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Saves the Day have emerged as one of the leaders
of the Emo/Punk scene.
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Bands often talk about turning points in their careers as casually as they talk about changing socks and often with good reason. A band can change direction for nothing more auspicious than simple creative boredom, a desire to break from the norm and try something a little bit unexpected.
For Saves the Day, the change in the band's sonic course was slightly more portentous than mere dissatisfaction with their last album. For the New Jersey Punk/Pop foursome, the specter of death signaled a change in their lives.
In March 2000, Saves the Day was a band on the move. They were back on the road in support of their 1999 sophomore album, Through Being Cool, an album that had generated good notices and had ultimately attracted the interest of Vagrant Records, which had just signed the band for their as yet unwritten third album. Just before daybreak, on their way to a Wisconsin gig after a triumphant show in Chicago, guitarist David Soloway hit a patch of black ice on an overpass and slid off the highway.
Although the band was pretty banged up -- Soloway's front teeth were jammed into his gums, vocalist Chris Conley broke his collarbone and guitarist Ted Alexander required a cast for the hand he had actually broken in the mosh pit in Chicago -- they convalesced for six short days and then hit the road again. Their recovery time might have been brief, but the introspection inspired by the accident was sustained.
"It was monumental," says Conley from the band's Pennsylvania tour stop. "It changed everything for the band after that."
Even though Saves the Day's brush with mortality gave them all a new perspective, the changes that are reflected in their third album, and debut for Vagrant, Stay What You Are, began long before the accident. The band's growing sense of themselves and their music might have been crystallized by their near-death experience, but their maturation process started long before.
"A bunch of the songs were written before the accident," says Conley. "But the music has always happened on its own. It's never forced, and it's never deliberate. So I'm sure it was bound to happen. But the themes of mortality run through the entire album. It was something that I was made aware of."
Saves the Day has experienced a great deal in the four years since its official inception within the New Jersey Hardcore scene. Conley and drummer Brian Newman, friends since junior high, started playing together in bands that emulated similarly focused scenesters which ultimately led them to assemble Saves the Day with those images of Jersey Punk and Hardcore in mind.
The band signed with New York's premiere Hardcore label, Equal Vision, and put out two albums that pointed to Saves the Day's enormous potential. 1998's Can't Slow Down and 1999's Through Being Cool were both accomplished albums indicating great things to come after a little necessary aging and seasoning. Still in all, the band's starting point was made all the more impressive by the fact that they were only 19 years old on average when they signed with Equal Vision.
After the release of Through Being Cool, the band was inundated with major label offers. They were wary of the "too much, too soon" syndrome and weighed their options carefully before deciding to join the Vagrant roster.
"There was a lot of interest from majors, but that was terrifying," says Conley. "Tempting but terrifying. The bottom line was we wanted to make the album that was going to come out naturally. We didn't want manipulation, but I think that's what major labels do. They get their fingers on the music to try to make it most accessible to the masses. Then it's not art anymore. It's a commodity."
Almost immediately upon signing with Vagrant, the accident occurred and the band's van was totaled as a result. When they relayed their desire to continue the tour after a week's respite, Vagrant dispatched two employees from L.A. with a company van to Wisconsin for the band's use to complete their circuit. Conley says the band knew at that point they had made the right decision to sign with Vagrant, and that certainty was strengthened in the subsequent months.
"It was an entire year before we went into the studio to do an album for them," says Conley. "We had a lot of time to get to know the people at the label and get a feel for the environment there. That was nice. And they got to know us, and know what we wanted as a band. When we finally did make the album, it was a smoother transition from second album to third album."
The darker and more deeply emotional material on Stay What You Are that resulted from Saves the Day's heightened inner awareness percolated for nearly a year after the accident. Although the band never had the opportunity to play the new songs live, they worked them out in rehearsals for four months before heading to the studio with veteran Alt-Rock producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith). Schnapf proved to be a calming influence on the band, who were ready to work after a long layoff.
"The most beneficial aspect of having Rob around was that he was extremely laid back," says Conley. "I hear horror stories about producers that rule with an iron fist which can make for a tense creative environment, which is not suitable in my mind for optimal creativity. He was just a sweet person. On top of all that, he's got an incredible ear; he just has an amazing musical sense. He's got a good ear for natural tones in terms of the sonics of an album, plus he's got good producer know-how in terms of trimming fat here and there. Luckily, he's a reactive producer, and not proactive, so he goes off our ideas instead of saying, 'Try this.' It was always a mutual idea."
Save the Day was destined to make a vastly different album the third time out, even without a brush with death. The band's budget was enormous compared with Through Being Cool, they were allowed close to two months to complete the album (contrasted by the 11 days they took on TBC), and they were working with a big name producer for the first time. The biggest shift came when the East Coast boys had to travel to Los Angeles for the sessions.
"It was good, and it was bad," says Conley. "We stayed in Los Angeles in an apartment for two months. I'd rather not be in Los Angeles for more than a few hours, so two months was excruciating. But there are silver linings to all clouds. It was awesome to have the nice weather, because it was the dead of winter back home. So it was a bummer having to be in Los Angeles for so long, but it was really awesome to be out there because we got to spend a month recording in a nice studio. At the same time, we ran into a lot of time issues in the studio and there was a lot of pressure, so that's why having Rob be this relaxed dude helped out so much. We were running into the wall left and right, and if he had been uptight, nothing would have happened."
There are still a lot of bumps in the road. While Stay What You Are is an amazing leap forward for Saves the Day, and has generated very favorable reviews so far, radio has yet to wholeheartedly pick up on its dark charm.
They've rarely been off the road since Through Being Cool came out in 1999, which has taken a toll on the band's physical and mental health. And the band's line-up, which has always been as unstable as a radioactive isotope, has altered once again with the departure of founding drummer Newman. For Saves the Day's latest tour, the band is relying on labelmates and opening act Hey Mercedes, who are offering Damon Atkinson for double duty until the band can get back to New Jersey in the new year and start auditioning new hammers.
Two years ago, that kind of tumult could have been enough to make Saves the Day fold up their tents and call it a day. With their newfound sense of purpose and perspective on life, they're not so easily disheartened by the knocks that are routinely delivered to people in the music business, and they don't harbor any illusions about the future.
"I don't have any hopes or wishes for the band, because we never had any," says Conley. "We only wanted to play the music. It's taken us this far, so it might as well take us to our finishing point. As long as music is the motive, I'm A-OK."
SAVES THE DAY perform Friday at Bogart's with Hey Mercedes and Thursday.
