The Summer Set have been super busy touring and gaining fans across the
country... and around the world -- they're heading to the Philippines, Australia, and Europe in the next few months! J-14 talked to lead vocalist Brian Dales to find out all about life on the road with his best friends, how their music inspiration has evolved, and see what's in store for 2012!
J-14: You guys are wrapping up the Everything's Fine Symphony Soldier Tour with your good friends The Cab. How's touring been going for you?
Brian Dales: This is the best tour we've ever done. We're sharing this with our best friends and the shows are far exceeding all of our expectations. At least 75 % of the shows have sold out. It's just been a dream come true. It's kind of an amazing feeling. And all the support bands are all awesome. This tour is just fun.
J-14: You guys are also going to be heading overseas this Spring on tour. What's next after the international dates?
Brian: We're going to take the summer off and maybe casually start working on the third record. Take a little breather. We did a lot of U.S. touring last year. We did four U.S. tours last year, which is a brutal amount. That's the beauty of a third record is that you can take your time.
J-14: How do you think you have grown as a songwriter throughout the years?
Brian: I grew up. I was 18 when most of it was written. I had no idea what I was doing. It was kind of rushed, we wrote a lot of it in the studio. Like any teen, you don't have a lot of real life experience. So I wrote a lot of songs that were about real life things but they weren't real for me. I went through the trials and tribulations of a very real relationship with somebody. The most therapeutic way for me to get over it was to write about it. I wanted to make a record that was really, really sincere and honest and I feel like we did. As far as for the next record, who really knows where I'm going to go with that one.
J-14: How is your inspiration going to change?
Brian: I don't know. I'm insanely content and happy right now which is actually usually a pretty bad thing for song writing. There needs to be conflict! I don't have any problems. I miss my dog, but I can't write 12 songs about it! So I don't know. I'm really, really good right now so I don't know what to write about.
J-14: What are your goals for 2012?
Brian: I'm going to try to stop the world from ending. That's my goal for 2012. I'm going to try to make sure that doesn't happen. I'm going to get some superpowers! I don't know. I'm excited to see a lot of goals for 2012 are coming true. I mean, I'm going to see three other continents this year. We're going to Brazil in September. Hopefully write another record that I'm really proud of.
