Feature / Interviews
Against Me!'s Andrew Seward

Having recently parted ways with Sire, it’s a wonder where Against Me! are headed to next. Scene Point Blank sat down with bassist, Andrew Seward, as they rip all over The U.S. in hopes that he would shed some light on the band's future and where the music industry is headed. It can’t be all business though. We had a chance to touch on more nerdy subjects before an explosive show in Anaheim, California.

SPB: So, the tour’s been on for awhile.

Andrew: Yeah. I think we’re just entering—today’s Saturday, so we’re just at two weeks. Two weeks ago today we played Gainesville. We’ve been going all over the southeast: Texas; we played Phoenix last night, and now here we are all the way out west.

SPB: Any crazy stories yet?

Andrew: No. No real crazy stories, just crazy good shows. Man, really, really good shows. Austin, Texas was just fucking insane. Last night was great too! They’ve all–like–honestly, there hasn’t been one dud the entire tour. Knock on wood!

SPB: There’s a pole right there.

Andrew: Ah (Andrew runs to a wooden power line and knocks on it)! Alright! Tonight’s show could have totally sucked if I didn’t knock on wood.

SPB: Now, you guys are free agents.

Andrew: Mhm!

SPB: This is the dreaded label question.

Andrew: Yeah! No, no. Not dreaded. Go for it.

SPB: Uh, is there anybody on your mind or—

Andrew: I mean, you know there are a couple of people sniffing around. We’re keeping it a mystery for right now, but we’re really just enjoying just being free. It’s great. It’s very exciting!

SPB: Given your experience on Sire, are major labels out of the question now?

Andrew: Well, I think—you never want to close the door to anything. The whole rule’s never say, “never,” and I’m not saying this ‘cause there’s some—maybe, you know. I’m just saying, I learned from past experience never to say, “Never.” You know?

SPB: Yeah, that’s fair.

Andrew: I mean, one of the big things is that Warner Bros., you know is up for sale now. I heard that Universal cut like half their staff. So the line between major labels, and even independent labels, is uh—it’s growing thinner and thinner. You know what I mean? It’s basically kind of becoming the same thing. You know, ‘cause major labels are basically losing their ass because they’re paying a couple, you know, top guys like millions of dollars.

SPB: Yeah. Now you guys have toured with a lot of bands that your fans wouldn’t normally expect you to tour with. Like Mastodon, Blood Brothers, and more recently The Silversun Pickups.

Andrew: Yeah. well, I hope our fans would expect that by now, but you know.

SPB: Well yeah. Which touring line-up would you say was the strangest?

Andrew: Uh, the strangest? I dunno. I guess the strangest, but the best, was that Cursive, Mastodon, and Planes Mistaken for Stars tour. Just because, I mean that’s kind of like – kind of like if my iPod went on shuffle.

SPB: Yeah, it was a varied line-up!

Andrew: Yeah, but it was great! I mean, I love all those bands, and listen to them almost daily. So, that’s the best. I don’t know about the craziest, but it’s the best.

SPB: Who, bands that are more out of the whole “punk” genre, would you want to tour with?

Andrew: Oh man, “who would” would or—?

SPB: You would like to tour with.

Andrew: I can’t think of any off the top of my head. I mean, it’s always fun discovering newer bands. Like, I had heard Cheap Girls before this tour, but I hadn’t really heard the band, Fences, who’s opening up the show. Tom and the singer were like friends—pen pals. So you know that was—Tom’s like, you know, “Check this band out. You should check them out.” Then I checked them out, and I mean, there’s nothing better than discovering a new band. You’re like, “Oh shit! Ok,” ‘cause you know how like, starved you are for new music all the time. Where you catch yourself listening to the same record over and over again; you’re like, “Fuck man! I need to listen to something new or listen to talk radio or something,” but yeah.

SPB: Yeah, that happened to me recently, because I was getting so bored with everything I had.

Andrew: Yeah! You hit a wall.

SPB: Yeah, and then out of nowhere I found this band up in uh, I think it’s in Washington called Girlfriends.

Andrew: Ok.

SPB: It’s just one guy, but it’s like post-hardcore. Then he has the keys and everything. It was something new to me.

Andrew: Yeah? Girlfriends?

SPB: It was “Girlfriends” or “Girlfriend.” I can’t remember if it’s pluralized or not.

Andrew: I’ll check it out.

SPB: Yeah, and another one who just put out a demo, Reservoir. You might wanna check them out. They’ve got the whole emo-thing going.

Andrew: Ok. Reservoir.

SPB: Now Against Me! haven’t done any splits. There were rumors of one with Lucero awhile ago—

Andrew: “Awhile ago” being “Awhile ago!”

SPB: (haha) Yeah, “Awhile ago!” That never happened. Have you thought about doing a split since that?

Andrew: Not really, Every time we get songs on there we kind of just wanna put them out. Nothing intentional. We’re huge fans of Lucero, and they’re friends of ours. but that’s just something that kind of never came to fruition.

SPB: What about with Murder by Death? I know you guys toured with them, and they have a 7-inch split series. Did they ever approach you guys about that?

Andrew: Not to my knowledge. We’re friends with all those people. We just saw them awhile back. They were in Hamburg, Germany the same day we were, and we ended up all going to a bar and hanging out. There was no split in the works, just hanging out.

SPB: Well, if that was to happen, which song would you want them to cover of yours, and which would you want to cover of theirs?

Andrew: Oh, shoot! I dunno, man. You just put me on the spot! Um … I, (haha) I don’t know! I’m being horrible. I don’t know. Bad answer!

SPB: Skip (haha)! Gonna have to skip the next question ‘cause it was a lyrical question.

Andrew: I’ll just make something completely random up.

SPB: Alright, how about this? Would you like to write lyrics?

Andrew: Would I? Um … no. I mean like, in my old band I would write some lyrics, but I’m way more comfortable just with music than lyrics. Because I’m just—anyway, Tom is— it’s no secret he has a really good voice, and he’s really good with words. I mean, I by far have the weakest voice of the band, you know? I’m kind of just a yeller, and this doesn’t like—this isn’t offensive to me. I don’t take offense in that, you know? I even took fucking voice lessons like a year and a half ago. Just tryin’ to be better at it, but no. It’s like Against Me!—the lyrics are—that is Tom’s—his domain; his forte; his specialty. His—yeah, he’s got a way with the words, and I’m a fan of his writing the words.

SPB: Yeah, he’s got a good song and lyrical style. Ok, got to skip a couple more (haha).

Andrew: It’s fine. Sorry (haha).

SPB: No, it’s fine. Do you—

Andrew: “What were you thinking with this band?” It’s like, “I dunno, nobody cares. (haha) Fuck it!”

SPB: (haha) Do you think Against Me! will still be writing and performing 10 years from now?

Andrew: Uh … I hope so! The band–‘97—since the beginning with Tom being 17 years old, is on 13, going on 14 years. I wouldn’t—but here’s the thing, when I joined the band, almost 9 years ago, I never thought about it. I never thought, “Oh, will I be doing this for 2 years.” I was just like, “Fuck man, just keep it going. Keep it rolling and keep it new and keep it fresh,” and I think we’ve done that. Not putting out the same record back to back and stuff like that. I don’t think it’s selfish either. We just … we keep it interesting for us, and in turn I think that keeps people interested as well. I dunno—I don’t think it’s a selfish thing. I just think it’s a necessary thing where the minute it becomes boring to us, I don’t think it’ll exist anymore. You understand?

SPB: Yeah, that makes sense.

Andrew: I mean who wants to put out the same record over and over again—not I.

SPB: What do you think the state of the music industry will be like by then?

Andrew: Fucking, that’s a total crapshoot. I have no idea. It’s all gonna be—I think records will always exist. Like actual vinyl records. I think CDs will probably be dead by then. I dunno. I’m no prophet or anything.

SPB: It’s going to be a flip where CDs become the collectible thing (haha).

Andrew: Fuck that, no way (haha). That’d be funny if they—I mean people are still putting out tapes. Being like, “Oh, it’s cool to put out cassettes!” I’m like, “You know if you think so it is,” but all my tapes when I was a kid just got all fucking mangled and warped and they just go (warping sound). I dunno. I think a lot of the future could be streaming. I wouldn’t put that past. You know they’ve got all these fancy services in Europe. I think it’s a Swedish thing called, “Spotify.” It’s like “Pandora” you know? The streaming one that you do on your phone and shit, but apparently, it’s a hundred times better. You pay 10 dollars a month, and like I wanna hear White Crosses. Boom! You got it. Actually, it’s gonna make a lot of people lazy. We’ll put it that way. It’ll make a lot of people lazy.

SPB: Probably shut down a lot of music stores too.

Andrew: Oh man, music stores have been in trouble for a long time.

SPB: Yeah.

Andrew: Like, there’s a majority of people who buy records and stuff like that. You know, like casual people? I think country music is—are the only people who buy CDs because I don’t—hopefully this won’t get me into too much trouble, but I think their fans aren’t really smart enough to steal music. And punks are smart man. Punks know how to fuckin’ rip and steal and do all that shit, so there you go braniac punks.

SPB: We’ve got some more general questions. What have you been listening to a lot lately?

Andrew: Well believe or not, I’ve actually been listening to a lot of Peter Gabriel lately. Which might seem a bit weird, but it’s not. What else have I been listening to? I listen to Off With their Heads quite often, but that doesn’t count because they’re friends of ours. Man, they’re total dicks.

SPB: Yeah, I follow the twits—the tweets.

Andrew: Oh yeah? Yeah you can put that in there. “Ryan Young: complete dick.” He won’t care.

SPB: What’s your favorite album of all time?

Andrew: You know what’s funny? Not bullshitting you, I was actually thinking about this the other day. I would say—kind of like that desert island, stranded thing—I’m gonna give you two records. I’m just judging this on the sheer amount of times I’ve listened to these. This band called The Old 97s. They’re kind of like an old western—they’re a band from Dallas, Texas. They’re kind of just rock and roll-country, but the album’s called, Too Far to Care. Super—super—good record. You should check it out! And the other one I’d say is The Afghan Whigs. The album’s called, Gentlemen. If I could somehow categorize how many times I’ve listened to both those records, it would be astronomically large.

SPB: On your last.fm they’re way—the bar’s far larger than the others (haha).

Andrew: Oh yeah! I haven’t really done that last.fm thing. I know what it is, but … yeah. Sorry. I don’t use that.

SPB: Last good movie you saw?

Andrew: Last good movie I saw? Bah-bah-bah-shit. Dammit, I can tell you the last bad movie I saw. That train movie with Denzel Washington, Unstoppable!

SPB: I haven’t even heard of that movie.

Andrew: Well, the train stops. Therefore, it’s not actually unstoppable.

SPB: So, was it like Speed, but it actually stops?

Andrew: Kind of. Like some train with a bunch of chemicals on it roaring through Pennsylvania and they eventually stop it.

SPB: Like Speed, except it’s chemicals instead of a bomb.

Andrew: Yeah, and it actually happened. Unless Speed was based off a true story, and I just don’t know about it. I hear Speed 2 was based off it.

SPB: Really?

Andrew: No (haha). A cruise ship.

SPB: That’s right! That was a cruise ship.

Andrew: Yeah! What a fucking pile—

SPB: Because I remember, they were on a train in the first one.

Andrew: Yeah. No—no! A bus!

SPB: No, but I mean at the end of the movie they’re on a train, and then Dennis Hopper’s head goes off.

Andrew: Oh yeah! The subway! For some reason I was just thinking the end of Speed was when they’re on the tarmac at the airport. Yeah, but you’re right. Whatever! Somehow the interview goes to Keanu Reeves now (haha).

SPB: Do movies ever inspire you to write music?

Andrew: Yeah! I would say movie soundtracks. I listen to movie soundtracks on my iPod and stuff. A couple good ones—I know I’m a total nerd, so I’m not ashamed of any of this—like The Dark Knight soundtrack is incredible. All the Coen Brothers stuff. This guy, Carter Burwell, does I think all the Coen Brothers movies. Miller’s Crossing is a good one. Last of the Mohicans is a great soundtrack. Red Dead Redemption, the video game is a great soundtrack. I don’t know if you’ve played the game or not.

SPB: I haven’t.

Andrew: There’s a soundtrack. It’s all like spaghetti-western stuff, and a William Elliott Whitmore song on it. It’s really good!

SPB: One thing that has always bothered me is like video game soundtracks and movie soundtracks always kind of go unnoticed.

Andrew: Oh yeah! Yeah, I know exactly what you’re saying. Usually, they kind of make or break a movie. I’ll give you a bad example. I only saw the first 20 minutes of it, but that Tom Cruise movie with Cameron Diaz, Knight and Day. So—

SPB: (haha)

Andrew: Yeah dude, don’t!

SPB: I’m not even gonna bother. I already know—

Andrew: You shouldn’t bother. Trust me! I’m telling you right now, “don’t bother!” It’s all this stupid fighting, and you know Tom Cruise is such a fucking goof, but there’s this huge airplane fight and they’re just playing this Parisian-café music while he’s kicking ass. That is the worst—I know they’re trying to be ironic or funny or something like that, but it’s just fucking … it’s horrible. Knight and Day: Don’t see it!

SPB: Do you read a lot when you travel? Any recommendations?

Andrew: Yeah! Once again the nerdiness is gonna come forth.

SPB: Don’t worry. I’ve got, probably the nerdiest question at the end.

Andrew: Ok! Well, I go between serious and just complete fiction-candy. I read this book, The Hunger Games. That was my last read, and I think I read that in two days because when I’m not driving the van I’ll just sit there and read. I actually bought a good graphic novel yesterday. Old Man Logan?—some Wolverine graphic novel.

SPB: I think I’ve heard of it.

Andrew: It’s good! He’s old and like—

SPB: Is it like, The Dark Knight Returns?

Andrew: In a way. Super villains have taken over the entire U.S. and everyone else is dead like: Captain America, Cyclops, and all of them are fucking murdered and all that shit. This is fucking nerdy as hell.

SPB: No, this is good because—I’m just gonna skip and go to my last question. This is very convenient because my last question is: If you could pick any superhero to run the world, who would it be?

Andrew: To “run the world?” Not Superman, he’s too square. Superman is the worst fucking comic character in the world. I mean, he can’t be defeated!
SPB: He’s so boring!

Andrew: Who would I trust to run the world? No Fantastic Four members. I’d probably say … not Batman because he’s always—I’m gonna actually think about this now. Probably Spider-Man.

SPB: That’s an awesome choice.

Andrew: I pick Spider-Man because he has a sense of humor, but he’s got his head on straight.

SPB: Speaking of Fantastic Four, did you hear about—

Andrew: Please tell me they’re not making a third movie.

SPB: No, they’re actually rebooting it though.

Andrew: Oh god!

SPB: No, this is actually about the comics. They killed off one of the Fantastic Four.

Andrew: Really? Please—well actually I hate them all, so who’d they kill?

SPB: (spoilers for comic fans) Human Torch.

Andrew: Oh, that’s good! I remember a long time ago they got rid of The Thing, and She-Hulk was a member of the Fantastic Four. Never my favorite comic.

SPB: Yeah, I don’t read a lot. Spider-Man and Batman are probably like my favorite two.

Andrew: Yeah, I like Batman a lot. I only kind of get something if someone recommends it to me, you know? Like, I read The Walking Dead comics.

SPB: Did you watch the series?

Andrew: Yeah! I think the first 3 episodes were really good, and then it kind of went off, but it has a lot of hope. Because they’re so successful, I think they’re gonna get a huge budget and be able to do it really awesome.

SPB: I thought the whole thing was good. The only thing … I think the last episode was kind of cheesy. Especially that explosion.

Andrew: Yeah, and also they should have killed Shane already. Have you read the comics?

SPB: Nah, I’m trying to avoid it because—I mean, they say they’re going in two different directions anyway, so it shouldn’t be a big deal but—

Andrew: Yeah, I read an interview with the guy, Kirkman, who writes it, and they said that it’s not … like, the comic is the guideline, but it’s not going to stick to it exactly. If you’ve read the comics and seen the first few episodes you know there’s a lot of stuff being left behind.

SPB: I know the first episode sticks pretty close.

Andrew: Yeah, the hospital. Actually, that was really good. I can’t believe they actually pulled it off doing that stuff.

SPB: There’s some pretty gruesome stuff in there.

Andrew: Oh yeah!

SPB: I think in the second episode when they show them chopping up the corpse.

Andrew: Oh, to put the guts on? Yeah, that was a good. That was a good one.

SPB: The look on my face during that.

(laughter)

SPB: Alright, before I let you go—one more—you’ve got a big show tonight. This is the small club show before the theater show tomorrow. Is there anything special planned?

Andrew: No man. Just to fucking kill it. Like I said at the beginning of the interview, everything’s just been going fucking great, so knock on wood. And, you’ve gotta—

SPB: (points to the wooden pole)

Andrew: Dammit (haha)! You’ve gotta play the show like it’s your last you know (Andrew walks over to knock on the pole)? It doesn’t matter if it’s Chain Reaction to 400 people or if it’s the Fonda to 1200 people. I’m not bullshitting you when I’m telling you, it’s still played exactly the same. Like you’re playing your fucking living room. Hell, I’ll probably crash into more stuff. It’s gonna be fun. It’s nice to be back in Southern-California.

SPB: The fan and band relation’s gonna thin out since there’s not barrier here though, so it should go off.

Andrew: Oh yeah! It’s gonna be nuts. It’ll be fun.

SPB: That’s gonna complete the interview. Any good final words?

Andrew: Cool. Great first interview my man.

SBP: Thank you.

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Words / Photos / Graphics: Aaron
Special thanks to Vanessa Burt at Fat Wreck for setting up the interview!