Some punk loser rants on about life in general (not the MxPx album).

 
Man, some classic quotes in this interview "I'm too short to be a poster boy" ! LOL!



LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

Chris Carrabba's songs of broken hearts and shattered dreams have struck a universal chord.

Now it's Australia's turn to join the cult of Dashboard Confessional.

Chris Carrabba is exhausted. His eyes are vacant, his walk slow and laboured. For the first time today, Dashboard Confessional's frontman looks like he doesn't have an answer, like he doesn't have a choice, and like the only place he really wants to be right now is in bed. But, even though the clock has just struck midnight, there is still work to be done.

Outside the University of New South Walkes Roundhouse - a large circular venur which only an hour ago was resonating with the sound of 1,800 punters singing every word to every Dashobard Confessional song - a line of fans extends 50 yards from the backstage exit to the tiny van that will transport Carrabba to his hotel; fans who have spent their pocket money of an Dashboard Confessional T-shirt; fans who want his signature on their arm; fans who just want to be a part of this.

"I wish I had more time to spend with them all," sighs Carrabba, sprawled on a seat in the band's spacious dressing room. "That's the only regret I have about the shows getting bigger: I want to give people equal time, but I could never get out of there, so I just have to be as gracious as I can with the chortest amount of time that I feel comfortable giving them. It's midnight now, and we're not gonna leave this room for another half an hour, and then it's going to take us at least an hour to get through that crowd, and we've got a 6:30 band call for the airport..."

He lets out a small, slightly helpless chuckle.

"But if I talked to tem as much as I wanted to talk to them I wouldn't make it to the airport, let alone the hotel."

Welcome to another day in the life of Chris Carrabba. Welcome to life inside the cult of Dashboard Confessional.

Rewind 11 hours, and Chris Carrabba's day has not started well. After waking for an early morning flight - the enemy of any touring musician - from Brisbane to Sydney, he arrived at his hotel to learn that the band's luggage had not followed suit. A faulty sink meant Carrabba then had to swap rooms, on top of which he's just been told that Kerrang! will be spending the entire day with him, not just the 10 minutes he'd been led to believe was all we wanted of his time.

Lucky then, that Chris Carrabba is a man with a healthy sense of perspective. Rather than use the morning's events as an excuse for a tantrum, the vocalist instead apologises profusely for making us wait and outlines the reasons for the delay. Sitting in the hotel's plain, sun-drenched courtyard, a tight-fitting black cap shading him from the late summer glare, he dismesses these problems as "stupid, non-life-threatening crap. The small stuff just gets on your nerves," he says. "That's all, it's not so bad."

Although Dashboard Confessioanl's first tour of Australia is only one date old, already it's a resounding success, with each show completely, or close to, sold-out (average size: 1,200 people). Chris Carrabba is "slack jawed" at the response they recieved in Brisbane last night, and resembles a proud parent as he describes how "the kids" were "so loud" and "so involved."

WHEN WAS THE FIRST TIME YOU REALISED DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL HAD THE POTENTIAL TO SUCCEED?

"During my first show I thought I was onto something, but it really had nothing to do with hoping for success. It was more about how great it made me feel. I don't really mean the reaction from the kids, it was purely joy at just doing what I was doing."

WHAT WERE YOUR HOPES FOR IT THEN?

"I don't know that I really had high hopes. I just thought it was going to be something I could do quite low-key. I really thought it was going to be a side-project. But I've far exceeded that with Dashboard. I could coast now a little bit I think, but I like to work hard, so I have to figure out what I'm going to aim for next. But we're not on a world domination plan."

HOW BIG WOULD YOU LIKE DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL TO GET?

"I guess as big as the kids let it. It's strange: Dashboard has this community of supporters where they're bringing the new fans in rather than me. So I guess it depends on how long they're happy with with it being big, or bigger."

BUT SURELY YOU PLAY SOME ROLE IN THAT?

"If the kids decide that's where they want it to go, then that's where it will go. It's so driven by them that I don't think there's anything more I can do. If they want it to stay where it is, it will stay where it is. If they want their friends to come, they'll tell their friends."

"The kids" is a term Chris Carrabba uses a lot. He'll explain how the kids are in charge at DC shoes; he'll gush with pride at the community that has sprung up around the band, and estimates that he gets at least 1,000 e-mails a day from kids, whose messages range from a simple "thanks for your music" to deeper, sometimes heartbreaking tales of how it's helped them through hard times. He mentions one such e-mail from a girl in South Carolina who was involved in a bad car accident.

"I called her a couple of times and we had some letters back and forth and e-mails and she's doing great," he smiles. "We do whatever we can but we get so many letters it's a shame, because we probably miss a lot of things."

Any scepticism about Chris Carrabba's devotion to the kids - that it might be an act in the name of publicity - is washed away when he arrives at the UNSW Roundhouse for the sundcheck. Standing by the back entrance are eight young fans - seven girls, one guy - who, upon spotting their idol, stand smiling but silent, almost in shock.

"Hey!" says Chris animatedly. "I'm a bit pressed for time," he explains, "but I'll do I what I gotta do then I'll come back and chat in a bit."

But he does more than that. Minutes later, a crew member comes out and invites the posse - who have been waiting here for EIGHT hours - into the venue so they can watch the soundcheck. By the time the band leave hald an hour later for a sightseeing strip to Sydney Harbour, their van has been surrounded by dozens more fans. Chris Carrabba signs every CD and article of clothing, poses for EVERY photo, smiling all the way, even though the light his fading quickly, and with it this only chance on this tour to visit some australian landmarks.

HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN PEOPLE CALL YOU AN ICON?

"Wouldn't you expect I'd have to be older? I do. I think it's flattering, especially when I don't think that I've put my best foot forward yet. But I don't feel our scene needs someone to pin their hopes to - there's enough of us to go around. You wanna know the truth? I think Jesse from Brand New is going to be the stand-out icon from this whole movement. I guess I'll keep the trophy warm for him for a little while (laughs)."

WHAT ABOUT THE TERM "POSTER BOY"?

"I'm too short to be a poster boy (laughs). I've really tried to block that tag for a long time."

DOES IT BOTHER YOU WHEN PEOPLE REFER TO "THE CULT OF DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL"?

"It's actually something I'm proud of because it's such a finely knit community with an amazing interaction on so many levels. People call it a cult-ish thing because it goes beyond the shows, but I think the word just has a negative connotation. I wish someone could think of a better word."

DO YOU THINK PEOPLE'S PERCEPTION OF YOU IS ACCURATE?

"Some people get it spot on and some people get it way wrong. I'm not really an open book. If they're talking about the songs, if they're taking their view of me from my songwriting and what they hear on records, it's a pretty close, accurate assessment of how I am."

QUITE OFTEN THOSE EMOTIONS ARE QUITE EXTREME, BE THEY SAD OR HAPPY. ARE YOU A PERSON OF EXTREMES?

"No, I don't htink so. I write my songs in the same way that I write in my journal; I try to let myself just feel to the maximum, I think that's how I write my songs. But how you carry yourself through the day isn't necessarily quite that extreme. I'm probably a classic introvert with socail tendancies. Like once I feel comfortable and once I can break the ice a little bit then I can pal around with the best of them. I'm the kid who gets invited to the cool parties but sits in the corner and doesn't know how to start talking to the pretty girls (laughs)."

Stuck in the whirlwind that is Dashboard Confessional, but standing slightly off centre, are drummer Mike Marsh, buitarist John Lefler and bassist Scott Schoenbeck. At different points today Carrabba will emphasise the importance of each to the band dynamic, but his bandmates understand they're not the stars of the show and are actually quite happy about that. Mike Marsh describes Carrabba as "sincere, very honest, very smart, very intense and very serious a lot of the time." He is, adds John Lefler, also "very funny".

"Sometimes I personally worry a bit about Chris," frowns Marsh. "I think he's a bit overworked. I can see it in Chris' eyes, he's just worn out. It worries me a little bit because such a good friend."

As the clock strikes midnight and Chris Carrabba enters his band's dressing room - another show done, another meet 'n' greet over - it's easy to understand Marsh's concerns. For the entire day Chris Carrabba has been courteous and responsive, funny and sincere, attentive and animated. But now, as Saturday night turns into Sunday morning, Chris Carrabba just looks tired.

DOES IT EVER GET TOO MUCH FOR YOU?

"Mostly, no. It never gets too much, but sometimes it feels overwhelming when you look at your schedule and you're like, 'I've gotta do all this? How many hours is that?'. But I'm packing 20 years of career into the five years I get to do it, so... I'll have plenty of time to sleep later."

IS IT GOOD BEING CHRIS CARRABBA?

"Yeah, it's very good being Chris Carrabba, or anyone like Chris Carrabba. I think anybody that is lucky enough to do what they love and have people love what they do is in a great place. It's really rewarding and encouraging and also motivating, So, yeah, I'm very ahppy being me."

DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL'S NEW SINGLE, 'RAPID HOPE LOSS' IS OUT NOW ON VAGRANT.
posted by muskawo at 4/01/2004 04:30:00 PM