http://www.soundspike.com/news/tour/2351-the_airborne_toxic_event_concert_news_tour_dates/
Story by Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
SoundSpike Contributor
Published June 14, 2011 07:04 AM
There is an understanding between The Airborne Toxic Event and the band's fans that live shows will be a give and take, with ticketholders and the five-piece act dancing, sweating and moving.
"If you go see your favorite band and they're just standing up there and doing their thing and playing their instruments, it can be a little boring," drummer Daren Taylor said in an interview with SoundSpike.
"We sort of have an understanding of that, that what you give to the crowd, you get back. The more energetic we are on stage, the more the crowd gets involved, which helps us. I get the question a lot -- just from fans -- how are you able to sustain that enthusiasm night after night? It's just for that reason. If you give the crowd 110 percent, they're going to give it back to you."
Taylor said there's never a time when The Airborne Toxic Event is "phoning it in." What fans are seeing is genuine enthusiasm. And thanks to the rabid response for The Airborne Toxic Event's second album, "All At Once," this jaunt has been the band's most intense. It is playing more shows than ever and doing more press.
"It's been demanding a lot from us," he said. "But it's going really well. I venture to say it's going great, actually. We've been having some really great responses at our shows. We've sold out probably at least 80 percent of the tour. It seems like, with every night that passes, you kind of expect one of the crowds to not really be into it. But that's not been the case at all on this trip."
"All At Once" debuted at No. 17 on The Billboard 200 chart upon its release in April. Taylor said he's not really sure why this one struck a chord with listeners. But he's willing to hazard a guess.
"I could say it's the really relatable lyrics that Mikel [Jollett, singer] puts out," he said."He's a really great storyteller. The thing I really appreciate and like about his songwriting, particularly his lyric writing, is it's such a direct approach. You can easily understand what we're talking about. You can be there with him on it. You can feel a part of it when you listen to it. Like you listen to his lyrics and you think, 'Yeah, I've been there before. I definitely know what he's feeling.'"
Musically, Taylor said, he believes it's just a good time. Like the live shows, the songs make fans want to move in some way.
"We have a track called 'Welcome to Your Wedding Day,' which is a really driving song," he said. "It has a cabaret swing feel to it; as the drummer in the band I'm always kind of a sucker for those types of things. Once that was brought to the table, I was like, 'Yes, OK, cool. This is going to be a fun song to play' -- not that any of them are not. We never really sort of have done anything with that feel before. It was nice to [veer] away from the 4/4 dance rhythms into this really swinging, driving kind of punk song."
"All At Once's" overall lyrical theme is change, Taylor said.
"Five minutes before this happens you're one person, five minutes after you're completely different once that change has come," he said. "There are some other themes. There's a nod to the service people who are going over to fight an otherwise unjust war because of their sense of duty, and their drive to define us and themselves. They're going over there on false pretenses. That's essentially one song. Like I said I think the overall theme would be change."
For "All At Once," The Airborne Toxic Event was aided by producer Dave Sardy, whom Taylor called "quite sarcastic, but in a loving way." Sardy's credits range from Devo to Bush to Brendan Benson.
"Before we started recording the album, we were doing preproduction where he would sit in with us and he would listen to our songs," Taylor said.
"At one point -- I can't remember exactly which song it was that we were playing -- he said, 'OK, now I want you to play that song like a band that's ever played together before.' Anybody else you'd probably be like, 'Wow, fuck off.' He has this way of presenting things in that sort of way where it's like, 'Wow, OK. I see what he's saying.' It's just the way he does things. He's really great. He really pushed us to go further and try a little harder, and just get the best performance out of us as possible. It was a really great pleasure to work with him. His previous credits are kind of undeniable. He's done albums that all of us have listened to or actually really love, and worked with bands that we all appreciate and like very much. It was really cool and a great experience."
Los Feliz, CA-based The Airborne Toxic Event, who recently appeared on "Gossip Girl," was formed in 2006 and now includes Taylor, Jollett (also on guitar, keyboards), Steven Chen (guitar, keyboards), Noah Harmon (electric bass, upright bass, backing vocals) and Anna Bulbrook (viola, keyboards, tambourine, backing vocals).
Named after a section of the book "White Noise" by Don DeLillo, The Airborne Toxic Event quickly found success after the release of its song "Sometime Around Midnight" from its 2008 self-titled debut. Taylor said he was stunned that that song made a name for the band.
"It's a song with no chorus," he said. "It's just this song that repeats itself and has a really steady build. Again, I think I have to lend that to Mikel's lyrics in there. Guy or girl, chances are likely you've been in that position before. I think people were just really able to relate to that.
"More than that, you really feel the lyrics that Mikel is singing, which, to me when I listen to music nowadays, it's hard for me to feel what people are singing about. Maybe it's my own narrow-mindedness or whatever. I don't know, exactly. Every now and again, despite what its genre is, you hear the lyrics and you really feel what he or she is singing about. I feel like Mikel was able to write a song and express these lyrics in a way that whether or not you like the type of music that we play, it still grabs you and it takes you to that place that you may not have wanted to be. But like I said, every one of us has probably been at some point or another."
Taylor said The Airborne Toxic Event will be on the road through the end of the year. The itinerary that has been released so far is at right.
"We are really enthusiastic to play to audiences that are willing to come out and see us," he said. "It could be very easy for any band to phone it in and go up there and play the shows. But we really love what we're doing. We feel extremely fortunate to be in this position, which a million bands would kill for. We don't take that for granted at all."
