It is an uncharacteristically chilly night in Milwaukee, WI for early July. Rain threatens to dampen thousands of Alkaline Trio fans and with a wind blowing in from the east off Lake Michigan, it became increasingly evident that the band were close to selling out of black “Send Help” hoodies. This was Summerfest; Milwaukee’s annual mid summer concert festival, which lasts for 11 days and features over 700 bands ranging from The A.K.A.’s (Are Everywhere!) to O.A.R. It’s 10:00pm and thousands of eager Trio fans stand shivering as the Chicago-based three piece opened their well-balanced set with “Private Eye” off From Here to Infirmary. Suddenly, the nip to the air didn’t matter, Alkaline Trio were in top form.
A day earlier, Trio released their major label debut Agony & Irony on Epic Records. Given that fact, it was slightly surprising that the band played such a spectrum of songs from their catalog, even ending the set with a fan favorite, “Radio.” Any avid Trio fan would have been pleased with their performance.
The release of Agony & Irony is a huge step forward for Alkaline Trio. After 10 years and seven full-length releases on Asian Man Records, Vagrant and V2, the band finally hit the big time with Agony & Irony. We had the honor of speaking with vocalist and guitarist Matt Skiba as he and vocalist / bass player Dan Andriano and drummer Derek Grant geared up for a show in Grand Rapids, MI just a week prior to the release of the new record.
There is no doubt that even prior to signing with a major record company; Alkaline Trio had built a rabid fan base. Thousands of fans show their allegiance by getting the heart and skull logo tattooed on their bodies, a tradition that used to grant free entry into Trio shows. Trio fans take the band and their lyrics very seriously, so much so that the band is constantly being scrutinized in some way about the evolution of their lyrical content. Why isn’t it the same as it was eight or nine years ago? Where are the songs about broken relationships and drinking binges? “We try to make honest music,” says Skiba. “We’re not the same people we were 10 years ago. You can’t make everyone happy.” Skiba makes no apologies for the music he and his band mates create. “You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” Skiba stresses. He says they make music that they want to listen to. “If we wrote the same music as on Goddamnit or Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, critics would say we’re writing the same record over and over again,” he concludes.
Certainly fans were going to criticize the band for signing to a major label, or as scenesters put it, “selling out.” Skiba says that he doesn’t read comments on message boards or look at Myspace. “I hate sitting in front of a computer,” he says. “If someone writes something nasty about us, I’m flattered. It’s easier to write something nasty than something nice.”
Skiba explains that the reason the band signed to Epic Records was because the band’s previous home, V2 Records, went under. Interestingly enough, Alkaline Trio never released an album with V2. They signed with the label in October 2006 and by mid January of 2007, the label announced it would be restructuring its United States and Canada branches, leaving the bands on the roster out in the cold. As time went on, Alkaline Trio became close friends with Andy Gershon. Gershon, the former president of V2 records was hired as an executive vice president at Epic Records and charged with the task of rebuilding the label in all genres of music. By the time the dust had settled Gershon had brought Alkaline Trio with him to Epic and in May of 2007 the band started listing their new label on their Myspace page.
According to Skiba, Epic is working very hard for the band. The proof is in black and white too. Agony & Irony debuted at number 13 on the Billboard charts, the highest they have ever reached as a band. Various promotions like in-store performances, secret shows and special signings also added to the push of Agony & Irony. “We’ve been really busy doing really fun stuff,” boasts Skiba. He stresses that his band likes working with people they can trust. “It’s the best it’s ever been for us,” he says. “Epic Records has redesigned how we feel about a major.”
Epic allowed Alkaline Trio to have complete autonomy when it came time to pen Agony & Irony. “Andy Gershon told us, ‘Your job is to make a record you love and I’m going to stay out of your hair,’” Skiba explains.
So with an abundance of support from their label, it came time for Alkaline Trio to find a producer. In the end the honor would be given to Josh Abraham, the heavy hitting producer who has worked with bands ranging from Limp Bizkit to Velvet Revolver to Unwritten Law. For Skiba, however, it was hearing Abraham’s work on Slayer’s Christ Illusion record that got him most interested. “He’s awesome,” explains Skiba. “Josh said, ‘We’re going to have a lot of fun and while we’re at it, we’re going to make a record.’” The word “fun” was all he needed to hear to seal the deal with Abraham. And now that it is all said and done, Abraham still maintains contact with the band. Just a few days prior to our interview, Skiba and Abraham were discussing how excited they each were about the release of Agony & Irony.
The end product of Agony & Irony is one of the band’s most cohesive efforts to date. It definitely crosses more into the rock side of the genre, but the band is alright with that. “The last record was pop,” says Skiba. “It’s pop music for sure. What I hear is just a rock band. We just went in, put our heads down and worked on it,” he concludes. Skiba describes the album as “anthemic & hooky.” Vocally, both he and Andriano emit a cleaner, crisper tone, hitting various pitches, which were previously not part of the Trio package. Lyrically, the band has done a fine job of combining their maturity with their often eyebrow-raising topics and metaphors. Good Mourning and Crimson felt like the band tried too hard at times to throw back to their old chilling analogies, but this time around it feels more sincere. Skiba cites the things he grew up with as a child for why much of the band’s lyrical content is so dark. He says his aunt and uncle were always giving him dark toys and books. “I’ve always had an affinity for the macabre,” he says. “I’m 32 now and I still feel like the same kid.”
While Skiba admits that he loves the album in it’s entirety, he does highlight the track “I Found Away” as his personal favorite. “[It] has a deep personal meaning to me,” says Skiba. The track features a spoken word introduction by Douglas Pearce, known as Douglas P. of Death in June. Controversy has surrounded both Pearce and his band due to allegations of them being fascist, racist and Neo-Nazi. Death in June have been banned from Chicago twice according to Wikipedia and various albums have been censored in Switzerland and Germany. (ed note: Search Douglas Pearce for some extremely interesting facts on his and his band’s history).
Alkaline Trio garnered additional mainstream exposure when they appeared on an episode of MTV’s The Hills, a show that Skiba admits he does not watch and still does not watch since his band’s appearance on the show. He explains that the only reason the band did it was because the people on the show were fans. “They came in and filmed us doing our thing, says Skiba. “There were trucks and cameras and we were like, ‘What the heck?”
Another step forward for the band was when Nike collaborated with them to put out an Alkaline Trio shoe as part of the Nike 6.0 series. “6.0 represents different elements of action sports,” Skiba explains. The band chose synthetic leathers and their black and red color combination for the shoe, which obviously parallels the band’s color scheme. “It’s a striking color combination,” says Skiba. Additionally, the colors pay homage to the band’s Chicago roots, as they share the same colors as the Chicago Bulls and Skiba also admits that he grew up wearing Air Jordans. Nike has a video on its website of when they presented the shoe to Skiba and he says, “I can’t believe that this (pointing at the Trio logo) and this (pointing at the Nike Swoosh) are on the same thing. It makes my life!”
There’s no doubt that things are looking up for Alkaline Trio, a band that has a cult-like following that continues to grow everyday with the same sense of ownership as nearly a decade ago. “It’s an honor,” says Skiba. “There are bands that sell out arenas that don’t have as many fans that get tattoos as we have.” And as of now, Alkaline Trio still is not selling out arenas. That fan devotion says something about them as a musical and even social influence. And what does Skiba think about all of this? “I feel blessed,” he concludes.
By: Adam K. Zakroczymski III - Senior Editor / Founder
