Interview with Terry Campbell of Christiansen

 

Christiansen is one of the latest band that signed to Revelation Records; after a full length on Eulogy, these four guys have just released an EP entitled "Forensics Brothers and Sisters!" on Revelation. They sound like a mix of Fugazi, Thursday and At The Drive-In, in a few words, they're a band you should keep an eye on.

Carlo Gironi: Can you sum up a story of how you met, how Christiansen got together and how you started playing?
Terry Campbell: We all played in Louisville bands growing up. Brandon (singer/guitarist) Brad (bassist) and myself (drummer) were in different bands growing up. No one knew who the fuck we were outside of Louisville. I guess we were in like the local hometown hero bands. You know, like the next generation. Robby (guitar) was in previous bands that were pretty well known. He played in The National Acrobat and By the Grace Of God. We were always friends so we kind of all merged and formed Christiansen... and here we are.

C.G.: Your latest release is "Forensics Brothers And Sisters!" What does the title refer to?
T.C.: "Forensics Brothers and Sisters!" is all about origin and your roots. Yes, yours too... Forensics is kind of an abstract way of referring to true identity, your fingerprints. People tend to stray from their true identities and mold to other things whether it's a group of "individuals" that they would like to associate themselves with or society as a whole. It's easy for people to just sort of go with the flow. We like to think of it as somewhat of a movement. Picture a large group of people with their fists in the air chanting FORENSICS BROTHERS AND SISTERS! ??

C.G.: Is the new EP your first release on Revelation Records ? I saw you have some releases on Eulogy?
T.C.: Yes it is our first record under Revelation we just signed with Revelation in the spring. We had a full length on Eulogy. It was a little different from what we're doing these days though.

C.G.: How did you get in touch with Revelation Records?
T.C.: Well I sent them the stuff that we were shopping around to labels which happened to be the EP and I followed up with them to see what they thought. Everyone at Rev was extremely into the band. They came to see us when we played at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, TX and they liked us even more after seeing us live. We talked to a few other labels, but we went with the Rev Empire... It was that easy.

C.G.: I know that each band member played before in bands like The National Acrobat, By the Grace Of God and The Enkindels: did some member play in other bands ? Do you think those experiences helped you to be in Christiansen or do you think you will do different things with the new band?
T.C.: Actually just our guitarist Robby Scott was in the bands that you mentioned. I think that any past musical experience contributes to future musical experiences and endeavors. We are definitely doing something new that we haven't attempted before, but it's only the product of our combined ideas.

C.G.: Your sound is described as a mix of "the passion of Fugazi, energy of Thursday and musicianship of At The Drive-In" - do you agree? How would you describe your music to a person that has never heard of you?
T.C.: Whoever wrote that has heard us and that's what they got from it. I'm sure that everyone will have their own interpretations of what we sound like. Usually the only way to describe to music to someone that hasn't heard it is with comparisons to other bands. It's always extremely awkward when people ask what we sound like. The best thing I can do is tell our influences, but I don't think that our sound has anything to do with our influences. Those definitely aren't bad bands to be compared to since they are/were popular. You know?

C.G.: What do you consider your main influences?
T.C.: We listen to lots of Refused, Sly, Radiohead, The Who, Dre, Led Zeppelin, Bjork, Shadow, Outkast. Pretty wide variety.

C.G.: What does the name "Christiansen" refer to? Has it got something to do with being Christian?
T.C.: Christiansen is the name of a person that you know. We all know her. We totally dig Satan.

C.G.: Talking of touring, I saw you just toured with bands like Elliott - how was that? I also saw you took part to a lot of festivals as the Furnace Fest, Krazy Fest, Skate/Surf Fest and many others; have you got some story or something you are pleased to remember?
T.C.: Touring is the best fucking thing ever. Especially when you're with bands that are cool. The guys in Elliott are longtime friends so that tour was so much fun the shows were good and the kids loved us. Doing the Fest thing is awesome too, it's kind of draining at times, but the after-parties are where it's at! We're looking forward to sharing the stage with Andrew WK at this year’s Furnace Fest. "Party Hard"

C.G.: What are your future plans? I read you shall start a tour with Moth and maybe Midtown, can you tell us some more about where and when or with whom you shall be touring ? Are you going to come in Europe?
T.C.: Actually Moth dropped off of the tour it will still be cool though. Coming up we're going out with the Weakerthans for a bit then Glassjaw and Boy Sets Fire and in Oct we're going with Autopilot Off for a while then we meet up with our friends Midtown. It's going good stuff. After that we're doing a few CMJ shows. We've discussed coming to Europe soon. We will probably make it over there by next spring if everything goes as planned.

C.G.: What do you think of the so-called "emo movement”? There are a lot of bands around named "emo", from Dashboard Confessional to Midtown. Do you consider Christiansen as being part of that scene?
T.C.: I don't think anyone wants to be considered emo. I don't really know what the word means these days. The word has evolved quite a bit over the years. I would have to say that we are not emo.

C.G.: You formed in 1998 - what do you think has changed in the hardcore/punk music scene since then?
T.C.: I think kids have become more "cool". Not in a good way... Everyone is so worried about what other people think about them. Self consciousness definitely isn't punk.

C.G.: Do you consider yourself involved in the hardcore or punk (or call it how you want) music scene ?
T.C.: I try to be... I work for a record label (Initial) so I feel like I'm doing my part.

C.G.: When I interviewed Garrison, they told me some Revelation fans were pissed at them because they - Garrison - did not play hardcore in the same vein of Gorilla Biscuits or Youth Of Today or DrowningMan, which are other Revelation bands. Are some fans pissed at you for this reason? Do you think being on Revelation means being "hardcore”?
T.C.: Revelation is responsible for some of the most epic hardcore releases in the early years, but now I think that they have gotten a lot more diverse. I think it's good that there aren't many labels these days that release exclusively one genre of music. I don't really care if people don't like us because we don't sound how they want us to sound.

C.G.: What do you think of straight-edge? Is some Christiansen member straight-edge?
T.C.: I think it's good if that's your thing. It definitely saved me from being a fucking idiot when I was in "High" School. Our tour manager XKennyX is Straightedge.

C.G.: Speaking of music, can you tell us what is in your cd-player? Are you listening to something particular and/or have you got some recommendations of bands to check out ?
T.C.: The new Glassjaw CD is great and we're really excited that they asked us to go out with them... We're also listening to Pretty Girls Make Graves a lot; they're good friends and an amazing band.

C.G.: Is there some record that impressed you in the last few months? And is there some record you are waiting with impatience to come out?
T.C.: We're all waiting for the new Queens Of The Stone Age record. I've heard it a few times in clubs, and it sounds so good and Dave Grohl is playing drums on it!

C.G.: Any final comments?
T.C.: Buy the new record + come to our shows + dance. Thanks for this interview.