Interviews: Gatsbys American Dream

Punknews.org's Jimmy Olsen imitator Mark Rowan grabbed the ear of Nic Newsham of Gatsbys American Dream and sat down with him for a chat recently. The two talked a bit about literature, tourmates and ice cream. Read More for all their scintillating conversation.
The two also talk about their upcoming followup to last year's Volcano.

There are a lot of books mentioned in the song writing, what are some of your favorite books?

If you get too much of us you’re going to die and all your arteries are going to get clogged.
I’m a huge Charles Bukowski fan. Probably one of my favorite books is Ham on Rye. I like to read a lot of his poetry. Right now I’ve been kind of into biographies and autobiographies. I just read the Johnny Cash autobiography, which is awesome. I read the Mötley Crüe autobiography. Even if you don’t like that band it’s the most entertaining read ever, it’s fucking insane. So, that’s what I’ve been down with lately.

Where do you come up with the themes for the albums and songs, like Volcano?
It’s just things you think about, everyday experiences. You can get inspired by reading books; you get inspired by hearing records, get inspired by seeing a movie. I think movies really inspire a lot of what we do.

Where did Volcano come from?
Volcano kind of spawned from Bobby [Darling, guitarist] saw a special or read a book on Pompeii and saw that as a metaphor for our lives. Then we all started to brainstorm and talk about these ideas, we all wrote lyrics in that way of thinking that we’re all evil inside of us and it could all come crashing down at any second. That’s kind of how that came.

What’s the concept or idea behind this tour "Screaming is for Babies"?
I think Starting Line named it that because it’s like the anti-screamo tour. None of the bands are really screamo on this tour; it’s just that we all sing. Nothing too deep.

You’re going on a headlining tour soon with Horse the Band, how excited are you for that?
Totally excited. Honestly, the tour is cool because we can play as long as we want; we can play all the songs that we want. I think we kind of get spoiled with a tour like this, where half the venues are House of Blues. Now that we’re headlining, we’re going to go back to playing really small clubs. It’s going to be awesome, but at the same time we’re going to be like, "What this club doesn’t have a green room? I have no where to sit on my ass." We’ve been really spoiled this tour.

I just talked to Minus the Bear today and they are on tour with Thursday, about mixing genres at shows…what do you think about that? Especially with you guys going out with Horse the Band.
Well I think what’s cool about a band like us, a band like Minus the Bear. We play pretty weird music; we can go out with the Starting Line and then go out with Horse the Band. That’s cool because we’re not pigeonholed, and we’re not just typecast into a certain genre. So we can do whatever we want. It’s one of the nice things; it’s one of the good things about doing it the way we’ve been doing it.

What is your most anticipated release of 2006?
It already came out. It just came out, Saves the Day. Best shit ever, that record is incredible. The first time I heard the whole record I was sitting next to Chris Conley, he played it for me. I was just like, "Fuck man." [laughs] "You know what you just did? This record changes everything. This record is just amazing." I’m such a huge fan.

Is there any work on the next album yet?
Completely finished.
Really?
Yeah, we did it on Christmas break. So yeah, it’s done.
When do you think it’ll come out?
Maybe this summer. We haven’t even gotten that far. Not even all the songs have titles. The artwork is just being worked on right now by a friend of mine. For the most part, it just hasn’t been mixed or mastered. All the songs are done and recorded.
Is there a title for the album yet?
No, we haven’t even gotten that far.
We’re not pigeonholed, and we’re not just typecast into a certain genre. So we can do whatever we want.
If Gatsby’s American Dream was a flavor of ice cream what would it consist of?
If we were a flavor of ice cream….that’s such a cheesy answer…I was going to say Neapolitan cause we have a little bit of everything. That’s so stupid, I don’t know. Probably just the chocolaty-ist, most fatty thing, Gatsby’s American Dream is just bad for you. [laughs] It’s really bad for you, if you get too much of us you’re going to die and all your arteries are going to get clogged.
Cigarette butt ice cream.

What is your American dream?
Kind of like the classic one. I’d love to have a family and a white picket fence. I’d love to be like 55-65, overweight, sitting in a recliner with my grandkids rolling around the ground. That’s awesome, that’s it for me.

That’s it, anything else you want to say?
Buy the new Saves the Day, it’s amazing. Everyone go online and listen to this band called Weatherbox. It’s the best shit you’ll ever hear. I don’t know if they’ll even come out and do anything, but it’s this kid’s demos right now. He filled in and played guitar for My American Heart for a couple months and then he recorded some demos, he’s so good. I think he plays everything, but the drums. There’s a song called "The Clearing", you’ll love it.