Guitarist David Kennedy is currently lying low after breaking a glass during promotional duties in the affluent West End of London.
After landing in the country little under 24 hours ago from San Diego, you can forgive this quarter of Angels and Airwaves for being a little on the slow side.
Nestled within the confides of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye, the 31 year old is surrounded by icons of the nations’ capital on a typically overcast August morning. However, you get the impression that something is building and appearing over the horizon that threatens to blow away London’s clouded cardigan.
And it’s not just the fury of the hotel management after a piece of their glassware has had its drinking life cut dramatically short, but the arrival of Angels and Airwaves’ (or ‘AvA’ for short) sophomore album, I, Empire.
After their conception in 2005 in the wake of Blink 182’s acrimonious hiatus, It’s hard to argue that any band has caused as many opinions and divisions since Fightstar were in the public eye with former Busted star Charlie Simpson.
With former Blink 182 guitarist Tom DeLonge at the helm, he proclaimed that debut album We Don’t Need To Whisper was the “best music in decades”, with near evangelical confidence and optimism. Live shows have seen DeLonge give speeches on events such as the Iraq war, which have drawn major resentment from music fans – in some part due to his new serious demeanour that was in deep contrast to Blinks brand of toilet humour.
Resentment grew from quarters of the rock world, with listeners finding DeLonge’s speeches and statements increasingly irritating and egotistical, whilst rumours grew that some of the material from their debut was originally made during Blink 182’s final breaths.
If Tom is big headed with an inflated ego, then David is the near polar opposite. Coming over as polite, considerate and good-natured, the former Box Car Racer member seems more like a teenage guy who is meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time rather than a self-involved rock star.
He regularly checks to make sure questions are answered correctly and calls himself an “asshole” when he forgets someone’s name. After saying that he feels “super good” with a large scoop of irony after a life-sapping Trans Atlantic flight, it’s time to give another member of AvA the spotlight for a change.
Are you nervous about playing the new material in front of an audience?
“I still get nervous, I can’t help it, but it’s either nerves or being anxious. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I suppose I never want to lose that [feeling] because of the anxiety and all the build up. It’s not that I was ever a football player or anything like that, but I assume before you go out for something like that, the anticipation builds with all the excitement, nerves and knowing it’s going to be different every night.
“I never want to sleepwalk through it, so I think as long as I’m feeling nervous and anxious and getting that feeling in my stomach then I figure I’ll be doing something right. I ever wanna lose that.”
Has I, Empire allowed the whole band to really show what they’re made of sonically, as it has been said that previous amalgamations of former bands sometimes mimic sounds of their past on debut releases?
“The thing is with the first record, we really needed to brand our sound. The first record was very linear so there was no confusion on what we were going to be like sonically. I think it was a strong statement on what we wanted to portray ourselves at, but now its established I think on this album we could be more dynamic.
“Musically we have things which are a lot more stripped down and things that are very built up, anthemic and ethereal, but then there’s songs that sound like four dudes playing in a garage so it goes in a lot of different places – I think everything the last album wasn’t is what this one is, in the best way.
“It’s almost like there is a brighter sound on this album - On the slower songs there’s always a kick or something moving and pushing you forward.”
Do you have anything to prove with I, Empire?
“It’s not like we need to prove something to anyone else, even though I am competitive, [laughs] and I am concerned with what people think, I’m not gunna lie, but if I’m satisfied in saying it’s right then it’s right. I know what I wanted to hear on the album from myself. This album is the second part of a full record, which is also why we felt such an urge to get back into the studio.”
Telling people that I, Empire is a second part of an album could be a risky strategy as people these days are having less time to allow things to grow and nurture. Do you really think people have the patience for this approach?
“It’s definitely something we started to think about after we started playing. We can only play 10 songs live whereas the level of bands that we want to be like have been playing for 7-8 years.
“With rock and roll, there’s a lot more to it in how people can relate to the music so there needs to be a real belief in longevity and that [the band are] going to exist the next year and its going to be putting out records so people can really dive into it and make it a part of themselves because it’s something that people invest in emotionally – and physically you want to know that it’s going to be there tomorrow.
“We need to do that because of where Tom came from - even all of us if we’re all playing in bands that people don’t necessarily know - we can all go out there and say shit all day long, but all that we can do at the end of the day is to believe in it, so we felt the need to prove that we’re a real band.”
This desire to prove they are a ‘real band’ has seen the band go straight back into the studio and start on I, Empire almost immediately after finishing their previous touring duties. After finishing live shows in December, they started back in the studio on December 26th and were still finishing up mixes after this summer’s interview.
The mammoth turnaround is something that David is more than conscious of, as he struggles to comprehend the turnaround in time.
After a hectic and punishing first foray into the music scene, are they going to allow themselves a break any time soon?
“I think what we need to do is play more and be out and about more, it was the debate of ‘do we keep going on now and keep telling the story?’ With all the music, photos and videos I think its all really gunna showcase what were saying.
“In that way I think with this whole new package we can really start to go and play everywhere because we won’t have to keep trying to explain ourselves like we were on the last record. We introduced ourselves as a boxer; we were just peppering ourselves in there [laughs]. Now we can really go for it.”
The ‘package’ that David talks about is the culmination of the albums, a documentary/CGI film with artwork commissioned by Drew Struzan, the preferred artist for Steven Spielberg and George Lucas – plus the obligatory hi-tech bells and whistles website.
Whilst keeping his cards close to his chest, David references the ‘package’ infrequently through the conversation, like a cryptic businessman. Something that isn’t so silent is DeLonge’s ability to talk at gigs, especially about the current War on Terror:
In another time (circa 1960s) do you think that AvA would've been given more support for speaking out publicly at events?
“I think it’s a fine line you have to walk, because as an artist you partly feel obligated to effectively have a message and have something to talk about since you do have platform to talk about it.
“If they do listen they’re not gunna be people from 18yrs old or up, the only people who might listen to it is the younger kids that will have an open mind, because when you get to 18-20, you’re listening to yourself so when you’ve got a dude up onstage telling you something new it’s like ‘whatever dude, I just want to have a good time’.
“I think for us it’s a learning process for what we do when talking about stuff we feel strongly about. Ultimately there’s a balance and we want to create an environment that when you get to Friday night you think: ‘I just wanna hang out and have a good time, I don’t wanna listen to dudes depress me and bum me out’”.
Is that possible?
“At the end of the day you’re not ever gunna fucking make everyone happy! It’s impossible, and it’s disappointing although I do want to make everyone happy, [laughs]. We do want to do the right thing so we’ll learn and continue but we’re not gunna be chasing people around to make them happy.”
Is positivity something that you see in enough artists these days?
“I didn’t think so past a few years back, I think in the last year or so people have got sorta fed up of the whole ‘dark’ thing. I think when we first started we were sick of seeing dudes that were so bummed – we were trying to figure out what the fuck they’re all so bummed out about.
“There are people in the world who are really fucking fucked and going through a lot of shit, but I still see those people smiling and laughing. I don’t really want to play in a band that’s bummed out, and I think that’s something that we can try to provide.
“I think that’s where we’re at with this new record, even more sonically and lyrically. I do think there are a lot more people who are more carefree and just playing and doing more of the dancier side of stuff. [Music suddenly booms out in the background] Everyone is just starting to have a party right now! [Laughs] That’s what we do at eleven in the morning!”
The image of a motorbike appears frequently in the new artwork. You’re not going down the Motley Crue route of bringing them on stage are you?!
“[Laughs] No No No! A lot of those are just imagery that we’re obviously into, and ultimately the stuff that we’re showing is we’re trying to show on I, Empire that at the core of things it is your own personal world and you can create your own empire.
“It’s like us travelling and us doing the things that we’re doing in that little short film. It’s just us showing it’s a foundation, and your foundation is like a road, and it’s up to you to get to wherever you’re going, It’s just a way to start conveying what we’re doing and where we’re going, and that it’s the start of your own adventure.”
After talking for over twenty minutes, David is told to wrap it up. Before he does, he asks if there are any other controversial questions I want to ask, before parodying all the questions that had put toward him so far in the style of a nonplussed journalist, which makes for entertaining listening.
He then starts to quiz me on if I like their T-Shirts or if they’re “weird too”, which is met with a foray of laughter from both ends of the line. It is now when you sense that the clouds are parting, and the sun is starting to finally come out on AvA.
Previous discrepancies and a near emphasis on them seemingly trying too hard to impress on their debut seem to have been buried, and the mood in the camp feels relaxed, rather than fanatical. In other interviews since this one was held, Tom DeLonge seems back to something of his former self, with jokes and comical poses partially back onto the agenda.
Even David makes an attempt to outdo DeLonge’s levels of dry humour by professing they would get Evil Knievel on stage to jump over Tom’s ego. He jokingly says: “I don’t even think he could do that!” before stating it was the funniest thing he had said all day. Such comedy wouldn’t be found from a band that wasn’t at peace with one another.
The balance between serious and fun that David talked about seems to already be in motion. His unbridled enthusiasm during the interview makes it difficult not to believe their vision, and it’s something that has not gone un-noticed by DeLonge, who recently said that without Kennedy, “None of this would exist today”.
After growing up together in California, it would be wrong to say that David is just Tom’s right-hand man, but he compliments Tom well in being able to step in and be the calm, considered spokesman for the band, which is completed by Adam "Atom" Willard (drums) and Matt Wachter (bass) who were in The Offspring and 30 Seconds To Mars respectively before joining full-time.
It seems that they’re a lively bunch, whose energy can sometimes get the better of them. They are aware of it too, and if you give them a second chance and peer under the surface, you’ll see that their hearts are in the right place.
Now all David needs to do is own up to breaking that glass...
