First of two parts
Four bands, one stage, one heck of a crazy night. Overwhelming? Maybe. Fun? You bet. The music fest entitled “SMASH Project 2012” just kicked off a sweltering month by bringing in four of the hottest rock acts from the US, joined by four of our local crowd favorites Chicosci, Typecast, Urbandub, and Slapshock.
Before the merry mayhem rocked the Big Dome last Thursday night, a press conference series was held for Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba, The Used and The Cab at Edsa Shangri-La’s E-bar, followed by an autograph signing session at the SM Sky Dome. Another fan meet was held at SM North’s The Block for Cobra Starship, who had arrived on the day of the concert. Oh, and the bands also had their own little meet-and-greet session with a certain boxing heavyweight.
Dashboard Confessional
A funny ‘confession’ from Chris Carrabba
“Are you nervous? I am,” Chris Carrabba joked, chuckling as he looked at the empty seats beside him. The frontman for Dashboard Confessional and Further Seems Forever has been in Manila before with his DC bandmates, but for his second gig, he’s flying solo under the spotlight. He seems as charming and chatty as he’d been two years ago, although maybe not as musically prolific—he admits to having had a serious case of writer’s block, which probably explains why there hasn’t been a new album out since 2009.
Luckily for fans, he’s found his muse again, and is cooking up some new (and maybe different) material. “I wrote a song recently, called ‘Burning Fuse,’ that I think is the turning point for where Dashboard’s going. It’s hard to describe what makes it different, but… it’s a different kind of melodic sense,” Carrabba explained. “I’ve also been writing a lot of things that I would consider not Dashboard, so I have to figure out where I’m going. Also, we’ve almost finished the new record for Further Seems Forever (his old band that he recently rejoined), which feels like it took forever,” he added, drawing laughter.
He might not have flinched when he heard the term, but for some indignant fans, him being unofficially dubbed as “the grandfather of emo” might be considered wrong on at least three counts. One, he’s only thirty-six. Two, “emo” seems to be the hardest word to swallow for most musicians whose songs do tend to be on the, er, emotional side. And three, he seems too bright-eyed and chipper a person to be typecast into the tormented “emo” profile that the hoi polloi have propagated.
Nevertheless, one can’t deny that Carrabba’s music does tug at one’s heartstrings as easily as his fingers dance on his guitar, a phenomenon that he’s all too happy to demonstrate for his captive Pinoy audience one more time. And sharing a stage with friends, no less. He’s actually played with all three bands before; plus, he’s good friends with Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta, whose former band Midtown gave Dashboard its first tour ever. Not to mention that Carrabba’s also playing with Typecast, with whom he’s become friends with and kept in touch since Dashboard’s first visit. “It’s amazing, like if you have all your friends from summer camp and you travel the world together for a day or two. It’s kind of how I look at this experience.” Yup, he’s definitely one happy camper, all right.
The Used
On love, life and Michael Jackson
“I love you.” This was first sentence that came out of frontman Bert McCracken’s mouth when the band sat for the press conference, and proceeded to greet every single person with it. We might expect those words from a ’70s flower child, not from a guy in a rock band. But, really, who’s complaining? Those of us who have spent the last decade finding solace in his cathartic screaming would have no problem saying it back to him (and many actually did).
Declarations of love aside, McCracken, guitarist Quinn Allman, bassist Jeph Howard, and drummer Dan Whitesides kept the atmosphere light with good-natured banter, impish antics and the occasional common expletive. Comedians that they apparently are, it’s also evident that they’re dead serious when it comes to their craft.
The four-piece outfit from Orem, Utah is known for angst-ridden yet hopeful anthems, most notably “The Taste Of Ink,” “Buried Myself Alive,” “Blue And Yellow,” and “A Box Full Of Sharp Objects” from their eponymous debut album released in 2002. For many fans who have grown up listening to their music, these are the kind of heavy, guitar-driven songs that they’ve drawn strength from since the band’s inception in 2001.
“For me, it’s an absolute pleasure to be able to hear those types of things from kids, [because] it saved me as well,” McCracken shared. “Music really does save lives, and just the fact that we’re able to do what we do and inspire people to stay alive, to dare to dream big, it’s beautiful.”
McCracken described their last album, “Artwork,” as “gross pop,” which is also pretty much how he calls the new record, “Vulnerable,” which is slated for worldwide release end of March. A couple of songs from “Vulnerable” have been released by the band early this year to whet the fans’ appetite: “I Come Alive” and “Hands And Faces,” with the latter employing some new voice effects (not Auto-tune, mind you). “We’re all huge fans of pop music from years and years past; the reason why I love singing was because of Michael Jackson… He really [had] good melodies, good songwriting. At the same time, we love the dirty, disgusting, gross aspects [of] rock ’n’ roll.”
In describing their rocky but fulfilling journey into fame, McCracken makes a simple declaration, and the fans hear it loud and clear: “We’re not a part of anyone’s scene. Growing up, we were never the cool kids, the rich kids, the popular kids, the jocks, the skaters, the punks. We always just kind of travel our own path and trailblaze into the future.” As far as fans as concerned, the band is exactly where it needs to be.
“Smash Project 2012” is brought to you by Dayly Entertainment and Dickies Philippines.
