INTERVIEW: Braid Is Back With Its First New LP In 16 Years

By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 14, 2014 7:30PM

Last week was one we almost thought would never come. After 16 years, emo, post-punk quartet Braid (formed in Champaign, now based in Chicago) released a new album.

After years of on-again, off-again activity—including one-off shows and a four-song EP—the band is signed to Top Shelf Records through which they put out No Coast last Tuesday. Rather than an awkwardly out of place "reunion album," the dozen new tracks are as consistent and captivating as ever. Nearly 20 years removed from their first release, the members of Braid have no trouble displaying playful aggression ("Damages!") or raw emotion ("Pre Evergreen") on No Coast.

The band is currently on tour supporting its new release but Chicagoist was able to dial up frontman Bob Nanna while he was on the road to talk about the album and the band's past and present.

CHICAGOIST: It seems like things are going really well with No Coast so far. I've been reading a lot of reviews and it seems like everyone really likes it so congratulations on that.

BOB NANNA: Thank you. It's been exciting to see people's reactions to it.

C: Were you nervous for those reactions at all after taking 16 years between albums? Or did you feel you were happy with No Coast and the world could embrace it however they wanted?

BN: Yeah, that's pretty much the attitude that we decided to go into with. We've sort of obviously learned some things in the last 16 years in other bands and we've just grown up. We realize at this point we have very little control over what happens but what we can control is just making sure that we put all of the time and energy that we have available into the writing process and the recording process. That was the most important thing for us: making something we worked hard on, something we were proud of and something we thought would fit into the Braid catalogue.

C: I've read a lot about the concept behind the title and the writing but I don't know a lot about the actual recording process behind it. Did you record here in Chicago?

BN: The album's producer Will Yip really wanted us to track the drums in his studio in Philadelphia. So one long weekend, Chris [Broach, guitar/vocals], Damon [Atkinson, drums] and I went there and tracked all of the drums there. And then the next week Will came to Chicago and we tracked everything else. Then he took it back to Philadelphia to mix it. So the bulk of it was done in Chicago.

C: The album is really interesting to me because it's so upbeat and it's a great summer release but a lot of the tracks have a subtle wintery sound to them, especially "Doing Yourself In." So, I'm wondering if it was it written with a specific period of time in mind.

BN: That's interesting. It is sort of all over the place. We did do the bulk of the actual writing in the winter. That's why it's weird to see promo photos of us with heavy coats on when the album came out in July. "Doing Yourself In" in particular we worked on in late November of last year. A lot of the songs, though, had been written or at least started to come together in the summer of last year. Chris and I do writing sessions pretty much every week so there are some summer songs on it—literally songs that were written in the summer. It is a little all over the map seasonally.

C: I know you personally have put out plenty of music since Braid's last full length but what has been the biggest difference between releasing No Coast and Frames & Canvas.

BN: Well, the whole music landscape has changed a lot. That's to be expected though. So, even though we had recorded and released stuff on our own or with other bands in those 16 years, when we wanted to do a full-length record in 2014 and we had a label like Top Shelf who is very much involved with younger bands and a younger generation of fans. So it's just a different mindset, for better or worse, for the older folks like us who are used to going to the record store or listening to radio shows and stuff like that.

What's great about Top Shelf is that they completely understand the process by which people want their music right now, how they want to listen to and consume that music. It's kind of a learning process for us to see some of the cool things that they brought to the table in terms of Braid—what we see as very innovative ways to promote or market.

C: With every aspect of the release process I'm sure.

BN: Yeah, but it's not only digital stuff. They made Braid flags for us to sell. They actually have cool merch that people like these days. We wouldn't have thought of doing a flag so they did a flag for us. It was cool.

C: I love that kind of stuff.

BN: Hang on just a second. [Speaking to Todd Bell, bass guitar] ]Todd, did we sell any flags yesterday? ....There were no flags sold yesterday [laughs].

C: Do you have an official running tally of how many flags you've sold?

BN: We don't. This was only the second show of the tour and we just got them in yesterday. Two shows ago was a festival and Top Shelf had their own tent so I don't know what they've sold flag-wise [laughs].

C: Let's talk about the tour. I know you did a show here with The Smoking Popes here last month but these have been some of your first shows in a while so have they been going well? Are you mostly playing new songs or getting back into some of the old stuff?

BN: Oh yeah. We're seasoned in the way that—other than being a little sore after the shows—we're so into it and we click so well. Getting back on stage, even after a long absence, is just so much fun. Last night we played three songs we've never played live before so we'0re slowly introducing some of the No Coast songs into the set.

C: Very cool. Braid is so interesting to me because even though the band has taken breaks but it's never felt like a definitive breakup. I know a lot of bands that have been going at it for 20 straight years tend to get tired of playing the same songs they wrote two decades ago. Since you've taken breaks in between is it still fun to go back and play those older tracks?

BN: Yeah, definitely. A good part of that is when we play live we're playing to a new audience that maybe hasn't ever heard "A Dozen Roses" live, a song we've played hundreds and hundreds of times. So, that helps a lot to make it special to us every single show. We can always add little flairs here and there to keep it interesting.

You mentioned The Smoking Popes show at the Double Door. They play songs that were written in 1991 or 1992 and they still rock 'em out. It's just a great inspiration for us.

C: They're great live. They seem to do well no matter what audience you put them in front of. You're back here on July 20 at Township?

BN: That's correct. Two shows.

C: When was the last time you played a venue that size here in Chicago?

BN: In Chicago? I don't know. The last times have been at the Double Door, Reggie's and the Metro so it's been a long time. We've done a bunch of really small secret shows within the last few years in other cites, like small warehouse shows. We really haven't done anything like that in Chicago though so I'm excited to play Township.

C: I hope you don't mind if I get off topic for a moment but I think the work you do with Downwrite is very cool and I was just recently listening to the new Say Anything record that you contributed vocals to. Were you at all inspired to do Downwrite based off Max Bemis's Song Shop?

BN: Well, it's funny. I knew some individual songwriters had been doing stuff like that but I really wasn't familiar with Max's until we started really making Downwrite a thing. It's funny, I just saw Max the other day because we both played the same festival. We became friends when I sang on his record but I haven't really had a long enough conversation with him to get into all of the details of the Song Shop. It was an idea that Mark Rose (of Spitalfield) and I had. We thought, "Everyone else is doing these song shops so if we're looking to make some extra money while we're home or if any fans want more songs, let's just make one for you and me." We thought about it a little bit and thought, let's just make it more of a community. Then we could have all of these other artists come on the website and make their own profiles and use the service in the way that's most comfortable to them.

So that's basically how we started it and when we were looking for artists to get on board we looked through our contact lists and Matt Prior was one of the first on my mind. We called him and he was on board. Basically with the three of us and a few others we launched last February and it's been growing ever since.

C: It's a great concept. The Reader's feature on Downwrite really put a personal perspective on it.

BN: Oh yeah. I could have done without the Cupid photos but that's okay.

C: Well, I know sometimes as an artist you have to compromise yourself just a bit.

BN: [laughs] Yeah, they were fun.

C: Was it Matt who introduced you to Max? I thought that was a really unexpected collaboration.

BN: Yes, I met Max through Matt. They were touring together last year and Max was having a bunch of guest vocals on the new album and said he would love it if I would be on one. I told him, "absolutely." I wasn't a Say Anything super fan but I knew I liked their songs so I was excited to be a part of it. Since I recorded on the song though I've been really, really getting into their catalogue.

C: Awesome. Sorry for the offshoot. Let's get back to talking about the tour. Are the Township shows here the end of this tour?

BN: That actually starts a second leg of the tour. There's actually only five shows on this leg—all in the Midwest. We're playing Township and then driving to New Jersey to do the East Coast.

C: Braid has had to limit their touring in the past due to lack of time and other band member responsibilities. Is this it as far as the touring in support of No Coast goes?

BN: Well, this will be it for the summer but we still have some things brewing for the fall. Todd is a teacher so when school starts he's kind of out of commission until Christmas break. if we do anything in the fall it will be very quick one-off shows. We might do a little more in the winter.

C: Nice. Well, it's great to have Braid back on the scene—not that you ever truly left. I have one last question that I'm almost nervous to ask because I don't want to jinx anything. I was reading an interview that you did with The Reader about a month ago...

BN: Oh, I know where this is going.

C: [laughs] So, I'm curious if it looks like those wishful hopes of charting with the new album are going to happen.

BN: I don't know. We have one of the top ten best selling flags at Top Shelf right now. No, no, I know the folks that are doing the radio promotion are really happy that it got added in a lot of places this week so we're optimistic. We're doing our best. Whatever happens I'll be happy with and we'll get through it.

Tickets to Braid's back-to-back shows (4 p.m. and 7 p.m.) at Township on July 20 are still on sale for $15. Purchase them through Township's website. Order 'No Coast' (and Braid flags) via Top Shelf Records' website.