Can you tell us about some of your influences growing up? They varied throughout the years... Dylan, Springsteen, the Clash, and then more underground punk rock and post hardcore as I got into my late teens and 20s. Leatherface, Hot Water Music, Sunny Day Real Estate. Now, I listen to anything that feels good to me. Pop music, The Stones, The Beatles, Tom Waits.
Before you started on 'Painkillers', when did you realize that you wanted to start a full on solo career, and what was that whole process like for you at first? I didn’t set out on a full on solo career until the Gaslight Anthem decided to go on an extended break. The idea to do solo work here and there was something I’ve always done, but once there wasn’t a full time band anymore I still wanted to create music. At first, it’s like new shoes, you’re not sure if they fit. But I like being on my own, I like being in bands. Basically, I like making music and I’m pretty grateful I get to do it in any way as a job. I’m one of a few people who get to do this and that is not lost on me.
What was it like to adjust to life on the road and in the studio without your buddies in The Gaslight Anthem? Adjusting on the road wasn’t as weird as it might seem because we were all ready to stop the train and get off. So it wasn’t too strange for me. I try not to compare things. I don’t compare one life to another, or one band to solo. They live in two separate worlds inside my perception so it was just a new experience.
So how did you get to the album title 'Sleepwalkers', and what does it mean to you? To me, “Sleepwalkers” are the people we are in our dreams, the parts of ourselves we don’t show out to the whole world. Maybe only a few trusted souls. Maybe only to ourselves. It is about the dreams and fears we carry inside ourselves in the hours in-between.
You've opened up with some "Unguarded" lyrical content on this record. So can you tell us a bit about that, and maybe what we can expect from the themes that run through it? I wrote about where I’m at right now and I didn’t think about filtering it or trying to hide what I was talking about. It’s all right there in the lyrics to interpret and hopefully to become part of the meanings other people put into the songs from their experiences. That’s the whole point, to have music that can express what I need to express and at the same time become part of the listener’s story in their own lives. That’s the dream.
How did you end up working with Ted Hutt, and how did he shape the album? Ted called me at the end of last year and we just kept in touch and the idea came to me that with this record Ted was the exact right person to do this one. You have to take each record as its own thing and try to find the right partner for each project. Butch Walker was absolutely the best partner I could’ve had for ‘Painkillers’ and I think Ted Hutt was the best person for this record.
You got to record in New Orleans which is obviously known all across the world for its iconic music scene with places like the Preservation Hall. So what was it like to work there, and did that environment have any effect on the outcome of 'Sleepwalkers'? I would say New Orleans has a great effect on the record, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band appears on the song ‘Sleepwalkers’.
For the first time you've got a horn section feature, what was that like? They really brought that whole song right to life. So there’s always going to be a special part of New Orleans on this record for me.