Q&A: The Dangerous Summer

Thursday, 15 July 2010 12:04

The Dangerous Summer, known for crisp melodies and energetic live shows, are touring all summer and stopping at Gainesville’s 1982 Bar on Saturday, July 17. We caught up with frontman AJ Perdomo about tour life, writing and how Lil Wayne influences his singing.

By Curt Devine

Tell me about summer touring. Is it one long party for you guys?

Yeah, pretty much. Every night it’s a different city. Especially this tour—it’s awesome because we are headlining. A bunch of kids have been coming out to the shows, so we party afterwards and then just move on to the next town. There are lots of long drives and lots of it requires no sleep. We get really tired out, but we are so used to doing the all-summer-touring thing, so it’s a lot of fun.

You’ve had a lot of praise for 2009’s “Reach For The Sun.” How do you feel about the record now that a year has passed since it was released?

It’s crazy. The response we got over it was great, and people at shows have been immensely into it. It’s shocking to see how many people the record has affected. We’ve met a few people at shows who got tattoos from the album. It doesn’t get any better than that. When people truly love your music, it’s awesome. It’s cool to be able to play every song on the record for this tour. Three of them we had never played live, so it means a lot.

The album’s lyrics have a lot of personal tension in them. Talk to me about the writing process.

We write all the music at practice, and then I slowly work on lyrics, working them along with demos of the music, and then I work on the melody. It’s a process, but it works out in the end. I write some days and then I have off days when I don’t use anything I write and just trash it. But when the right part comes, I know it right away. That’s why it’s such a long process. There are so many revisions, and we have to go over everything again and again. It’s stressful when record labels are putting deadlines on you, but I really love writing music. Getting in the studio, sitting at a computer—it’s great.

Obviously, it’s near impossible to sell lots of records in this industry. Does it bother you that most people download your music for free?

No, not really. I think it would bother me more if the album leaked than if lots of people download it for free after it’s released. I like waiting till the final day when it comes out and seeing people’s reactions. I feel like it kills the excitement of a record when it leaks and people already have it and know it before it comes out. As long as people will take the time to download the album, listen to it and come out to shows, it doesn’t bother me how they get it. The more the merrier, really.

I heard a rumor that you were living out of your car at one point. What was that like?

That was crazy. That was at the end of my senior year of high school, going into the next year. It just got really tough sleeping outside. My mom kicked me out because I wanted to do the whole music thing. I just kept pulling through it, and now here I am today, living it up, touring all the time and going home to my own place.

When did you start playing music?

In middle school, I kept trying to pick it up and pick it up. I got a bass guitar for Christmas, and I loved it. Then in ninth grade I started singing, and it just went on from there. When I was in 10th grade, I really pushed singing, but it was like I was just a little version of who I am today. It’s crazy how much you learn from experience, because now I can go back and listen to myself and think, God, I was such an idiot back then.

What’s your guilty pleasure music?

I like some rap music. I like the new Eminem album, and I can really dig some Lil Wayne. It’s honestly inspirational. It helps me out—the different ideas they use lyrically and rhythmically. I try to learn from their rhythms and work it into my melody.

What’s on your heavy rotation right now?

I recently got into The National. They’re really sick. And Metric; I’ve been listening to them a whole lot. I’m always fond of MGMT-type stuff. I’m more influenced by indie, melodic stuff than anything else, and I’m trying to push that out more on the new album. Brand New will always be a big influence, too. The way that guy gets angry is so sick. Also, Manchester Orchestra and Band of Horses.

What’s the new stuff sounding like? Will there be a change in style?

Yeah, I think there will definitely be a shift. People will see a more up beat side of us. We are going for a bigger thing, less Warped Tour band and more of a sound that will eventually bring us to Lollapalooza. It’s more of a festival sound, not necessarily hipster music, but something more general that’s outside of a niche, like Kings of Leon.

Would you like to be playing music when you’re 40?

Yeah, that’s really the goal. I really want to have some longevity. Bands that just disappear, I think, “I hope we’re not like that. I hope we can just keep going.” Hopefully we can be like Jimmy Eat World, which has been around forever and is still selling millions. Even if I can just live and support myself, that’s living the dream.

Do you feel content with where you are in the music scene?

I think we feel pretty content. We’re passed the point where we’re not making money. We all can support ourselves when we are at home, pretty comfortably. We can get hotels every night if we want to—although we don’t because we love staying with people. Sometimes we’d like a tour bus, but we are doing just fine with our van and trailer.

On a scale of one to 10, how bad does your van smell?

It’s probably at about a seven right now because we all just took a long sleep in the back, and it was f**king hot as anything. I think everyone was sweating, covering their blankets in the dirtiest of smells.

What’s the funniest thing that has happened to you guys on tour?

When we were in the U.K. recently, we were walking and we heard all this yelling all of a sudden. This guy shoved right through us, running as fast as he could. A second later we saw the cops running after him, and so we just laughed because we easily could have tripped him. I thought it was pretty hilarious.

What would your dream show be, if you could play with any bands at any venue?

Oh my God, that’s crazy. I’d have to say Jimmy Eat World, Brand New, The National and then us headlining. Three huge bands and then us—that would be sick! All at Madison Square Garden, of course.

Hear the Dangerous Summer on Myspace Music.