Senses Fail.

BY KELDA MANLEY.

 

‘I don’t mind being called an emo band’ reveals Senses Fail’s Buddy Nielsen ‘because it means something different to me.’ On tour in the UK the frontman takes time out to speak to The Record Journal before their show at the Manchester Academy.

Sat outside in the British sunshine he’s delighted to be back in England. ‘We always come here in the winter so it’s nice that’s it’s nice out’ he grins. ‘It’s different. Because we’ve been here in the summer twice and it was awesome because it was really nice out.’

Tonight the band play a buzzing Academy choosing songs from all their albums. ‘We have so many songs now we try to play the ones that people like the most’ explains Buddy. ‘You get a couple of people who are like ‘I wish you’d play that song.’ You want everybody to be excited about the songs because when you do that, play rare songs it gets like 10 people really excited but then there’s like 300 hundred kids who don’t know the song so it’s not necessarily the most fun song to play live.’

 

 

Buddy is incredibly relaxed throughout our interview. Not one to over-talk his bands ambitions or achievements his discussion of their career is limited. However, he clearly relishes debating issues in the music industry.

Due to the bands emotional lyrics joined to anthemic choruses Buddy is clearly used to his bands association with the highly publicised word ‘emo.’ ‘I don’t even know what emo means anymore’ explains the frontman. ‘It is emotional but that’s the problem with the word emo. What’s considered emo is not emotional at all. It’s devoid of emotion. Now it’s a bunch of pop bands or pop bands that have screaming parts but their lyrics are void of emotion. So I wouldn’t call it emo. I’d call it void, anti-emo because when I started listening to emo it was legitimate genre of music.’

While many people believe the social association between ‘emo’ and suicide are a dangerous mixture Buddy has a different take on the topic. ‘There’s all these news stories about kids killing themselves and stuff’ begins Buddy. ‘I think any music that can cause any sort of danger is relevant because it’s important. I think it’s important for music to be abrasive and make people think even if’s it’s about people killing themselves because of listening to depressive music. It’s  not true but I feel it legitimises the music as being something more important than background music.’

Not that Buddy is trying to suggest the implications are real. The myth that music influences peoples actions in life is far from what Buddy is trying to convey. ‘Nobody kills themselves because of what music they listen to’ he states. ‘That’s bullshit. I think any smart person realises that but then I think it also makes the band seem more important. Like My Chemical Romance, there was all this shit about them [in the UK]. It makes them seem more important because there are more people out there who genuinely care. What they do that legitimises them other than just this emo band that wears make-up and has this theatrical stage show. It makes them seem like a real entity that just a bunch of guys.’

 

 

So don’t expect Sense Fail to change their lyrical direction anytime soon. ‘All of [our songs are from the heart]’ explains Buddy between cigarettes. ‘It’s what music is supposed to be about. Just pretty much my life.’ While he understands the bands lyrical content draws criticism it is not something he worries about. ‘It’s really easy to criticise’ he smiles ‘because it’s honest and I think people don’t like anyone who is truly honest. Most people would rather be bullshitted or lied to. They wouldn’t admit it but they’d rather have the comfort of being ignorant than knowing the truth but yeah it’s easy to criticise someone that is honest about what they do. You can criticise a band with people who aren’t honest and it’s not from the heart but it’s not going to mean anything to them. Criticism only matters when the person you’re criticising is affected by it.’

Senses Fail will be back in the UK later this year following a stint on the Warped Tour. They’ll begin work on new material towards the end of the year. But Buddy’s one aim left for the UK? To get to an Aston Villa match.

 

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