mother had passed away in 2010, and Dustin’s father is battling cancer as well. This record was a release for us.” But for a band that started on tours with Samiam, Hot Rod Circuit, Midtown, and Face to Face before becoming a headlining act, adversity it seems is something they can handle. No stranger to touring, Thrice is making a stop in Austin on October 4 at Emo’s to promote Major/Minor. “There is so much music going on in Austin on a nightly basis. It’s always been a great place to wander around before and after shows as well as an amazing place to play,” Breckenridge said. “People in Austin have always been really good to us and we are grateful.” As far as venues and favorite places to play are concerned, Breckenridge admits that it doesn’t matter because what is most important are the fans. “All that stuff means nothing if the show isn’t great. I’ve had some of my best shows in places that sound horrible and are super cramped. If the show is good and the crowd has fun it will be the best venue ever for that night.” Nowadays Thrice can be considered old men in ‘rock star’ years, but have a ways to go before they can be mentioned on a Rolling Stones prehistoric level. For now the band just continues to make music that fans will love without giving into a mainstream mold. “I think just the fact that there’s always much more we can do,” concludes Breckenridge. “Once a record is done I can’t wait to start working on the next. All I want is to push and challenge us to improve. Music has an infinite number of possibilities and avenues to explore. Love it.” That’s what makes Thrice great: The fact that they still want to be great, the fact they aren’t afraid to explore musically, and the fact they didn’t hang it up when they caught some fame.
Interview with Eddie Breckenridge of THRICE Who wrote “Yellow Belly” or what was the writing process? “The song Yellow Belly came about when I suggested that we have Riley write some drum parts first, and we could each write music to the drum beat rather than the drum beat being a secondary thing (which often times is the case). Teppei came up with the riff. I think It’s one of my favorite riffs on the record. We wrote a majority of the song when Dustin was out of town, it came together really smoothly and the original demo isn’t far off from the track on the record. When Dustin came back the basic vocal melody was developed and the song came too.” What should Thrice fans expect from this new album? “I think they should expect more progression. I know I personally was really inspired by a lot of mid 90’s indie rock bands... Lots of really interesting weaving guitar melodies and textures. We still kept the songs pretty stripped of bells and whistles, as we did with Beggars, trying to make sure that the music sounds like a band rather than massive soundscape that takes more than our 8 hands to pull off. Also we dealt with a ton of rough times during this writing period. It was probably the most painful year of my life. Riley and I lost our Father to cancer, Teppei’s mother had passed away in 2010 and Dustin’s father is battling cancer as well ... this record was a release for us.” What is your take on the Austin music scene and the city in general? “I think it’s great that there is so much music going on in Austin on a nightly basis. It’s always been a great place to wander around before and after shows as well as an amazing place to play. People in Austin have always been really good to us and we are completely grateful.” We live in the digital age of music. Do you feel a loss about releasing a free track to the public or are you happy to expose your music to new fans and listeners? “I think promoting your record with a free track is great. The digital age is great because so many people are aware of so much more music now than ever before. It’s fun to give little hints of what the record will be like.
If you are talking about people ripping a whole record... that’s a different story. Something can’t come from nothing. Common logic.” And when you release a track, is it a band decision, or is it the record labels (Vagrant) decision? Or a combination of both? “Both! It’s always good to bounce opinions off of other people for their perspective. I think my favorite songs always end up being the more artsy weird songs so my opinion of what should be released is always suspect, haha.” Bands in this day and age don’t normally make it to their 7th album. What’s kept Thrice motivated throughout the years? “I think just the fact that there’s always much more we can do. Once a record is done I can’t wait to start working on the next. All I want is to push and challenge us to improve. Music is has an infinite number of possibilities and avenues to explore. Love it.”
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“Yellow Belly” http://goo.gl/OgA1x
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ATXMusicMag.com / Sep 2011 /
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