In part 1 of the interview at HeadCount.org found here, Tom Hamilton of the bands Brothers Past and American Babies sits down to talk with Greg Sarafan. He discusses his involvement in the Occupy Philly movement, what hes sees as the issues that face America and what needs to be done. In part 2, below, he discusses his Bands Brothers Past, American Babies and their new album Flawed Logic and why he supports HeadCount.
As a musician you have a larger platform than most to speak your mind and spread a message. Do you feel that’s your responsibility as a musician?
Hmm… Well this new American Babies album is definitely about what’s going on. Making that record was a real struggle for me. I think it’s a responsibility for sure. To give the people that don’t have a voice a voice. That’s part of why people love music. It’s somebody is saying something or putting something into words or into music that the listener can’t express on their own. And that’s why they grab onto things and hold onto them for dear life and hold onto them forever. So yeah, I do feel like it’s a responsibility as a singer/songwriter.
That being said I also feel like it’s a responsibility to not be heavy handed. And to not try and push people into one direction or the other. That’s the reason I’m involved with Headcount, during the mid terms or presidential elections, both of my bands– we always open the door to Headcount. For having tables at our shows. I tell people to vote. Not to vote for anything in particular. Because that’s not my job. I feel like that is actually irresponsible. Kids especially are impressionable. Young 18, 20-year-old voters are impressionable people. Somebody they look up to and will listen to with more open ears than to somebody else pushing them into my political beliefs is a gross misuse of power. You should tell people, “Hey man you should vote because you have the ability to do so. You should educate yourself as to what’s going on. And vote your conscious and vote what you believe. You don’t have to believe what I believe, you don’t have to vote for what I vote for.” That is a secondary conversation. The initial conversation is about getting out there and voting. And I think it’s an important part of being an American citizen. It is your right and it’s a wonderful thing.
I listen to your new album Flawed Logic. I have to say, I grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen and I know he’s a personal idol of yours, and you sound just like the best of the Boss. How does it feel to be compared to one of your personal idols?
Well obviously, you know it’s Bruce so that’s fucking unbelievably flattering, but at the same time it’s mildly not flattering. Because I try not to wear my influences on my sleeve. I like to think I try to avoid it and have my own voice. I’m glad that you think that for sure, but it just kinda drives home that on my next record I just need to keep growing. And keep trying to change it up. But Bruce is a special guy for sure. And that anyone would even mention us in the same sentence, it’s a great thing.
I’m wondering about your other project Brothers Past. What’s next for you guys? Are you going to keep touring or make some next music in a studio?
Well we just did this box set thing over the past year. It’s been ten years this past October, so what we did was leading up to that we decided [we] were going to record and release an old song and sound board recording of one of our shows. And that we were going to do this every month during the year leading up to our 10 year anniversary. That just ended this last month. And that’s a pretty intense project. Basically every month recording a new song. And it was really fucking fun. As a producer I really get to hone my skills in the studio and I have pretty good ears at this point. It was a really cool thing. The next thing, and we have a lot of options. We have half of a new record already recorded. And I’m not really sure what we’re going to do with it. We’re still talking; we have a lot of stuff that we’re still writing and working on. We’re going to release something soon which I’m sure you’ll hear about in the next few weeks. But we just got into this groove of recording and we’re just going to keep doing
it. It’s a band that, really for the first 10 years of our career, it would take a lot of finagling to get us into a studio. Because we were always on the fucking road. And this 2nd chapter of our career, we’re in the really interesting and opposite place where we spend most of our time recording. And a small fraction of it playing.
It’s cool and it’s good for us and it’s making it, so we have a controlled way to decide what our next avenue is going to be.
Do you have any other side projects that you’re working on or might go with in the future?
Nah man, I think I’m good. You know when I began with Brothers Past I was a really young guy and was really interested in electronic music and where I think I could take it. And I started the Babies 3 years ago because this other side of the spectrum that I also love with is more organic Americana music. And I feel like I’m finally getting into my grove with that, also with writing. And the first record was kinda like, whatever. And this one I feel was like a positive step in the right direction, and I just started working on the next American Babies record. And I’m really excited about where it’s going. I feel like this is going to be a really, really special record. So yeah, I feel like all of my creative itches are being scratched right now.
Do you ever find, working with two bands at the same time, do you ever want to use something for both of them? Obviously you have to choose.
No. And this is why the creative process is so different for each band. The Babies is the writing process, there is a very solitary thing. Let’s say it takes me 50 hours to write a song, the first 30 hours of it are spent without an instrument or a pen in my hand, it’s just an introspective time. And then once we figured it all out that’s finally when I pick something up and start playing and writing. With Brothers Past it’s more collaborative. I work a lot with the keyboard player and a lot of that is just the two of us in a room working and just seeing what happens. So usually I don’t run into the problem with having to flip a coin to see who gets what.
How have you found the transition from a collaborative writer to a singer/songwriter?
It’s like a fish in water. I kinda prefer it. I get easily distracted, and when it’s just me it’s easier for me to concentrate on the task at hand. Even when me and [Tom] McKee are working together, we’ll be in the studio together and I’ll go into a different room for a few hours. Just because I’m kinda flaky. The transition wasn’t anything at all, it’s the same.
Related Posts
