Talkin' Tunes with The Front Bottoms
With inspiration from rockers Say Anything, Woodcliff Lake native Brian Sella formed a band steeped in a punk sensibility with sentimental, autobiographical lyrics on subjects ranging from the uncertainty of adulthood to complicated relationships. It’s a winning combination: The Front Bottom’s Talon of the Hawk was ranked no. 4 on the top 20 albums of the year list by NPR’s All Songs Considered in 2013, and their tune “Twin Size Mattress” has been listened to more than 14.5 million times on Spotify. Now in a BERGEN exclusive, Sella talks about the group’s beginnings, its upcoming sixth studio album Going Gray— and his summer antics at Old Mill Pond.
What were the first experiences you and bandmate Mat Uychich had in music?
When I was in high school, I used to ride my bike over to Mat’s house and jam in his basement. Then one Christmas, my mom gave me three hours of recording studio time in a professional studio. We banged out 12 songs without stopping. I officially started the band when I was a freshman in college, because I realized pretty quickly that I needed to be actively creative. We would play this coffee place, Cool Beans in Oradell, and other coffee shops and open mics. We played at Ramapo College a lot and even went down to Rutgers for gigs. We started touring by going to New England and Florida— now we get to go all over the world.
Tell us about some of your touring adventures.
We just got to open for Blink-182, who I absolutely loved as a kid. Some people have to hustle and grind, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world, performing for people who care. Even playing for a crowd of 10 people, which is how it used to be, was truly unbelievable. Recently in London, we played at the O2 arena for two nights in a row for about 15,000 people. I’m super thankful and happy we get to do this—to create and sell art and just make people happy. Best of all, when people sing my lyrics back to me, I feel like a god! Just kidding—but really, it’s an incredible sensation.
The group has a new album dropping on Oct. 13. What can fans expect from it?
It’s called Going Gray, and we experimented with the way we record just to keep it fresh and exciting. We went all over to record the songs on this album— LA, Austin, London. We would record them quickly but keep a punkrock attitude about it by making the sound bigger than the last album. We tried to make a full package—keep it us, keep it wacky. A few interludes will be exclusive to the vinyl; they were ones that we made in our basement and wanted to include. There will be that one classic big pop song, and when we play this album on tour, we’d like to maybe add a violin player, get a horn section so the songs play really well.
What advice would you give to local bands trying to break into the music scene?
Just make sure you’re having fun. Making music is a crazy thing, and whatever you get out of your experience should be positive. There are so many other things you could do that would be just as much fun. People are only gonna give a sh*t about your music if you do. Set goals for yourself. Give yourself deadlines. Make the movie, make the music video or any ridiculous art piece, and let people see it. It might not be a hit, but maybe it will be.
What are your favorite memories of growing up in Woodcliff Lake? Do you still live in New Jersey?
I spent most summer days at the Old Mill Pool, from fourth grade all the way to high school. It was old school: having to get out of the pool every day because some little kid pooped in the water or something. No waterslides or games, just the plain pool, but I loved it. Later, I used to go to the Ramapo Reservation all the time. I feel lucky to have come from a place like this. I still live in New Jersey, just not up north anymore.
