Q&A: The Boxer Rebellion (Part 3)
By Kate Cliffen on February 11, 2010
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‘Word of mouth’ is something that traditionally applies to folk music...and "folk musicians" these rascals certainly are not. In fact, The Boxer Rebellion’s stadium sized rock has them being compared to the likes of U2, Editors, and The Cooper Temple Clause. But word of mouth, arduous self-promotion, and a whole lot dedication is what it takes to make it big without a label these days. Oh, and great music.
FILTER has been speaking with front man Nathan Nicholson, a role model for un-signed bands going it alone. In this, the final part of the interview, we discuss how the band will go about writing their highly anticipated third album, as well as his band's independence – have they abandoned labels forever?
You mentioned in your blog that you had started to write the third album. How’s that going?
Nathan Nicholson: It's going really great. We’ve been writing on-and-off for a few months now and we’re finally going to get some uninterrupted writing time over the next few months. We have lived a long time with our second album, mostly before it was released, so it has been very nice playing some new songs at gigs and test-driving them. We're planning on playing a few at SX to see how they hold up against our other two records before we start recording in late-April.
What is the band's songwriting process like? Do you have any routines or rituals?
It is usually one of two things. Either Todd or I will bring in a rough idea that we then develop or we pluck something out of the ether whilst we are rehearsing. No routines or rituals, though I'm quite partial to my daily toasted chicken sandwich from the cafe. Some of the songs I've brought in over the years change quite dramatically once the other three rebuild them. I used to record little ideas down onto my iPod through a small mic intended for making memos. 'Evacuate' was first recorded that way and at the time was a fairly slow acoustic track.
Do you think you will ever sign to a label in the future, or has that ship sailed? Or what about setting out your own label?
For now, being unsigned suits us well. In fact, we are really working as our own label at the moment and licensing the album to other markets. We’re in complete control of when, how, and where we release our albums which is incredibly liberating. Having said that, labels certainly have their purpose, but we aren't in a hurry to sign with the first thing that comes along. After the release of UNION we had our chances, but nothing seemed to fit. We value our independence, and I think if we can find a label that respects that, while also being able to enhance what we do, we’ll certainly entertain the idea.
Your story is pretty inspirational for new bands, knowing that they don’t have to get signed to make it. Any other words of advice?
So many bands waste valuable time and resources chasing record labels, rather than investing that time in making music that genuinely connects with people. We learned early on that the opinions that mattered to us most didn’t come from the A&R's sitting behind record company desks, but from the people we interacted with. I think that A&R exists in other places now – iTunes, MySpace, Facebook, concert promoters, and, most importantly, the People. Use the resources around you to your advantage. If you make great music they will find you and spread the word because they are naturally moved to do so. The record companies are usually the last in line, so focus on what’s right in front of you first. And love your fans as much as they love you.
What are your favorite bands at the moment, anyone we should be looking out for?
We are playing a small warm-up show in Dallas (March 16) with a band we met in Australia called Dappled Cities. I'm really looking forward to that as well as seeing the UK band Everything Everything. My cousin Alex plays guitar with them. Also check out our musical brother Fink. He makes the crappy English weather a lot less bleak.
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