June 21, 2008
Anberlin – Stephen Christian

C = Cathy, S = Stephen

C: For the record, can you state your name and what you do in the band?
S: My name is Stephen Christian and I sing in Anberlin.

C: What do you look most forward to this summer on Warped Tour?
S: The incredible bands. I mean, Against Me! is one of my favorite bands, and Norma Jean… Hanging out afterwards is a fun time because there are barbeques and sometimes parties. It’s a lot of fun to meet people who you not only respect and admire but who listen to your band.

C: Why did you decide to call your upcoming album “New Surrender”? Is the cover artwork for the album at all reflective of the meaning behind the title?
S: I don’t think the cover art and the title are compatible. I don’t think we’ve done that on any album, except for maybe Cities. But, for New Surrender… I’m a big fan of art and I think that everybody should look at a piece of art and derive their own meaning. Hopefully people derive what New Surrender means for them. But for me, personally, I believe that in everyone’s life they know that they have to give something up, something that’s holding them back from pursuing their dreams. Like for example, “I want to move to New York but I’m scared because what if I can’t afford it?” You’ve got to get over that, get over yourself, and go attempt to follow your dreams. So whatever it is in life, surrender whatever in life is holding you back from becoming a better person or helping other people. No matter what it is, you just need to surrender it. That’s the overall theme of the record. It touches on everything from homelessness to the end of time to the scenario of being in your final moments of life. I feel like the title is very reflective in encouraging people to get going, and do whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing in life. It reminds me of that one scene in Fight Club where there’s the guy holding a gun to the other guy’s head and he’s like, “What are you supposed to be doing?” and the guy is like, “Veterinarian, I wanted to be a veterinarian” and the guy’s like, “You have one week and I’m going to come back and find out if you’re well on your way.” I feel like that’s what I want this record to do – drop people to their knees like there’s a gun to their head and say “go do something with your life!” –laughs-

C: In your opinion, what's the most important song you've ever written?
S: That’s a really good question. I think personally mine would be “Ready Fuels” from our first record. When we wrote it, we were like, “Oh my gosh, we’re doing this. We’re actually writing good music, finally.” It got the ball rolling as far as Tooth & Nail being interested in us, and believing in ourselves that we could write good music… So I think “Ready Fuels” would be the biggest for me.

C: How much influence do you think you have on your audience? Do you think the messages in your songs are ever misinterpreted?
S: They’re absolutely misinterpreted. As far as influence… In the grand scheme of life, I don’t think we carry much influence in comparison to someone’s parents. You would think that their parents would hopefully have the biggest positive influence. As a kid, I don’t remember listening to a band and going, “Oh my gosh, I’m going to change my entire life because they said so.” I don’t think I’m that powerful, but I think that we all have influences. No matter if you’re on stage or off, I think we can all influence people’s lives. It’s whether you want to help people out and make sure their life is a great life or care about only yourself and be very selfish. Hopefully as a human, not just as a musician, I have a positive influence on people’s lives.

C: What are your favorite and least favorite things about touring?
S: My favorite is hanging out with my best friends. We haven’t been on the road for 6 months. A lot of the time we were recording for the record, but I didn’t get to hang out with the band guys. We came back together on Thursday. We had a “band meeting”, but we laughed for a good hour – just making fun of each other and having the time of our lives. We were crying laughing it was so funny. That’s what I love – the camaraderie of being out with my best friends, hanging out with guys who are just totally interested in music, love each other, and have the same hobbies… We all started talking about Star Wars yesterday so we finally had to go buy it last night. Everyone sat in the front lounge last night going, “Oh my gosh, I love Star Wars!” while we watched the whole thing, it was great.

The worst is leaving my family and friends, my life. I miss graduations, anniversaries, and birthdays – the little things that everyone takes for granted. I can’t tell you the last time I saw my niece on her birthday. I wasn’t there for both my niece and my nephew’s births. That kind of stuff really sinks in. Those are memories that my whole family shares and I missed out on all of them. That’s the biggest thing, but I can’t complain because I love the life I live.

C: That leads perfectly into my next question, which was how it is obliviously very hard to keep relationships with family and friends strong while you’re on the road. How have you dealt with and overcome that situation?
S: Technology has been a huge help. We have cell phones now, and that’s awesome - I can’t imagine what people did in the 70s or 80s. Skype is awesome because you can have iChat and stuff like that. That’s pretty cool. I have a dog now, and she’s 4 months old and I miss her. She’s in Los Angeles.

C: Anberlin is known for travelling and contributing positively to third world areas. In fact, you are the co-founder of Faceless International. What drives you to want to help others and give back?
S: I think when we started the band, there were two ways to go. We could be the “sex, drugs, rock & roll” and be very selfish, but in the long road, what does that matter? What does that really help? It doesn’t do anything. Instead, we want to go the other route – to just do whatever we can do to help. Whether it be to help another band, to help my merch guy carry merch, or go to India, I just want to walk away from this without regrets. I feel that if I went the other route, I would be full of regret and just hate my life. Who wants that? Not me. I want to walk away being happy that in the time I had on the platform, I didn’t just go up there and yell at girls. I got up there and pointed out that there is a real life out there, and that there are really people hurting. I live the life, we all do as Americans, whether we want to admit it or not. Like, do you live in San Francisco?
C: Right outside of it.
S: This is the most expensive city in America! It’s beautiful, the bay is right there... You’re going to go home at the end of the day and you’ve got clothes on your back. We’re here and we’re being entertained. It’s so far beyond somebody’s concept in a third world country. I’d rather inspire people to go and help those countries. I’m not saying we shouldn’t enjoy the nice things in life, I’m just saying there’s more to us, there’s more to Anberlin… We’re peons in a world of hurt and suffering. We’re puppets on a string, that’s all musicians are. We entertain – we “song & dance” for thirty minutes and it’s over. But, if I can take that song and dance and translate that over to people getting fed tonight… Right now in Guatemala we have 30 people from Faceless International working with fair trade farmers. That just makes me feel a lot better that I’m not like, “I just got off stage, where’s my beer?” There’s more to life.

C: What’s one of your most memorable experiences from any of the trips you’ve taken?
S: The most earth shattering was walking down in Calcutta, India. We were working in the red light district – the ghetto. It was the worst of the worst. We saw 13-15 year old girls who were prostitutes. I didn’t cry, it didn’t hurt, I just felt so cold that I literally could have just curled up into a ball and died. I could have just laid there. It just feels like there is nothing you can do – no matter how much you try to help there’s always more and more and it all consumes you and crushes you at the same time. There was a ten year old girl that had her back broken due to rape and the sex trade, and there was an eleven year old that had a baby and I was just like “Dude, I want to murder someone, and I want to hug her”. There were so many emotions all at the same time that your body just shuts down - It’s a feeling like I’ve never felt in my life. That’s one memory that’s going to forever haunt me and also inspire me to do more.

C: What made you decide to write a book? Was it at all difficult to find someone willing to publish it?
S: Absolutely! The book industry is a lot like the music industry – you have to break in. That was a pain, like a thorn in my side. What inspired me to write it was the fact that… at Warped Tour, we only play for thirty minutes, you know? What am I going to do with the rest of the time? It’s either play Halo, watch movies, or… You can’t really go anywhere. Warped Tour’s mostly out in the middle of nowhere at a fair grounds. I just decided that it was something I was going to try. I never thought I could accomplish it because I am so A.D.H.D., but every day I would tell myself to just write 2 pages. After a while I was like “Alright! This is starting to form into an actual thing” and then I got far enough where I was like, “I can’t quit now.” C: How long did it take you to write it?
S: Two years… Two years and I’m still not happy with it. I want to go back and do more!
C: Just write another book!
S: I know! I’m thinking about it, I’m thinking about it.

C: If you had to describe each member of the band in 3 words, what would they be?
S: I would be “absent-minded professor”... Well wait, that’s three words. That’s good. That’s me. Christian is “positive”, “charismatic”, and “opinionated”. Nate is “sporadic”, “energetic”, and…” youthful”. That’s a good word because he’s very much into the holidays – he’s like a five year old kid, I love it. Deon is “talker”, “friend”, and “loyal”. Joey is “DVDs”, “genius”, and “bright future,” which is two words. But he’s going to be an amazing producer one day. Wow, that was hard…

C: If you could choose any animal to be your band’s mascot, what would it be and why?
S: Oh man! Probably a wolverine because they’re small, but they’re fierce! –laughs- I’m just kidding. That’s the first thing that popped into my head. I don’t know, that’s a good question. Wow…
C: You’re going to really think about it now.
S: Yea! I mean… what’s Anberlin’s power animal? … Elephant, because we’re mostly Republican. Just kidding! But actually, elephant is good. I’ll stick with elephant, I don’t know why.

C: Closing Statements?
S: No, thanks so much for doing this, I really appreciate your time.