American band Senses Fail will soon be back on Australian shores for a July 2019 tour. With a genre resurgence and highly regarded new album the timing is just right for the band to return to the land down under. We caught up with vocalist and songwriter Buddy Nielsen ahead of the tour as we reminisce about those emo days.

 

Firstly how’s dad life going for you?

 

To be honest a lot of it’s a blur. You do the same thing every day but your kid keeps growing up. So you are very aware of the passing of time but you don’t really have a day to day memory of anything you’re doing. It’s nice and relaxing to be at home I like the switch of having a really normal home life then every couple of months going on tour doing the opposite of that.

 

Congrats on your newest album If There Is Light, It Will Find You. Looking back now a year later you must be stoked with how it all turned out?

 

Fuck yeah, anytime you’re able to put out a record that recaptures similar success to the height of your career you are stoked that it’s even possible. It’s really special because in the music industry you don’t get too many multiple opportunities. You kind of just get one and it either continually works out or things slowly fall apart. For us to have our moment in the early 2000’s then not have the same success but come back and have a large success again I am very aware of how special that is. I’m super happy with life right now and stoked to be able to continue to make music. There’s not that many bands that get to do it this long. I’m very fortunate.

 

Do you think the 2004 version of Buddy would believe 15 years  later you’d have 7 Senses Fail albums out?

 

I don’t know I’ve been so many different people over the years but 2004 Buddy was still somewhat optimistic. The goal was always to do this forever but the goal and how things work out are always different. There were many times that the band had almost not lasted, when it’s going like this you would really regret quitting. But it’s hard in those moments when it’s just not working, when you’re out on tour and it’s just not working the way you want it to. You are really relying on the generosity of people to think what you are doing is important enough to spend money on. It’s a weird situation.

 

For your newest album how did your lyric writing process work?

 

At this point I kind of just freestyle lyrics. For this record I wrote all the music then I would make melodies as I go. I would have a good line then keep it in the demo and come back and build a song around it. I get ideas for concepts then I will build a song around that concept. I keep all my lyric notes on my iPhone I don’t really write things down anymore. For the next record I have a song about generational trauma. About generationally going back as far as I know my family has dealt with different levels of trauma. It’s an idea I got at 2am so I woke up and wrote it in my phone.

 

There’s so much meaning behind your lyrics but there’s also the other aspect that some fans might just like Senses Fail for the music and not delve into the lyrics. Are you cool with people just liking it for the musicianship?

 

Oh yeah because that’s important too. You can write great lyrics but if they don’t sound pleasing people wont like it. It’s also important when writing lyrics to have things sounding good. There’s so many songs that I have really never listened to. If you got back and listen to a big song like U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” I might be wrong but I thing it’s about a protest in Northern Ireland. I could be wrong about the meaning but if you are singing it and hear the line you sing along having no real attention to what the songs about. I feel like that happens all of the time especially with big songs. Really good songs have really good lyrics but also lyrics that you don’t have to pay attention to. That’s what makes them so universally regarded as a listenable song.

 

I get the feeling filming the video for “Elevator to the Gallows” would of been a pretty fun experience?

 

Yeah that was a really good time. I don’t smoke weed. But it seemed like one of those moments where you have this idea when you’re high and you think it’s an awesome idea. You never think it’s going to actually materialise but then you turn it into a video and it all works out and it’s really funny. That’s kind of how it went.

 

It’s not too long until you are back in Australia. Guessing you are stoked to finally get back down here?

 

Yeah I need to get my airline miles up so that’s why we are doing the Australian trip (laughs). It’s a big shot in the arm with your status in your airline (laughs). I’m super stoked to get back there. We’ve always had a really good fan base there and have always had a very fun time in Australia. The first time we ever played Australia was Taste of Chaos in big arenas in 2006. It was right after our biggest record came out so Australia always has a special place in my memory.

 

There was a huge explosion in the mid 2000’s with the buzz genre word of emo. What was it like being a part of all those bands blowing up?

 

It was a wild ride. I’m surprised no one has done a really good documentary on it. It’s just like the eighties had metal, nineties had grunge and the emo genre has it’s own story too. It was crazy to be a part of it, when it was going on it just felt normal to be playing in fucking arenas to 20,000 people. When you are young it’s hard to have perspective on things but now I know that it was not normal. It was a very specific moment in time and wild to be alive at that time being the popular music of the era. I would say I was probably the least happy at that time with my life but as far as the band goes it was a crazy experience to live. It was the quintessential rock star experience going from nothing to playing in arenas on the other side of the world.

 

Since the new album harks back to a bit of a Let It Enfold You vibe is there one song from that album you still gravitate towards?

 

We play so much of that record and we have forever but I would probably say “Lady in a Blue dress”. That song I feel is still good and fun to play. Even though lyrically it’s cringe, musically and the way the melody goes it’s very fun to sing.

 

With Warped Tour celebrating 25 years do you have a favourite Warped memory?

 

One time we were in Dallas and it was going to rain. Right as we went into the breakdown of one of our songs it started pouring rain and lighting right on queue. It was great because it looked super cool and you are stoked but you are not getting wet. Everyone was getting fired up in the rain while I was on stage getting to enjoy watching it from a very odd perspective.

 

(interview by Christian Ross)