Fragment meets: The Drums

New York’s hottest new band are exactly that, their raw style of guitar driven pop has caused audiences worldwide to sit up and take notice. I caught up with singer Johnny Pierce half way through the North American leg of their first major tour. The tour itself kicked off with the news that bassist Adam Kessler was to quit the band due to fatigue.

From the off, it was clear that any previously stated sadness and regret had stagnated. I asked Johnny if he was prepared to talk about the issue:  “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about [Kessler] him or that it’s a sore subject, he just isn’t worth talking about.” Moving on…

Having such a catastrophic event [Kessler’s Departure] happening to the band the eve of a major tour, was there ever a period you thought of postponing the live dates?
Well there was a period of about 60 minutes where [we] weren’t sure what we would do, but we never once thought of moving the tour. There was a sense of sadness which quickly turned to anger, and that quickly turned to relief and inspiration. We called our friend, Tom and asked him to play guitar for the US tour and he already knew the songs and quickly learned the parts and we started the tour on time and with so much hope and excitement. 

Did it feel that the performance and energy of the live shows were affected in any way?
Everything clicks. It feels alive and real again. We are all peddling in the same direction now.

How has your relationship developed with Surfer Blood during the tour? Have they been a support throughout the process?
We have been good friends with those boys for years, so it was cool to see both of our bands sorta take off at the same time and to be able to tour together has been a cool thing. They went through the same thing, losing their bass player literally the same week Adam left us, so in a way we have been supporting each other. 

When your tour reaches the UK there will be a much bigger fan base waiting for you than your last tour. Has the scale of enthusiasm for your debut album come as a surprise and are you apprehensive in how to follow it up?
Well, we have been touring literally non-stop for the last year and a half, so it is nice to see people coming out to our shows in bigger numbers. We’ve begun work on the new album already, and of course we want people to like it, but we have to like it first, ya know?
 
Your album is influenced by life in Florida. Will your next album reflect your new home, New York?
I think our new album will reflect our lives in a more tangible way. I would imagine New York will have a real part to play in that. It is my favourite place in the world, after all.
 
Are there any aspects of living in Florida you particularly miss?
None at all. We love playing shows there, but I could not live there, if only for the fact that it would be revisiting my past. I like to move forward.

Your sound and style has been cited as part of a general trend in a return to post-punk. Do you see yourselves as part of this, or part of a more progressive movement?
I don’t really know what is going on in the music world really. I never have been one to follow current trends. I’d like to think we are part of something good, but I guess that’s for others to decide. We just record songs that we think need to be made.
 
Finally, being on the road for so long can be demanding. What do you do to unwind?
If we get a day off, we usually walk around aimlessly. We’ve been gone for so long, that we become chemically restless and can barely sit down. It’s a strange life.

Words: Danny O’Kane
http://www.myspace.com/thedrumsforever