by Tina Whelski
You’re playing solo shows before re-joining Bayside for a tour supporting the band’s latest album, The Walking Wounded?
I’ve been doing these shows for a couple of months now. This is my hobby I guess. Our band has gotten to a point now where I have a very rigorous schedule and it’s turned into a job in a way. I still love it and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, but playing music isn’t what it was when I was twelve. It’s not like I can grab a guitar and play whatever I want. So it’s just a chance for me to go wherever I want in the country. It was cold and snowing in New York so I was like, ‘Alright, I’m going to San Francisco.’ So I flew to San Francisco with a guitar and I just played last night. And I’m playing in Orange Country tomorrow. I get to play wherever I want and whatever I want. You know what I compare it to? It’s like 50-year-old dudes who go to work all day and then on Friday nights they play in a cover band at a bar somewhere. It doesn’t matter that they’re not making any money. It doesn’t matter that nobody’s there. There’s no pressure. There’s no stress at all. They’re just loving that they can play music. That’s what this is for me.
What will you play?
Well at these shows I play some Bayside songs. And then I play some covers and songs that I’ve written that aren’t Bayside songs. I play “Duality,” mostly songs from the new album. I play “I and I.” I play songs that I think translate to acoustic well, because I always hate the sound of people playing rock songs on an acoustic guitar. Some songs are meant to be played with a band and some songs aren’t…I just play whatever I think sounds right.
What are “Duality” and “I and I” about?
“Duality” is about the two personalities that are inside everybody. The song ‘I and I’ sums up the theme of the new record. On the first record I was in more of a dark place. And it really reflects in the lyrics. There’s really not much sign of hope. On the second record there was kind of this, ‘Okay, I understand that things are going wrong and I need to figure them out.’ And then on this new record I’m great and I’m loving life and I think I figured out how to do that and why I’ve gotten here. And that’s kind of what ‘I and I’ is all about. Being happy where you are. I think too many people try to change the world to make them feel better. But if something’s getting you down or you’re at a bad place in your life, the way to move on from that is to change the way that you’re looking at it. Change the way you’re handling it. Not to change the thing itself. You can’t really mold the world to be a place that you want to be in. It’s really in your own head and you’ve got to show yourself a better way of looking at everything.
What’s next for Bayside?
We’re shooting a video for “Carry On” which we’re pretty stoked about. We spent a long time trying to decide which song would be the second single from the album. “Carry On” wasn’t the obvious choice. There were other songs we were talking about that probably would have had more mass appeal and that’s kind of what you go for when you release a single. But we just love the song. It’s probably the fastest, heaviest, most punk rock song on the record…And then at the end of January we’re doing a ‘B’ market tour, which I’m really excited about. When we first started playing shows we couldn’t get a show in Manhattan. Nobody would book us. We’d have to play in Queens or in Long Island or something. We couldn’t get a show in Philly. We’d have to play in Reading, Pennsylvania right outside of Philly. Or we couldn’t play in L.A. We’d have to play in Ventura because nobody would book us in L.A. Since we got our record deal and started putting out records and got a booking agent and all that stuff, we only play in L.A. and Manhattan and Philadelphia and stuff like that. So we really wanted to go back to all the places we used to play all the time.
Sing along with Anthony Raneri at the Knitting Factory on January 18.
Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly (1/17/08).
Bayside's "Duality" Video.
Anthony Raneri appears sans Bayside at the Knitting Factory on January 18. The punk rock band’s front man will perform acoustic versions of Bayside’s music, along with whatever else he can think of. Raneri discusses playing what he wants, where he wants.
You’re playing solo shows before re-joining Bayside for a tour supporting the band’s latest album, The Walking Wounded?
I’ve been doing these shows for a couple of months now. This is my hobby I guess. Our band has gotten to a point now where I have a very rigorous schedule and it’s turned into a job in a way. I still love it and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else, but playing music isn’t what it was when I was twelve. It’s not like I can grab a guitar and play whatever I want. So it’s just a chance for me to go wherever I want in the country. It was cold and snowing in New York so I was like, ‘Alright, I’m going to San Francisco.’ So I flew to San Francisco with a guitar and I just played last night. And I’m playing in Orange Country tomorrow. I get to play wherever I want and whatever I want. You know what I compare it to? It’s like 50-year-old dudes who go to work all day and then on Friday nights they play in a cover band at a bar somewhere. It doesn’t matter that they’re not making any money. It doesn’t matter that nobody’s there. There’s no pressure. There’s no stress at all. They’re just loving that they can play music. That’s what this is for me.
What will you play?
Well at these shows I play some Bayside songs. And then I play some covers and songs that I’ve written that aren’t Bayside songs. I play “Duality,” mostly songs from the new album. I play “I and I.” I play songs that I think translate to acoustic well, because I always hate the sound of people playing rock songs on an acoustic guitar. Some songs are meant to be played with a band and some songs aren’t…I just play whatever I think sounds right.
What are “Duality” and “I and I” about?
“Duality” is about the two personalities that are inside everybody. The song ‘I and I’ sums up the theme of the new record. On the first record I was in more of a dark place. And it really reflects in the lyrics. There’s really not much sign of hope. On the second record there was kind of this, ‘Okay, I understand that things are going wrong and I need to figure them out.’ And then on this new record I’m great and I’m loving life and I think I figured out how to do that and why I’ve gotten here. And that’s kind of what ‘I and I’ is all about. Being happy where you are. I think too many people try to change the world to make them feel better. But if something’s getting you down or you’re at a bad place in your life, the way to move on from that is to change the way that you’re looking at it. Change the way you’re handling it. Not to change the thing itself. You can’t really mold the world to be a place that you want to be in. It’s really in your own head and you’ve got to show yourself a better way of looking at everything.
What’s next for Bayside?
We’re shooting a video for “Carry On” which we’re pretty stoked about. We spent a long time trying to decide which song would be the second single from the album. “Carry On” wasn’t the obvious choice. There were other songs we were talking about that probably would have had more mass appeal and that’s kind of what you go for when you release a single. But we just love the song. It’s probably the fastest, heaviest, most punk rock song on the record…And then at the end of January we’re doing a ‘B’ market tour, which I’m really excited about. When we first started playing shows we couldn’t get a show in Manhattan. Nobody would book us. We’d have to play in Queens or in Long Island or something. We couldn’t get a show in Philly. We’d have to play in Reading, Pennsylvania right outside of Philly. Or we couldn’t play in L.A. We’d have to play in Ventura because nobody would book us in L.A. Since we got our record deal and started putting out records and got a booking agent and all that stuff, we only play in L.A. and Manhattan and Philadelphia and stuff like that. So we really wanted to go back to all the places we used to play all the time.
Sing along with Anthony Raneri at the Knitting Factory on January 18.
Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly (1/17/08).
Bayside's "Duality" Video.
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