drive the record, which is why it makes sense that widely-celebrated author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy) penned the liner notes, a fact that Rosamilia is obviously enamoured by.
“I wish I could say he came to us but... We asked him if he wanted to write something for the record, and then he ended up writing what he wrote. Obviously for him to do it, it still makes me speechless,” he confides with warm fondness.
“I may be just speaking for myself, but I feel like Rob Gordon (played by John Cusack in the Hollywood adaptation of High Fidelity) was the seminal, like the archetypical stereotypically kind of music nerd person that my generation has created. The King Arthur of losery music snobs. Which we can all relate to, y'know what I mean? Everybody I know wants Rob Gordon's record collection – in that sense. And to be able to create a character like that, you have to be able to envision it; to create a character with that kind of musical knowledge and prowess you have to have that musical knowledge. What I'm trying to get at is that Nick Hornby knows his way around the music industry as well as writing. It is just a great honour to have him be into [our music], to take the time to write something... sorry, I still haven't figured out how to explain how I feel about that,” he chuckles.
And therein lies the strength of The Gaslight Anthem's music. The fact that a bald 55-year-old Englishman can connect with it as much as a bunch of American college kids or some middle-aged Aussie punk rock diehards. But by the sounds of things, any sort of expected fan demographic has long been left out in the cold.
“It is interesting and I think... sorry, let me get my thoughts together for a second...” Rosamilia smiles with a wry chuckle. “It's been happening to us since the beginning y'know – [this broad reach] is not a new thing for us. When we started and I sent my mum our first demo she actually liked it, and that says something. My mum never liked any of my other bands because they weren't appealing to someone of her age. But we found that early on, like kids would bring their dads and it wasn't because they needed to be chaperoned, it's because they both wanted to see us play. We've had a couple of father/son duos, y'know, come up to us and say that [our music] brought the two of them together, and I think that's very cool.
“Not to sound like a hippy but that's what music is supposed to do – bring people together,” he continues, driving his point deeper. “The feeling... looking out into the crowd and seeing that kind of thing, I will never get over that, I will never get used to that. It feels like the first time I go out [on stage] every time I go out. And I don't see that disappearing anytime soon.”
When the foursome came together during the mid-noughties, they all collectively decided that The Gaslight Anthem would be “everyone's collective last hurrah”. At that point they were all in their mid-twenties; they'd done the band thing a couple of times. But now, in 2013 they're “still hurrah-ing”, and the momentum doesn't seem like diminishing in the slightest. The group have managed to avoid the backlash that typically comes with success, and even on a major label have dodged arbitrary finger pointing from those that might consider a move 'selling out'. Not that they'd care about such folk. Gaslight are more concerned with maintaining the hardworking DIY mentality of their basement days, and carrying it with them wherever they roam. Knowing that, their next move is an obvious one.
“We write another record,” Rosamilia says like there's no other logical answer. “Yeah, why not? We've already started writing – we just wrote a song for a seven-inch for our fan club [45 RPM Club], and we've started kinda working on... when I say started I mean that very loosely. Very, very started, just working on some new stuff. We never stop, I dunno, we never have. I think people have problems writing when they stop. If you keep writing you don't, you're keeping the gears moving I guess...” he trails off for a moment before letting out a gentle sigh: “Eh, I need to take like public speaking classes.”
The Gaslight Anthem will be playing the following dates:
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