Jesse Lacey is led into the media tent by his tour manager who by default is overprotective and strict, not only about photography but also allocated interview time. I expect Jesse Lacey to be instinctively guarded about having to answer questions two hours or so before he has to get on stage. But he’s not. He’s smiling and immediately engaging. In fact he’s so curious about not only South Africa, but our musical landscape too. I’m a little thrown off.
I start scrolling through the line of questions I had prepared. He cheekily adds “I have so many things I could ask you too.” I put down the questions and decide to have a ‘casual chat’ with the man who has probably had the single biggest influence on me as a musician and writer. It’s all a little too casually surreal. The first part of the conversation is a little hazy. I vaguely remember trying to find balance between my brain screaming “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” and keeping it together enough for the interview to have pace and actually lead somewhere.
Unfortunately this is where I fail as a journalist. I become completely self-indulgent and the interview becomes a conversation. I’m not even sorry.
No topic seems to be taboo. Jesse speaks honestly and openly about his priorities. Not only as a musician, but as a husband and father too. In fact the Jesse I had researched, idolised and dissected over the last 13 plus years seems to be completely detached from the man sitting in front of me. His face lights up whenever mentioning his family. He tells me about his demons, personal battles and how ultimately all those things seem to be just stepping stones to his current state of mind.
I start steering the conversation back to his music and writing. We discuss the current mind-frame of the band in terms of fan expectation, pressure of releasing a new album and being labelled the poster boys of the current ’emo revival.’ He mentions how many of their peers have taken breaks or have even broken up for that matter and then inevitably reformed. Bitingly, Jesse jokes that they might just become the U2 of their generation and genre, just through the default of pure staying-power.
To Brand New, the threshold of creativity and friendship is very clear. There’s a line drawn in the sand and Jesse explains that every member feels the same way in terms of their creative output. If they should ever reach the point of feeling they’re creating anything less than an absolute as a unit, the mandate is very clear: “I’ll walk away from it all in a heartbeat.” To most Brand New fans that’s anything but surprising. In fact, my assumption going into this interview was that everything about Jesse would be a caterwaul of stubbornness and caution. But it’s not. He’s humble and kind.
We’re interrupted by the media representative and told that we have long passed our allocated interview time. At this point I’m more than happy with the experience. In fact it might be one of the best moments of my life. But for some reason my karmic luck is about to push through any previous ceiling of fortune I’ve ever experienced. Jesse leans back and smiling says that he’s more than happy to just sit and chat some more, if I’m willing.
We discuss Fugazi, guitars, how impossible it is for young bands to get a foot in the door in the current musical climate, he wants to know about our musicians and bands, I tell him about our thriving hip-hop artists, amazing electronic music talent and how hard our rock acts fight just to be able to keep their heads above water. He asks about the melting pot of culture and I, to the best of my abilities try to vocalise how diverse and truly interesting things currently are. We talk about how angry he was at certain points in his career and how that was therapeutic to his development as a songwriter. I ask him about channeling that anger on stage. He answers everything honestly, he asks questions with a genuine and sincere intent.
At this point, we have now long passed the hour mark and I decide to not have the conversation dwindle out. In a moment of weakness, I go full fanboy. I blurt out how big of an influence he has truly been to me. He pauses for a moment, gets up and extends his arms. Before I even realise it, we’re hugging. It’s very much a ‘I gotchu bro’ moment and I’ll be completely honest, I was fighting off tears.
I wish him luck with the set and head back to the mess that is the final day of the festival to watch their performance. Everything is still a little clouded and I feel slightly disconnected from my surroundings. I absorb their show while trying to really process how unbelievable this entire experience was.
The dust of Oppikoppi has long settled for most of you. Some are hanging onto the memories and moments collected over the weekend and others are already yearning to return and take their place amongst the thorns and wildlings. For me, I’ve left so many pieces of myself on that farm that I can’t think of anywhere else they’d have to one day scatter my ashes.
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Check out our photo galleries from Oppikoppi Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.
