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shedding labels and other dog problems

Everyone makes mistakes. Simon Rex did gay porn, Nicole Richie drove on the wrong side of the road, Britney Spears makes music and The Format made crappy albums. But people learn from their mistakes, well at least The Format did. Although early attempts left a sour taste on my sometimes pretentious palate, their recent album, Dog Problems, has given me hope for these once-again up and coming rocksters. Featuring creative and epic tracks with hints of Americana and dark undertones, this release exudes freedom from, not only the short leash provided by now-absent suits and record executives, themselves. 

This album allowed the talented duo an almost out-of-body experience. They took chances and they did it, not by reinventing the wheel, but by taking the pure elements of their separate inspirations and combining them seamlessly. While most bands mourn the ever-so-common getting “dropped” by their major labels, these boys throw parties, and for good reason. The split inspired not only the lyrics of the album, but the way they write it; with a no holds barred attitude. EU caught up with Nate Ruess to talk about the new Format.

EU: You guys are making a pretty bold move by allowing your recent album, Dog Problems, available for free download online. But you’re right, not a lot of kids are buying music right now. How are the downloads coming along and have you seen a difference in the attendance so far?

NR: It’s made a crazy difference in ticket sales and merch sales, which I guess is the next best thing. We had 45,000 album downloads in the 2 weeks it was available, so I guess that either means we made a bad record that no one was interested in or it means people are really cheap. 

EU: I’ll be honest, I first heard about you guys a while back and wasn’t impressed at all by your earlier albums. When I cracked open Dog Problems I was blown away. Besides the absence of the dark cloud (Atlantic Records), what happened there? When did you guys get so good?

NR: Haha. I agree. I guess you can compare it to an artist making a finger painting in kindergarden. It’s something you look back and laugh at but it might show early promise, we feel like every record should be different and better than the last and the time in between writing and recording is spent listening to music and becoming sponges of all different sorts of genres, so I guess that happened the same way between Dog Problems and Interventions and hopefully with Dog Problems and the next record. 

EU: Ruess, you waited a year before reflecting on your break up, which ultimately inspired the album. What were some of the benefits of waiting, and why does the album sound so damn cheery?

NR: I think we were just so happy making the record that all of my personal problems only reflected on the lyrical end of things. Now that that’s out of the way, I wonder what I have to do to Sam in order for him to make some dark music. Shoot his dog? 

EU: You guys have been on the road with bands like Dashboard Confessional, All American Rejects and Switchfoot. How does life on the road now differ from your past experiences?

NR: It’s a lot more comfortable right now, because we put in a lot of hard work in a van and doing a lot of tours with bands we might not have liked musically, we now have the luxury of traveling in a bus with crew members. It’s expensive, but I like to think that putting in the time with some of the aforementioned tours justifies it. It’s also nice now because we have the ability to pick and choose what tours we would like to do. 

EU: Most bands mourn after being dumped by labels, you guys party. Care to explain?

NR: Labels and major radio are so 1998.

EU: What was it like working with Roger Joseph Manning Jr.?

NR: A dream come true, but that was the case with so many of the musicians that helped out on Dog Problems. We were fortunate to work with a ton of people we were in awe of and its really an amazing thing to see them not only respond positively to the music but to also add something of their own to the songs that we wrote. One of the most gratifying moments of my life. 

EU: Tell me a little bit about this “Gatorade Dance.”

NR: It’s in the grave. This is the first I’ve been reminded of it in a year and I can’t even remember how it went, but most of my dance moves are the same, so it can’t be too hard. 

EU: Did you boys ever think you’d bounce back so gracefully after going through the behind-the-scenes hell most bands experience while battling with major labels?

NR: Those things should never affect anyone’s music in a negative way, and as long as you have the music you’re comfortable with then there is no point in letting a bunch of outdated people with outdated thoughts alter your goals.