Blue October released their sixth studio album, Any Man in America on Aug. 16 and the lyrical content revolves around lead vocalist and guitarist Justin Furstenfeld's personal struggle with divorce, and being on the losing end of a custody battle. In my exclusive interview with Justin Furstenfeld he talks about the bands 2011 acoustic album, who taught him how to use spoken word in songs, their new album Any Man in America, his daughter Blue, and much more.
Blue October - Fall 2011 Tour Dates
In 2011 the men of Blue October released an acoustic album, did an acoustic tour, released a full length studio album, and a music video for the first single "The Chills" (watch here). This fall they are going to headline an extensive North American tour, which will most likely be coming to a city near you. They have no plans of slowing down soon and during my interview Justin said they are not going to take a break for another two years. You can read about that and more in my exclusive interview:
Why did you guys name Ugly Side: An Acoustic Evening With Blue October after the song "Ugly Side" when acoustic songs are usually more musically pretty?
Justin Furstenfeld: I actually chose that one because we weren't planning on making this an album. It was more of a three city acoustic show we put together, and it was nice and chill. It was songs like "The End," but it was nice to be able to lay back and not be like, 'Raw!' My managers were like, 'Well, we recorded them, why not put them on an album,' and I was like, 'You recorded them, really? How good did you record them?' I heard it and I was like, 'What the hell, no way I'm not doing this,' it was just very rough.
Then I was like, well that's kind of neat, lets not correct anything, just put it out like that, and call it The Ugly Side. It's just bare and stripped down. That is usually what people's ugly side is, and it's who we really are.
There was no electric stuff to make it sound pretty, no big effects, just two microphones and the microphones that held up the amplifier. My voice is out of tune at some points, I play the wrong chords at some points, and I love that. It's my ugly side. I love it, and I'm glad we can keep the fans close to us, like a part of their family so they see we make mistakes too.
That's my reason for loving it so much, because it's not polished at all. It's songs in ways they have not heard them in, and me singing out of key, and I love when I sing out of key. It's awesome, it's just me flawed, my ugly side.
Out of all the songs Blue October does acoustic, and it does not have to be restricted to the album; which was the easiest and toughest to transition into an acoustic version?
The easiest would probably have to be "Colorado 5591" because that's a new one, and it was written acoustically, so we did it that way. It's kind of jazzy and one they haven't heard before.
The hardest was "The End" because it is just beats, and the subject matter is about a gentleman who gets a divorce and ends up losing his mind and killing the new boyfriend while they are making love. It's not the most positive of the songs, but it's a very vivid story. As we started playing it acoustically I was like, wow, this sounds really neat because it' so bare. It sounds like the dude is standing there outside of the house watching them. That was the hardest one, and it's also the most fun to do on stage because it gives me chills to do it.
Were there any songs you guys attempted to do, but could not?
We did a lot of them, but we could only play so many of them. All of our stuff we can do acoustically. We have so many slow songs, and so many fast songs, but I wanted to make this more of a mellow story telling type thing. I have to say, "X-Amount of Words" is pretty weird acoustically, but it's pretty neat. "Calling You" is really beautiful because we slow it down and do it really sad and pretty, which is the way it was written. I like doing stuff really sad because I'm a sad boy, so it's good [laughs].
On the acoustic album there is a song titled "Colorado 5591" and that song is not on a Blue October album. Which album was it originally supposed to be for?
It wasn't for Blue October, it was for my side thing I do at home just writing songs. I was at home writing songs that are really honest. I have a project called 5591, and I write songs that are very, ‘I don’t know if I should say that’ type stuff.
More than Blue October material?
Yeah, and I test it with the Blue October fans. I do shows every now and then, and that was one everybody loved because it's really positive and hopeful. It was being honest about being admitted into a hospital, being accepted in there, and getting out. It's about not wanting to leave the hospital because it's so comfortable, then leaving the hospital and coming on the road. It was perfect for the album, and it was the easiest, simplest one. It's nice to cross boundaries.
I was looking at the track listing, and there is no "Hate Me" on the acoustic album.
Oh, there will be a "Hate Me," we definitely have to play "Hate Me," but not on the album.
Why is it not included on the album?
If you were around during the Foiled days we have [it on] Foiled, we have Foiled again, Foiled for the Last Time, then we have Foiled the acoustic version. We have so many acoustic versions of "Hate Me" out there. We wanted to put as many that they have not heard yet acoustically.
Now it is really important for bands to stay relevant in the publics eye whether you are touring, promoting an album, or like you put out a book. When did you notice that shift occur, and why do you think it happened?
I think it was a lot of people on the internet, and has a lot to do....[pauses] Facebook is awful, I think Facebook is a debauchery and the downfall of our nation. People become more socially inept via sitting down at a computer verses talking like you and I are. My daughter is going to grow up knowing the computer more than she does a friend, or actually talking and touching.
I think it changed when that happened, and when people began to focus on music, and began to download music into Facebook and share it. Next thing you know all of the corporations are going, 'What the fuck happened to our income?'
Before they said anything I was like, ‘I'm out,’ and I jumped off the ship. I said, 'Universal thank you, but I'm out,' and they offered me a contract but it wasn't what I wanted. They wanted a 360 deal which is percentages out of my tour, and I wasn't willing to give it to them.
I also have a daughter now, so I have to think of that. I started my own label, called UpDown Records, and my brother and I are running it through Brando Records, and Sony Red. It's really going good so far, and I think it's time for everybody to take hold of their own. The harder you work the more you are going to be out there. The more good product you put out there the better you will be respected.
With artists being in such a huge demand to produce new material they can put out bad music just to put out music.
It's so funny because I'm such a hip-hop fan, and I get these illegal mixtapes. I buy them all the time because I love them but the shelf life is sad. I love Waka Flocka, I love Gucci Maine, I love all those guys but their shelf life is like a month unless they keep it up, and keep it up, and then they fall off. Like Young Jeezy, I thought he was the bomb, then boom, gone. Kanye is keeping it up because he puts out albums, then he jumps back, puts out albums, and jumps back. He's a smart guy, and I think he has it under his belt how to get the public eye by starting a bit of controversy.
The smartest thing he ever did was get a twitter account after the Taylor Swift incident.
[laughs] The smartest thing he did was introducing racism back into the whole world. Racism was just starting to clean itself up, and he went, 'Bush hates black people.' What the fuck was that, you don't say that to people in America. You are just going to stir shit up, unless you want publicity from it, and he sold records.
I respect that guy because of his music, and I respect that guy because he is a smart ass and doesn't care. He also put out the most beautiful album I had ever heard before, 808s & Heartbreak. When he put that album out he changed my vision of how music was going to be now. You can collaborate it all. Hip-hop I love the attitude, confidence, music and art of it. Rock I love because of Kings of Leon, The Cure, The Smiths, Blue October, Radiohead, and Coldplay. Merge those two together and it's utter beauty.
I think it's all about keeping on your game. You can ask my girlfriend, I never get to take her on dates. My dates are, 'Hey, want to come to the house and watch me play in the studio? If you don't that's who I am, sorry. If you don't like it you either love me or leave me alone.' It's staying on your game, learning what is cool, hip, beating that, then going the further mile by being more honest.
You use spoken word in the verses for the song "The Flight (Lincoln to Minneapolis)".
Yeah, I don't rap. A long time ago I met 50 Cent, and I was a huge 50 Cent fan back then. When I talked to him I asked 'How do I say this stuff without rapping because I sound so stupid when I do. I'm not a rapper,' and he goes, 'Just say it, just speak it. It's spoken word like poetry.' I just accentuated on that a lot and I'm not trying to rap, I'm just trying to tell stories.
When you wrote the song did you already have that spoken word form in mind?
Yeah, hip-hop makes me feel confident, so when I wrote that it needed to be a confident song, and not a song sad. I incorporated that, and it just came out that way.
What were you going through in life when writing the album Any Man in America?
Divorce, custody battle, never seeing my child, and not knowing if my child knew who her daddy was even though I was trying really hard. Single moms are very lucky today, so don't take advantage of that luck. It's a beautiful thing you all have. I'm a single dad just trying to see my daughter, much less be a dad. I want to be a dad so bad, that's what the whole album is about.
Does she ever get to come out on the road for with you for a couple of days?
No, she's never seen me play.
Is that your choice, or your ex-wife's choice?
Hers, nothing is my choice. If it was my choice she would be with me right now. It's the governments choice, they give everything to the mother. I have been trying for three years to create a relationship with her, but it's not happening because the mother has custody.
Do you write songs for your daughter?
Oh yeah, yeah, I write a lot of songs for her but she is only three.
They will still be there.
Oh yeah they will. Her name is Blue, and she is just amazing. I do it all for her now, and the new album is called Any Man In America and it talks a lot about the subject of wanting to be a dad, but being cut off at the knees. I need to go make the money, she [ex-wife] doesn't have to, but I need to go make the money. If I don't I'm in trouble. I think a lot of dads get the rap of deadbeat dads, but in actuality if you ask your dad, how much was it to defend yourself to try and get me, [the answer would be] 'I went broke honey.' I'm going broke trying to see her.
It seems like over the years more and more kids come from broken homes.
Vows are taken like a baseball card trade, and then they will cheat, and cheat, and cheat. Vows are the last thing left on this earth that mean something. Honestly, if you think about it, marriage, and love, are the last things we have.
Our kids are the ones that suffer, not us. It's not about us, and that's what I hate about it. We get married and two years later I find out, what, why didn't you just tell me you didn't want to be with me. Why, now you confused her, and now I can't see her because...
I can't do anything about it because the more I try then the more I get accused of shit that's fucked up, and I never did. I'm not dogging her mom, I'm not dogging anybody, but the law and the legal system and the lawyers and how they sit there and laugh, fucking assholes. They just sit and laugh while you pay them. Anyway, my daughter is gorgeous, and amazing and when I do get her every other month for five days I cherish that time, and that’s if she shows up with my daughter.
What about your parents, do they get time with Blue?
Uh-uh, so I have to share that time with them too, so she [Blue] never gets to create a relationship with me. I'm not bitching about it, but when I go up there and she doesn't show up because she [ex-wife] doesn't feel like it, that's not right to me. It's bad for the child.
You have a new record label with your brother, in which ways do you feel less pressure now that you have Up/Down Records and are not on Universal?
I feel like we've already succeeded. Everybody else feels like we need to make it to some level. I'm asking what’s this level? It's all about putting diapers on your baby, and not about having a Ferrari. Get rid of the Escalade and get yourself a Pinto.
It's longevity.
It's longevity, yeah. It's a Johnny Cash career compared to a Miley Cyrus or something. She’s great, she’s so talented, but she is going to hate her own self probably at sometime, like I have before. She will fight her way through it, her achy breaky heart.
Are you guys going to put out other artists on Up/Down Records, or is the label strictly for Blue October?
Yeah, I'm going to put out artists like crazy. A lot of hip-hop probably, if I can find somebody great enough and good enough. It has to be wonderful because I'm a picky, picky bastard.
Chicago and Houston have some great hip-hop artists.
There are, they just need to come out of the wood works and stop with the whole, 'I'm over here and can't do that with this, and I’m too cool' just bring the walls down. It's like indie and commercial music. I'm too indie to be commercial, and too commercial to be indie. It's music. Indie to me is you’re broke, and commercial means you’re broke. We’re all broke. I don’t get how you can go on tour with Bruce Springsteen and call yourself indie. You [indie bands] want to be played on the radio, but you don’t. I’m like, ‘Just play me! Spanish stations you want to play me, cool. Nashville, you want to play me, I’ll put a twang to it.’
The main reason for this album [Any Man in America] is my daughter, and working as hard as I can now while I still make money off music. Sooner or later we won’t have physical CD’s and we’re going to have downloads, and that’s it.
For Any Man In America, what topic is overpowering lyrically?
Custody, the rights of fighting for the good of your family. Also, the vows thing and challenging the mother fuckers out there who think they can move in on other peoples territories. There's guys who would fuck anything. They are pigs and give us bad names. When you ask them to apologize, they don't and poke fun at you. Those people are home-wreckers, and there are a few songs on there for those guys.
I don't understand their morals, the way their parents brought them up. It makes me angry, and makes me wonder how somebody can tear apart a good family just for the laugh of it. Then they just move on like it didn't happen conscious free. I'm going to challenge all that, and see which one raises their hand.
From Any Man In America what is lyrically your favorite song, and musically your favorite song?
[Lyrically] I would have to say "The Worry List." It's a letter to my daughter. The main line is, 'I might have been gone, but I never walked out,' and I just want her to know I didn't walk out, I just wasn't accepted there anymore. It's a big letter to her telling the story of where I was, and why I did what I did. I didn't abandon her. Her mother is a great girl, just not for me.
People change.
No they don't, some of them don't (laughs). That's just the way they live, and that's okay.
Musically, what would be your favorite track from Any Man In America?
"The Feel Again," it's the first track and is just gorgeous. It sounds like "Red Rain" Peter Gabriel.
What is a song you never get sick of hearing?
I would have to say a lot of old stuff like Cocteau Twins. I love this song [starts playing song from his laptop], it's probably the most innocent song in the world and it's by Alison Krauss, [starts singing] "Baby, now that I found you I won't let you go." It's a really beautiful song.
I love all music. Johnny Cash and country music too. Country is cool because they can be honest and nobody questions them. They are just honest about everything.
What is something you have always wanted to do, but have not done yet?
Go on vacation where I take somebody that I'm completely comfortable with and not think about any problems. Just go and leave it all at the airport. I know it sounds philosophical, but man that would be so nice to just go with somebody I'm completely in love with. A vacation to make me believe in love again.
Are you guys going to have a break?
I don't want a break, I want to keep going. I'll take a break in about two years when this next album is over with.
Aren't you afraid of being worn down?
I've been worn down for like twenty years. I love worn down. I've got to collect for my daughter. Do it now or never because they'll forget about you. You are the one who said it earlier, you have to be out there all the time or they'll forget about you.
Anything else you want to add?
Just thank you for your time.
For more information on Blue October: Official Site Facebook Twitter
If you have any questions or comments for me, leave them below, or connect with me via Twitter: @NatalieChicago
Blue October:
Justin Furstenfeld - Lead vocalist / Guitar
Ryan Delahoussaye - violin/viola
Jeremy Furstenfeld - Drums
Matt Noveskey - Bass Guitar
Julian Mandrake - Lead Guitar
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