Anberlin’s Deon Rexroat on Never Take Friendship Personal, Christian labels and coming back to Australia

Anberlin’s rise was never part of a grand masterplan. Formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002, the band had signed to a label and released their debut record within a year, quietly laying the groundwork for what would become one of the most enduring catalogues in modern alternative rock. But it was 2005’s Never Take Friendship Personal that changed everything and pushed Anberlin onto a global stage, cementing their place in emo history.

At the time, their label- Tooth & Nail Records was known as a pseudo-Christian label, which did cause some slight confusion among listeners who couldn’t reconcile their expansive, emotional rock sound with the stereotypical expectations of Christian music. Despite never explicitly positioning themselves as a Christian band, Anberlin’s records were sold in Christian bookstores and embraced by church-going teens who found something deeply resonant in their music. Over the years, Anerblin would reshape and reinvent themselves, eventually moving away from the label while holding onto the values of honesty and connection that always defined their songwriting.

Now, over two decades on, Anberlin are widely regarded as one of the greats, and their record Never Take Friendship Personal is the reason why. This February, they return to Australia to headline An Emo Extravaganza, joined by Hot Chelle Rae, Cartel, Broadside and This Wild Life. The tour will see the band perform Never Take Friendship Personal in full- a milestone moment for a record that perhaps means even more now than it did in the mid-2000s.

Ahead of their return, I sat down with bassist Deon Rexroat to reflect on the album’s legacy, the band’s evolving identity and a new chapter that sees Memphis Mayfire’s Matty Mullins stepping in as Anberlin’s touring lead vocalist.

Mullins’ addition had potential to feel risky, but Rexroat says otherwise, “The first time we met was on a Yellowcard tour back in 2013… it was like he had always ben there. Everything about our personalities and humour just melted right together. It was reassuring that at the very beginning of this experiment that it could work out- it felt great.”

Beyond fitting in personally, Mullins brings a renewed sense of drive and perspective. “He is such a driven person. When he decides he’s going to so something, he 100 percent tries to make that happen, and that’s very much the way we’ve been throughout our whole career… It was also awesome to get outside perspective with him coming in- you get some fresh perspective and some new ideas, so it’s great.”

Never Take Friendship Personal was born far from the global stages it would eventually command. “Recording that album was absolutely a big moment in our life.” Rexroat recalls. “Where we came from- Winter Haven, Florida- it’s a very small town. The fact that a label in Seattle, Washington, heard our music and wanted to sign us blew us away.”

Recording took place across seven weeks in Capitol Hill, Seattle, with the band living above the studio in what was then a thriving arts and music district. “There was a bar a block away, it was called the Cha Cha. You’d go in there and see William Goldsmith from Sunny Day Real Estate or Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie- these people that were not real people to you as a kid from Winter Haven.”

Revisiting the record years later brought the memories flooding back. “There were definitely a lot of emotions that came back… just remembering the way it felt to get to record this album and be really proud of the music and just hope that the fans liked it. And they really did. The fact that 20 years later, people want to hear us play this album in full- it’s an incredible feeling.”

Australia, in particular, has a special place in Anberlin’s story. “Australia in 2005 was the first time our band had ever gone outside of the continental United States.” Rexroat says. “We were on the other side of the world in Australia and people knew the songs and they were singing them back to us every night.”

As Anberlin prepare to return to Australia under the banner of an “emo” festival, Rexroat acknowledges the term’s evolution. “When we started, emo bands to me were bands like The Promise Ring, Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids. Those were also bands that were a major influence on us… we didn’t really feel like what we were writing sounded like those bands, we just consider ourselves a rock band. But then “emo” started being applied to bands like New Found Glory, Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday and My Chemical Romance, so it really was like, ‘okay, I guess that’s the way it is now.’”

The same could be said for the conversation around Anberlin’s faith-based associations. On having the label of a Christian band, Rexroat says, “It was definitely thrust upon us just because Tooth & Nail was always a pseudo-Christian label.”

Rexroat first learned about Tooth & Nail when he stumbled across an MXPX record at a Christian bookstore, which led him to discover more of the label’s music. “It was this weird kind of Christian scene. These bands were like- they’re Christians, but they’re not Christians. They don’t sing about God and Jesus. They actually write lyrics that speak to me as a teenager… Getting signed to Tooth & Nail was a dream for us. We were kind of prepared that that label was going to be thrust on us, that we would be known as a Christian band. But we never said that, you did. We were just dudes that really wanted to play music. Our personal beliefs have evolved over the years, as they do with anybody- whether you’re Christian, non-Christian, whether you’ve remained a Christian or moved on from Christianity, that’s just what happens over the years, but the band is the same.”

That desire to play music, regardless of the many labels that come along with it, is so apparent in Anberlin’s current era. They have this infectious, reignited passion for what they do, along with a newfound appreciation for the older music, and this is exactly why I wouldn’t miss An Emo Extravaganza for the world.

For tickets and info, click HERE.

Header image credit: Supplied (Bigmouth PR)