Dave Bielanko (DB): I think that when our band started it was fairly unique in that we drew a lot of influence from where we were-sense of place and shit. I think we began to use the banjo because of the parades in Philly, and I think we began to look around and see Philly soul and doo-wop and things like that, and it was all just pretty natural and pretty naive, and we were also just pretty insane at that point. It was a beautiful time actually.
ML: What bands did you listen to growing up?
DB: I mean early on, when I was eight or nine, I was real into Kiss. And one thing leads to another. Kiss would lead to the Ramones, which would then lead to the Clash, and that might lead to Bruce Springsteen, who could of course lead to all other things. And then you start to look at the distant past as well-to blues and jazz. Yeah so, we went through some weird fucking stages. My brother Serge got violently into Genesis, you know, Phil Collins. So there was some weird shit, but then we just found some guitar-based white-boy rock that really spoke to us-mainstream bands like the Replacements, and then a million of more obscure bands. That got us to thinking maybe we could do this, maybe we could write songs.
ML: Now what do you listen to?
DB: Same shit man-it gets broader and broader as you begin to find more stuff. The first time we went to Europe, we found so much music that isn't available here. But at some point, especially when you're writing your own music, you've got to put the brakes on. Financially, we can't even afford to get into all the things we're interested in.
ML: When did you put down whatever you were doing and decide to become a band?
DB: It's debatable. There was no definite point when we became a "band." You're kind of a gang until you do something that you can sell. So we were kind of a gang until we made [our first] record, which was in 1998. ... For a long time, we had been playing in clubs that we weren't even old enough to be in. Then we made that first record and suddenly we found ourselves on the road. Man, that was liberating!
[Dave's brother Serge enters.]
ML: If the band had a mission statement, what would that be?
Serge Bielanko (SB): I would say that it would be to leave some sort of musical legacy.
DB: Yeah, I agree with that. I think I'd like to make either what would be considered a masterpiece of an album or I would like to have a song, like "Stand by Me"-something that just never goes away.
SB: Or, we could just cover "Stand by Me." [Laughs.]
DB: Honestly I think that you do have a subliminal goal of something that you're chasing, but it always helped me not to address it so much. We don't get in the van and talk about our "mission statement." So I guess we're chasing something, but we don't know what it is.
ML: You've drawn comparisons to a number of artists already in the rock and roll pantheon-but more than any other, I've noticed Springsteen. Perhaps that is because your characters and settings are very endemic to a specific place-to Philly as Springsteen's are to New Jersey. How does Philly figure into the band's future?
DB: Well, every time you release a record they make a bio, and information just gets recycled. I see things on our first press release that have followed us around. Maybe it's lazy journalists who aren't doing their research, I don't know. But I've found the Bruce Springsteen comparison to be especially appropriate. Bruce is someone who is really cool to us. Bruce-and not a lot of Bruce fans say this-but to me, Bruce was punk rock. You know, like all he's got is his guitar, like the Clash, sticking to his neighborhood and that's pretty much what we do. We also like to write our songs with a narrative in mind, and characters, and Bruce has always done that too.
ML: His earliest stuff is especially cinematic-albums like "Greeting from Asbury Park and The Wild" and "Innocent"-and I think that that could be said of your music as well.
DB: Yeah, cinematic is a good word. That's very important to us. It's very visual on some level. Not a lot of people attempt that, and at certain moments its not very fashionable, but it comes very natural to us.
ML: A few questions about song-writing: How do your songs typically come about?
DB: It's usually lyrics or an idea first, write a song about this or write a song about that or we think of a great title or a great line, as opposed to music. Serge and I both write, so if one of us writes a song, the other usually comes up and paints on that canvas.
ML: Poetically, is there anything that you can count on to call up the muse?
DB: That's a good one. Mornings are usually really good. Coffee's really good. Travel's really good. Only in retrospect it seems, but it's funny, exhaustion has it's own muse to it. And a lot of things are easier to write only afterwards. ... Definitely experience with everything. And of course, pot.
ML: What's your best live experience?
DB: I think that early on our best shows were almost exclusive to Philly because there was a great amount of love there. It's got a lot to do with the audience; we could feed off the audience, but lately those are, not in a bad way, but almost my least favorite shows. Now it's really exciting to go to London or go to L.A. or Chicago and play. Just because I know that the people that come out are not too familiar. Those shows tend to be the most daring and the most rewarding. I think that one thing that we really do well is we pour a lot of ourselves into the gig. It's sweat and blood by the time it's over.
ML: You guys are resting tenuously on the brink of popularity and stardom. What are your hopes in that regard?
DB: After you're constantly on the brink, you just start to lose interest a little bit, and I think that a lot of my favorite bands were not the most popular bands in the world, and that was a lot of the reason that I loved them. I could see us being really successful and I could see it the other way, and I'm definitely cool with both. It's weird, and brand new for me because I've never been in that situation before, but I'm kind of at peace with it. As long as we stay together-we're brothers, so there's a big solidarity there-and we make a decision to do something, I'm cool with it.