Something To Smile About

Nowadays, when it seems like getting signed to a major record label requires a gimmick of some kind (like, for example, ass implants), it’s nice to know that some bands are still getting noticed for the right reasons. Smile Empty Soul is one of those bands.
You won’t notice them because they are surgery-raped pederasts dangling babies over balconies or because they’re teenage lesbians who make out on stage (not that I’m judging). You’ll notice them because of the quality of the music they create. With a self-titled debut album out on ThroBack / Lava Records that blends dissonant, atmospheric chord progressions with unusually direct lyrics on subjects much deeper than the girl who broke your heart at the age of 17, Smile Empty Soul is ready to combat the formulaic and stomp it into the ground. Recently, Smile’s talented frontman, Sean Danielsen, shared his thoughts with the Synthesis on the music that drives his band.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had the music?
I would say that we have our own sound. I don’t think we sound like another band, you know? We definitely aren’t reinventing the wheel — we’re not Primus or anything, but we have our own unique points. I would just say that it’s rock music, song oriented, with good dynamics and pretty direct lyrics.

Any misconceptions about the band you want to clear up right away?
Well, it’s actually not a big misconception — it doesn’t happen a lot, but I’ve heard of a couple people or reviewers judging us based on our first single and assuming that song ["Bottom Of A Bottle”] is a gimmick song. They assume that I’m saying, “I do it for the drugs” just to get some attention and that’s how the song is on the radio. Really, when you listen to it in context with the rest of the record, I think that it has a deeper meaning than that.

The lyrics on this album seem atypical of your standard alt-rock Creed clone. Can you tell me a little more about where they’re coming from?
They’re all pretty personal. They’re from personal issues or societal issues that I’ve seen in my life, and it just kind of comes out. When you sit down to write, all the subconscious stuff in your brain just kind of falls out.

Some of the lyrics on your album are just bound to offend people. (Like, for example, “You’re the ones who kill your babies / You’re the ones who fuck your kids / You’re the ones who throw each other away / You’re the ones sitting in church every Sunday.”) What do you think about that?
I don’t really care too much. Nowadays, you can offend people so easily — especially being a band or an artist or whatever. You have to just do what you do and if it’s going to offend somebody, it’s going to offend somebody — you can’t really worry about it too much.

Tell me about the collective songwriting process of this band. How does it work for you guys?
I’ll get the chord progressions, lyrics and melody down on an acoustic. They all start like the acoustic songs that are on the record. Then I take it to the guys and start working on the arrangement and their parts and everything.

What kind of music influences you?
I just have always kind of liked the darker sounding songs — songs with darker moods. When it’s all happy pop punk, just don’t really like it. Our influences are Nirvana, Deftones, STP, John Lennon. There are a bunch of them really.

Each song on your album really seems to have its own individual message and story. Does writing with such a variety of subject material make it easier or more difficult for you?
I think it’s definitely more difficult. It’s easier to take one sentiment and just pump out the same song over and over again than it is to tackle different issues, although it’s never easy to write a song, no matter what. One thing we definitely make sure of is that every song has its own life in every way — chords, lyrics and the complete style of the song. We have a lot of similar songs like every band does, because we have our own style, but we definitely do our best.

There are an abnormally large number of slower tracks on your album.
Yeah, we’ve always had that. We try to have a good dynamic mix and different elements in all of our songs. I’ve always done the acoustic thing, so it was only natural to throw some of them on there. I also do acoustic renditions of “For You” and “Silhouettes” live. It’s just always been a part of our band.

What subjects are coming up in your current songwriting?
Songs are always going to be about what pertains to your life at that time, you know? Right now, my life is changing completely. Hitting the road is the biggest life change you could ever make. You don’t even see it coming because, if you’ve never been on tour before, you don’t realize what it’s going to be like — every aspect of your life changes the second you hit the road.

What is it like on the road for you?
It’s cool. It’s definitely work. You’re constantly flying around and doing crazy shit, but it’s what we’ve been working for our whole lives and it’s definitely rewarding. It’s the most rewarding job you could ever have because every night, you play for all of these fans that really love and appreciate your music. There’s nothing greater than that.

Now that you’re signed, is there anything that you’ve found to be different than you expected?
Everything. We’ve been a band for a long time, and we’ve been trying to get a record deal for a long time. You have certain ideas about what you think it’s going to be like in your head, but when you get the deal and start doing your job, every aspect is completely different. I think the biggest example of it is the way they have to strategize releasing your single and your record and the way they’re going to get it on the radio and on MTV. You just have this idea in your head that you’re going to get signed to a major label, you’ll make a video, MTV will play it and you’ll be huge, but there are a lot of politics involved that you don’t realize.

What stands out about your live show?
Our live show is just us going out on the stage and giving the crowd all that we can. We try to give as much energy to the crowd as possible. We’re completely involved in the music. There are some bands that are thinking about doing their laundry on stage [laughs]. We’re the complete opposite of that.

Where do you hope to be in a few years?
Doing this. We’re going to be out on the road for quite a while. We’ve been working really hard for this our whole lives and now that we’re here, we’re going to keep working our fucking asses off.

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