Interview: Straylight Run
by Frankieh Kolbegger
Straylight Run had nearly disappeared from everyone’s radar, when they came out with their new album, The Needles The Space. Now they’re back on the map, dodging obstacles on all fronts, from being dropped from their label to the terrible weather that comes with winter touring. I got the chance to catch up with Straylight Run’s John Nolan and Shaun Cooper in Toronto at The Mod Club on January 30 for an interview before the show. This is what they had to say.
Frankieh: So how’s the tour so far for you guys?
Shaun Cooper: It’s been good, we’re only a few days in, so, you know, we’re still getting used to everything but everyone’s cool, we’ve known the Bayside guys for forever… so, um, yeah, it’s been really good so far. Today was a little hectic, we left at 2 AM last night from New Jersey and we just got here about half an hour ago [at 6:10 PM]. So. It was a long time in our truck.
Frankieh: I can imagine. Was it border problems or…?
Shaun Cooper: No, no, just, uh, bad weather.
John Nolan: And there was a bridge out that was like the main bridge to get into Toronto? Something like that, I dunno.
Frankieh: That’s pretty crazy. Gotta be fun. So how do you guys keep busy if you’re in the van for like fifteen hours?
Shaun Cooper: Well luckily we have a driver with his big truck so he was the one who had to handle everything. So we just watched Rambo movies.
Frankieh: [laughs]
Shaun Cooper: And I’m not kidding. For like five hours we watched Rambo.
John Nolan: [laughs]
Shaun Cooper: And we slept a lot, so we’re well-rested.
Frankieh: So it’s all action flicks on tour then?
Shaun Cooper: Oh no, we like to switch it up every now and again but today was just Rambo day. I was in the mood for some Sylvester Stallone. So. Made me happy.
Frankieh: Do you occasionally get in the mood for, like, The Notebook, have a good cry in the back of the van…
Shaun Cooper: Every now and again.
John Nolan: Shaun usually takes those types of movies into his bunk to watch by himself…
Shaun Cooper: [interjecting] I keep it private.
John Nolan: [continues]… so no one can see him crying.
Shaun Cooper: Mmhm.
Frankieh: What are you guys listening to? Do you listen to music a lot on the road?
Shaun Cooper: [mumbled name], Crosby, Stills and Nash.
John Nolan: Yeah, we’ve been listening to a lot of that. Shaun’s been manning the mp3 in the front lounge of our little truck. He’s been listening to a lot of punk rock as well.
Shaun Cooper: That’s only when I get drunk. I get all amped up and I gotta put on The Lawrence Arms and rock out… by myself…
John Nolan: [shakes head, laughing]
Frankieh: What’re your favourite drinks?
Shaun Cooper: Heineken. Heineken and Patrón Silver.
John Nolan: Oh, that’s a tough one… [pauses] I, uh… Heineken would be my favourite beer, I think. But you know, “drinks” covers a lot of ground so it’s really hard to narrow it down. I’d have to go through and tell you in every category of drink. There’s no way I could possibly single it out. There’s too much.
Frankieh: You guys have been having a lot of problems with your label lately, from what I’ve gathered.
Shaun Cooper: [nods]
John Nolan: Yeah.
Frankieh: Do you think this is a culmination, sort of, of everything that’s wrong in the music industry?
John Nolan: I think it’s an example of everything that’s wrong with the music industry. It’s sort of our experience, and not everyone has the same one, but I think, definitely, there’s quite a few bands who do have a similar experience. So it’s just one example, I think, you know? We kind of had that very typical bad major label experience that you hear about. It was almost the kind of thing you didn’t think necessarily really happened, that obviously as or as blatantly as it happened to us.
Frankieh: So the new Radiohead release [In Rainbows]… is that a way that the music industry is going to be changing in the future?
Shaun Cooper: Certainly. I think what they did was really cool. Made them some good money. So.
John Nolan: And I think since they were such a big band and they took the initiative to go ahead and do it, I think it’s going to give a whole lot of artists the confidence to do the same type of thing. Bigger artists, and smaller ones too, probably. I think we’ll start seeing things change in the next few years.
Shaun Cooper: If they don’t, fuck it, the industry’ll be dead. So be it.
Frankieh: Do you think CDs, vinyl… will all be obsolete? Is it all going to be mp3-buying online?
Shaun Cooper: I think CDs will become obsolete pretty shortly but, I don’t know, records… people have some attachment to vinyl, which is really cool, so I think those will still keep selling as collector’s items. And it’s so cool to have the artwork all nice and big and stuff.
John Nolan: CDs aren’t much of a collectible item, I feel like.
Shaun Cooper: Yeah, they’re a cheap piece of plastic and it’s all flimsy…
John Nolan: Vinyl seems to have more value to it… I think there’s always going to be people who want to collect it, like Shaun said. I agree with that.
Frankieh: For a show, what’s your dream line-up to watch?
Shaun Cooper: The Beatles would be fun to see, I would imagine. With Radiohead, too. Throw Wilco in there, maybe.
John Nolan: [nods along] Yeah.
Frankieh: So The Beatles, Radiohead, Wilco… one show, best ever?
Shaun Cooper: It’d be up there, I’d hope!
John Nolan: I would say so. It would be about the best thing… I mean, just to see The Beatles alone, you know?
Shaun Cooper: Yeah.
John Nolan: It would be enough for me. I can’t even imagine how amazing that would be.
Frankieh: It’s really weird to think that now, some of the shows you go to will be those talked-about shows, like the first Sex Pistols show at CBGB’s.
John Nolan: Yeah, that is interesting. And it’s hard to know which shows those will be in the future, you know, which ones will have that…
Shaun Cooper: Yeah. [puts on strange pseudo-English accent] Y’nevah know. Y’nevah know.
John Nolan: [using same accent] Y’nevah, evah know. [speaking normally again] It’s a funny thing.
Shaun Cooper: [normally] I like that.
Frankieh: How was recording The Needles The Space different than recording your last EP, or the album before it?
Shaun Cooper: It was produced by Straylight Run so we didn’t have anyone else in there, trying to control the direction of the record. So that was something we had going for us.
John Nolan: We did a good portion of the album outside of any real studio. We just set up recording gear in different places. So that was different too. And because we didn’t go into real studios, a lot of times we took a lot longer with things.
Shaun Cooper: Which could have been a detriment, we’re not sure.
[Everyone laughs]
Frankieh: Well, I think it’s a pretty good record.
John Nolan: Well, thanks… I think what happened was we took a really long time messing around and then kinda got lost for a little bit. And it was good to have that time at the end – we actually had time to go away from it and come back, and I think that time of going away and coming back was really crucial. If we’d had to end it at that point where we took that break… the record would have been much worse, I’d say.
Frankieh: What were your biggest influences on the record?
Shaun Cooper: I think it’s more a culmination of different influences, from music we grew up with to music we’ve been listening to more recently. So I don’t know. It’s really hard to gauge that, because when we go into working on songs or whatever, we’re not thinking about it, it’s just this amalgam of influences that influence every single facet of our playing and our writing. So it’s really hard to say, “We liked this band at this particular point a lot, and we wanted to emulate them,” ’cause that’s not what we want to do. We want to be Straylight Run, not a light version of someone else who we think is great.
[long pause]
John Nolan: Right on.
Frankieh: So what are you guys reading, if you’re reading anything? Or what was the last thing you read?
John Nolan: I’m actually reading Moby Dick right now.
Shaun Cooper: Do you feel like a man lost at sea?
John Nolan: [laughs] Yes. I can really relate to it.
Shaun Cooper: I saw that in your bunk, I was like… [strokes chin] You are looking kind of sailor-esque with your big beard these days.
John Nolan: Going on tour is kind of like going out on a whaling vessel. Into uncharted waters.
Frankieh: To spear a great white whale?
John Nolan: (grins and laughs) It’s not really like that at all.
Shaun Cooper: No.
John Nolan: I can’t even remember if I read the book or not when I was younger. I don’t think I did, now, because when I’m reading it, I’m pretty impressed by it, and nothing is reminding me of anything. I’ve actually been really surprised at how good it is. I kinda read it because I felt like it was something everyone should read, and I’m really liking it. It’s really good.
Frankieh: I think I read an abridged version when I was six or seven… I can remember the first line, but I can’t remember the guy’s name.
John Nolan: “Call me Ishmael.”
Frankieh: “Call me.” doesn’t have quite the same effect.
John Nolan: Call me Gary. [pauses] Not the same. Call me… Jerry.
Frankieh: You guys are getting pretty popular online, or have been for a while… are you very aware of the internet fanbase?
Shaun Cooper: I feel like we’re aware of it because we used to be way more popular on the internet a few years ago. Now we’re slightly less popular but I think because of this whole major label thing, and how blunt we’ve been about it, and how openly we’ve discussed it, kids are discussing us more… maybe kids that lost track of us for a little while are hearing about us again because we have some drama going on that we’re pissed off about.
Frankieh: If you’re aware of the internet community, do you know about fanfiction and slash? What are your thoughts on that?
John Nolan: I’m not sure what the fanfiction is… is that when people make up stories about people in bands or famous people?
Frankieh: Yeah. I’m not sure if you guys know about this, but there’s a lot of it involving you.
John Nolan: I know that there’s lots of people that are really big fans of our band or who like to do that kind of thing. Or like to go into online communities and pretend, for fun, to be someone in our band or in another band. I personally think it’s really weird.
Shaun Cooper: I find it very creepy and I… [pauses] just the idea that anyone would be fascinated enough by little old me to make up stories about my possible life.
John Nolan: Yeah, or to create these elaborate scenarios that are totally fictionalized but like… still revolve around our lives. I don’t know. To me, it seems like a colossal waste of time, mostly. And I know, like I said, some people are fans of our band and I’m sorry if it offends people that I say that. But I can’t help it. I mean, if any person who does that, if they could stop for a minute and think about what it would be like to have somebody doing that to them, I feel like it would change people’s opinions. But people don’t have that ability, to really think of it that way. They think of people in bands as somehow being different than them, and kinda being up in the public eye, to have anything done to their lives…
Shaun Cooper: I mean, what shocks me the most is that I feel like my life is so mundane.
John Nolan: [laughing] Yeah!
Shaun Cooper: There’s nothing really cool about it, I’m not a very popular figure in any sort of music scene. I just play bass in a band that, you know… tours! And for someone to have any idea about like… I dunno. It’s weird. It’s not like I’m Paris Hilton and I’m all over the internet, going out and seeking fame.
John Nolan: Yeah, I guess. Well, what are you gonna do?
Shaun Cooper: Well, I didn’t put myself there. I’m not walking around in front of paparazzi with my celebrity girlfriend or something like that…
John Nolan: Not wearing underwear when you go out to the clubs.
Shaun Cooper: Yeah, and my little short skirts.
John Nolan: You always wear underwear.
Shaun Cooper: I make sure I put on my best thong.
Frankieh: So, speaking of the internet, there’s a rumour circulating that the song “Skinny Mean Man” by Say Anything is about you, John. Thoughts, comments?
John Nolan: I’ve never heard the song, I don’t know anything about it, really.
Shaun Cooper: Max would know a lot better than us.
John Nolan: You could ask him, he could probably tell you. But I have no idea. I’ve heard the same rumour, and I have as much of an idea as anyone else. And I’m not interested enough to look into the song, and check it out. So. Whatever.
Frankieh: What kind of shows do you like to play best, when you’re on tour?
Shaun Cooper: (grinning) Big shows. Where they’re well-attended.
John Nolan: Good shows?
Shaun Cooper: Well-attended headlining shows. But those are unfortunately few and far between.
John Nolan: We do really love being able to headline, whether it’s at a small club or a big club… to be able to headline, and have a packed out show of people who are all really excited… it’s the best thing for us. Better than any kind of big support tour that we could get or any kind of support tour. There’s just something about having our own show, and having all our fans out there, and the excitement that that generates, it’s really something.
Shaun Cooper: It’s very rewarding.
Frankieh: Any last things you want to say? Comments to our readers?
John Nolan: Hello!
Shaun Cooper: Thank you for reading this.
Frankieh: Well, thanks so much. Have a great set.
John Nolan: Thank you.
