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	Interview with Brian Ireland and William Tell of Something Corporate Tabernacle -- Atlanta, GA November 10, 2002 Leah Weinberg: What's one question you guys are really tired of answering? Brian: How did your band name come about. William: Yeah. L.W.: I'll have to take that one off the list then. Brian: Okay, Andrew was having a conversation with Josh, our other guitarist, and he was like, 'What should my buddy name his band?' And he was like, 'Oh, he should name it something corporate.' And ever since then, it's all history. William: Like actually something that was corporate. It's kind of like a tongue in cheek thing. L.W.: What was it like coming out of the scene in Orange County? Brian: You know, it's funny, we get asked that a lot. I mean, I can totally understand why somebody would ask that question, but we're pretty removed from the whole Orange County scene. Like we're not friends with any of the bands that got big, and the only reason we are is because we've met them after we started touring. William: We weren't really involved in that scene, with bands like No Doubt. Brian: And Sugar Ray and Lit. William: When those bands were coming out, we were a little bit too young. Brian: I think we're just trying to do something different because there's a huge punk scene out there. Nothing against punk but it's not my first choice of music and I was kind of trying to stray away from that anyway. The first priority for me was to make a not-punk band. William: We just wanted to make sure that we weren't grouped in with everybody else. You really can't make your own way if you start out in that scene. L.W.: Did you guys make any big mistakes when you first started out? William: Hiring Brian. Brian: Yeah, pretty bad. William: I actually wasn't even in the band when he was hired, so I'm not responsible. Brian: I wasn't hired, alright. If anybody was hired, it was you. William: I was the last to join. Brian: Any mistakes? I don't know if they were mistakes because of the effect they had on us. I don't think we ever made any obvious glaring mistakes, but I also don't know if we could have because we didn't really have a direction. William: At that point, you do whatever you can. And there are certain things we would never do now, I mean, we opened a high school talent show, even though none of us went to that high school. On the same day, that afternoon, we played a junior high school on their outdoor stage. But at that point it was... Brian: A gig. We got so many fans from that. L.W.: How did you feel about making the jump to MCA? Brian: Really good. William: Pretty stoked. Everybody over there is great. Everybody at Drive-Thru is great. We couldn't ask for a better situation. It really wasn't much of a difference for us, you know, because we still get to work with all of the people we love and hang out with all of these bands. To be honest, we weren't on Drive-Thru very long before it happened, so it wasn't a huge change. L.W.: What was the biggest difference? Brian: Probably the money. I mean, they've just got a lot more money. We dealt mostly with MCA most of the time anyway because our recording was gonna be expensive. William: Because of the piano and touring with the piano and the type of equipment we had to get because of that. It wasn't like we were making a lot of money at first. We still aren't making a lot of money. It was the money to support that. And there's an orchestra on the record and that stuff costs a lot, a lot of money. So, that's the MCA side. L.W.: How does one go about writing a 9 minute song like "Konstantine"? Brian: Well, that was between pretty much me, Clutch and Andrew. We sat down and he had written a lot of stuff, I mean, a lot of lyrics and a little bit of piano. Really unorganized. I think I was there before Clutch was and we were kind of brainstorming on how to formulate the song, and then Clutch came in and we just went from there. There was so much emotion behind it that was just kind of kept playing. It was an amazing thing. It was fun. And every time we play it, even though it's that long, I love playing it. Dave Shapiro [drummer from Count the Stars]: I've got to compliment you guys on that song. I love that song. L.W.: Do you guys play it much at shows? Brian: When we have time, we always do. William: When it's an hour show or something like that, we do. But when it's these half hour or 45 minute sets, it's really tough to play it because it's a third of the set. Dave: Are you guys going to play it tonight? Brian: No, the set's too short. But we'll play it, we're actually going out in late January to early March with the Juliana Theory and we'll play it. William: I just found a quarter. See, major label, and I'm still stoked about finding a quarter. L.W.: What's one thing on the tour bus you can't live without? Brian: The tour bus. William: I mean we can, we've done it in a van, but man, it's nice to have somewhere to lay down. Our social scene revolves around the Playstation between Grand Theft Auto and Bond and sports games. Brian: In fact, Finch's tour manager and our merch guy are in the middle of a seven game series, $50 down on NBA. I think it's tied at 2 right now. We're gonna go to the game tonight. L.W.: What bands are you listening to right now? Brian: The new Beck. It's so good. It's so ironic that, I think a lot of us never got into punk until we got signed to a punk label. I never liked it. Any punk that I did like was just because I was so exposed to it in Orange County. William: What does that have to do with Beck? Brian: How I don't like punk rock so much as the other types of music. William: I want to make it clear to our readers at home that you weren't insinuating that Beck was a punk artist. Brian: No, no, no, no, no. And I was getting there. William: Sorry to interrupt. Brian: I would prefer music like the new Beck record. Dave: Do you mind if I ask them a question? L.W.: Go for it. Dave: I was actually wondering, are you guys influenced at all by, a band that I can really hear in your music is the Jayhawks? William: I don't think any of us listen to the Jayhawks. I'd like to now that you've talked about them. L.W.: What is your most embarrassing moment on stage? William: My voice has definitely cracked a few times. Brian: Andrew gets hurt a lot. William: It's always weird. Being on stage is like, not to make a really dumb cheesy metaphor but to make one, it's kind of like, you know when you're in love with a girl and you do some really weird, like cutesy things for her. And as soon as it's over, you look back and you're like, 'Wow, I did that?' But when you're doing it, you're totally into it, it feels right, she loves it, you love it. Brian: Aw, I know who you're talking about. William: Yeah. On stage sometimes, you do things, you're like jumping around and going nuts and it's perfect, it's what you're supposed to be doing, it's what being on stage is about. But at the same time, sometimes you're like, 'Whoa, I'm making a total ass of myself.' Brian: It's like getting a bear. William: Yeah, it's like getting a Build-A-Bear for a girl and then realizing, wow, what a bad decision that was. L.W.: So, who did that? William: Uh, I don't know. [Brian is blatantly pointing at William with a big grin.] William: Next question. L.W.: Um, so what kind of Build-A-Bear was it? William: Next question. L.W.: If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing right now? William: College. Brian: Yeah. I think no matter what I'd be involved in music. But, if I wasn't in a touring band, I'd definitely be in school. L.W.: 3 words that describe your band William: Something Corporate sucks. That's mine. Brian: Bad. William: Bad to the bone is four words, dude. Brian: Sonically lacking. William: Come on dude, let's give something positive. I gave a negative one. Brian: Uh, that's it. I'm not changing it. You can't ask us to toot our own horn. William: I'll toot his horn, if you want. Great guy right here. Really solid individual. Brian: Nice dude. William: Honorable this guy. Brian: Loyal. William: Funny. Brian: Humorous. William: He's run out of things to say about me. Brian: Good looks. William: Great looks. Related Links: Something Corporate Interview #2 Something Corporate-- North Review Something Corporate -- Leaving Through the Window Review Something Corporate DVD Review Something Corporate Show Review Something Corporate Show Review #2 Official Website