Florida alt-rock legends ANBERLIN are set to return to Australia in 2011 for the Soundwave Festival, on the back of their very recently released fifth album Dark is the Way, Light is a Place. 

Anberlin’s popularity has exploded since the release of their previous album New Surrender, and their grace and accessibility has made them one of the most loved bands on the scene. While he was in Houston, Texas, I had the pleasure of speaking with drummer Nate Young about touring Australia, what to expect from the new album, and what it was like working with legendary producer Brendan O’Brien.

So you’ll be coming to Australia for Soundwave next year, which you also played in 2009. What was your experience like last time?

Oh man, it was incredible. I mean, that was the first year we’ve done it, and it was just insane. We were on main stage which was such an honour, and just crazy, we couldn’t believe it. Yeah the crowd was just incredible and there was just so many people, I don’t know if we’ve ever played in front of that many people that consecutively, I think we played a total of 7 shows or something like that. Yeah, they were just some of the biggest shows we’ve ever played. So it was just an honour to be able to be there, and to play with such big bands like Nine Inch Nails and Alice In Chains and such. So yeah it was really good, we’ve always said it was one of our favourite tours we’ve ever been on for sure.

Yeah I saw you guys in 2009 and you had a massive crowd.

Yeah it was crazy, it was definitely unexpected.

Do you prefer these really big shows, or do you like smaller, more intimate shows?

I think there’s good stuff about both of them. We obviously don’t mind playing in front of that many people (laughs), but you know it is fun to also play small shows and just have it be really intimate, and just have the people there that are really stoked to be there, because you know if it’s a smaller place you know that everyone that’s in there is pretty much there to see you. And so that’s a really cool thing. But yeah, I think we enjoy both, we don’t like one less than another by any means.

You’ve toured Australia quite a bit, am I right?

Yeah, we’ve uhh, man I feel like I’ve lost count! I think we’ve probably been there like six times now?

Do you think Australian fans differ from your US fans in any way?

Well the first time we went there was a long time ago, we were barely established even as a band in the States, and they really like, accepted us. More than we’ve ever had any fans accept us, so I think that might be a big difference. The first time we were over there fans were just so nice and were so into us. I feel like our fans in Australia are more, in a good way like, rabid. Like they’re just way more stoked to see us, they’re way more excited at our shows, I mean some of our favourite shows have been in Australia. If you ask anyone in the band where their favourite place to tour is we all say Australia! It feels almost more like home than more places we play in the states which is really cool.

That’s awesome! Now you guys spend a lot of time touring, I read somewhere it’s like an average of over 200 shows a year…

(laughs) Yeah!

So what do you do to relax when you’re not touring?

For me, personally it’s just being home, and just being with my family, my wife and stuff. That’s just the best way to really have a good time when I’m off. I think it’s because we tour so much and work so hard that when I am home, I try not to do that much, except just spend time with the people I want to, because it’s so rare that we have that time. I mean some people like to stay busy constantly and they’ll try to think of other things to do when they’re home. Not like saying I sleep in past noon and don’t do anything all the time at home, but I think that’s the thing I love to do most, just kind of chill and be with family.

So the new album (Dark is the Way, Light is a Place) is about to come out. I’ve had a quick listen to it and it’s great, but it definitely seems to be moving in a new direction to the past few albums. Was this a conscious decision for Anberlin or did it kind of just happen?

I definitely think it was a natural progression, but I think it’s a little bit of both. We did sit down and kind of ask ‘what’s our vision with this?’, this is our fifth album and we don’t want to play out the same album you know, five times in a row. We wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page. 

I think especially now that it is a conscious effort to just write music that we all love to listen to, what we are into. You know, make sure our influences really come across in our music, which I think didn’t come across as much- not downing on our other records by any means- but I think as we just got older and grew together we all wanted to head in a more I guess mature, darker direction than we had in the past. But hopefully it is more of a natural thing. I think that after playing together this long and having it be our fifth album it is more of a natural progression than a conscious effort for sure.

So you worked with the legendary Brendan O’Brien (Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, AC/DC) as your producer for this album, what was that like?

Oh man, it was insane, none of us ever thought we would ever work with such a big producer, let alone Brendan O’Brien! Yeah it was unreal, he lived up to the hype completely. So many people in bands say he’s one of the best and he truly is, and it was probably one of the best experiences as a band that we’ve ever had.

How did you end up working with him?

Actually we were looking and it was kind of like, ninth hour in a sense, we didn’t really know who we would be doing the record with, and we were getting close to writing a lot of the songs for the record. Then he actually contacted us, I think around about when we heard that he was a fan or something through his daughter. Like his daughter had showed him us before, so he kinda contacted us and then it just happened perfectly and two days later we met with him in Atlanta, and right away there was just this connection, and we got along. By the end of the like, hour conversation he was like ‘alright well this is good, so we’ll have your people call my people.’ (laughs) So it was really cool the way it all kind of came together.

Do you have any personal favourite tracks on the new album?

Yeah, I’d definitely say my favourite song is Pray Tell.

Oh yeah I loved that!

Yeah, I just think its one of the more different songs we’ve written, it’s my favourite for sure.

Why did you guys choose ‘Impossible’ as the lead single?

I just think that overall we just thought that it was a really good first single, it just had that kind of sound, I think it was a good representation of the rest of the album. It wasn’t too heavy, it wasn’t too soft. I think if we’d done one of those heavier or softer songs it wouldn’t have been the best representation. So we just really liked it and thought it was a good solid song to feel out the rest of the album.

Anberlin’s sound has really evolved over the past 8 years since you first released Blueprints for the Black Market. Have your musical influences changed a lot over that time?

Yeah definitely, I mean it’s been over 8 years now so I definitely think a lot of us listen to different stuff, but there’s still like the staple ones, like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin and stuff. But I definitely think that we’ve all kind of grown and what we listen to has changed a lot. Especially over the last couple of years I feel like I’ve been trying to find different stuff that I normally wouldn’t find, even if it’s old stuff I didn’t know about when I was younger.

Do you all listen to the same kind of music, or do you all take influence from different places?

Yeah, it actually definitely pulls from all over the place. I mean our guitar players listen to metal, which I don’t listen to at all (laughs). I’d say I listen to more chilled stuff. I mean, not to be all like ‘ohh experimental and arty stuff’ but I definitely don’t listen to the same kind of stuff as the rest of the guys. I think mine’s probably the most out there, and the other guys they kind of all agree on the same kind of stuff. It’s definitely all over the place for sure.

Which of Anberlin’s albums are you personally the most proud of?

Oh man, probably this new one I’d have to say. I feel like a lot of bands say that, just with whatever album’s the new one, but if you had of asked me this before this record I definitely wouldn’t have said our last record (New Surrender). So yeah I’m definitely being honest when I say this one for sure.

What would you be doing if you weren’t playing music?

Probably something to do with photography, I mean I still do that right now, but I probably would have pursued that even more. Just taking pictures, like old film and old cameras. It’s definitely a hobby and a kind of thing I do on the side, but I probably would have done that more full time.

Are you guys working on any new material yet?

Not yet, we’re kind of taking a break from that, we worked pretty hard to write this record. But we always are thinking of different stuff, and writing in our heads, coming up with ideas and writing notes. But we probably won’t start that until early next year.

What’s the writing process like for the band?

With this record it was a little different because we all did our parts and we all actually wrote on this record which hasn’t happened in the past. We just kind of come up with ideas and throw them around, we’ll email it back and forth and record little parts here and there, like pro tools or garage band or whatever,and then send it to each other and we’ll all just add parts. Some of us will be like ‘ohhh I’m not really feeling this’ so we’ll just move on or go from there. But once we have a good batch of ideas then we get together and kind of jam them out and see which ones we’re feeling and not, and then we just cut them depending on whether we like them or not. It just kind of goes from there and gets whittled down to 13 or 14 songs we end up recording. Its definitely a very smooth process at this point because we’ve been doing it for so long. Now that we’re all writing more it’s been different, but its been good for sure.

Has anything changed within Anberlin’s dynamic as a band within the last album?

I think, like I was saying since we’re all writing now, I think that’s changed things for sure. You can tell a lot from this record from our previous record, that was more one or two of the dudes writing, now that we’re all throwing in our parts I think that’s definitely changed the dynamic for sure. I think you can tell, musically and even stylistically you can hear stuff that’s pulled from all different kinds of places so that’s changed the dynamic for sure.

Yeah I think the new album sounds a lot more cohesive and polished as an album compared to your older stuff.

Definitely, well cool, thank you very much!

That's alright. I suppose I should wrap it up there, thanks so much for talking to me it’s been lovely!

Yeah of course, thank you!

Good luck with the new album, and I’ll see you at Soundwave.

Alright, see you soon!

Soundwave tickets are on sale now and selling FAST! http://www.soundwavefestival.com/