I met up with John Bradley from Dads after their set at The Social in Orlando, we talked about their ep, an upcoming full length, and some of his favorite music releases from the last year. Dads are currently on tour with Pentimento supporting Reggie And The Full Effect, be sure to check out the tour dates, this is not a tour you want to me. Dads are also currently supporting their EP entitled “Pretty Good”, I more than recommend checking it out.
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Q – You guys just played your set, I personally enjoyed it, but how did you feel about it?
John – I felt like this was the best set of the tour so far, I know it’s only been a week, but we’ve had a lot of technical issues. We’ve made a joke throughout the tour package of us, Pentimento and Reggie And The Full Effect, that there’s a ghost traveling with us, a “gear ghost”, and that something bad has happened during every single set, except for Pentimento, they got off most of the nights. But Scott, the guitar player in Dads, he’s had a problem with his gear every single night. Reggie has had problems with their stuff, tonight was the first night that we did not have any problems, like at all, so I was very excited. And Orlando is a great place, I love coming here. (The crowd seemed to really enjoy it) Yeah. When you’re a band, of what we’re doing, (it’s a weird thing to talk about, it sounds pompous) when we get offered a tour to support or open for a headliner, for us it’s kind of like, “alright, we can go out and eat like shit, live like shit, and hope that we can pick up some new people who have never heard of us”, but I feel like the ticket prices have been so low for some of these shows, that people who would normally come see us in a basement or a smaller bar are still very open to coming out to see us. So I’m very excited about it, the shows have been great,
Q – Your EP “Pretty Good” has been out for around five months now, how has the reception for it been?
John – Insane. So, we put out a couple things, and then we put out “American Radass”, Flannel Girl put that out, and that was the first time we had a label behind us. Us and Flannel Girl were learning, no disrespect at all, but neither of us really got that, “alright, a label is suppose to do this, and promotion is suppose to do this”, there wasn’t enough money coming in for that to work. 6131 Records, when “Pretty Good” came out, they sent out fliers to the promotors and have them put them up around the city, so if you live in Orlando you’ve probably seen a flier that had the “Pretty Good” cover on it, or the Reggie And The Full Effect tour, stuff like that. And they got us on Pitchfork, and they got us on Steriogun. And it was crazy, we charted with an EP, which is insane to me. I never thought it would do the things that it did, after seeing what “American Radass” did I was like, “oh, maybe these are obtainable goals”. And then we put out an EP, the entire time we were doing it we just thought, “it’s just an EP, no one is really going to give a crap about it. It’s just an EP, wait till you do the LP”. And the EP came out to crazy awesome responses, and I was just like, “This is just an EP, and people are loving it”.
Q – What are the lyrical themes for “Pretty Good” ?
John – The first song, “My Crass Patch” has changed a little bit. It was a love song, but then as time went on and we recorded it, while we were recording it I was breaking up with the girl that I wrote it about, and I realized that my problem in relationships is that I’m too dependant, and I end up falling too hard for them. So when they’re gone I don’t have anybody, and I can’t keep doing that. So I think “My Crass Patch” lyrics has changed me, just to once again love yourself, and learn that no one else will do anything except for you. “Can I Be Your Deadbeat Boyfriend” is Scott’s song, I don’t remember entirely what it’s about, but it’s very much like still trying to find yourself after a breakup. “Boat Rich” is about trying to find comfort in places you’ve never been. It was also about our first full US tour, where you’re very anxious and very vulnurable. You could be in Utah where you didn’t know anybody, and you would get to the show five hours before you were even suppose to play, or you would just go sit around in bars, not even just when you’re drinking, but when you buy a beer and you just let it sit for five hours so you could just sit there and not feel like an asshole. And “No, We’re Not Actually” is about my father, when he was in and out of the hospital. My sister had moved away to Germany, and she came back to New York, and that became the only reason we ever saw each other. It was just hospital visits, we wouldn’t really hang out much except for that, just every weekend going to the hospital, and that’s where we would see each other. It’s weird to be at the age where the only time you see each other is either at a wedding, hospital visit or a funeral, people that you love, and you just sort of grow out of it, and it’s a weird thing.
Q – “American Radass” has been out for a little over seventeen months, are there any current plans for a new full length?
John – Yes, there will be a new full length this year, I don’t know when, but it will be this year. We have every month planned out right now up until June, and it’s definitely in the plans.
Q – You guys being on 6131 Records, how did that come about? Because they’re known for signing heavier bands, such as Downpresser, Suburban Scum, etc.
John – Carly our tour manager, she’s from L.A and she knows Joey who runs 6131, and they hit us up at some point. We had toured with Souvenirs who are also on 6131, and they were how awesome it was. People were going to them and telling them they should be on this label or that label, and when they told us what 6131 was doing for them, those labels won’t do those same things. 6131 is a *real* label, they might not be incredibly known, but they run stuff just like Epitaph, or like a major indie label. And Joey hit us up one night straight through email and was like, “Hey, what are you guys doing next? Would you have any interest in 6131?”, and I had known about them, and it was in the back of my head, “maybe I’ll throw them an email”. And I had plans on going out to L.A the next weekend and said “let’s get dinner”. So we went out to dinner we talked about 6131, he told me all about it. And then we met with Sean when we were in Richmond, and it wasn’t like a business, it was as friends, Sean right now is one of my best friends. We signed a contract and that was it. I remember talking to Joey saying, So tell me, why should we sign to a hardcore label as an emo band?”, and he just told us that they’re “not really a hardcore label”, and I said “You just put out the new Rotting Out, Suburban Scum, Downpressor, and have a Bane record on your collection”. We also specifically don’t ever want to go down the beaten path, like “Oh you did this, so you have to do this”.
Q – What is the best concert you’ve ever attended that you did not play?
John – Either Bruce Springsteen or Kevin Divine. Hellfest 2014 is somewhere in there, but yeah it’s definitely between Bruce Springsteen and Kevin Divine.
Q – What are some of your favorite music releases from the past year?
John – Someone asked me to do a “end of the year” list, and I just asked them if I could do a “Favorite releases of 2012 that I fell in love with in 2013” list. And then as I was going I ended up realizing I fell in love with a lot of records in 2013. Paramore’s record was great, Self Defense’s record was great, Touche Amore’s record, Drug Church’s was great, the new Pity Sex, there were so many great releases that came out that year.
Q – What are some upcoming releases for 2014 that you’re anticipating?
John – I know there’s a new Sidekick record coming out that I’m interested in, there’s a new Modern Baseball record coming, the new Code Orange Kids is going to be great.
Q – After this tour is over with, what’s next for Dads?
John – South By Southwest, moving the band to Michigan, write and record, maybe book another tour. We’ve gotten some offers for a tour in June, so we’d like to have the album done by then. And finally, put the album out and tour throughout the year on that. Sean and I are personally finishing up the move.
Q – Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, is there any last thing you’d like to say to your fans?
John – Thanks for listening.
