Anberlin – Interview – 06/09/04

Nicole sat down to interview Stephen Christian of Anberlin on June 28, 2003 at St. Andrew’s Hall in Detroit, MI.

How’s this tour going so far? Well, to be honest.. we’ve been touring since January… we were touring with Relient K and Mae, then we did another tour, and now we’re here. So far, this is the best tour to date. Everything about it is great, the people, the bands, the venues.

Do you remember what your first show was like? Yes, it was horrible. It was with a band called Copeland, and there were about 8 people there.

What bands have influenced you through the years? The Smiths, the Cure

What bands would you like to tour with? the Smiths

What got you guys through the hard times? The brotherly love and our parents.

Do your parents support the band? Yes…no. Well, they do, but they don’t understand the whole indie scene. I was telling my mom that we got a tour with Fall Out Boy and she was like “Great! Who are they?” So it’s hard for me to explain it to her. But they support the fact that I’m following my dream.

Do your lyrics come from personal experiences? Yeah, they all do. I just write down my thoughts and they just come to me lyrically.

What’s Naive Orleans about? That song has great lyrics, it’s probably my favorite. Yeah, it’s my favorite too, but we never play it live because it’s so slow.

If you weren’t in a band, what would you be doing now? Well actually I’m just finishing up my degree in business, so that’s what I’d be doing.

What’s the best thing about being in a band? You get to tour the world for free

What’s your favorite song to play live? “Love Song” because everyone seems to know it.. and it’s not ours.

What was your first job? Domino’s Pizza, then Pizza Hut. Both pizza places. After awhile, pizza doesn’t taste that bad.

What’s the last show/concert you’ve been to? Actually when we were in Dallas, TX, we had a show with Relient K, and Cursive and the Mars Volta were playing down the street from us, so after our set we ran outside to see cursive play, it was awesome. The club let us in for free, because they knew we had just played down the street, and I guess they co-owned the place we worked at, too.

Favorite CDs of the moment? I’d have to say “1 AM”, I just heard them on the radio at a coffee shop, check them out.

Favorite video game? The Sims, Mike Tyson’s Knockout

Most embarrassing CD? Oh man.. that’s tough… did you know that our drummer has Justin Timberlake’s CD? But… I’d probably have to say Sade, but she’s good.

Most embarrassing moment? Well, when we were in Montreal, I thought it would be cool to jump off of one speaker onto another one. Well, I fell off of the speaker and fell flat on my face. Then I asked the crowd how to say “you suck” in French, and they were all screaming it at me.

Boxers or briefs? Boxer briefs

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

The Simpsons or King of the Hill? The Family Guy, then King of the Hill

Hilary Duff or Lindsay Lohan? Who’s Lindsay Lohan (Mike explains)… ohh okay. Well neither because they’re both underage.

George Bush or John Kerry? Ahh, I’d have to go with Bush because for one, I’m Republican and two, John Kerry never answers questions (imitating Kerry)… What’s your favorite color? “Well, you see here, colors are brilliant, they’re everywhere. I wish everybody could see color.. next question?” I wouldn’t want that for four years. At least Bush knows what he wants, and when he makes a mistake, he admits it. Kerry was all about going to war when 9-11 happened, and now he’s all anti war. If he would just make up his mind, he might have some followers. Bush is lesser of the evils, so I’d have to go with him.

How much time do you spend on your phone? I’d say about… 45 minutes

Tell me something that nobody else knows. Well, once when I was about 5 or 6, my cousin was in a beauty pageant, and I thought, it would be cool to scream really loud when she came onstage, because judging was based upon the crowd response, so I screamed really loud.

Anything else? To anyone not at the show, where are you? Anyway, we hit the studio in July – August, and we’ll be back on tour in September, so we’ll see you then!