Probably the most dramatic departures are the ballads. Especially “Love Comes Down.” It is a beautiful departure from what is “normal” for us and I hope to delve more into those sounds in the future.
You guys have a penchant for storytelling and discussing real world issues – what themes and narratives did you tackle in Fire Away?
“45″ speaks of the need to believe in yourself, in “Gay Vatos in Love” we let the world know that we support people loving who they want, and “Malagasy Shock” encourages us all to do what makes us happy right now.
After a string of American dates, you guys are off to represent the US in China and Mongolia – have you ever traveled as a band to those two countries? Have you ever done any outreach of this sort before?
We have been to China and look forward to going back and visiting some new cities. We have never been to Mongolia and that is another new, wonderful and completely surreal prospect. We have been to India, Nepal, Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, Vietnam, Burma and a few other places as US Cultural Ambassadors. It mainly consists of outreach and interaction with youth, musicians, and disabled communities. Oh yeah, we will also be playing at the world expo in Shanghai, pretty cool!
