Rohan Kohli
05/06/06, 09:52 AM
Exit Weekly (http://www.exitweekly.com) recently conducted an interview (http://www.exitweekly.com/entry.php?id=180) with Lifetime (http://www.purevolume.com/lifetimenj) bassist Dave Palaitis:
As far as New Jersey punk rock history is concerned, Lifetime is the band that everybody loves, the band that everybody wants to sound like and the band that everybody saw, or wishes they had seen back in the good old 1990s.
Now after a nearly 10-year hiatus, the massively influential heroes of hardcore and pop are back together, with a new record in the works and tour plans unfolding. What began last summer as a one-off reunion performance quickly snowballed into a series of sold-out shows and a contract with Decaydance Records, a subsidiary of Florida's Fueled by Ramen. For longtime fans it's hard to believe Lifetime is now on the same label that spawned MTV darlings like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco. But as to the fact the band will soon unleash its first recorded material since 1997's "Jersey's Best Dancers," no one seems to be complaining.
Lifetime is slated as a headliner for the Bamboozle festival this Sunday at the Meadowlands, and will make a special "secret" appearance Saturday at New Brunswick's Court Tavern. Exit recently caught up with bass player Dave Palaitis to find out why people still think Lifetime is the best thing that ever happened to the Garden State, and how far the band plans to ride its second wave of success.
Lifetime was originally only supposed to get back together for one show. How did that turn into a full-blown reunion?
It was a series of extremely lucky incidents, the first being the cancellation of Hell Fest last summer. I don't think we could have asked for a better outcome. After the fest was cancelled, our old booking agent threw together three shows to fill the gap, two in Philly and one in Asbury Park. The response to those shows was just incredible. For one show, 1,200 tickets sold out in about two minutes. In the past we never really felt appreciated for what we did, so to come back and see that our music has made such a big difference and become so widely listened to, that was really heartfelt. There was still chemistry between us after all these years, and we'd become even stronger friends, so it was hard not to start playing again.
In a statement that circulated around the Internet, Lifetime guitarist Dan Yemin talked about maintaining a balance between playing big shows, like the massive Bamboozle festival, and more intimate venues like the Court Tavern in New Brunswick. Is it really possible to do that at this point in time?
Right now we're booking a 10-day tour for July, and that is exactly what we're up against. How do we ensure that all the people who want to see Lifetime can do so, but also play intimate venues where we can have really good, strong shows? The huge shows are a completely new experience for us. We got an offer to play the Nokia Times Square Theater, which to me is not an intimate setting or an atmosphere that is related to punk and hardcore. So do we accept that offer? In this case we said no, and looked at alternate venues in New York that might work for that date, like the Warsaw in Brooklyn. But it is a case-by-case situation.
Is there any pressure from your label to play those larger venues?
There's no pressure at all, which is why we really lucked out with Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance. They've given us the resources we need to figure out how to do this right.
Why did Lifetime decide to sign with Fueled By Ramen/Decaydance rather than going back to its former home, Jade Tree Records?
Around the time we were breaking up we were actually talking to other labels, because we wanted to get to the next level. We thought our music could be heard by more people if it were on a label that invested more time and money into the band. Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance has the unique ability to put resources into Lifetime without completely being dependent on our selling enough records for them to re-coop, because let's face it, it's not possible for Lifetime to sell as many records as bands like Panic! At the Disco or Fall Out Boy.
You don't think so?
No, we play fast and loud. To move to that next level you have to be a little more concerned about the sound you're putting out. We're just going to put out a fast hardcore record like we have in the past.
So how do you think new, younger fans will react to your music? Do you think they will be able to hear something familiar in it, yet also some new; something more unique than what they're used to?
I've been wondering that a lot myself lately. When I first heard all this talk about us being so influential, I was really skeptical. I couldn't figure it out. Someone said it wasn't so much about how fast or loud we played, but that there was something special about Lifetime's lyrics combined with the time and place we were around and our take on hardcore at that time, and I think that still comes across in the music when you hear it today.
How far will this reunion go?
What I hope we get out of this is that Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance becomes a place we can stay and actually grow as a band. I'd love to put out another record after the one we're currently working on and see what happens.
Is there any bitterness over the fact that these past 10 years so many bands hit it big off the sound Lifetime has spawned?
Not at all. I'm glad it happened, honestly. I mean, when a band does a bad Lifetime impression it's kind of disappointing. But when it's done well, it makes me happy to hear.
As far as New Jersey punk rock history is concerned, Lifetime is the band that everybody loves, the band that everybody wants to sound like and the band that everybody saw, or wishes they had seen back in the good old 1990s.
Now after a nearly 10-year hiatus, the massively influential heroes of hardcore and pop are back together, with a new record in the works and tour plans unfolding. What began last summer as a one-off reunion performance quickly snowballed into a series of sold-out shows and a contract with Decaydance Records, a subsidiary of Florida's Fueled by Ramen. For longtime fans it's hard to believe Lifetime is now on the same label that spawned MTV darlings like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco. But as to the fact the band will soon unleash its first recorded material since 1997's "Jersey's Best Dancers," no one seems to be complaining.
Lifetime is slated as a headliner for the Bamboozle festival this Sunday at the Meadowlands, and will make a special "secret" appearance Saturday at New Brunswick's Court Tavern. Exit recently caught up with bass player Dave Palaitis to find out why people still think Lifetime is the best thing that ever happened to the Garden State, and how far the band plans to ride its second wave of success.
Lifetime was originally only supposed to get back together for one show. How did that turn into a full-blown reunion?
It was a series of extremely lucky incidents, the first being the cancellation of Hell Fest last summer. I don't think we could have asked for a better outcome. After the fest was cancelled, our old booking agent threw together three shows to fill the gap, two in Philly and one in Asbury Park. The response to those shows was just incredible. For one show, 1,200 tickets sold out in about two minutes. In the past we never really felt appreciated for what we did, so to come back and see that our music has made such a big difference and become so widely listened to, that was really heartfelt. There was still chemistry between us after all these years, and we'd become even stronger friends, so it was hard not to start playing again.
In a statement that circulated around the Internet, Lifetime guitarist Dan Yemin talked about maintaining a balance between playing big shows, like the massive Bamboozle festival, and more intimate venues like the Court Tavern in New Brunswick. Is it really possible to do that at this point in time?
Right now we're booking a 10-day tour for July, and that is exactly what we're up against. How do we ensure that all the people who want to see Lifetime can do so, but also play intimate venues where we can have really good, strong shows? The huge shows are a completely new experience for us. We got an offer to play the Nokia Times Square Theater, which to me is not an intimate setting or an atmosphere that is related to punk and hardcore. So do we accept that offer? In this case we said no, and looked at alternate venues in New York that might work for that date, like the Warsaw in Brooklyn. But it is a case-by-case situation.
Is there any pressure from your label to play those larger venues?
There's no pressure at all, which is why we really lucked out with Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance. They've given us the resources we need to figure out how to do this right.
Why did Lifetime decide to sign with Fueled By Ramen/Decaydance rather than going back to its former home, Jade Tree Records?
Around the time we were breaking up we were actually talking to other labels, because we wanted to get to the next level. We thought our music could be heard by more people if it were on a label that invested more time and money into the band. Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance has the unique ability to put resources into Lifetime without completely being dependent on our selling enough records for them to re-coop, because let's face it, it's not possible for Lifetime to sell as many records as bands like Panic! At the Disco or Fall Out Boy.
You don't think so?
No, we play fast and loud. To move to that next level you have to be a little more concerned about the sound you're putting out. We're just going to put out a fast hardcore record like we have in the past.
So how do you think new, younger fans will react to your music? Do you think they will be able to hear something familiar in it, yet also some new; something more unique than what they're used to?
I've been wondering that a lot myself lately. When I first heard all this talk about us being so influential, I was really skeptical. I couldn't figure it out. Someone said it wasn't so much about how fast or loud we played, but that there was something special about Lifetime's lyrics combined with the time and place we were around and our take on hardcore at that time, and I think that still comes across in the music when you hear it today.
How far will this reunion go?
What I hope we get out of this is that Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance becomes a place we can stay and actually grow as a band. I'd love to put out another record after the one we're currently working on and see what happens.
Is there any bitterness over the fact that these past 10 years so many bands hit it big off the sound Lifetime has spawned?
Not at all. I'm glad it happened, honestly. I mean, when a band does a bad Lifetime impression it's kind of disappointing. But when it's done well, it makes me happy to hear.