As he sets out on his second UK tour this year we caught up with Brian Fallon, the singer-songwriter currently making his own name away from his band The Gaslight Anthem. We caught up with him to chat about the state of Punk in 2016, Brit Pop and his love for England.

“I would hope the younger bands would take some sort of action in light of the current state (of American Politics) but that’s up to them. They need to do it, I can’t do it for anybody. I’m not in a Punk band now, I’m a guy who writes songs, that’s it, no label.” That’s what New Jersey songwriting legend Brian Fallon had to say to bands hoping to make their mark in the Punk Rock world since the election of Donald Trump in the USA. It’s the first topic that comes to mind in light of recent events. Now that the political stuff is out the way it’s time to get down to it.

Here is a man that has been named by  The Boss himself (Bruce Springsteen) as the man who would top the list as a stand-in replacement. And why wouldn’t he? His style of songwriting paints a picture that holds a torch to Springsteen’s. “I’m writing you from the beach where I’m living, I got a disco outside of my window, I love all these kids but the good times are killing me” – ‘Among Other Foolish Things’ from the record ‘Painkillers’. It’s lyrics like these that capture the imagination of Fallon, being able to turn a phrase that puts the listener in a situation; it creates a scene visually inside their heads. “I think I write what I see, so it all seeps into the style and influence. That’s not just true of me, any band with their ear to the ground, they always have some locale and street level imagery in the songs.”

It’s this kind of relation imagery that Fallon uses to connect with his audience and it has given him a mammoth platform. A hugely successful career with his band, The Gaslight Anthem, has led to this: his own name up in lights at the theatre entrance. But does it feel the same? “Life on the road has changed a lot because everything revolves around what I’m trying to get across at each show. The songs take different shapes from night to night. One song could be full on one night and completely stripped down the next night.” That ability to be completely flexible with this new project has allowed him to maximise his creative abilities without conceding to outside input. “It’s a lot looser of a thing because when you’re in a band it’s harder to move around like that. There’s not a rule book but bands have more structure because it’s not up to one person.”

Fallon headed into the studio with Butch Walker to pin these tracks down however most of the songs came together a long time before that. “I knew exactly what I was going for when I went in with Butch to record. We had fully realised demos and we had spoken a lot about how it would sound. I try to plan it out before I go into the studio because I don’t like to leave it to chance too much when it comes to recording.”

Since the release of the record, ‘Painkillers’, back in March, he has already returned to the UK for a run of shows and even crossed the channel between dates of his mainland European tour for a special pair of performances at Reading & Leeds. What is it about this small island that keeps bringing him back? “I like it here, my father was born here. In a world I don’t quite feel like I ever will feel normal in. I will say I’ve felt most comfortable in NJ and in some places in England. That’s true.” Fallon’s romance with the UK doesn’t begin and end there either. “I do like Oasis and Pulp a lot. I heard those records at crucial development periods in my life and I also had my first major, major breakup while I discovered those records. Mainly ‘Morning Glory’ and ‘This is Hardcore’ I would say they didn’t inspire this last record but I’m very inspired by them for the songs I’m writing now.” So we know there are more songs on the way and they have some Brit Pop inspiration. “The English bands always had rhythm incorporated into the music. I want to get back to that. Where a good song with a good story also makes you want to dance a bit. Not Dance music but music with a groove.”

So we now know what we can expect from Fallon’s future and while you might be disappointed it may not come with more of a Punk essence, he’s got his reasons. “I think I did the very best punk records I could make with The Gaslight Anthem in ‘Sink or Swim’, ‘The 59 Sound’ and ‘Senor and the Queen’. Those were my best punk songs that I could ever hope to do, to try to make new versions of what I think was my best attempt at that style of music seems disingenuous to me now. I love those songs so much but I’m not there right now. I have to follow whatever’s ahead of me, whatever that is.”

So there we have it, the past and the future. But what about the present? If you’re heading out to a Brian Fallon & The Crowes show in the next couple of weeks what are you going to get? “A lot of long, weird stories, approx 18-20 songs per night, and zero point zero encores. Oh, also there will be live wolverines.” Who said the art of showmanship was dead?

Brain Fallon is currently on tour in the UK, and you can catch him at the dates below.

November
20 LIVERPOOL O2 Academy
22 GLASGOW O2 ABC
23 DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
24 OXFORD O2 Academy
25 NEWCASTLE O2 Academy
26 WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun
27 PORTSMOUTH Pyramids