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livedaily interview

liveDaily Interview: Dashboard Confessional's Christopher Carrabba

by Christina Fuoco
liveDaily Contributor
October 08, 2003 03:08 PM - Though he doesn't necessarily see it that way, there's little question that Dashboard Confessional (news)'s Christopher Carrabba is a certified media darling.

Even before his album "A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar" debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart (just behind Alan Jackson), he received mounds of press.

The heartbreak emo kid earned respect early on from MTV, which gave him his own episode of "Unplugged." Though he was the first non-platinum artist to appear in the series, fittingly, the DVD of the performance went platinum. A summer tour with Weezer followed, then a fan-voted MTV Video Music Award.

Now the Floridian and his band are wrapping up their first major-venue headlining tour to support of "A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar."

Carrabba, calling from a Dallas tour stop, talked with liveDaily about his success, his songwriting process and running into former students at the elementary school where he worked.

liveDaily: How is the tour going so far?
Christopher Carrabba: It's been a blast. It's mainly because of the spirit of the kids that are coming. It's my first fairly self-indulgent tour. I love all the bands on the tour. I watch the show every night.

Were you shocked when your album came in at No. 2?
Shock is not a good word at all. At all. [Laughs]

Who was No. 1?
Alan Jackson. There's no topping Alan Jackson.

To what do you attribute your success?
I haven't a clue at all. I'm worried to try to figure it out. If you know, don't tell me because I don't want to jinx myself. [Laughs]

Tell me about your songwriting process.
I wrote the album over a period of about two years. Usually I write the guitar part first. It'll have a certain emotional feel that is indicative of some emotional period. It kind of harkens me back, and I end up writing about that. I wrote [album track] "If You Can't Leave it Be, Might as Well Make it Bleed" too late [for the primary recording sessions]. We had to record it ourselves in a warehouse after we were kicked out of the studio. [Laughs] … It needed to be on the record. It's fairly angry but emancipating.

Speaking of which, your lyrics are intensely emotional. Is it ever difficult to relive those stories--either while you're writing the lyrics or singing them?
Sometimes that's cathartic, getting it out. You write it as a chore. It's a painful chore to do it. But [as for shows], it just depends on the moment on a night-to-night basis. It depends on what you bring with you that day. It may put you in a spot.

You and your album have attracted massive amounts of press. How do you feel about it?
I don't consider myself a press darling, but it's been incredible. We had been dogged out in some press just for changing, which I think is actually good. But we've gotten Radiohead kind of press. There have been such gracious articles. I'll be able to show my kids all of these articles. [Major media] treat me like something viable, and it's had a big trickle-down affect. There are bands that sell more records than us that don't get the press they deserve.

You don't think you deserve the press you've received?
I'm so lucky to have it. I think I'm fairly talented at some things. But there are far more talented bands. But for some reason I've been able to get more attention than they have, right or wrong. My friend John [Ralston] from Legends of Rodeo writes far better songs, but he's not going to get the attention that I get [because I was able to quit my job and concentrate on music].

What did you do before in terms of employment?
I worked at an elementary school. I ran an after-school program. I was a preschool teacher. I've been doing [music] for so long that some of the kids that were in the fifth grade are in college now. I see them at concerts and [say], "What are you doing being 6 foot 4 inches? You were 4 foot 11 inches the last time I saw you."

Have you started writing new songs yet?
Yeah, I write all the time. I've been writing songs for other people lately. I've written some songs that we know are movie-worthy. There's one song that we just feel makes sense that it should be going on behind some movie. But this is all conjecture.